There was a time when country legend Vin Bruce contemplated quitting the music biz. Now the septuagenarian doesn’t know the meaning of “quit,” the word, especially when it comes to logging time in the recording studio. This latest effort marks his third in as many years. Though Bruce’s discography boasts numerous French recordings, he still prefers the ’50s era of country music that launched him to Nashville and Columbia Records in 1951.

So, understandably, vintage country is what’s mostly on tap here. With swirling steel guitars, woodsy fiddles and plinkety-plink pianos, Bruce, with his own inimitable touch of class, revives forgotten chestnuts from Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb and Johnny Bond. Not to be overshadowed, Bruce dusts off one of his biggest English-sung hits ever, “Garden of Love,” that, inexplicably, has never been re-released.

Even better than the material he chooses is the fact that he still retains those signature smooth, velvety baritone pipes that have historically drawn comparisons to Jim Reeves, whom he also covers here. With no shortage of vocal finesse, Bruce can go soft and tender one moment only to come roaring back with deeply resonating bass notes the next.

Yet, as much as this is a retro look at country music as it existed in the ’50s, in other ways the proceedings usher in a slightly new Bruce. Three songs, including a respectable rendition of Pat Boone’s made-for-prom-night “Love Letters in the Sand,” are actually swamp poppers, marking the first time Bruce has ever recorded with horns.

If it’s crooning a song written last year or a half-century ago, the artist still known as Vin Bruce never ages.