Paul Kennerley – White Mansions (1978)

A bit of a unique entry this one.  This record, a musical drama of the American Civil War from the Southern (losing) point of view, was written in it’s entirety by Paul Kennerley – but he doesn’t sing or play on it at all.   It featured vocals from Waylon Jennings, Steve Cash, John Dillon and Jessi Colter; these four tell the story of the enthusiasm and the sadness and misery of loss in that terrible conflict.  But on top of that it is a great album full of memorable and wonderful songs.  The whole thing is best listened to as a whole and is one of the best concept albums ever.  Hard to pick best songs as they are all so great but I especially love ‘Southern Boys’, ‘The Southland’s Bleeding’ and ‘A Union Mare and A Confederate Grey’.  It was a minor hit and is now coupled with Kennerley’s other great concept album ‘The legend Of Jesse James’ – which is, if anything, even better and features Johnny Cash and EmmyLou Harris among others.  Paul became a country music songwriter and sometime producer and worked extensively with EmmyLou – but he never wrote anything as powerful or moving as White Mansions and it’s follow-up.  These two records are among my very favourite albums of all time..