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Released 1975

Released in 1975, just as Ronnie Milsap's career was achieving cruising altitude, A Rose by Any Other Name winds up recycling much of his 1971 eponymous debut. A full five tracks are repeated from that album -- "Blue Skies of Montana," "Crying," "Keep on Smiling," "Why," and an excellent version of Kris Kristofferson's "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends" -- and to the mix are added some good leftovers, including a good version of Mickey Newbury's "She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye." These additions push the album closer toward country than Ronnie Milsap was, which is a deliberate move: this way, it would appeal to the country audience more than the willful Southern eclecticism of his debut. But that eclecticism is a large part of what made Ronnie Milsap a satisfying debut, particularly because he hadn't yet developed his distinctive smooth country style -- a style that he found by 1975, when he started having hits like "Pure Love" and "(I'd Be) A Legend in My Time." So, the newer material here isn't as good as what was cut, and the album doesn't hold together as well as the original debut, leaving A Rose by Any Other Name as a fitfully entertaining record instead of a cohesive one. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

TRACKS

1. She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye
2. Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends
3. You and Me, Me and You
4. I Just Can't Help Believin'
5. Keep on Smiling
6. A Rose by Any Other Name
7. Crying
8. Blue Skies of Montana
9. Why
10. Loving You's a Natural Thing

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