Category Archives: Reissue

Various Artists: Rock ‘n’ Roll Bell Ringers

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Period covers of ‘50s rock and R&B

The modern-day music market teems with cover albums featuring past-their-prime artists attempting to re-create their hit singles; there are often passed off with misleading cover art that fails to indicate these are re-recordings. But once upon a time covering other people’s hits was more of an art form, adding dashes of new creativity even as the copy rode the coattails of someone else’s stardom onto the charts. These twenty-six singles were originally released on the Bell label as covers of 1950s R&B and rock classics, with band arrangements that are polished and expertly played. A few of the top-line names, such as Sy Oliver, Edna McGriff and Jimmy Carroll will be familiar, as will be some of the ace New York session players, including Billy Mure, Al Caiola and Charlie Shavers.

The song selections will be familiar to anyone who’s heard a ‘50s hit collection, but the singers will mostly draw question marks. Jim Brown won’t make you forget Chuck Berry as he sings “Maybellene,” but hot guitar licks and a rousing sax solo signal that there’s top-flight talent on board, and Edna McGriff’s version of Lee Hazelwood’s “The Fool” is more hit parade than Sanford Clark’s rockabilly original, but it still packs a punch. The low twang, heavy sax and rolling piano of Jimmy Carroll’s “Big Guitar” fits into the Las Vegas Grind genre, and though Johnny Newton never became a household name, he sounds right at home on the Impalas’ “Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home).” The album closes with Tom & Jerry (soon to be known as Simon & Garfunkel) covering Jan & Dean’s pre-surf hit “Baby Talk.”

The Bell label specialized in quickie covers sold at a low price; but even in their hurry to beat an original single to the charts, they lavished a surprising amount of attention on these recordings. The arrangements, bands and recordings often outstrip the talent of the singers they could round up, but there’s a quality to these sides, and an authenticity of era, that greatly surpasses the middling results of current labels recreating 50 year old hits. These are no substitute for the originals, but given the mechanics of the record industry at the time and the passage of decades, they’ve gained an historical patina that elevates them beyond cheap knock-offs. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

Elvis Presley: Elvis 75- Good Rockin’ Tonight

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4-CD anthology shines as brightly as a King’s crown

Elvis was not only the king of Rock ‘n’ Roll (Little Richard’s claim on the crown notwithstanding), but in his afterlife he has also become the undisputed king of reissues and anthologies. RCA’s four-CD set, spanning from his earliest self-funded acetates through late home recordings and live sides, his last major studio works and a post-mortem remix, offers no new tracks for Presley’s legions of collectors, but provides a superb introduction and deep overview for anyone who’s heard about, rather than heard, the King. Those who know a few hits or have sat through an Elvis movie or two will find the greatness of his musical catalog measures up to the hype and explains the dedication of his most ardent fans.

Collected here are one hundred tracks, beginning with Presley’s very first recording, “My Happiness,” waxed on his own dime as a gift for his mother. His earliest commercial sides show how he forged hillbilly, blues and country roots into his personal strand of rock ‘n’ roll, first for Sun with Scotty Moore and Bill Black, and then, with the addition of D.J. Fontana on drums and A-list guests like Floyd Cramer and Chet Atkins, for RCA. These early works aren’t so much primitive as they are elemental – the lack of production pomp or circumstance presents Elvis as an unadorned and raw rock ‘n’ roll spirit. The addition of a backing vocal trio, as can first be heard on 1956’s “I Was the One,” showed a crooning side of Elvis that would continue to reappear even as he continued to explore rockabilly and blues.

From the 50s through the 70s Elvis moved through a variety of producer’s hands and a number of different studios, and got something different from each. His studio recordings took him from Memphis to Nashville, north to New York, west to Hollywood, back to Nashville where he worked in RCA’s legendary Studio B and back to Memphis for his legendary late-60s sessions at Chip Moman’s American Studios. By the early ‘70s, on the heels of his televised comeback special, Elvis once again became a live draw, and selected sides find him in Las Vegas, Honolulu and on the road in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Elvis waxed his share of clunkers, but with each new direction and in each new setting he seemed to record something worthwhile, and producer Ernst Mikael Jorgensen has done a masterful job of picking highlights.

