Otis Lee Crenshaw & The Black Liars - Region 2 DVD

The reality is that Crenshaw, as evinced by this recording of a performance before a nigh hysterical London audience, is very funny indeed. This is because Hall's satire is grounded, one suspects, in an abiding love of country music and as such is laughing with the music and fans rather than at it; he holds an unmistakable depth of knowledge of its conventions and idioms. In a guttural drawl evocative of what John Hiatt might sound like with a broken jaw, Hall/Crenshaw delivers a series of impeccably observed pastiches, inspired improvisations and, most memorably, a triumphant deconstruction of "Jailhouse Rock". --Andrew Mueller