This Old Hat

Album Review

Country singer and songwriter — and actor — Ed Bruce was a teenager when he started his musical career recording at the now-legendary Sun Records. He didn't have any success with his rockabilly tunes and eventually moved on. Years later he found an excellent job singing advertising jingles, then finally landed a contact with RCA. Bruce is probably best known by country fans for a catchy little song he penned and recorded in the '70s called "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys." Though it made it onto the Top 20 charts for Bruce, two years later it became a huge hit when it was recorded as a duet by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. A gifted songwriter who has written numbers for greats like Tanya Tucker and Tex Ritter, Bruce wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on this 2002 recording, This Old Hat. He lets his talents shine on songs like "You're the Best Break This Old Heart Ever Had," "My First Taste of Texas," "Did He Say It Better Than Me?," and "My Baby Don't Need No Polish to Shine."