Orville Couch: 'Hello Trouble'

Orville Couch's original version of "Hello Trouble" won't make anyone forget Buck Owens' cover of the song, but I love it all the same.

Couch might have been a journeyman musician with just one hit, but I think his album called "Hello Trouble" represents all that was good about old-school country music. It's an album that compels listeners to identify with the lyrics.

If my grandfather had owned an iPod, you can bet "Help Me Get My Cotton In" would have been on it. And though I've never dated a German woman, I can relate to "Fraulein," Couch's tale of the love who got away. Almost everyone can.

On Couch's rollicking cover of Johnny Horton's "Honky Tonk Man," he sounds ornery and confident. On the next song, "Dance Her By Me," Couch sounds like a broken man. His voice is a bit shaky at the start, then he settles into a velvety lament — it almost sounds as if Charlie Rich is singing. Either way, he's got your emotions covered.

"Uncle Red," my favorite song on the album, is an uptempo tribute to a 93-year-old relative who's just died. Uncle Red was the kind of man who lived a clean and charitable life despite his poverty. It's a simple song, really, but I can't listen to it without seeing the jovial faces of my own kinfolks.

When I hear the buoyant harmonica licks on several other songs, particularly on "Strike a Match" and "Hello Doll," I think of another relative, a great-uncle who used to entertain my cousins and me with his harmonica for hours on end.

"Hello Trouble" might not be a classic album, but it's a damn good one that's sure to make your emotions swirl.