Customer Reviews

Hard to Find 45s on CD: Pop & Country Classics

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Eric Records has done it again. Just when you thought the "once-heavily played, but now completely ignored" genre has reached its acme, along comes Hard To Find 45s On CD: Pop & Country Classics.
This CD ranges in a time period from Ferlin Husky's 10-week No. 1 country smash, "Gone" in 1957 to David Frizzell's novelty, "I'm Gonna Hire A Wino (To Decorate Our Home)," which topped the C&W charts in 1982.
If you're like me (and you must be to be interested in these compilations), you have seen the sad demise of the all-inclusive Top 40 AM radio era in which I grew up. The same station, within the same hour, would play the Beatles, Martha & The Vandellas, Roger Miller, Elvis Presley, Clyde McPhatter, Lawrence Welk, Bill Anderson, The Everly Brothers, Smokey Robinson...Well, you get the point.
Today, radio has balkanized to the point that each subgroup is neatly divided and the word "crossover" has become obscene. Thank goodness Eric has the foresight and SOUL to bring wistful individuals like yours truly an opportunity to trip back through Memory Lane - for 62 minutes and 26 seconds, at least.
Some of my favorites in this collection include "I Remember You." by Frank Ifield, though not a country hit by the Austrailan crooner, is nevertheless one of my picks. Other tunes which make me smile in this compilation, the extremely-silly "Tennessee Bird Walk," Henson Cargell's country classic, "Skip A Rope," Billy Grammar's fiesty, "Gottoa Travel On," and my favorite county hit of the 1960s, "Saginaw, Michigan (how this great Lefty Frizzell number could have only reached No. 85 on the Hot 100 in January of 1964 - at the same time that Bobby Vinton's "There! I Said It Again" rule the charts - is FAR beyond my feeble ability to comprehend).
Moving into the 1970s, a weak decade for most music, Eric salvages my palatte with "Easy Loving," and the goofy, but catchy Bellamy Brothers ("Let You Love Flow") hit, "If I said You Had a Beautiful Body, etc.", the 1975 double No. 1,"Hey, Won't You Play Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song (B.J. Thomas' second chart-topper since "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head"), and the great Roy Clark with his only Top 40 pop hit, "Yesterday When I Was Young."
The song from the 1980s that I most enjoy on this CD is Sylvia's C&W No. 1, "Nobody," which also broke into the pop top 15.
All told, I can, again, give an unqualified thumbs up and five stars to Eric's latest compilation, with a fevered hope for many, many more to come.

Eric Records has quietly been returning numerous original singles to circulation with their "Hard to Find 45s on CD" series. This volume turns their focus to nineteen tracks, dating from 1957's "Gone" by Ferlin Husky, and continuing through 1983's "Baby I Lied" by Deborah Allen, that found success on both the pop and country charts. Also included are a pair of tracks (Frank Ifield's "I Remember You" and David Frizzell's "I'm Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home" that only made one chart (pop and country, respectively), but had crossover potential, and are difficult to find on CD.

Eric Records' usual attention to detail (true stereo where available, chart position and date) is supplemented by excellent liner notes by Greg Adams. The background on the bands and songs is especially enlightening for pop fans approaching songs that originated in the country realm, and vice-versa. Even more interesting is how his notes follow the arc of the music's dual absorption of country and mainstream pop influences, from the original Nashville Sound of Ferlin Husky's "Gone" through the nearly unrecognizable country influence of Sylvia's new-wave, synthesizer-based "Nobody."

Throughout there are terrific memories (check the song list!), many of which are very difficult to find elsewhere on CD (or, if found, often turn out to be other than the original 45 take or mix). Eric Records' meticulous approach to selecting masters and converting them to the digital realm, complemented by their excellent ears for selecting and organizing tracks, has resulted in a truly superb spin.

Hard to Find 45s on CD: Pop & Country Classics has many hidden gems on it and the sound quality is terrific. All too sadly, these good songs just aren't remembered the way they should be--but maybe with CDs like this that could change. The artwork is very nicely done and there's a strong diversity of artists on this CD.