More importantly, Jorgensen has intermixed iconic hits with lesser known singles and album tracks, showing the depth of Elvis’ artistry and the catalog he created. Elvis often overwhelmed the charts with hit singles, leaving terrific performances such as the energized “One-Sided Love Affair,” a bluesy cover of Lloyd Price’s “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” and the gospel “Thrill of Your Love” to languish as album tracks. Even more surprising is a 1962 version of “Suspicion” that pre-dates Terry Stafford’s hit by two years. Elvis’ soundtracks included their share of dregs, particularly as the ‘60s wore on, but they also included hits and great album tracks like a scorching version of “Trouble” from King Creole and bluesy covers of Dylan’s “Tomorrow is a Long Time” from Spinout and Jimmy Reed’s “Big Boss Man” from Clambake.

While other artists reinvented themselves to fit the times, Elvis bent the times around himself (excepting “Yoga is as Yoga Does,” thankfully not included here), staying true to his voice as everything around him changed. His producers, songwriters, and musicians kept turning over, but in the center of it all Elvis sang a surprisingly straight line from ’53 to ‘77. Even as his voice matured and the productions were influenced by his Vegas stage show, the fire in his delivery remained. Whether singing rock, blues, country, soul, pop or gospel, his performances found a true line stretched from the Sun sessions through RCA studios in Nashville, New York and Hollywood, a stint in the army, a catalog of often mediocre films, his 1968 resurrection, a triumphant return to Memphis, and country sessions that brought him back to his roots.

For many listeners, disc four will be the least familiar. Covering 1970 through 1977, these selections find Elvis’ singles charting lower, but still delivering the goods. Only “Burning Love” made the top-5, and his other top-10 from that stretch, “The Wonder of You,” is not included. “An American Trilogy,” is at once bombastic and utterly show-stopping, his version of “Always on My Mind” made the country charts but should have found cross-over success before Willie Nelson ten years later, and his last single, “Way Down,” though given to ‘70s production sounds, finds his gospel fervor undimmed. The beat heavy remix of “A Little Less Conversation” that closes the set shows just how easily Elvis’ voice could slide into new contexts (the original film performance from Live a Little, Love a Little is worth searching out on DVD, by the way). These hundred tracks aren’t a complete run through every Elvis highlight, but they tell the entire arc of his musical career in a compelling and thorough way.

The box includes an 80-page booklet that features a biographical essay by Billy Altman, numerous photos, reproductions of original record labels, covers and picture sleeves, movie posters, master tape boxes, and detailed recording, chart and personnel data. RCA/Legacy is releasing a companion 26-track single disc that cherry-picks this box, and though it may prove useful as a guide to further Elvis purchases, it doesn’t provide the compelling, detailed portrait of this four-disc set. With more Elvis 75th-birthday anniversary reissues on the way (and a terrific 2-CD version of From Elvis in Memphis already out) you may be tempted to put together your own collection, but you’d have a hard time assembling a more compelling introduction than this box. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

Darlene Love: Songs of Love

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Too short anthology of Darlene Love’s greatness

There’s no arguing that all five of these Darlene Love-sung tunes are classics, but the brief 13-minute running time barely scratches the surface of the singer’s greatness. Collected here are her two hits as lead vocalist of the Los Angeles edition of the Crystals, including their iconic, chart-topping rendition of Gene Pitney’s “He’s a Rebel” and the follow-up “He’s Sure the Boy I Love.” Both were issued under the Crystals’ name, though they were in fact Love and her group the Blossoms doing the singing. “He’s a Rebel” broached new lyrical territory with its depiction of wayward youth, and though the follow-up wasn’t as daring, the warmth of Love’s vocal is a perfect match for Mann & Weil’s lyrics.

