Mickey Gilley was on a hot streak from the mid-'70s through the mid-'80s, and
You Don't Know Me, produced by
Jim Ed Norman for Epic Records, is another chapter in the
Gilley odyssey that ends triumphantly despite the fact that the piano sound isn't as badass on this set, because
Gilley only kicks on two cuts. But it's a small annoyance. Beginning with the crazy boogie rockabilly "Ladies Night," this is a set of pure inspiration, even though
Norman tries to make it sound like it was recorded at Gilley's -- dumb, but the feel is live, as the tracks were cut live on the floor of the studio with some overdubs being done later. "My Affection" continues the stomping rockabilly of the opener, with
Gilley actually hammering the hell out of the ivories on this one before a slow honky tonk drinking song called "Drinking Old Memories Down," the other track with the inimitable
Gilley "spider-on-the-keys" sound. Side two opens with
Gilley's lovely and moving version of the
Eddy Arnold classic that is the title cut. And the rest of the album is on the ballad side, which is fine since
Gilley's singing is down in the groove with the darkest of emotions when necessary. "Lonely Nights," the
Keith Stegall nugget, brings it all home and sets up a beautifully rendered version of Carl Rains' "Clinging to a Memory." If the first two tracks feel misleading, they're not; they're just one part of the good-time man's mystique and character. This is a fine set. ~ Thom Jurek