Semi Crazy
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| Semi Crazy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1996 | |||
| Genre | Country, rock and roll | |||
| Label | MCG/Curb[1] | |||
| Producer | Junior Brown | |||
| Junior Brown chronology | ||||
| ||||
Semi Crazy is an album by the American musician Junior Brown, released in 1996.[2][3] It contains the crossover hit "Surf Medley", featuring three popular surf rock songs.
The album peaked at No. 32 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart.[4] Brown supported Semi Crazy by touring with the Mavericks.[5] Its first single was "Venom Wearing Denim".[6]
The album was produced by Brown.[7] "Semi-Crazy" is a duet with Red Simpson.[8] "Hong Kong Blues" was written by Hoagy Carmichael.[9] Brown's intention was to craft a mainstream album; he did not want to be considered a revivalist/traditionalist or an outsider artist.[10]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [11] |
| The Austin Chronicle |  [12] |
| Robert Christgau |  [13] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A−[14] |
| The Indianapolis Star | [15] |
| Los Angeles Times | [16] |
| Orlando Sentinel | [17] |
| Rolling Stone | [18] |
Robert Christgau deemed the album "the essence of Western swing—jazzy picking, lousy singing, and a light heart."[13] Entertainment Weekly wrote: "A virtuoso picker (guitar freaks will appreciate the jaw-dropping pyrotechnics of 'I Hung It Up', and his definitive 'Surf Medley'), Brown’s a casually irreverent humorist to boot."[14] Rolling Stone thought that Brown "straddles the fence between Nashville airplay and Texas grit" on "Gotta Get Up Every Morning" and "Surf Medley".[18] The Orlando Sentinel determined that the album "is chock full of the kind of catchy, clever, instantly memorable songs that used to be a staple of country radio."[17]
Texas Monthly called "Semi-Crazy" "the first decent truckin’ song in more than a decade."[19] The Chicago Reader stated that "while Brown and his band may look like Republican staffers, his witty, jaunty music is anything but conservative."[20] The Los Angeles Times concluded that "by stretching stories of wayward lovers almost beyond believability—as Hank Williams himself often did—Brown magnifies and clarifies the very real emotions underlying them."[16] The Indianapolis Star considered the album to be "a masterpiece" and "a collection of Ernest Tubb-meets-Jimi Hendrix country music."[15]
AllMusic wrote that Brown's "clever lyrics, Ernest Tubb-like voice, and virtuoso guitar playing ... are once again intact and on the mark."[11]
