Are You Happy Baby: Collection

Dottie West | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 18, 1997)
• Original Release Date: November 18, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Razor & Tie
• ASIN: B000002ZC0
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #395,744 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. When It's Just You And Me

2. Every Word I Write

3. Tonight You Belong To Me

4. Everytime Two Fools Collide

5. Come See Me And Come Lonely

6. Anyone Who Isn't Me Tonight

7. Reaching Out To Hold You

8. All I Ever Need Is You

9. Til I Make It On My Own

10. You Pick Me Up (And Put Me Down)

11. A Lesson In Leavin'

12. Leavin's For Unbelievers

13. Are You Happy Baby?

14. What Are We Doin' In Love

15. (I'm Gonna) Put You Back On The Rack

16. It's High Time

17. You're Not Easy To Forget

18. She Can't Get My Love Off The Bed

19. Tulsa Ballroom

20. Together Again

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!, March 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Are You Happy Baby: Collection (Audio CD)

Why oh why has Country Music ignored this wonderful lady? There's some darn good songs in this compilation. There's heartache songs, fun songs, happy songs, cheatin' songs, and everything else. Ms. West does a find job interpreting the rise and fall of her lifetime through her songs and her singing. From the #1 smash in 1980: "Are you Happy Baby?", to the sassy "Lesson In Leavin" these songs have been gone from radio for a long time. WHY? Dottie West was one of the top country vocalists of her time. A living legend whose career spanned nearly thirty decades. Her untimely death at the age of 58 from the car accident has left a void in Country Music that will not be easily filled. Give the CD a listen, you'll be singing along and reminiscing about those days before you know it!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dottie's most popular period, January 9, 2004

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Are You Happy Baby: Collection (Audio CD)

One of my favorite country singers, Dottie spent 14 years with RCA and 7 with United artists. I liked all her music but I liked her RCA work best - however, this is clearly a minority view as the United artists years, represented on this collection, proved to be Dottie's best years in terms of commercial success. This particular collection is apparently out of print but another collection, Absolutely the best, containing 14 of the 20 tracks here, has since been released on the Varese label.

One of the notable features Dottie's career during this period were her duets with Kenny Rogers. They recorded two albums together and another single, although Kenny also recorded duets with Kim Carnes, Sheena Easton and Dolly Parton during this period. On this collection, Kenny duets with Dottie on Every time two fools collide, Anyone who isn't me tonight, All I ever need is you, What are we doing in love and Together again (a cover of a Buck Owens song). The first five of these were all top three country hits, with three of them going all the way to number one.

Dottie had two number one country hits of her own during this period, something she had never achieved during her years at RCA although she came close. A lesson in leaving also made the American pop charts and was more recently revived by Jo Dee Messina. Are you happy baby provide Dottie with her second and last solo number one.

Curiously, none of the other tracks here made the country top ten although many of them made the top twenty. Still, you can't measure records purely by their chart success and there are some great songs here. I particularly like Come see me and come lonely (a lovely ballad) and I'm gonna put you back on the rack (a sassy up-tempo song).

Traditional country fans should explore Dottie's RCA recordings first, represented by the out of print Essential and the more recent Country lends. The recordings on this collection are more pop sounding but still essentially country. If you enjoy contemporary country, you will surely enjoy this. If you can't buy this, go for the Varese collection. At 14 tracks, it's a little short but it contains all the important tracks. Of those I've mentioned here, only Together again is missing from that set.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dottie West: The "Shania" of the 70's and 80's!, May 9, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Are You Happy Baby: Collection (Audio CD)

Before the days of Shania Twain, Pam Tillis, and other country beauty queens, there was Dottie West. This woman was the first true groundbreaker of Country Music with saucy, suggestive lyrics, and a sassy, husky style. There's some good tunes on this CD, and it's hardly surprising that many of today's leading ladies of Country cite Dottie as one of their influences. JoDee Messina revived Dottie's "Lesson in Leavin", stalling just short of #1. Personally, I think there should be a tribute album done in memory of this lovely lady. The songs on this CD range from happy to sad, melancholic to jazzy and everything in between. What's probably most notable is the fact that these songs really haven't aged that much. The lyrics to "Lesson in Leavin'" and "Are You Happy Baby" (both #1) are timeless. Perhaps Dottie's music was a little ahead of its time. I don't understand how someone who had such an impact on country music has not had ANY of her studio albums re-issued on CD. I've been saying for years that her two biggest LP's "Wild West" and "Special Delivery" need to be remastered and re-issued in all their glory. By far, these were Dottie's best years. Although this set is currently out of print, it might still be kicking around in some places. A darn shame too, since a whole new generation is disovering Dottie's music. Give it a listen and see why Dottie West was Country Music's first Shania Twain!