Search - Larry Sparks :: Last Suit You Wear

Larry's warm, endearing voice conveys unabashed sincerity &

J. Ross | Roseburg, OR USA | 05/02/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Playing Time - 38:59 -- Unabashed sincerity has always been the hallmark of Larry Sparks' soulful and bluesy singing . Maybe it's an approach that he learned from his early days with Ralph Stanley in the sixties. Sparks was born in 1947, raised on a farm in Ohio, recorded his first record at age five, and formed his own band in 1969. Always possessing a strong affinity for Hank Williams' music and style, this album actually emphasizes Larry's voice wrapped around contemporary material with a more classic country sound. There are also some strong bluegrass and gospel offerings, but the majority of the set has Larry visualizing lonesome classic country situations and singing about them with the same kind of feeling that helped him win IBMA's Male Vocalist of the Year awards in 2004 and 2005. It's nice to see all the lyrics included in the CD's jacket.



Perhaps it was an intended stylistic approach by Larry and album co-producer Don Rigsby, but I felt that some of the instrumental breaks were conservative and vocal harmonies understated. It's also possible that Larry's debut on the McCoury Music label is part of a strategic plan to cross-market his music to a wider audience. Piano legend Hargus "Pig" Robbins appears in the mix of three numbers (The Last Suit You Wear, Hand in Hand, For Your Love). Others on the album include Del McCoury, J. D. Crowe, Don Rigsby, Larry D. Sparks (Larry's son), Jackie Kincaid, Josh McMurray, Ron Stewart, Randy Kohrs and Stuart Duncan. It's an interesting mix of his current Lonesome Ramblers bandmates with friends and session musicians. Larry's own instrumental "Larro" shows how he uses his 1953 Martin D-28 to provide an expressive voice of its own.



Featured songwriters include Connie Leigh (Casualty of War, Lazarus and the Rich Man), Mark Brinkman (The Old Coal Mine), Tim Stafford, Larry Cordle & Bobby Starnes (Follow the Star), and Larry Shell, Larry Williams & Kim Williams (The Last Suit You Wear). In a solo vocal arrangement, Larry Sparks sings about being as "simple as the whippoorwill" in Marshal Warwick's "I'm Country and Nothing More." Truth is, we know that he's much more based on his large volume of work over the decades. While not quite up to the same exceptional standard of some of Larry's other releases (and award-winning "40" album), "The Last Suit You Wear" will certainly be of particular interest to those who want to hear his warm and endearing voice capture the simplicity of acoustic country sounds with a classic bent. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

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