I Don't Need All That (PMS, 1999)

Way back in 1992, Patty Booker had a cut on "A Town South of Bakersfield Volume 3" alongside the likes of Dale Watson and Wylie & The Wild West Show. Since then, Booker has not been heard of in any town east of Bakersfield. This fine album will leave a lot of people wondering where's she been all this time.

From the instant Booker opens the album by belting out the line "Hell Yes I Cheated," you know this is not one of those demure ladies that today's country radio is in love with. When Booker tackles Loretta Lynn's "Fist City," she doesn't just match Lynn's twang, she almost manages the far more difficult task of matching Lynn's irate passion. The original song "PMS" could serve as a companion piece of sorts to Lynn's hit "The Pill."

Accompanied by such prominent Southern California talents as Chris Gaffney, Rick Shea and former Curb artist Jann Browne (who also served as co-producer), Booker proves on her first album that, hell no, fine honky-tonk music is not just a man's world.