A fine writer blessed with a rich, soulful vocal delivery and a blistering array of guitar chops drawn almost equally from Texas blues, Memphis soul and Southern rock traditions, Lee Roy Parnell probably came to the mainstream Nashville scene with just a few too many weapons for the biz to be entirely comfortable.
From his self-titled debut in 1990 throughout the decade with Arista, Parnell displayed a restless muse. Still, each of his discs contained at least one or two country radio ready-mades trembling amongst the more muscular blues, boogie, rockabilly, gospel and R&B ventures — enough that he was able to score five Top 10 hits in a row in the early ’90s. Hits And Highways Ahead collected those chartmakers in 1999 and closed the door on Parnell’s “double life”.
With Tell The Truth, Parnell has dropped any pretense of hobnobbing with the hat acts, opting instead to put his voice and guitar where his heart is. Recorded with warm yet stinging clarity at fabled Muscle Shoals Sound, the disc’s ten generous tracks (clocking in at 52:37) give Parnell ample room to strut his formidable pipes and flaunt his well-rounded 6-string arsenal. Nine cuts are Parnell co-writes (four with Gary Nicholson and R&B icon Dan Penn), with the closer a tender reading of Gretchen Peters’ “Love’s Been Rough On Me”.
Duets with Bonnie Bramlett, Delbert McClinton and Keb’ Mo’ fit naturally into the flow; the artists add their distinctive stamps without ever sounding one iota out of place. Likewise, Jackson’s sublime Mississippi Mass Choir wraps around the celebratory gospel rave-up “Brand New Feeling” with the naturalness of a mother’s love.
In the end, this is not so much a capitulation or change of direction by Parnell as it is a crystallization — a condensing of his core strengths. Confident, cohesive and undeniably soulful, Tell The Truth is an energizing tour of Southern roots music by an impressive artist who’s finally found his home.
