Customer Reviews

Blackland Farmer: Complete Starday Recordings

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One thing you can say about Bear Family of Germany, when they decide to dig deep into the musical library of an artist with a minimal number of hit singles they don't come up with half-measures. Here you get 96 songs by a Country singer who had all of 5 hits - one of them the same song which charted twice.

Frankie Miller, born on December 17, 1930 in Victoria, Texas, was one of those performers who made a good living through personal appearances all across the southern states, doing shows with legends of the Country genre such as Ernest Tubb, Hank Locklin, Lefty Frizzell, Johnny Cash, Buck Owens and Willie Nelson, including stints at the Grand Ole Opry, Ozark Jubilee and Louisiana Hayride. He was also a regular for a long period on the Cowtown Hoedown radio show out of Fort Worth.

His recording career, insofar as hits were concerned, was modest to say the least, with his first turning out to be his best as Black Land Farmer, released on Starday 424 in early 1959, made it to # 5 Country that May b/w True Blue. And it charted again on a re-release in 1961, this time reaching # 16. In between, he had Family Man go to # 7 in late 1959 b/w Poppin' Johnny on Starday 457, and Baby Rocked Her Dolly peak at # 15 in June 1960 b/w Rain Rain on Starday 496.

His last hit then came in March 1964 when A Little South Of Memphis finished at # 34 b/w Too Hot To Handle on Starday 655.

Full details of these and a number of failed singles and previously unreleased sides cut for Starday and other labels such as Cowtown Hoedown, United Artists, and Stop, are contained in the copious liner notes. The sound is excellent.

Maybe a bit more than the average fan would want for Frankie Miller, but all the original hits and their B-sides are here and there's no denying the overall quality.

this is one great singer,this album is worth every penny.i have every album frankie miller made.he is true country right down to the heart.texas is proud to call him one of our own.

Frankie Miller is completely forgotten in today's country music world. In fact the public now associates the name with a 70s Scottish rock star. But in spite of only having 2 or 3 charted numbers ('Blackland Farmer" charted twice), hillbilly Frankie Miller remains a legend among true believers of that genre. This set covers all of Miller's Starday recordings plus recordings done for the UA and Stop labels (an earlier Bear collection covers his Columbia recordings). The delivery is fantastic with a voice that will tug at your heart strings. Sure the title track and "Baby Rocked Her Dolly' are quite emotional but so too is the lesser known "The Picture At St. Helene". That track I find to be addictive and I could listen to it over and over again.
But this isn't just ballads. There are some great novelty and tongue in cheek humor songs like "Poppin' Johnny", "Young Widow Brown" and "Losing By A Hair". The latter in addition to being funny is a great cheater song. Frankie also does a great version of Willie Nelson's 'The Party's Over".
The arrangements on most of the numbers are traditional with a hint of rockabilly which by the time these recordings were made was considered to have been a passing fad. How wrong they were. Rockabilly, like Frankie Miller, now has a cult following. You join up with the Miller cult when you purchase this CD!
I know that this review will be looked at by the folks at Amazon before it is published. To those people, please separate hillbilly Frankie Miller from the 70s rock star. Your music listings inter mingle the two. And that is unfair to fans of both. Please take the time to separate them in your listings. Each should be an entity unto himself.