Helpful votes received on reviews:
94% (47 of 50)
Location: Sanatoga, PA USA
In My Own Words:
I am a technical writer by day and have contributed regularly to a national music publication since 1991.
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Reviews
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40 #1 Hits is just what its name implies: forty Country chart-topping Merle Haggard singles from 1967's "Branded Man" to '87's "Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star." Possessing a voice that was smooth as cream in his youth, Haggard's greatest strength ultimately lie in the breadth of his palette. We find home-spun sentimentality ("Daddy Frank"), blue-collar pride ("Working Man Blues"), flag waving ("Okie From Muskogee," which he wrote as a joke) and outlawry. "Sing Me Back Home" stems from a prison buddy's execution after a guard was killed in an escape attempt Hag didn't join. The banjo in "The Legend Of Bonnie And Clyde" creates a link with Earl Scruggs' "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" runs in… Read more
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Amid his flurry of reissues, Ultimate Waylon Jennings presents 22 top-10 country hits including 14 number ones. It starts with '68's "Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line," recorded before he wrestled the then-revolutionary right to produce his own records with his own band. It ends with 1987's "Rose In Paradise," along the way showing braggadocio ("I'm A Rambling Man," "Are You Ready For The Country"), wounded vulnerability ("Just To Satisfy You," a duet with Willie Nelson) and even a laugh at the oeuvre he pioneered ("Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out Of Hand"). A protégé of Buddy Holly, he was rooted in the Southwest - which had fewer musical boundaries than… Read more
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Flashes Of Fire's 25 diverse, brightly remastered tracks reach from a live '62 "Greenback Dollar" (later covered by the Kingston Trio) to 1990's whimsical "Fearless The Wonder Dog." For all the rock hits he penned (Three Dog Night's "Joy To The World" and "Never Been To Spain," Ringo Starr's "No No Song"), Hoyt Axton's albums and singles surprisingly never cracked Pop's top 40 - only Country's - though his literate, left-of-center writing was as far from mainstream country as it could get. A wide range of artists such as Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby and David Crosby were among those who covered him. In the drug-hazy '60s and '70s, Axton's anti-drug songs never seemed… Read more
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