Customer Reviews

Hickory Holler Revisited: For Once in My Life

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I've been waiting for years to find 'Hickory Holler Revisited' issued in the cd format and lo and behold here it is with another great album from o c 'For Once In My Life'.
This man was hard to categorize - was he jazz, country, blues or pop?? It really doesn't matter because he had a big powerful voice for any genre.
Lots of tearjerkers here including 'Son of Hickory Hollers Tramp', 'Long Black Limousine' etc. As an added bonus to the 22 tracks on this cd is Mac Davis' 'Friend, Lover, Woman, Wife'.
Unfortunately, O C passed away last year but he left an important legacy for all of us.

Heard the title song on Saturday mornings 'Sounds of the sixties' on Radio 2. Searched my complete (and not insubstantial) record and cd collection and couldn`t believe that I did not own a copy.
So I did what I always do.... tracked it down on the ever faithful Amazon, it was shipped out to me and received in perfect condition, well within the estimated delivery date.
Double CD- REVISITED/FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE. Not disappointed. What a great
easy listening CD. OC`S HITS and perfect covers of songs made famous by other people. Country/ rock at its best.

If you're an old style, free form FM freak like me, the last thing your in the market for is an album which Bobby Russell, the guy who wrote Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey" had a hand it. But i snapped up O.C. Smtih's Hickory Holler for a buck and put my bias aside.

And am surprised at the quality here. Smith makes even "Honey" function on sweet soul level: No small accomplishment. Russell also wrote "Little Green Apples," the 1968 hit for Smtih, and although I find the tinkering bells dated and cloying, I can't deny Smith's voice is excellent. I also can't deny a lot of this album is straight, if mellow, middle-of-the-road soul. (The cover of "Sittin' On The Doc Of The Bay" is outstanding.) The music works, sometimes on its own terms, and sometimes in spite of its mushiness, due to Smith's voice being so strong.

I only wish Gamble And Huff had gotten hold of Smith, and surrounded his voice with their more aggressive, Philly style. Smith reminds me of Jerry Butler, and if you want to hear a master crooner in a funky context, check out Butler's The Iceman Cometh/Ice on Ice.

IF YOU LOVE OC SMITH'S "SMOOTH " STYLE; You gotta get this one. Many of His very best are right here on this one cd.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND !!!

My husband and I have enjoyed all the songs sung by O.C. Smith on this C.D. for years it was a joy to find it again.