Customer Reviews

Best of Trini Lopez

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This is the kind of CD that drives real music lovers up the wall and round the bend. Its title is totally misleading - what it should be called is Exceptionally Poor Re-Recordings Of The Best Of Trini Lopez. There should be a law forcing record companies to state clearly on covers when CDs comprise re-recordings. The version of Lopez's greatest hit If I Had A Hammer on here is an appalling abortion of the original. All this CD has made me feel is resentment towards the artist and all the people involved with this hideous waste of money.

When I got serious about the folk music revival I was surprised to find out that Trini Lopez was such a popular folk singer. In the 1960s Lopez was recording for Reprise and had a smash hit with his upbeat version of "If I Had a Hammer," which made it to #3 on the Billboard pop charts in 1963. Of course, that is the son that opens up this important collection of "The Best of Trini Lopez," but it also includes "Kansas City" (#23), "Lemon Tree" (#20), and "La Bamba" (#86). But what you will find on this album from Down Under is Lopez singing some popular songs, but not necessarily those songs that made the charts.

Consequently, you Lopez singing folk standards such as Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land," and "America." There are also a fair share of Latino songs that most people would recognize, such as "Guantanamera," "Besame Mucho," and "Cuando Caliente El Sol." But missing are songs like "Michael" (#42), "Are You Sincere" (#85), "Sad Tomorrows" (#94), "Sinner Man" (#54), and "I'm Comin' Home, Cindy" (#39). Then again, it could well be that you would prefer to hear Lopez covering the recognizable hits of other folk artists than doing those songs that he did which are largely forgotten today.

So, if you want to have as many of Trini Lopez's official "hits" as they can put on a single CD, then start looking elsewhere because this "Best of Trini Lopez" collection does not fill the bill. But look over the playlist on this Australian collection and you may well decide you would rather have what you find here. All things considered it is a valid choice.