SKEETER: AW SHUCKS

“SHE SINGS, THEY PLAY.” Skeeter Davis and NRBQ. Rounder. Skeeter Davis scored a country/pop crossover hit called “The End of the World” in 1963. NRBQ is a first-class bar band with a cult following, and it’s been turning out agreeable albums with not much commercial potential for 13 years. This information hardly prepares one for the boundless charm of this collaboration. Like last year’s debut LP by the Knitters, “She Sings, They Play” is so aw-shucks simple and pure it’s irresistible. Davis has a tremulous whiskey voice that combines the best elements of Dolly Parton and Linda Thompson, and when she cuts loose on the Hank Williams classic “May You Never Be Alone” or “Things to You”--one of the sweetest little rosebuds of a song you’re ever likely to hear--it’s enough to bring a tear to the eye of Billy Idol.