Customer Reviews

Definitive Collection

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

With his relaxed, drawling baritone and notes as wide open as Texas, Ernest Tubb embodied Lone Star honky-tonk music of the 1940s. In essence, he was the link between country bluesman Jimmie Rodgers (whose widow made Tubb her protégé) and Lefty Frizzell.

The Definitive Collection begins with his trademark 1941 "Walkin' The Floor Over You," whose electric guitar was new for country recordings. Bar owners with juke boxes, it seems, were telling Tubb that acoustic guitars couldn't be heard above their crowds' noise. From 1941-42, his compositions "Mean Mama Blues" and "You Nearly Lose Your Mind" credibly mimic Rodgers' style, but as time went on, he was dubbed The Texas Troubadour.

Of the 25 tracks here, 16 are from the 1940s and five from the `50s. Among the four `60s songs, "Waltz Across Texas" became his second signature song though it climbed no higher than 34 on 1965's charts. His only pop top-tenner, a 1950 duet with Red Foley on Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene," competed with their Decca label mates The Weavers' dreamy pop rendition. A 1949 "Blue Christmas" has lines that Elvis Presley's later version dropped. Among the GI songs ("Soldier's Last Letter," "It's Been So Long, Darling," "Rainbow At Midnight"), 1946's "Filipino Baby" lacks the short repetitions that Cowboy Copas's rival single and Pearl Harbour's 1980 cover employed.

Those looking for more Tubb should seek out Collector's Choice 40 track The Definitive Ernest Tubb Hits Collection, which is out of print but available through Amazon dealers at a fairly reasonable price.

I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys good real old fashioned country. It isn't for the people that listen to the gabage that is out there in the "so called" country world today.

This is great pure country music. If you are a fan of E.T., you will like this one.I highly recommend it.

I'd had a lifelong dislike of country music, falling only for a crossover song or two that might happen to hit the pop charts. But when it got into deep country, classic country, I was not a fan at all.

One man who really changed that for me was Ernest Tubb, who, by the way, was instrumental in the establishment of Country music as a major American genre, not only helping launch the careers of Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynne, Hank Snowe, Hank Williams and many others, but also helping to give Country Music its very name.

Before Ernest Tubb, record labels invested very modestly in what they termed "Hillbilly Music." Tubb used his prestige, along with several other artists, to lobby the music industry into using the term County-Western and constantly urged them to promote the art form more prominently.

My story with Ernest Tubb began in a way he would have loved. I was in a rental car, driving across Texas, for reasons I cannot explain now, (I am a California native). And I could find no pop or rock music. I finally gave in and reluctantly tuned into the only station I could get, a Country Music station, and at that time, as I drove the vast Texas desert, what should come on the radio to guide me through the darkness but Tubb's tune Waltz Across Texas. The magic of that song, combined with the vast space of Texas, and the lonely, endless road and the dark night, combined to provide a mysterious and erie effect.

Later, again, after I'd long had my mind in other types of music, I stumbled into Tubb's You Tube videos, and was again knocked out of my chair by such greatly ironic songs as Thanks A Lot, and such wise tunes as Let's Say Goodbye Like We Said Hello. And there's there's the charming innocence of Walking The Floor Over You. And I was truly taken by the cynical lyrics and the minimalist tones of such numbers as Tomorrow Never Comes.

I gave this particular collection four stars instead of five because it did not include Remember Me, (I'm The One Who Loves You), which happens to be my second-favorite of his tunes. I'll have to essentially buy a separate collection of Tubb tunes to get that one. But who knows, I may discover many other gems in there that I don't yet know of.

Take some time and get to know Ernest Tubb, you won't regret it.

Ernest Tubb was not the best signer. In fact there is a story about him singing a song that had a rather low note in it. Red Foley was there at the time and someone said to Red, "I bet you wish you could hit that low note". His reply was "I'll bet Ernest wishes he could hit that note". In spite of his less than perfect singing, Tubb had a relaxed, pleasant style that never fails to please. He had fiercely loyal fans too. This is a nice collection and is a great intro to the music of Tubb. There is something so familiar and comfortable about Tubb's voice that just puts you at ease and makes you feel "at home". So what if he wasn't the best singer? He was a dedicated entertainer who kept touring and performing when his bad health should have prevented it and probably led to his early demise. Tubb was a pioneer in the country music field and was only the 6th person inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. (The first was Jimmie Rodgers, who Tubb greatly admired and emulated in many ways, at least in his early music. You won't find the earliest Tubb here; it's more of the big songs of his heyday. If you are a true country music fan, this is an essential album for your collection.

ERNEST TUBB REPRESENTS THE REAL COUNTRY MUSIC OF THE 40 S AND 50 S AND NOT THE CONTEMPORARY MUSIC WHICH MAY BE NICE BUT NOT COUNTRY.THIS ALBUM IS FANTASTIC AND WILL BRING BACK MEMORIES OF A BETTER TIME.....TOM SMITH

Had old songs we were looking for that my wife's grandfather often sang to her either growing up (Peter Cottontail) or now when he is bored and the songs pop into his mind while she is there taking care of him. It was a Christmas gift to him.

If you like western music, these rerecordings are some of the best songs that Ernest Tubb ever did. They are all up-tempo and gone is the twangy sound that was in some of his old songs. Really the best.

The problem is not the content, but rather that the CD, Earnest Tub, Definitive Collection, is defective and 4 of the songs will not play. I tried playing it in the CD player in the car and in the CD player of my home system with the same result. I have purchased many CDs on Amazon and this is the first problem.