This review is in regards to the new reissued album from Real Gone Music.Imagine for a moment that since 1971 to current, you have won every major music award possible. You have logged countless miles touring, not only domestically but aboard. You have entertained over thirty-million viewers each week on your own television show. The amount of instruments that you can play are enough to where you could be your own back up band. You have been a landmark music artist be the first, and a female at that, to win the coveted Country Music Association Entertainer of The Year twice in a row. You have also been a Pioneer Award winner as a culmination of those awards presented to you (and this is a very elite club). You have even been the Country Music Hall of Fame.Yet, despite all these things, critical acclaim is something that has always eluded you.Sadly, this has been the fate of Entertainer Barbara Mandrell when it comes to her music.Back in 2000, Barbara’s first album from Columbia, “Treat Him Right” (1971) , and it’s followup “The Midnight Oil” (1973), finally made their way into the ‘new media’ of a double album compact disc. At that point, it had been the first time since 1995 and a new album “It Works For Me” would be readily available, outside a greatest hits album with eleven tracks that had been available for years. Now, Real Gone Music has responded to her legacy and her fans, with their release of her third, and final, Columbia album “This Time I Almost Made It” (1974).Having signed to Columbia at the hands of iconic music producer and songwriter Billy Sherrill in 1969, Barbara was in great hands for her first recordings. By working with and creating music for the likes of George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Charlie Rich, and even years later with Country Alternative favorite Shelby Lynne, Sherrill knew how to get the most out of what was being presented. Often compared as being the country music equal to Phil Spector’s legendary Wall of Sound, the lush arrangements of his music could take on a life of their own. Under Billy’s care would prove to be an amazing training ground for Barbara and that would push her in many musical directions.From the opening strings of the title track, the music that unfolds was unlike other country music at the time. Barbara, being a lover of Rhythm & Blues, would bring forth a blue eyed-soul rendering to country music, the innocence of wonder, and yet the raw sexuality of a woman in love. Long having said that singing cheating songs was just like acting and that you had to be believable for that duration of the song, the array of emotions that are shared on this album are as vast as Barbara’s talent.Selected tracks for this review are the following:R & B group, The Five Keys, first recorded “Wisdom of A Fool” in 1957. Barbara’s reading of the song pays proper homage to the original and brings out the soul inspired track, not only in voice with the proper arrangement of the song. Made famous by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Barbara’s reading of “You’re All I Need To Get By” again is in full respect and honor to the flavor. The only think that separates this recording from the original is the sly steel guitar playing that adds that sexy country feel to it. Vocally, Barbara is in top form with the high and low registers.“Wonder When My Baby’s Coming Home," the album second single would only peak at number forty-nine on the country charts. On this track, Barbara harkens back to the Country & Western before her with the haunting words of a woman wondering just where her man is. Again, the haunting arrangement only highlights a spot on tale of longing.The last of the albums original tracks, comes from The Beatles songbook. Written by the late George Harrison, “Something," from the opening strings of the guitar ring true leading the listener into the hands of a confident woman who is in strong with the emotions of love and satisfaction.One of the grandest treats on this album is the seven, previously unreleased tracks from studio sessions from Barbara. The first of the lot is, yet another cover, this time of another previous song worked by Sherrill with Tammy Wynette. Originally released as “I Know” in 1979, the song was not released as a single. The arrangements are almost the same as the backing vocals. Both convey the same wonder of questioning if their partner feels the same about them as they do , though you can tell with Wynette’s age at the time of the recording that in the hand of a more mature woman, the song takes as somewhat different meaning. Barbara does a capable job on what I am sure at the time had to be a risk covering such a beloved Country & Western staple.“I Take It Back” is very much a country version of the type of style that girl groups of the 1950s and 1960s would have recorded to much radio play. The song interplays into uptempo narrative in the verses, while the chorus is a slower, pensive apology to a love done wrong. It’s a fun track and shows the flexibility in Barbara’s delivery that she would revisit in tracks on future recordings.This collection closes out with two tracks previously only released as either a b-side “Son-Of-A-Gun” or on the Columbia Best of Barbara Mandrell, “Scarlett Water”. The latter track is a personal favorite of mine from Barbara’s collection as the narrative of the track is the story of two lovers knowing that this will be their last night together. With Sherrill at the producing helm, the arrangement of the song is second to none. Vocally, earnestly and humbly, Barbara performs the song with such emotion that you live out all three minutes and ten-seconds of the song. It’s hard to not imagine her and her lover sitter by a fireplace in the dark as they discuss their unknown future, while attempting to move away from the past. Very bittersweet and simple pop perfection. Very little is of this song has a country signature to it, as it defies convention and category. It simply just is what it is, the knowing of the death of love.Typically, when critics dismiss Mandrell and her contributions, will be in the lack of being a singer/songwriter that was so typical of the era of Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, or Merle Haggard. What Barbara was able to do best during this period was to record cover songs and make them her own. That takes true talent to stamp your foot on a tried and true melody and make it your own. As a new artist, music was not being ‘written for’ her yet. It was left to record covers and hope that soon, songwriters would be begging for you to record for them. That was all soon to change for her.Also, they were so quick to point out the ‘flash’ that Barbara would bring into the country & western world and label her a “show-off” or that she was a “sell-out” for not playing into the same vein as her contemporaries that were named above. Interestingly enough, Patsy Cline would be accused of the same thing during her reign on the charts and later respected for that after her death. Barbara Mandrell was simply more than just a singer…she was an entertainer in every sense of the world and always pushed for more professionally and personally, than simply standing behind the microphone to please the crowd. And ultimately, pleasing the fans is what was the most important thing, and it was very much appreciated, respected, loved…and most of all missed when all was said and done.While the fans are going to be happy to have this ‘lost’ collection from a cherished performer, the album is also a testament to the contributions that Barbara Mandrell made to the world of entertainment in general. For that, I am sure that she is pleased and proud to finally see this happen herself.Will this release ignite an interest in Barbara’s work with the new hipsters that have finally come to arrival that this period of country music was cool? Only time will tell, but for those that will listen, they will come to realize that being able to lay their ears witness to an artist that was influential in her own right. While she might not have had the ‘cool factor’ of the outlaw movement as say Willie, Waylon or Johnny…those artist both loved and were loved by Barbara, and in return, proved inspirational to her.Barbara is a landmark artist in so many regards whose catalog has been long neglected by the studios for which she not only recorded for, but for also helped them generate millions in revenue. Real Gone Music has hopefully begun the healing process of those past misgivings and, it’s hoped, that this release will not be the last from them in remembering an artist that not only earned her iconic status, but also be listened to loud and proud.The music of Barbara Mandrell should be just as respected at the likes of her contemporaries Reba McEntire or George Straight. As without her and her influence and perseverance, there would be no them.