JUNIOR BROWN; “Long Walk Back”; Curb; * * 1/2

Part of what makes Brown such a delight in the staid world of ‘90s country music is his aggressively eccentric path. He may wear a cowboy hat like so many of today’s colorless country stars, but it seems to really belong there--it’s not just a prop that comes off at the end of the show.

In albums and on stage, Brown performs engagingly in a ‘40s-minded, honky-tonk style that merges the passionate but formal country tradition of Ernest Tubb with the looser, good-time spirit of Hank Thompson.

Brown shows in “Long Walk Back” that he can still entertain us with his witty guitar licks and surprise us with his choice of musical guests (Jimi Hendrix sidekick Mitch Mitchell sits in on drums) and in his choice of material (remakes of the Elvis Presley movie hit “Rock-A-Hula Baby” and the Connie Francis mini-hit “Looking for Love”).

What is more surprising than the selection of these unlikely tunes, however, is Brown’s failure to do anything interesting with either. Unfortunately, his original material comes off just about as flat. Brown is still more involving than your standard country fare, but his own musical path seems unusually straight this time out.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).