Love continued to score with hits under her own name, starting with “(Today I Met) The Boy I’m Gonna Marry.” Framed by church bells and backing vocals, Love’s vocal is love-struck and nearly tearful in its undying devotion. It’s hard to believe this barely cracked the Top 40 at #39. Her next single “Wait ‘til My Bobby Gets Home” is a jaunty brush off, and the closing “A Fine, Fine Boy,” though the weakest of the five songs here, shows how Love could blend the exaltations of her church choir background into a pop song. What’s missing from this collection is substantial; for example, no collection of Love’s music is complete without Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans’ “Not Too Young to Get Married” and her seasonal, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”

Bottom line: five classic, original Love/Spector recordings, but this set is too short. Better is the out-of-print 1992 ABKCO CD The Best of Darlene Love (available for download at a bargain price on the Jukebox Joy label), or Phil Spector collections such as Back to Mono, The Phil Spector Collection, and the recent reissue of A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector. With any luck, this is just a teaser for a full line of artist-centric reissues of Phil Spector’s classic productions. Hopefully Darlene Love’s volume will be in the first batch! [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

Isaac Hayes: Sings for Lovers

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Stax soul man sings songs for sexy lovers

Concord’s “For Lovers” series features catalog selections from vocalists and instrumentalists that exploring the joys and heartbreaks of love. Singer, songwriter, instrumentalist and producer Isaac Hayes proves himself a natural fit for this series with this hand-picked set of soulful originals and drastically reinterpreted covers. The latter includes a dramatic reading of Bacharach and David’s “The Look of Love,” pared from the album’s original 11-minute production to the single’s lyrically-focused 3’19; even more impressive is Hayes’ reconstruction of David Gates’ soft-rock hit “Baby I’m-a-Want You” into a Stax-styled mid-tempo soul tune.

Hayes works a similar magic on The Carpenters’ “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” reproduced here at its full nine-minute album length with lyrics stretched across romantic orchestrations, and a duet with David Porter gives a Sam and Dave spin to Johnnie Taylor’s hit, “Ain’t That Lovin’ You (For More Reasons Than One).” Highlights of Hayes’ originals include the string introduction and carnal vocal of “Joy (Part 1),” the light funk “I Can’t Turn Around,” and the thoughtful “Let’s Don’t Ever Blow Our Thing.” With only eleven tracks clocking in at fifty-eight minutes, there was room here for a few more items, such as the hit singles “Walk on By” and “Never Can Say Goodbye.”

Those only familiar with Hayes’ early classics, Hot Buttered Soul and Black Moses, will discover some new sides here. Several of these tracks are cherry-picked from post-Shaft albums of the mid-70s, including Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak) and Chocolate Chip, giving listeners a taste of Hayes’ post-peak work without having to pick through entire albums. Four other tracks are selected from the 2006 collection Wonderful, which anthologized earlier non-LP singles and compilation cuts. None of these provide a full substitute for the early full-length LPs, but the selections provide a good helping of soulful love without having to wade past through the mid-70s disco inflections. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

Ray Charles: Sings for Lovers

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Brother Ray sings the highs and lows of love

Concord’s “For Lovers” series features catalog selections from vocalists and instrumentalists exploring the joys and heartaches of love. Singer-pianist Ray Charles is a natural fit for this series, with his soulful vocal delivery, emotional playing, sophisticated arrangements and broad appetite for material. These sixteen tracks are drawn from his post-Atlantic pop recordings, with nearly half dating back to his first few years on ABC. The rest are drawn from the late-60s through the mid-70s, and skipping over his late-70s return to Atlantic there’s a 1993 cover of Leon Russell’s “A Song for You” and a 2006 re-orchestration of his 1970s cover of the Gershwins’ “How Long Has This Been Going On.”

Producer Nick Phillips mixes iconic hit singles “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “You Don’t Know Me,” “Ruby,” and “Here We Go Again” with lower charting entries, the seasonal favorite “Baby, It’s Cold Outside (sung in duet with Betty Carter) and intelligently selected album tracks. It’s the latter – the lesser-known picks – that make this collection unique. Highlights include a version of Meredith Wilson’s “Till There Was You” that’s so soulful, it’s hard to match it with Paul McCartney’s sugar sweet rendition on With the Beatles, and his intimate reading of the Gershwin’s “Love is Here to Stay” features a terrific piano solo within Sid Feller’s restrained arrangement.

The broad range of Charles’ musicality is represented in selections from jazz player Don Redman, country artists Don Gibson, Red Steagall, and Eddy Arnold, tin-pan alley scribes Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Mitchell Parish, and George and Ira Gershwin, pop writers Leon Russell, George Harrison, and Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, and theater and film composers Meredith Wilson, Victor Young, Ned Washington and Heinz Roemheld. The latter’s “Ruby,” which riginally appeared in the 1952 film Ruby Gentry, was recorded by Coleman Hawkins and Oscar Peterson, and brought to its greatest prominence with this yearning, hopeful-yet-wary 1961 recording. Across these selections, Charles is variously backed by orchestra and chorus, strings, horns, and piano and organ-led jazz combos.

