This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
The title is a triple play on words.
First, you figure that blue diamond is the one stuck in the centre of the ’50s-movie-star turbans Texas singer-guitarist Rhodes favours — along with tangerine pants, red suits and patent leather shoes. (Oh yes, the man do have style!) Then you notice that it’s actually one of the tracks on this album full of rollicking bar-room blues laced with Rhodes’ gruff yet supple vocals and sharp lap-steel slide work. Finally, though, after you hear this disciple of Johnny Copeland storm his way through smokers like Blues Is My Religion and folkier numbers like Back Where You Come From, you understand the Blue Diamond is Rhodes himself, presented here in a setting that shows him off perfectly.
