Ian Tyson
One Jump Ahead of the Devil 
1978 SPCD1177
CD (February 7, 1994)
Original Release Date: 1978
Label: Stony Plain Music

Reviewer: Garry LaFollette from Winchester, VA USA

I discovered this 1978 Canadian release after I already had all of his later works and many of his 60's recordings. The disc is a layer of his career I didn't know existed. Some of the tracks clearly foreshadow what was to come with his cowboy culture discs, while others point backwards to a variety of influences. The title track sounds like Waylon when he was putting outlaw country on the map. "Beverly" has a classic Marty Robbins feel, while "Lone Star and Coors" has Bob Wills' - Or maybe some of Tommy Duncan's solo work after he left the Texas Playboys - bootprints all over it. The final package, pulling together so many C&W influences and tieing them off neatly with Ian's voice could have been a monster seller IF Ian was promoted properly in the states, and IF it had had the good fortune to be released 2 yrs later when the Urban Cowboy rage was jacking sales of lesser work by lesser artists who didn't have a clue how to get on (or fall off) a horse.