Not only did this 1973 album bring new life to Bobby Bare’s career, but it’s also one of outlaw country’s very best. Bare’s burly baritone delivers the brilliantly quirky songs of Shel Silverstein (the wickedly funny “Sure Hit Songwriters Pen”, the outrageous ode to Paul Bunyan, “Paul”), and he tugs heartstrings with the father-and-son tearjerker “Daddy What If”. Best of all, he brings the material to life with an irresistible blend of humour, heart and down-home charisma.