Pocket Full of Gold

AMG Review of Pocket Full of Gold

Thom Jurek
All Music Guide

Pocket Full of Gold is one of Vince Gill's straighter country recordings. Produced by Tony Brown, it is steeped in luegrass, country balladry from the '60s, and smoothed-out honky tonk, all done in Gill's own chameleon-like yet trademark manner. The lineup speaks volumes about what's on the recording: Herb Pedersen, Richard Bennett, Mac McAnally, Barry Beckett, Hargus "Pig" Robbins, Willie Weeks, Patty Loveless, Billy Joe Walker, and Larrie Londin are a few of the names offering this very distinct blend of styles that is all Gill. The opener, "I Quit," is an uptempo shuffling honky tonk number, with stuttering Telecasters, and it's followed with "Just Look at Us," a gorgeous pedal steel whining love song. Andrea Zonn's fiddle and John Hughey's steel fuel another broken love song, but this one is a late-night barroom two-stepper. "Liza Jane" walks the line between hard country and ockabilly and features some smoking guitar work by Gill, who also provides some of his flatpicking swagger in "A Little Left Over." Gill wrote only about half the tunes on this set, which is unusual, but it was also fairly early in his career. Hit songwriter Max D. Barnes offered another three and maverick Jim Lauderdale provided the burning Cajun-cum-ockabilly closer, "Sparkle." The set was a hit for Gill, and deserved to be, because of its brilliant and sometimes dazzling mix of raditional styles. Records like this are what make him one of the music's most enduring artists.