When You Get a Little Lonely

OK, first things first. Anyone who was a heterosexual adolescent boy during the '70s or '80s (and therefore completely in love with Maureen McCormick), knows that the artist in question is universally worshipped as Marsha Brady from the classic TV sitcom The Brady Bunch. There is, of course, no mention of that fact anywhere in this disc's packaging, as McCormick is well-known for distancing herself from her illustrious/dubious past. While McCormick's reluctance to draw attention to her worldwide fame might not be the wisest sales move, it is honest, as When You Get a Little Lonely has absolutely nothing to do with '70s pop culture. Rather, the disc is a completely straight-ahead modern Nashville country record. Amazingly, it's also not as bad as one might guess. McCormick is a competent singer, though her upper register gets a little screechy at times. The backing is provided by Music City's finest (David Hungate, J.D. Maness, Larry Knetchel, etc.), so the music sounds pretty much like any other Nashville cookie-cutter record. The songs also come courtesy of the usual suspects, including Troy Seals, Nicolette Larson, and Gary Nicholson, but (with the exception of Buddy Holly's classic "Oh, Boy!") these compositions are most definitely B-list. Overall, McCormick does a decent job of trying to muster some excitement (particularly on "Cloud of Dust"), but just isn't really up to the task. In the end, When You Get a Little Lonely sounds like a well-produced L.A. songwriter demo and should be primarily of interest to Brady Bunch completists.