With more of Charles’ catalog appearing on download services, you might opt to put together your own collection of his love-related songs. But unless you’re deeply familiar with his catalog you’d miss some of the selections Phillips includes here. Charles won a Grammy® for his cover of Leon Russell’s “A Song For You,” but sixteen-years later you might have forgotten how poignant it sounds in Charles experienced, 63-year-old hands, and the album track “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” shows a delicate jazz chemistry between Charles and Betty Carter that’s buried by the annual revival of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” This is finely programmed set that’s a nice spin for those who want to hear a side of Ray Charles beyond the hits. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

OST: Pirate Radio

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OST_PirateRadioThe better-known sounds of 1960s UK pirate radio

Ever since George Lucas built American Graffitti around its ever-present soundtrack, filmmakers have used vintage music as a shorthand to quickly evoke a specific period. In this film’s fictionalized version of 1960s UK pirate radio, the nostalgic selections are in many ways the central character. Driven by monopolistic, government controlled radio’s narrowness, daring entrepreneurs anchored ships outside territorial waters where they could beam their signals back to the Emerald Isles. Those radio waves were stocked with fresh, daring new artists that the BBC wouldn’t touch. Forty years later, the music on this 2-CD, 32-track collection may seem quaint and familiar, but it caused quite a stir at the time.

While the Beatles-led British Invasion suggests that musical travel was all in one direction, the heavy dose of U.S. rock and soul sides heard here suggests otherwise. There are many U.K. flag bearers among the pirate radio favorites, including the Kinks, Who, Troggs, Hollies, Tremeloes, Procol Harum and Moody Blues, but also a rip tide of U.S. acts whose impact returned the favor, including the Turtles, Beach Boys, Martha and the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and Otis Redding. Star acts like the Rolling Stones are missing (no doubt due to licensing cost), but more importantly are the lesser known British acts that gave pirate radio its local flavor. The one nod in this direction is the Bystanders’ version of “98.6,” which shadowed the bigger international hit by Keith on the UK charts.

British favorites like Sandie Shaw, the Pretty Things, Small Faces and Ivy League, and dozens of other acts that never made a big dent in the American charts would have given this set a deeper feel for the pirate radio charts. The stations’ breadth is suggested in Herb Alpert’s “This Guy’s in Love With You,” but even that doesn’t capture the freedom of a station like Radio Caroline that used Jimmy McGriff’s version of “Round Midnight” as its theme song. The lead-off cover of “Stay With Me Baby” by the throwback vocalist Duffy seems to be an attempt to draw attention to an album of 45-year-old music, but with Lorraine Ellison’s searing period original also included, the flavor-of-the-month cover is superfluous.

The track selections stay too close to the mainstream to really demonstrate pirate radio’s unique contribution to the airwaves. The lack of radio continuity – jingles and DJs – further obscures the actual sound of the pirates. There are moments of musical discovery here, such as Chris Andrews’ ska-influenced “Yesterday Man,” Jr. Walker and the All Stars’ dark instrumental “Cleo’s Mood,” and aforementioned tracks by the Bystanders and Lorraine Ellison, but the core tracks are well-worn totems of mid-60s rock and soul. For U.S. audiences, these songs American top-40 hits, so while they’re great listening, they don’t really say anything particular about UK pirate radio of the 1960s.

If you enjoyed the songs in the movie, and you don’t already have a deep collection of ‘60s classics, you’ll like this soundtrack. If you want to hear a broader, more Eurocentric range of pirate radio music, get a copy of 101 Pirate Radio Favorites, Rockin’ With the Pirates, or We Love the Pirates. Or better yet, create your own compilation from the vintage playlists on Caroline and London’s websites and add some continuity from the CD Pirate Radio Jingles Sixties. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

Various Artists: The Shangri-Las & The Girl Group Sound

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Various_ShangriLasAndTheGirlGroupSoundExtensive girl group collection with little provenance

70 tracks, all of which seem to be original, many or all remastered from vinyl. There’s some surface noise, pops and clicks, and passing moments of groove distortion, but they don’t detract from the enjoyment of spinning this collection of girl group classics and rarities. Among the best-known are original sides from the Shangri-Las that Goldenlane seems to have leased at a very agreeable price (see their accompanying Shangri-Las set, The Complete Collection), the Murmaids’ “Popsicles and Icicles,” and the Chiffons’ brilliantly ecstatic “I Have a Boyfriend.” Many of the other sides here will be familiar to girl group collectors, but for those who only know the Shirelles, Ronettes, Crystals and Shangri-Las, there are some great rarities awaiting you.

