VINTAGE COUNTRY – DIFFERENT
SOUNDS
SOUNDS
New CDs From Marty Robbins and Red
Sovine
Sovine
Among
the newest releases from Bear Family Records are cds from
veteran country music entertainers Marty Robbins and
Red Sovine, both presenting styles different from what they’re
best remembered. The former,
arguably best known
for hardcode country and
gunfighter ballads, is heard here in a more rocking mood while
the latter, the
master of the sentimental narration, shows off his
country roots.
the newest releases from Bear Family Records are cds from
veteran country music entertainers Marty Robbins and
Red Sovine, both presenting styles different from what they’re
best remembered. The former,
arguably best known
for hardcode country and
gunfighter ballads, is heard here in a more rocking mood while
the latter, the
master of the sentimental narration, shows off his
country roots.
MARTY ROBBINS Rocks (Bear Family BCD 17245
AR)
AR)
Jeannie and Johnnie; Grown-Up Tears; Ruby Ann; It’s Driving me
Crazy; Maybelline; Baby’s Gone; Ain’t Life A Crying Shame; You’ve Been So Busy
Baby; Sometimes I’m Tempted; Teenager’s Dad; Long Tall Sally; Respectfully Miss
Brooks; Long Gone Lonesome Blues; Pain And Misery; That’s All Right; Tennessee
Toddy; I’ll Know You’re Gone (& LEE EMERSON); Knee Deep In The Blues; You
Don’t Owe Me A Thing; Mean Mama Blues; Mister Teardrop; Pretty Mama; I Can’t
Quit (I’ve Gone Too Far); Baby, I Need You (Like I Need You); Footprints In The
Snow; Just Married; Teen-Ager Dream; Stairway Of Love; She Was Only Seventeen
(And He Was One Year More)
Crazy; Maybelline; Baby’s Gone; Ain’t Life A Crying Shame; You’ve Been So Busy
Baby; Sometimes I’m Tempted; Teenager’s Dad; Long Tall Sally; Respectfully Miss
Brooks; Long Gone Lonesome Blues; Pain And Misery; That’s All Right; Tennessee
Toddy; I’ll Know You’re Gone (& LEE EMERSON); Knee Deep In The Blues; You
Don’t Owe Me A Thing; Mean Mama Blues; Mister Teardrop; Pretty Mama; I Can’t
Quit (I’ve Gone Too Far); Baby, I Need You (Like I Need You); Footprints In The
Snow; Just Married; Teen-Ager Dream; Stairway Of Love; She Was Only Seventeen
(And He Was One Year More)
Of
course Marty Robbins, besides being a highly original
entertainer, was also a master of many musical moods with his recording taking
in pop standards and Hawaiian songs besides a mass of instantly
familiar country hits and gunfighter ballads. Back in his early recording days,
at a time when rock ‘n’ roll dominated the charts, he also enjoyed several hits
in that genre –
among them That’s All Right, Maybelline, Tennessee Toddy and
Long Tall Sally, though they couldn’t really be described as hardcore
rock ‘n’ roll alongside the likes of Elvis,
Haley or Holly – rather, more rockabilly. Randy Fox, who
wrote the notes in the accompanying 32 page booklet, opinions that Singing
The Blues (this set includes the follow-up, Knee Deep In The
Blues) effectively finished Robbins’ career as rockabilly singer and he
moved on to wider musical endeavours. Nevertheless he made further impact
in the rockabilly market by writing Sugareee, a song that received
several covers and only recorded by Robbins as a live version (and the
concluding track in this collection).
course Marty Robbins, besides being a highly original
entertainer, was also a master of many musical moods with his recording taking
in pop standards and Hawaiian songs besides a mass of instantly
familiar country hits and gunfighter ballads. Back in his early recording days,
at a time when rock ‘n’ roll dominated the charts, he also enjoyed several hits
in that genre –
among them That’s All Right, Maybelline, Tennessee Toddy and
Long Tall Sally, though they couldn’t really be described as hardcore
rock ‘n’ roll alongside the likes of Elvis,
Haley or Holly – rather, more rockabilly. Randy Fox, who
wrote the notes in the accompanying 32 page booklet, opinions that Singing
The Blues (this set includes the follow-up, Knee Deep In The
Blues) effectively finished Robbins’ career as rockabilly singer and he
moved on to wider musical endeavours. Nevertheless he made further impact
in the rockabilly market by writing Sugareee, a song that received
several covers and only recorded by Robbins as a live version (and the
concluding track in this collection).
In
spite of moving on from rockabilly – and breaking through to wider audiences
with such as Ruby Ann, Ain’t Life A Crying Shame and a cover of
Bill Monroe’s Footprints In The Snow –
Marty
Robbins still kept the the new, young generation of record buyers in
mind with such material as She Was Only Seventeen, Jeanie and Johnny, Just
Married and Teenager’s Dad during his early days on
Columbia Records. Complimenting the music, this period of this
iconic entertainer’s career is covered in the accompanying booklet that also
includes photographs and discography.
spite of moving on from rockabilly – and breaking through to wider audiences
with such as Ruby Ann, Ain’t Life A Crying Shame and a cover of
Bill Monroe’s Footprints In The Snow –
Marty
Robbins still kept the the new, young generation of record buyers in
mind with such material as She Was Only Seventeen, Jeanie and Johnny, Just
Married and Teenager’s Dad during his early days on
Columbia Records. Complimenting the music, this period of this
iconic entertainer’s career is covered in the accompanying booklet that also
includes photographs and discography.
