Vince Gill left
RCA after
The Way Back Home in 1987.
Tony Brown signed him to
MCA shortly thereafter, and
When I Call Your Name served as
Gill's
MCA debut and the beginning of his long association with the label and with
Brown as a producer.
Gill, already a seasoned
pop musician and Nashville session player, brought with him the ability to write terrific songs and play the hell out of a guitar, along with a sweet-looking face and a killer voice.
Brown set out to make him a star and pretty much succeeded the first time out, and in the early 21st century
Gill is still racking them up on the charts. He served as
contemporary country music's first real star and, along with the more traditional
George Strait (another longtime survivor and hitmaker), was a true and respectful link to the music's long heritage. The first track to score on this set was
"Oklahoma Swing," a smoking
Western swing duet with
Reba McEntire written by
Tim DuBois, who also wrote an even bigger hit with the title track that paired
Gill with
Patty Loveless.
Gill also did serviceable covers of
Guy Clark's (then an
RCA staff songwriter) classic
"Rita Ballou" and
"Sight for Sore Eyes," and
Rosanne Cash's
"Never Alone," which opened the disc. He also covered the criminally underappreciated
Greg Trooper's midtempo
ballad "We Won't Dance." Gill's own tunes, for perhaps the only time in his career, were used as filler on the album -- he wrote three of ten -- but he still managed a beauty with the gorgeous romantic stroller
"Oh Girl (You Know Where to Find Me)." When I Call Your Name serves as the testament to
Gill's arrival as a star and an enduring part of the
country music legacy. ~ Thom Jurek
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