Whitey Morgan and the 78's

iTunes Review

Not alt-country but genuine “outlaw” country in the tradition of Waylon Jennings, Johnny Paycheck and David Allan Coe, Whitey Morgan and the 78’s play it like it’s 1978 all over again and their hometown of Flint, Michigan has factory workers in need of some beer and entertainment. J.D. Loudermilk’s “Bad News” kicks things off with Bob Dylan sideman Larry Campbell on pedal steel and Eric David Allen (Whitey Morgan) singing in a perfect country baritone. “Turn Up the Bottle” rallies the disappearing working class. “Buick City” keeps things motoring along on the production line. “Meanest Jukebox In Town” struggles to channel George Jones in its deep, swooning old-country groove. “Cheaters Always Lose” serves up a tear-in-the-beer country weeper. “Honky Tonk Queen” looks back decades with verve and style. “I Ain’t Drunk” keeps the “outlaw” in the country with its sense of defiance (“I’m just being cranky” sings Allen over some nicely calibrated Telecasters.) Much like how the Iron City Houserockers once defined old-school Pittsburgh, WM and the 78’s revive old-time Flint.