Ferlin Husky starts things off with a lovely country tune entitled "Gone." This touching torch song has Ferlin Husky singing so very well and the backup chorus enhances the natural beauty of this number. The guitar work is pretty impressive as well. "Gonna Find Me A Bluebird" by Marvin Rainwater features his remarkably fine voice; Marvin could really sing and the music that accompanies him just can't be beat! I always enjoy hearing this tune by Marvin Rainwater. Leroy Van Dyke does a great job as he performs "Walk On By;" this tune mixes country with a twist of early rock and roll that really makes this number shine brighter than silver and gold! Leroy Van Dyke sings this very passionately, too.

Bobby Edwards makes good on his tune entitled "You're The Reason;" "You're The Reason" is another country tune that sounds so good especially after they add just a slight twist of rock and roll to this ballad. "You're The Reason" is brilliantly performed by Bobby Edwards and I really like this song. There's also "Tennessee Bird Walk" by Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan; Jack and Misty perform this with feeling and panache and "Tennessee Bird Walk" is a major highlight of this album. "If I Said You Have A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me" is one of the longest names for a song I've seen in quite a while; The Bellamy Brothers harmonize very well and their voices are quite strong as they sing this charming country ballad. The percussion helps to mark the beat and The Bellamy Brothers really should have received more recognition than they received.

"Nobody" by Sylvia is a tune that has a very pretty melody and again the mixture of country and early rock and roll works wonders for this song. Sylvia turns this out with grace and style and she sings with all her heart--great! "Yesterday, When I Was Young" gets the royal treatment by the great Roy Clark; Roy sings this without a superfluous note and the backup chorus sounds great along with a very lush musical arrangement.

"I'm Gonna Hire A Wino To Decorate Our Home" by David FRizzell strikes me as a type of country style novelty song--but make no mistake about it, this is a very good song. The CD also ends very nicely with "Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" by B.J. Thomas. "Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" is a classic tune that I could listen to over and over again; B.J. Thomas delivers this flawlessly with all his heart and it moves me to hear this tune.

In this volume of Eric Records' "Hard To Find 45s..." series, are tunes that, in most instances, registered on both the pop and country charts. The emphasis here is on the country hits with all these tracks being top-10 with the exception of two top-15 charters and one that did not make the country charts. While some of these tunes are not strictly hard to find on CD, they provide an interesting trip through the country-crossover-to-pop music of the late 50s right up into the 80's. Some of the standout selections here include Frank Ifield's "I Remember You", the pop-only entry here with its cleverly integrated quasi-yodeling, Bobby Edwards' "You're The Reason" and "I'm Gonna Hire A Wino To Decorate Our Home", Lefty Frizell's brother David's country-only novelty chart-topper.

As has come to be expected, these Eric CD's present their tracks in the best possible sound quality and in stereo whenever possible. In this volume, only tracks 1-4,6,7 are in mono. Add to this piece's musical attributes the accompanying comprehensive liner notes booklet and you have another outstanding issue in Eric Records' small but potent library of classic pop tunes on CD.

This, as with the other CD's in the series, is a highly desireable addition to any collection of music of the genre.

This 21 track compilation features tracks that have all been hits on the pop and country charts at the same time with these exceptions: the David Frizzell honky tonkin' "I'm Gonna Hire a Wino To Decorate Our Home" only charted country was a #1 country hit and Frank Ifield's "I Remember You" only charted pop but was a #5 pop hit. 13 of these 21 tracks made the Billboard Pop Top 20 and twelve hit #1 on the Billboard country chart. All tracks are in stereo except for Gone by Ferlin Husky, Dark Moon by Bonnie Guitar which would later be covered by Gale Storm, Gonna Find Me A Bluebird by Marvin Rainwater, Gotta Travel On by Billy Grammer, From A Jack To A King by Ned Miller, and You're The Reason by Bobby Edwards. The several hard to find on CD tracks that appear on this comp including I Remember You by Frank Ifield, Gotta Travel On from the original mono 45rpm disc (all previous CD issues are either rechanneled or a mono'd copy of the rechanneled masters), You're The Reason (the only major hit that Bobby Edwards ever had), among others are worth the cost of the CD alone, plus Tom Daly and Mark Mathews did a great job with the remastering. This is essential for all country music collectors and pop chart hit collectors alike and I would like to once again thank Bill Buster for putting out this compilation.

