Rex Allen Jr. Today's Generation (CD)

Rex Allen Jr. – Today’s Generation – Unusual Underground Country from 1970

Country music with a difference! Originally released on SSS International in 1970, Rex Allen Jr.’sToday’s Generationwas promoted at the time as “Underground Country” – an apt description for an album that combines country songwriting with unusually atmospheric and psychedelic-tinged arrangements.

The son of legendary Western star Rex Allen, Rex Allen Jr. was still at the beginning of his recording career when he made this remarkable album. Rather than following a conventional country formula, he created a deeply personal set of songs reflecting the uncertainties and tensions of his generation. Mortality, guilt, conformity, war and the changing social climate all find their way into the material.

What makesToday’s Generationparticularly distinctive is the instrumentation. Allen’s country-based songwriting is surrounded by unusual textures including electric sitar, Mellotron and harpsichord, giving the record a haunting and sometimes almost surreal atmosphere. Tracks such as “The Younger Generation”, “I Back Up”, “The Children”, “You Weren’t There”, “Home Song (Dreams Of What May Come)”, “Black Skies” and “The Corners Of My Life” reveal an artist willing to push country music beyond its traditional boundaries.

This 2008 Omni CD reissue brings the album back into focus for a new generation of listeners. The edition was remastered from the original master tapes and features deluxe packaging with a 24-page color booklet containing notes, interviews and rare photographs.

An intriguing piece of early-1970s country history and a real discovery for collectors of obscure country, country-rock and psychedelic country sounds.Today’s Generationis anything but ordinary country music.