Customer Reviews

The Essential Vince Gill

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This is a collection of early Vince Gill work before he made it "big" with MCA Nashville. Vince often plays several of these songs at his concerts including the rousing up tempo tunes "Turn Me Loose", "Oklahoma Borderline" & "Cinderella". It includes songs that he wrote when his wife was a big hit with her group Sweethearts of The Rodeo, such as "The Radio" and "Everybody's Sweetheart". It also has the heart felt ballad "Colder Than Winter" and an early version of "I Never Knew Lonely". There is 20 fine selections for a great price (really a double CD for the price of one!) Vince was putting out great country music years before his biggest hits. This CD should be a part of any Country Music lovers music collection!

The title of this CD is very misleading. Except for "I Never Knew Lonely" & maybe "Oklahoma Borderline", none of his real hits are here. Not that these songs are bad at all, it's just that there are much better places to start your Vince collection.

Vince became a major country star because of his first MCA album, When I call your name, and the singles from it. His career before then was one of slow but steady progress, beginning with Boone Creek (a bluegrass group that also featured Ricky Skaggs) then Pure Prairie League (a country rock group). The RCA recordings he made during the eighties showed promise of what was to come, yielding several major country hits. Vince wrote or co-wrote most of his own songs but occasionally recorded outside songs.

Apart from his duet with Rosanne Cash (If it weren't for him), all his essential recordings from this period of his career are included, notably Victim of life's circumstances, Turn me loose, Oh Carolina, Oklahoma borderline and Cinderella. One song that wasn't released during this time (Never knew lonely) should have been - Vince re-recorded it for MCA and had a huge country hit with it.

This collection contains plenty of variety, which some songs that really rock, some heartfelt ballads and the occasional nod to his roots in bluegrass. His then-wife was one-half of Sweethearts of the Rodeo, who had much greater success. Their success was the inspiration for a couple of the songs here (Everybody's sweetheart, The radio) and may have indicated that their marriage was in trouble - they eventually divorced but not as soon as these songs might suggest.

Several collections of Vince's RCA music have been released since his success with MCA but this is by far the best - however, if you particularly want that duet with Rosanne Cash, you can find it on Platinum and gold collection, which has fewer tracks overall. If you enjoy his more famous MCA music, this is definitely worth a listen.

Since the early '90s, Vince Gill has been one of the most popular artists in country music because of his work on the MCA label. His recording career, however, began back in 1979; first as lead singer of the Pure Prairie League ("Let Me Love You Tonight") and then as a solo artist for RCA.

The Essential Vince Gill offers 10 of the 11 singles he recorded while at RCA between 1983 and 1988 (curiously missing is "If It Weren't For Him," his top 10 duet with Roseanne Cash). Among the gems found here are the rousing "Turn Me Loose," the heartbreaking "Oh Carolina," and the mandolin featured "Cinderella." "Everybody's Sweetheart" was a tongue-in-cheek comment on his then-more-famous wife Janis, of Sweethearts of the Rodeo, while "The Radio" presented a touching ode to his oft-touring Sweetheart.

The remaining 10 tracks included here are often as strong as the singles and includes the original version of his 1990 hit "Never Knew Lonely." Most of these recordings hold their own with Gill's more celebrated MCA stuff. Maybe he wasn't promoted properly at RCA or the timing wasn't right for Gill back then. Whatever the reason, it is nice to have such an attractive set available of Gill's early solo work.

I just recently got this cd and was very surprised that he had such good work early on. You can tell he is young but there is absolutely not any talent missing. I have to admit his later albums are better but as a true fan of Vince I couldn't ignore his early work.

This CD is one of the coolest! This has 20 of his biggest hits from 1983-1988. Here are the ratings:Victim Of Life's Circumstances 5/5 Oh,Carolina 4/5 I've Been Hearing Things About You 4 1/2/5 Turn Me Loose 5/5 The Radio 3/5 Livin' The Way I Do 5/5 Midnight Train 5/5 True Love 4 1/2/5 Ain't It Always That Way 3/5 Oklahoma Borderline 5/5 With You 3/5 The Way Back Home 5/5 Losing Your Love 5/5 Everybody's Sweetheart 5/5 Don't Say That You Love Me 5/5 Something's Missing 4 1/2/5 Colder Than Winter 4/5 Cinderella 5/5 Let's Do Something 5/5 I Never Knew Lonely 5/5 So if you are a Vince Gill fan,pick it up today!

In all my years of listening to country music, I think Vince has the best voice of any other artist. His words are so clear and they are felt deep down in your sole.

A perfect mix for this wonderful singer /songwriter/master guitar player. I really don't think there is a better tallent than Vince. Just give it a listen and enjoy. He does everything with music in his soul and you can hear it in his voice and in his playing