Customer Reviews

Johnny Horton Makes History

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Okay, I stole the album's subtitle for the title of my review, but it kinda says it all doesn't it? A "concept album" of sorts but certainly a different kind of concept album; one that celebrates our nation's history in a way that is never too serious or too lighthearted. A few of these songs had already been released on singles and on the "Spectacular Johnny Horton" LP, but being in the historical vein, they were worth repeating for this collection. You know most of these stories and you probably know a lot of these songs, particularly the giant hits "The Battle Of New Orleans" and "Sink The Bismarck". Sometimes a few liberties are taken here and there for entertainment's sake or because the meter of the song warrants it. For example, "in May of 1941", the war had not "just begun" as stated in the opening line of "Sink The Bismarck". But you can still learn a lot from these simple narrative folk ballads as they are performed by one of country music's all time greatest honky tonk singers.
The music on this brief but reasonably priced compact disc was remastered from the original Columbia master tapes by Steve Hoffman. And when you see Hoffman's name credited to the mastering of a CD reissue, you know the job was done right.

Here are 12 songs that are truly entertaining and educational. This album was originally released just a few short months before Johnny was killed in a head on collision. The music has held up quite well through the years and sounds better than ever on cd.

It was 1960. Horton's single of "The Battle of New Orleans" had sold a couple of million copies, and had brought the Folk Revival to the country and western audience, with suprise appeal to the pop charts as well. His "Sink the Bismark" was part of the British film of the same name. He was going to die in a car crash just a few months after the LP arrived in stores, but we didn't know that. I was 15, interested in both folk and country and in American history, so this was a "must buy." Only a dozen songs, only 30 minutes long, and with some lackluster tunes mixed in with the gems, the record grabbed me. I loved "Sinking of the Reuben James" and didn't know for a couple more years that it was written by Woody Guthrie and other members of the defunct Almanac Singers 20 years earlier. I teared up at "Comanche (The Brave Horse)", because at the time, Custer was still a hero and his last stand unfair and tragic. There are two pro-Confederate songs on here, one pro-Lincoln saga, two songs about Northwestern mountain men, two about the Revolutionary War, and one addressing the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. I just discovered this was finally out on CD, and could not resist reliving my youth a bit. It sounds great. Horton was an interesting character in his own right, and a good enough singer so that his posthumous reputation really ought to be bigger than it seems to be. If you like "story songs" and U.S. history, you will probably enjoy this. The guitar and banjo work is as good as the vocalizing. It's a man's album...albeit, a man who has a lot of kid still in him...but there is not a love song in the bunch. Lots of war and shooting and voyaging and exploring, though.

I distinctly remember being introduced to Johnny Horton at the young age of 4. My dad had the album he'd bought back in 1960 for the whopping price of $2.35--and I could just kick myself for getting rid of it after my record player went the way of the dinosaurs. I hadn't heard any of the songs from this wonderful album since I was 13 or 14...and I remembered every word! Truly a timeless treasure belonging in the collection of any history buff!

Johnny Horton is a rockabilly, country singing, story telling, patriotic balladeer who sings it like it is. Sadly, he was killed in his prime by a drunk driver in Milano, Texas out on Highway 79. He was only thirty-five years old and considering how wonderful and great the music of his we have is, one can only shudder at what he could've achieved, had he lived.

This record opens with "Johnny Freedom" a more patriotic song you'll never hear. Johnny Freedom, as is this record, is the spirit of America. "Jim Bridger" is the story of a mountain man who couldn't write his man, but we wouldn't have been here if it weren't for men like Jim. "The Battle of New Orleans," is Johnny's best known song and one I sing to myself all the time. But "Sink the Bismarck" is my favorite song on this record. This song will get your blood moving, make you want to fist the air and say, "Yeah." A lot of great music came out in 1960 and I love a lot of music from that year, but this is my favorite. Johnny Horten has a voice for the ages. He will never really die.

My dad bought this album new when it came out. It was stacked right in there with Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin on my turn table. I recorded it on cassette tape when that was in vogue. The songs are a 50's pop kind of sound, to timeless ballads. Johnny Horton, I think, was considered 'country' at the time, with a few excursions into 'rock'. The album is unabashedly patriotic and pro American. It was released a few years before the Kennedy assassination, when Johnson took over and started fighting the Vietnam war the way democrats fight them now days- don't fight to win, but just send enough troops to put them in harms way. This kicked off the 60's anti war movement, and the whole landscape of music changed. The album seemed rather 'innocent' and 'naive' after that. Despite that, this has been one of my favorite, and in fact my first favorite album. I think the songs are still relevant for today, as they're historical ballads, and fun, easy listening. It has stood the test of time, and in my music collection, it is a classic.

I have the original vinal record at home but was sadden by the fact that my cousin had ruine it, so i was elated when i found it here. I have it on my i pod and listen it to it every time i walk in the local mall.