RED SOVINE Juke Joint Johnny (Bear Family BCD 17268
AH)
AH)
Okey Dokey; When I Get
Rich; Sundown Sue;
You’re Barking Up The Wrong Tree Now; I’m Gonna Lock My Heart (And Throw Away The Key); The Intoxicated Rat (My Little Rat (1);
I’ll Worry You Out Of My Mind; Billy Goat Boogie; Don’t Worry;
Till Today; It’d Surprise
You; Farewell, So Long, Goodbye; Sixteen Tons; Juke Joint Johnny; I Hope You Don’t
Care; My Little Rat (2); No Thanks, Bartender; You’re Calling Me
Sweetheart; Why Baby Why (& WEBB PIERCE);
Wild Beating Heart; You
Used To Be My Baby; Don’t Drop It; How Do You Think I Feel; Down On The
Corner Of Love; Poor Man’s Riches; Are You Mine; Courtin’ Time In
Tennessee; Hold Everything (Till I Get Home);
Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So); Four Arms; The Cajun
Queen
Rich; Sundown Sue;
You’re Barking Up The Wrong Tree Now; I’m Gonna Lock My Heart (And Throw Away The Key); The Intoxicated Rat (My Little Rat (1);
I’ll Worry You Out Of My Mind; Billy Goat Boogie; Don’t Worry;
Till Today; It’d Surprise
You; Farewell, So Long, Goodbye; Sixteen Tons; Juke Joint Johnny; I Hope You Don’t
Care; My Little Rat (2); No Thanks, Bartender; You’re Calling Me
Sweetheart; Why Baby Why (& WEBB PIERCE);
Wild Beating Heart; You
Used To Be My Baby; Don’t Drop It; How Do You Think I Feel; Down On The
Corner Of Love; Poor Man’s Riches; Are You Mine; Courtin’ Time In
Tennessee; Hold Everything (Till I Get Home);
Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So); Four Arms; The Cajun
Queen
The
latest release in Bear Family’s “Gonna Shake This Shack
Tonight” series spotlights Red Sovine, an artist probably
best-known for his chart-topping narrations Giddyup Go and the CB radio
tear-jerker Teddy Bear, both also giving him pop crossover success. But there was much more
to this Charleston, West Virginia born artist and the 31 tracks
selected here, culled from the MGM and Decca
catalogues, reveals him as a genuine hillbilly singer of the grand order. He did
briefly make waves in the rockabilly market with Juke Joint Johnny, and
the similar styled I Hope You Don’t Care, but these recordings owed
much more to country music than mainstream rock ‘n’ roll. Otherwise Sovine kept
to straight, hardcore country routes – the kind of music that boasted steel
guitar and fiddles. Unfortunately his MGM recordings (which included novelties
like The Intoxicated Rat and Billy Goat Boogie) failed to make
any impression and he wasn’t until Decca, and a pairing with Goldie Hill on
Are You Mine (originally the flipside of Ko
Ko Mo) that he made his chart debut, next came a number one
as he teamed with Webb Pierce on Why Baby Why.
latest release in Bear Family’s “Gonna Shake This Shack
Tonight” series spotlights Red Sovine, an artist probably
best-known for his chart-topping narrations Giddyup Go and the CB radio
tear-jerker Teddy Bear, both also giving him pop crossover success. But there was much more
to this Charleston, West Virginia born artist and the 31 tracks
selected here, culled from the MGM and Decca
catalogues, reveals him as a genuine hillbilly singer of the grand order. He did
briefly make waves in the rockabilly market with Juke Joint Johnny, and
the similar styled I Hope You Don’t Care, but these recordings owed
much more to country music than mainstream rock ‘n’ roll. Otherwise Sovine kept
to straight, hardcore country routes – the kind of music that boasted steel
guitar and fiddles. Unfortunately his MGM recordings (which included novelties
like The Intoxicated Rat and Billy Goat Boogie) failed to make
any impression and he wasn’t until Decca, and a pairing with Goldie Hill on
Are You Mine (originally the flipside of Ko
Ko Mo) that he made his chart debut, next came a number one
as he teamed with Webb Pierce on Why Baby Why.
Presenting a wide range of material that
includes covers of Sixteen Tons, Down On The Corner Of Love
and You Used To Be My Baby, the selection concludes with the nearest to
a narration – the semi-sung The Cajun Queen. Besides being well
representative of Red Sovine’s early career (before becoming
one of the chief hitmakers on Starday Records), the music is
backed up with detailed biography information provided by Randy
Fox in the accompanying 45 page booklet, moving from his childhood
years and initial struggles to his close friendship with Hank
Williams that helped to open up the doorways. There’s also photographs
and a discography.
includes covers of Sixteen Tons, Down On The Corner Of Love
and You Used To Be My Baby, the selection concludes with the nearest to
a narration – the semi-sung The Cajun Queen. Besides being well
representative of Red Sovine’s early career (before becoming
one of the chief hitmakers on Starday Records), the music is
backed up with detailed biography information provided by Randy
Fox in the accompanying 45 page booklet, moving from his childhood
years and initial struggles to his close friendship with Hank
Williams that helped to open up the doorways. There’s also photographs
and a discography.