Volume 3 (Bandy the Rodeo Clown)

For Bandy the Rodeo Clown, his final record for GRC, Moe Bandy didn't depart from the musical template his first two albums created, but he did lighten the mood a little bit, beginning to hint at the good-natured persona that would dominate his Columbia Records. Much of this is, of course, telegraphed in the title track, written by Lefty Frizzell and Sanger Shafer, which literally casts Moe Bandy as a clown who laughs through the tears, but the music also reflects a shift toward lighter material. The beginnings of this were heard on his previous It Was Always So Easy (To Find an Unhappy Woman), and this follows through on that move, boasting a set of songs that feel lighter than the late-night honky tonk of his debut. That's not to say that it's poppier, since it is still straight country, but it is hurt by a somewhat inconsistent set of songs; a flaw that is particularly striking considering how uniformly excellent his first two records were. Still, this is an enjoyable platter, particularly compared to some of the Columbia Records that followed.