DESPITE our perpetually being impelled to acts of wild-eyed
rock'n'roll enormity -- staying up beyond the Nine O'Clock News, casting
off our clouts e'er May be out, etc. -- we occasionally all need quiet
reassurance.
So step forward -- with measured tread -- the country legend whose
surname is Williams, but who is neither Hank nor Hank junior.
And none the worse for that. If your kinda country is a slow-talkin',
contented, self-knowin', undemandin' and downright kind kinda country,
kindly Don is your kinda guy.
Downhome silver beard. Grizzled cowboy hat. Baritone Texan charm. Gary
Cooper with guitar; signed on for the long haul. ''We're not movin' too
fast for ya, are we?'' Don deadpanned over the rim of his coffee cup,
perched on the high stool he quit but once (momentarily) in last night's
90 minutes.
Good bits? Till The Rivers All Run Dry, that West of Scotland aunties'
wedding-reception favourite. One song that almost broke into a canter in
which Don looked back pityingly over his life to a time when, as a
callow fool yet to be saved by marriage, he sometimes used almost to
break into a canter. Country Boy, wherein store-bought baubles fail to
impress.
And the audience singing You're My Best Friend, that ode to lasting
marital companionship. ''I wish I could dehydrate y'all, take you to the
next place I play and just add water,'' said Don. Dang, if I didn't
taste a tear.
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