Among the more traditional girl group tracks are the Coupons’ infectious “Turn Her Down” and the Cinderellas’ “Baby Baby (I Still Love You),” a pair that will be familiar to fans of April March’s late-80s group, The Pussywillows. Other highlights include The Aprils’ soaring and soulful “Precious Love,” the Marvelettes-styled “Mary Ann” by Honey Love & the Love Notes, the Blue Cat/Red Bird single “Dum Dum Ditty” by the Goodies, the Phil Spectorish “Oo Chang-A-Lang” by the Orchids and “I Love Him” by the Castanets, Betty Hope’s call-and-response “Just a Little Bit More,” the Shangri-Las styled drama “Nightmare” by the Whyte Boots, the Puppets’ bad attitude on “Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heart” and the British Invasion pop of Donovan’s “You Just Gotta Know My Mind” as sung by Karen Verros.

But this set isn’t all pop, as there are brassy sides like Shirley’s “Big Boss Man,” and a twangy cover of Willie Cobbs’ classic blues “You Don’t Love Me” sung coolly by the Starlets. There’s mid-60s psych by Manuela and Drafi on the German/English “Take it Easy” and an acid-drenched cover of the American Breed’s “Bend Me, Shape Me” by the Models. Folk-rock is heard in the Termites cover of the Stones’ “Tell Me” and the Chymes’ “Quite a Reputation,” and Merrilee Rush, a few years ahead of her chart hit “Angel of the Morning,” sings the tough “It’s All Right.” There’s Collins’ Kids-styled rockabilly, garage punk, and even a side by Trik and the Paramounts that sounds like Nico with the Velvet Underground!

A few novelty tunes also make the cut, such as the Belles’ rewrite of “Gloria” as “Melvin,” the Beatles reply “I’ll Let You Hold My Hand” by the Bootles, and Judy Carne’s Laugh-In inspired “Sock it to Me.” It’s not 100% hits or would-be hits, but the number of excellent tunes here is almost numbing in its intensity. For a record label that’s been known to substitute re-makes for originals, this is a big step forward in presenting original recordings. What would send this set over the top would be well researched liner notes and photos that provide provenance for the wealth of obscure cuts included here. But given the price for seventy tracks, it’s hard to complain. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

Billy Mure: Songs of Hank Williams

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BillyMure_SongsOfHankWilliams1960s instrumental covers of Hank Williams hits

Billy Mure is a first-rate studio guitarist, as well as a composer, arranger and band leader. His instrumental albums of the 1950s, including Supersonic Guitars in Hi-Fi are prized by space-age bachelor-pad music fans for their multi-tracked arrangements and multiply overdubbed instruments, and starting with 1958’s Fireworks, their broad “Living Stereo” soundstage. Mure worked behind the scenes as well, providing arrangements for pop hits like “Do You Wanna Dance?” and “Bobby’s Girl,” as well as the Beatles knock-off, The Nutty Squirrels. This 1960s entry in Mure’s catalog features a dozen instrumental arrangements of songs written or made famous by Hank Williams.

Though the album is credited to Billy Mure’s Guitar and Orchestra, the “Orchestra” is more a matter of Mure’s layering than the use of strings, woodwinds or brass. Mure’s guitars blaze as he overdubs dazzling lead lines atop rhythm playing; the bass and drums add a rock ‘n’ roll backbeat, and the wordless voices suggest Esquivel; amid the overdubbing and vocalizing, however, Mure’s guitar remains the star. Pop instrumental collectors and fans of Hank Williams will each enjoy this trip through a dozen country classics turned easy listening gold. The only disappointment is the short running time of twenty-four minutes; this would have paired nicely with one of Mure’s many other unreleased albums. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

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Shelly West: The Very Best Of

