Countryman was first brainstormed by
Don Was and
Chris Blackwell way back in 1995 and was originally intended for release on
Blackwell's Island Records. Work began in 1996 with
Don Was producing, but the project almost immediately fell victim to label monkey business, and sat on
Nelson's back burner for nearly a decade, until Lost Highway hired producer
Richard Feldman to come in and finish it.
Nelson does a credible job on the two
Jimmy Cliff tunes on
Countryman, turning in strong, eerie, and atmospheric versions of "Sitting in Limbo" and "The Harder They Come," and he shines on his own 1960s song "Darkness on the Face of the Earth," which features a cute (sorry, no other word will do) little dub tail. ~ Steve Leggett