*** Tracy Nelson, “Mother Earth Presents Tracy...

*** Tracy Nelson, “Mother Earth Presents Tracy Nelson Country,” Reprise. In 1969, when this album was made, Nelson was the gifted lead singer of Mother Earth, a blues-based band from San Francisco. She brought an individuality and passion to this impromptu country collection with Nashville producers Pete Drake and Scotty Moore that even Frizzell would have admired. There is a rushed feel to the project (it was done in less than a week) and Nelson doesn’t seem comfortable with all the material, which ranges from Don Gibson’s “Blue Blue Day” to Arthur Crudup’s “That’s All Right.” But frequently she conveys a soulfulness that makes her sound like the link between Patsy Cline and k.d. lang.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).