The Best of Patsy Montana

Patsy Montana | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 10, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Collector's Choice
• ASIN: B00005LN3X
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #196,830 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart

2. Gold Coast Express

3. The She Buckaroo

4. The Wheel of the Wagon Is Broken

5. Lone Star

6. Woman's Answer to Nobody's Darling

7. Echoes from the Hills

8. Pride of the Prairie

9. I Only Want a Buddy Not a Sweetheart

10. My Dear Old Arizona Home

11. Cowboy Rhythm

12. Little Sweetheart of the Ozarks

13. Rodeo Sweetheart

14. Shine on Rocky Mountain Moonlight

15. I Wanna Be a Western Cowgirl

16. Old Nevada Moon

17. My Milliion Dollar Smile

18. My Poncho Pony

19. Back on Montana Plains

20. The Moon Hangs Low (On the Ohio)

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

It's been over 60 years since Patsy's heydey, but she is still one of America's favorite cowgirls. She was a native of Hope, Arkansas. This CD is a terrific collection of 24 of herclassic recordings from 1935-1940. Includes track-by-track annotation, rare pictures and memorabilia. Standard jewel case. 2001 release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweetheart of thirties cowboys, May 9, 2003

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Best of Patsy Montana (Audio CD)

Patsy's most successful years were 1934 to 1940, the period covered by these recordings. Patsy later re-recorded some of her songs, but these are the originals. Her most famous song, I wanna be a cowboy's sweetheart, sold a million copies - no mean feat for a country record in the 1930's.

That song is a good example of Patsy's style, mixing mountain ballads with cowboy songs and plenty of yodelling. The melody was written by Stuart Hamblen, most famous as the writer of This ole house, a major international hit for Rosemary Clooney in the fifties and a British number one hit for Shaking Stevens in the eighties.

Woman's answer to nobody's darling is a reply to the Jimmie Rodgers classic Nobody's darling but mine. I only want a buddy not a sweetheart was a popular song in the thirties although nobody had a hit with the song - this surprises me, as I have come across several excellent versions of this song.

Patsy was the first woman to succeed in country music but she did not blaze the trail for those that followed, as country remained a male bastion for many years. The Dinning sisters and Patti Page emerged from Oklahoma in the forties, but they found success as pop singers. Rose Maddox had some success as lead singer of the Maddox brothers and Rose, but it was not until Kitty Wells and Patsy Cline emerged in the fifties that women were taken even half-seriously as country singers.

So Patsy must be regarded as a one-off. Her music was of its time, unlike anything ever recorded by other female country singers in the decades that followed. This is the best collection of Patsy's music available, or ever likely to be.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice Yodeling Swing, September 30, 2001

By A Customer

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This review is from: The Best of Patsy Montana (Audio CD)

Enjoying this album. As with any album which has 24 selections from one artist, you can't listen to it in one sitting! Vocalion/Conqueror 78's from 1935 to 1940. Some were written by tin-pan-alley-type professional writers and therefore artificial. The best ones were written by her. Great band.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Old-time cowboy hillbilly yodelling music, February 14, 2006

By 

Joseph Brando (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Best of Patsy Montana (Audio CD)

Patsy Montana was the female equivelant to Jimmie Rogers. She was arguably the first female country music star. And like Rogers, she may not have been the best yodeller in the world, but what she lacked in substance she certainly made up for in style. Most of Patsy's songs are upbeat, happy songs - and you can even hear Patsy's smile shining through these 75 year old tunes. Patsy started out singing with the Prairie Ramblers, a group which most afficianados label as the finest string band ever. And luckily, many of these tracks were recorded while she was still with that band, so you can hear their wonderful playing accompanying Patsy's voice. Shortly after she had gained famed by selling over a million copies of her trademark hit "I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart", she took off on a solo career that lasted until her death in the 1980's. Her yodelling actually improved with her age and you can find one of her yodelling CD's from the 80's here on Amazon and listen to her unique "yodelling grandma" style on those. But although the yodelling may be superior on those CD's, the actual songs from this CD are the cream of Patsy's crop and provide a window into a bygone era of American history that no history book can! If you want to up the ante after Patsy, I would recommend searching out songs from the phenomonally talented Rosalie Allen, who had an excellent yodelling talent and style. Unfortunately, time has not been kind to Rosalie's legacy and she has yet to receive a domestic CD release of her many wonderful tracks she recorded for RCA. So you have to find her on one of the many compilations she is featured on or on one of her duets with fellow outstanding yodeller, Elton Britt.