Bobby Bare needs no introduction to longtime followers of country music. But for those who are somewhat insulated from the genre, the guy's career spans almost 5 decades. He has called a number of the great record labels his home. And now, after a recording hiatus over 20 years long, Bobby steps onto Amie Street and back into the fray with

.

A few folks might cringe at this comparison, but listening to this record is almost like stepping into an alternate dimension where the great crooners of old -- the Sinatras and the Martins, were country singers. And it's not really Bobby's voice that makes me say that, although it was listening to the way he sings Are You Sincere (

) that first had me thinking of it. It's that at the age of 70, Bare just exudes a similar confidence as he paints his baritone over the unassuming arrangements laid out by his son/producer Bobby Bare, Jr., repeatedly making country standards his own. But doesn't really even sound much like a country record, at least not like Nashville's current mainstream output. But it doesn't sound like anything else you could slap a name on, either. No name but Bobby Bare, that is. It does sound like him.

Check out these highlights from a true country original:
The Ballad of Lucy Jordan (

) (Yes, this is the Shel Silverstein poem)
I Am An Island ()
Am I That Easy To Forget ()
Everybody's Talkin' ()