ALBUMS: ‘Wild and Blue’ (1982) ‘Eye off the Hurricane’ (1984)
MVC Rating: Wild 3.0/$$, Eye 3.5/$$
Let’s call this ‘twang dang’ music. Anderson has the best twangy voice in country music. And he sings like a guy who would say ‘dang’ a lot, especially if someone messes with his beloved Everglades or if he were rejected by a girl named Charlotte Johnson.
Here are some lyrics from “Seminole Wind:”
Progress came and took its toll
And in the name of flood control
They made their plans and they drained the land
Now the glades are going dry
And the last time I walked in the swamp
I sat upon a Cypress stump
I listened close and I heard the ghost
Of Osceola cry
He apparently started his career singing in a rock band, but that voice ultimately led him down country roads. He’s from Apopka, Fla., which may not give him instant country ‘street cred.’ But having lived in Lake County, Fla., I commuted through Apopka every day for years and can tell you it’s got major components of rural southern living with a semi-tropical accent. It’s a suburb of Orlando but becomes rural as you drive to Apopka from Orlando. The huge, and I mean huge, Lake Apopka, polluted by years of industrial farm runoff, still has gators and big nasty catfish.
But away from the roar and rumble of 441, that lake still looks mighty purdy.
Especially with your sweetie on that front porch.
Just a swangin’.
Counting down my 678 vinyl records before I die of brain disease.
(Photo of Lake Apopka/West Orange Chamber of Commerce)