Long Walk Back

The album was produced by Brown, who also wrote nine of the eleven songs.{{cite magazine |title=Long Walk Back |magazine=Billboard |date=September 12, 1998 |volume=110 |issue=37 |page=31}} He decided not to include as many comedic songs; "Read 'Em and Weep" is an attempt at a traditional country ballad.{{cite news |last1=Ferman |first1=Dave |title=Junior Brown straddles the line between alternative and mainstream |newspaper=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |date=September 18, 1998 |department=Star Time |page=18}} "Rock-A-Hula Baby" is a cover of the song made famous by Elvis Presley. "Lookin' for Love" is a version of the song from the Connie Francis film.{{cite news |last1=Regenstreif |first1=Mike |title=Junior Brown Long Walk Back |newspaper=The Gazette |date=September 12, 1998 |location=Montreal |page=C11}} Mitch Mitchell played drums on "Stupid Blues" and "Keepin' Up with You".{{cite magazine |last1=Flippo |first1=Chet |title=Junior Brown stretches his writing chops on 'Walk'; Clark, Bowles to split |magazine=Billboard |date=August 22, 1998 |volume=110 |issue=34 |page=25}}{{cite news |last1=Wolgamott |first1=L. Kent |title=Junior Brown has come a long way, baby |newspaper=Lincoln Journal Star |date=September 25, 1998 |department=Ground Zero |page=18}} Brown's wife, Tanya Rae, and Jimmy Capps doubled on rhythm guitar to create a bigger sound.{{cite news |last1=Burnside |first1=Mary Wade |title=Taking honky-tonk to places it's never been before |newspaper=The Charleston Gazette |date=November 12, 1998 |page=1D}}{{cite magazine |last1=Russell |first1=Rusty |title=Junior Brown: Long walk on a wacky planet |magazine=Guitar Player |date=December 1998 |volume=32 |issue=12 |pages=29–30}} "Peelin' Taters" is an instrumental.{{cite news |last1=Mehle |first1=Michael |title=Man of Steel |newspaper=Rocky Mountain News |date=October 30, 1998 |page=16D}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = Boston Herald

| rev1score = {{rating|3.5|4}}{{cite news |title=Discs |newspaper=Boston Herald |date=November 20, 1998 |page=S28}}

| rev2 = Robert Christgau

| rev2score = {{Rating-Christgau|hm2}}{{cite web |title=Junior Brown |url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=713&name=Junior+Brown |website=Robert Christgau |access-date=June 11, 2024}}

| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev3score = A−{{cite magazine |last1=Schindler |first1=Scott |title=Junior Brown: Long Walk Back |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=September 4, 1998 |issue=448 |pages=84–85}}

| rev4 = Los Angeles Times

| rev4score = {{rating|2.5|4}}{{cite news |last1=Hilburn |first1=Robert |title=Pop |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=September 14, 1998 |page=F7}}

| rev5 = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

| rev5score = {{rating|4|4}}{{cite news |last1=Sharpe |first1=Jerry |title=Country |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=August 30, 1998 |page=G2}}

| rev6 = USA Today

| rev6score = {{rating|3|4}}{{cite news |last1=Mansfield |first1=Brian |title=Junior Brown, Long Walk Back |newspaper=USA Today |date=September 1, 1998 |page=3D}}

}}

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette praised "the deepest country voice since the late Ernest Tubb." Texas Monthly wrote that "Brown is so danged gifted that he'd be pigeonholed as the guitar hero's guitar hero if not for his peculiar subject matter, which ping-pongs from hula girls and fast cars to pure schmaltz."{{cite magazine |last1=Patoski |first1=Joe Nick |title=Hot CDs |magazine=Texas Monthly |date=September 1998 |volume=26 |issue=9 |page=22}} USA Today considered the songs "old-fashioned Texas shuffles, kitschy '60s-style retro-rock with cooing girl choruses, and feedback-laced blues numbers that mix in jazz voicings and country licks."

The Village Voice concluded that Brown's "one of those artists, almost impossibly rare, whose ideas just can't be predicted... What he really does is just flat git it when the going gets strange."{{cite news |last1=Carr |first1=Patrick |title=Electric Juniorland |newspaper=The Village Voice |volume=43 |issue=35 |date=September 1, 1998 |page=59}} Robert Christgau deemed the album "virtuosity as novelty act, meaning virtuosity that knows itself." Entertainment Weekly noted that Long Walk Back was "the first time the radical-traditionalist Texan honky-tonker has made a record as out-there as his talent merits." The Los Angeles Times wrote that "Brown is still more involving than your standard country fare, but his own musical path seems unusually straight this time out." The Vancouver Sun, the Orange County Register, and The Denver Post were among the many periodicals that considered Long Walk Back to be one of the best albums of 1998.{{cite news |title=Year's best CDs are a diverse lot |newspaper=The Vancouver Sun |date=December 19, 1998 |page=H6}}{{cite news |title=Our critics sound off on best '98 albums, concerts |newspaper=Orange County Register |date=December 27, 1998 |page=F25}}{{cite news |last1=Will |first1=Ed |title=The Year's Best |newspaper=The Denver Post |date=December 27, 1998 |page=H8}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Long Walk Back track listing

| title1 = Long Walk Back to San Antone

| length1 = 3:35

| title2 = The Better Half

| length2 = 2:46

| title3 = Read 'Em and Weep

| length3 = 3:06

| title4 = Rock-A-Hula Baby

| length4 = 2:28

| title5 = Lookin' for Love

| length5 = 2:28

| title6 = Peelin' Taters

| length6 = 2:54

| title7 = Freedom Machine

| length7 = 3:24

| title8 = Just a Little Love

| length8 = 3:40

| title9 = Keepin' Up with You

| length9 = 3:49

| title10 = I'm All Fired Up

| length10 = 3:34

| title11 = Stupid Blues

| length11 = 8:52

| total_length = 40:36

}}

{{reflist}}

Category:1998 albums

Category:Curb Records albums