After several outstanding earlier volumes covering the 50s and 60s (plus two discs devoted to instrumental favorites) the great folks at Eric Records have come up with another great concept on this latest set of Hard to Find 45s on CD. This set includes terrific pop tunes with a country flavor plus big country songs with a pop feel (and all hit the charts between 1957 and 1983). Thirteen of these twenty one tracks made the Billboard Pop Top 20 and twelve of these hit the top of the Country chart. All are re-mastered from the master tapes (they all sound better than ever before) and all but six are in true stereo.

Plenty of tough to find oldies are included. The original single version of "You're the Reason" by Bobby Edwards (from 1961) is finally available on CD. My favorites are two cuts from the seventies ("Third Rate Romance" by the Amazing Rhythm Aces and "Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow" by Tom Jones). Also included are the catchy "Gotta Travel On" by Billy Grammer and "Nobody" by Sylvia. Another bonus on this disc is the original/correct version of "I Remember You" by Frank Ifield finally available in stereo (up until now either the original mono version or a re-recorded stereo version was all you could find on CD).

Included is an eight-page booklet with detailed liner notes on the songs and artists. All of these tracks are seldom heard on radio these days. Collectors should snap this set up today (you may even want to get the rest of the set of Hard to Find 45s on Eric Records).

A nice assortment of oldies but goodies that disappeared from the charts years ago but live on in our heads.Worth the money.

MAJOR GOOF!!!! HOW DO I STRAIGHTEN THIS OUT? The disc I reviewed is a single disc; is not a set; and does not have a second disc! So the comments below to "disc 1" apply to the reviewed disc. The comments to a "disc 2" were entered by mistake. How did that happen? I picked up a "HARD TO FIND HITS" album thinking it was the one I had reviewed; discovered the second disc; gave it a listen; and edited my review to include this newly found 2nd disc. The comments for "disc 2" apply to the 2nd disc in that other "hard to find hits" album (a bonus album in a TIME/LIFE series on the GOLDEN AGE OF COUNTRY). I have listened neither to that series generally or disc 1 in the "hard to find hits" bonus album. My comments for "disc 2" are still valid for that disc; it is just that they have nothing to do with the reviewed disc: "HARD TO FIND 45s ON CD". Hope this clears up the goof-up. I left the comments/text of the review (goofs and all) in place as written.


THESE NEXT COMMENTS APPLY TO DISC 1 ONLY: Just a few of these selections would have been worth the money. Such as GONE, SKIP A ROPE, THIRD RATE ROMANCE, NOBODY, GONNA HIRE A WINO, or SOMEBODY DONE SOMEBODY WRONG SONG. Technically well recorded and at a consistent and listenable recording level. Jogs the mind: I had forgotten many of the artists' names and some of the songs or the connection between artist and song. Of course there are omissions and there was plenty of room to include more such as [You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me] LUCILLE but 21 tracks and over 60 minutes is not bad. This is a good cross-section of country tunes from 1957 to 1983 and may preserve a few titles that found it difficult migrating from one of the oldest forms of modern recording (45s) to the digital world. Is there enough raw material to make this idea into a series of discs? If the producers would maintain the quality represented by this release, then one could only hope so.

and THEN I LISTENED TO DISC 2: POSSIBLY THE WORST OF THE WORST COUNTRY EVER!!! With few exceptions the songs on DISC 2 were obscure for a reason and should have been left "hard to find". Think of a stereotype (corny, maudlin, racist, ignorant, etc.) you have heard about country music and it is likely represented here, sometimes in a single song.

Apparently there are not enough songs left languishing on 45s to make a decent series, if Disc 2 is the best the producers could find. So. as a matter of value, you might consider this as a one-disc release. I will be using Disc 2 to scare away birds from my berry patch.

This is a great collection of old country hits that I remember listening to. There were several gems on here that I have not heard in 40 years. More than worth the money.

This item is what was advertised and what I ordered. It works as advertised and as I expected it would. It has met and/or exceeded all of my expectations. I do recommend this to anyone that may be in the market for or in need of such an item.