Cledus T Judd I Stoled This Record CD

Cledus T. Judd is the Weird Al Yankovic of country music, a pillager of popular songs who rewrites their lyrics with a style short on taste and long on laughs. Judd has become a surprise hit with fans of the very artists whose songs he lampoons, and this album is bound to appeal to those who love contemporary country music but don't take it too seriously.

Among the country stars who get Cledusized are Shania Twain and Neal McCoy. Twain's "Any Man Of Mine" is transformed into the twisted ditty "If Shania Was Mine." McCoy's "For A Change" is warped into a tale of transsexuality called "The Change." Country classics get the Judd treatment as well. Johnny Cash and June Carter's "Jackson" becomes "Jackson (Alan That Is)," and "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" becomes "Cledus Went Down To Florida," a goofy account of a car theft.

Cledus T. Judd's debut album indicated that he was a first-rate country comic for the '90s, but his second effort, I Stoled This Record, is where his talents truly blossom. Judd's humor is simple and direct -- witness how he lusts after superstar country vocalist Shania Twain on "If Shania Was Mine" or the Charlie Daniels parody "Cledus Went Down to Florida" or the obvious Elmo & Patsy sendup "Grandpa Got Runned Over By a John Deere." It doesn't take a comic genius to come up with these endearingly sophomoric and corny jokes, but it does take some guts to actually follow them through, and that's what makes I Stoled This Record surprisingly engaging and fun. Besides, the music is better than you would imagine (Joe Diffie and Shania herself guest on "[She's Got A Butt] Bigger Than the Beatles"). ~ Thom Owens

Recorded at County Q Productions, Nashville, Tennessee.

Personnel: Cledus T. Judd (harmonica); Michael Spriggs (acoustic guitar); Mike Seavers, Jerry Kimbrough (electric guitar); Glen Duncan, Hoot Hester (fiddle); Walt Cunningham (piano); Paul Scholten (drums); Kim Winters, Michael Black (background vocals).

Liner Note Author: Cledus T. Judd.

Photographer: Ron Keith.

Personnel: Cledus T. Judd (vocals, harmonica); Michael Spriggs (acoustic guitar); Mike Seavers, Jerry Kimbrough (electric guitar); Glenn Duncan, Hoot Hester (fiddle); Walt Cunningham (piano); Scott Q. Merry (bass); Paul Scholten (drums); Kim Winters, Michael Black (background vocals).