Customer Reviews

B.J. Thomas - Greatest Hits

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From 1966 to 1977, B J Thomas turned out one beautiful song after another, enjoying tremendous success on both the pop and country sides of the house. This excellent collection includes everything from 1966 through 1975, featuring 13 top forty hits, 5 top tens and two number ones, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" and "(Hey) Won't You Play Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song."

B J wasn't a mainstream rocker and, to his credit, he didn't try to be. He knew where his strength was and stuck to it; gentle, catchy melodies, heart-felt, insightful lyrics and a dramatic, genuine delivery that gave his music more power than any number of guitars, keyboards or amps could provide.

The closest he got to true rock was 1968's number five charting hit "Hooked on a Feeling," which six years later became a mainstream rock hit for Blue Swede.

B J's songs were bittersweet but hopeful, tugging at the heart but leaving a quiet smile on the lips. Songs like "I Just Can't Help Believing", "Most of All" and the marvelous "Rock and Roll Lullabye" reveal a reverence for love and love of life that were almost naive but, through his songs, became very real and very believable. Even songs like the profound and powerful "No Love At All" glow with an emotional sincerity that was becoming rare as the pop/rock movement became increasingly more commercialized and prefabricated.

The only way that Rhino could have improved on this collection would have been by including 1977s "Don't Worry Baby", a very good cover of the Beach Boys single. But, that's nitpicking. As always, their mastering is excellent and the sound quality spectacular.

B J Thomas' Greatest Hits is a wonderful collection of gentle, appealing music that will delight the ears and warm the heart. Don't miss it!

His most famous song, the Bacharach-David "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" (his first hit after a year off the charts) was the No. 1 song of 1970 and probably the song B.J. Thomas is most identified with. It would go on to sell over a millions copies, as did two of his other hits--"Hooked On a Feeling" (which would sell another million copies when Blue Swede returned it to the charts in 1974) and "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song."

His other hits are here, too: the Hank Williams weeper "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," the upbeat "I Just Can't Help Believing" and the best song the Beach Boys never recorded, "Rock And Roll Lullaby." [According to the liner notes, they had Brian Wilson signed up to sing background, but when he didn't show they went with a soundalike group to marvelous effect and ended up with perhaps the finest song of his career.]

The only hit missing from this collection is 1977's Beach Boy cover "Don't Worry Baby." [Evidently Rhino couldn't swing a deal with MCA.] But each of his other thirteen Top 40 hits are here, including the gospel-influenced "Mighty Clouds of Joy," which would point the way for Thomas' born-again Christian albums which would earn him five Grammys in the late Seventies and early Eighties. But the songs on this collection are the ones that defined his career and belong in any serious music fan's library. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Lacks only a few minor hits between 1965 - 75, but all the best-loved songs are here, in their original versions. Too bad that his last few charting singles, of which one, "Don't Worry Baby," went to #17, were omitted, but fans of Thomas will be satisfied with this fine CD.

This CD is a great treat for all of B. J.'s fans. It has most of his hits on there from his 'pop' era including 'Raindrops' and shows his great voice range. The only small drawback is the quality of a couple of the older cuts.... there seems to be a distinct audio level difference (they go from softer to louder between 'MAMA' and the next cut).

B.J. Thomas has performed lots of great songs; and this CD has a good amount of his best music on it. Even though a track or two was left out (for example, "Don't Worry Baby") my only real complaint is that on a few tracks the sound is a bit tinny and I find that to be disappointing. However, the songs themselves are quality music and there's not a dud in the bunch when you factor out the poor transfer of three or four songs onto this eighteen track disc.

The album starts with the melancholy yet sweet "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" is a beautiful tune with which to start the album; but the sound of the music that accompanies B.J.'s vocals is tinny and it simply doesn't sound as clear as a digital recording should sound. Ouch! That's a shame. On the bright side, however, B.J. sings his heart out and the sound of his voice comes across clear and I love that part of this track. "Mama" has a beautiful arrangement and B.J. sings this really well; and listen for other sublime tracks including "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love With You;" a major hit entitled "Hooked On a Feeling;" "It's Only Love" with some excellent percussion and tempo changes that B.J. handles like a pro; his classic "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head;" "Everybody's Out of Town" with that creative musical arrangement; the gorgeous "I Just Can't Help Believing;" "Most of All;" "Mighty Clouds of Joy" and "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song."

The CD includes four bonus tracks: ""Bring Back the Time" which boasts a fine arrangement although on this track, too, the sound just doesn't sound smooth; "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)" with some mighty fine backup to enhance this number; "Pass the Apple Eve" and "Long Ago Tomorrow."

This is certainly a fine selection of songs but with the sound problems here and there throughout the disc I can't eagerly recommend it for B.J. fans. Yes, it's good music; but with three or four tracks transferred so poorly to CD it becomes a mixed bag album that ranks a very average three stars (or maybe even two and one-half stars). That's quite a shame because B.J.'s talent is so special.

Record store owners have a difficult time trying to figure out where to place B.J. Thomas CDs. Sometimes you find in him the Country section, other times in the pop area. And that pretty well sums up his career - something like that of Sandy Posey and Brenda Lee before him.

Someone listening to his songs would likely say country right off the bat. And yet, from his first charted hit in 1966 up to 1975's (Hey, Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song [# 1 on each of the Country, Billboard Pop Hot 100, and Adult Contemporary (AC) charts], all 20 of his hit singles scored only on the Hot 100 and, beginning in 1969, the AC charts.

That includes the very definitely Country (and a Hank Williams standard) I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, which was his first hit for Sceptor and a # 8 Hot 100 in March/April 1966, Billy And Sue [recorded in 1964 and released then on both the Bragg and Warner labels before becoming a 1966 # 34 Hot 100 hit on the Hickory label in the summer of 1966 credited to B.J. Thomas And The Triumphs], Tomorrow Never Comes [# 80 Hot 100 in late 1966], and I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You}, another Williams tune that reached # 94 Hot 100 in May 1967.

Not even Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head [# 1 Hot 100 and AC in late 1969] could dent the Country charts. But then, from 1975 to his last charter in 1986 (Night Life- # 59 Country] just four of his 16 hits would make the Hot 100, although 12 would score on the related AC charts. A very strange sequence of events matched only by Posey and Lee as mentioned above. In total he would have 26 Hot 100, 24 AC, and 16 Country hits.

In this excellent AAD set from Rhino you get 18 of those Hot 100 hits along with five pages of liner notes by Todd Everett which, among other things, relates a fascinating story behind the making of one of my all-time favourite B.J. Thomas hits, Rock And Roll Lullaby [# 1 AC and # 15 Hot 100 in early 1972]. There are also several more photos of Thomas, and a partial discography of the contents showing original label numbers and dates, but no chart details.

Highly recommended.

I was disappointed with the quality of the recording on this CD. I used to have just about every record by this artist and honestly I think the records had better sound than some of these transferred to CD. His music is good, but I expected a better sound now that they have it on disc. I have other CDs I have bought to replace albums that have been fantastic, this wasn't one of them.

A great CD by B J Thomas, it bought back a lot of memories for me.

We went to see B. J. in Renfro Valley Ky and it refreshed our memory of him and his great mmusic so ordered this and we are delighted by the songs and music. Sounds great and has really great songs on it. We recommend this to any folks of the over the hill type who remember this type of music and for the younger generation who have never experienced the greart music we had growing up.

This is a great CD!! It has all of his greatest hits and they all sound so good and bring back so many good memories!! I highly recommend this CD!!