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ShellyWest_TheVeryBestOfSolo sides from mid-80s country hit maker

Shelly West, the daughter of country legend Dottie West, had a run of hits from the early to mid-80s, most notably in duet with David Frizzell, but also as a solo act. Her pairings with Frizzell are anthologized on the separate collection The Very Best of David Frizzell & Shelly West, leaving this set to present her solo sides. Included are nine singles running from 1983’s “Jose Cuervo” through 1985’s “Now There’s You.” Also included is the B-side “Sexy Side” and four album tracks; missing are her last two singles from 1986, “What Would You Do” and “Love Don’t Come Any Better Than This.” These are all original recordings from the Warner/Viva label, just as listeners will remember have heard them on radio in the 1980s.

West’s voice is powerful, but producer Snuff Garrett (who’d made his name with pop acts like Gary Lewis, Bobby Vee and Cher) vacillated between styled arrangements of steel guitar, fiddle and bent-note piano, and pop productions filled with studio-tuned drums and crystalline guitars. These sounds fit easily into early ‘80s country radio playlists that featured Barbara Mandrell, Ronnie Milsap, Anne Murray and others, but in retrospect they sound overly processed and polished. West bowed out of the music industry in 1986 just as the neo-traditionalists were stripping away much of Nashville’s crossover gloss, so we’ll never really know how her huskily powerful voice would have sounded without the studio-contrived production.

There are twangy tunes in “Jose Cuervo,” “Somebody Buy This Cowgirl a Beer,” “I’ll Dance the Two Step” and “Now There’s You,” but many of the collection’s country lyrics are undermined by heavy-handed crossover arrangements whose country instrumentation is little more than ornamentation. “Flight 309 to Tennessee” is marred by flecks of power guitar chords, tuned drums and by-the-numbers strings. West is more of a crooner than a roots singer, and combined with Garrett’s production, these singles are often more adult contemporary than country. Taken on the premise that these records didn’t intend to draw heavily on country music’s roots, fans of early ‘80s country will be happy to have these original sides available on CD. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

Kenny Rogers: The First 50 Years

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KennyRogers_TheFirst50YearsExcellent 3-CD collection divided into duets, stories and love songs

Time Life’s 3-CD, 45-song set includes most of the hits you’d expect, but presents them in an original order. Rather than dividing Rogers’ career into eras (pre-fame doo wop and jazz groups, New Christy Minstrels, First Edition, solo success), the discs each present a facet of his artistry: duets, stories and love songs. It’s an interesting way to listen to Rogers’ catalog, focusing first on the flexibility with which he partnered with a diverse range of country, pop and soul stars that include Dolly Parton, Sheena Easton, Gladys Knight and Kim Carnes. Disc two demonstrates Rogers’ talent for telling dramatic and humorous stories, bringing characters to life in well-known country and pop hits and lesser-known album tracks like Mickey Newbury’s “San Francisco Mabel Joy.”

Disc 3 looks at Rogers’ way with a love song, which typically found him singing ballads and moving from country to pop. Rogers was particularly successful in this vein in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s with hits that include “She Believes in Me,” “You Decorated My Life” and “Lady,” and also found success with mid-tempo numbers like “Love Will Turn You Around.” Most of Rogers’ biggest hits are here, stretching from the First Edition’s “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” through his most recent #1, “Buy Me a Rose,” with Alison Krauss and Billy Dean, and his most recent chart entry, “Calling Me,” with Don Henley. There are only a few missing chart-toppers, “Daytime Friends,” “Love or Something Like It,” “Share Your Love With Me” and “Tomb of the Unknown Love.”

If you’re after the hits, you might prefer 42 Ultimate Hits, but if you want to get an overall sense of Rogers’ artistry in a very listenable program, this is an excellent package. Fans will find three new recordings here, one on each disc, including a duet with Dolly Parton, “Tell Me That You Love Me,” that’s good enough to be Rogers’ next hit, a cover of Lionel Richie’s “Goodbye,” and the love song “Loving You is a Natural Thing to Do.” The discs are packaged in a 5.5 x 10-inch cardboard folder that slips inside a sleeve. The 24-page booklet includes photos, excellent notes by Colin Escott, and chart details. This is a good buy for anyone who loves Rogers’ music but hasn’t upgraded their vinyl to CD, and would make a nice gift. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

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