Customer Reviews

Old Shep

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a sucker for schmaltzy songs, and "Old Shep" fits the bill. I have also heard Elvis' version of this song, but no one, and I mean no one, can wring the emotions out of you with this song like Walter Brennan. If you're not in tears by the end of this song, you're not human.

This whole CD is a great throwback to the days of the family farm and family life, all with a strong religious foundation. Throw in some cowboy and prospector flavors, and you wind up with a great piece of Americana. These "songs" are not sung - they are essentially spoken stories set to music, sometimes with back-up singers thrown in. You couldn't find a more fitting voice for these songs than Walter Brennan's.

This CD will probably appeal most to people, like me, who knew of this music and Walter Brennan from our youth. I would suggest reviewing the song samples before ordering, as this style of music, along with its now-dated style of musical arrangement, is not for everyone. I, however, was pleased to find this available on CD and added it to my collection as soon as I discovered it.

I am sure that all fans of Walter Brennan will be thrilled with this CD, it preserves musical history, some of these songs were hits, maybe not big ones, but all are very well narrated tales by a master storyteller. I think that people who didn't know of Walter Brennan before, would enjoy these stories today as much as we did then. If you never had a grandfather that told you stories when you were a child, here is your chance now, don't miss it!

Well Walter Brennen should be in every home, it would have to come under the heading of naration, Listen to the message within they are funny, tear jerkers, so readily able to relate to. I remember when I first heard these they were on 78's, boy am I glad they reproduced these as it would be a shame not to give other generations the chance to hear such tracks.Just think they are the very best, and I know of a lot of people that love the opportunity to listen, it gives such enjoyment.

Of all the CD's I've ever listened to, "Old Shep" by Walter Brennan is certainly one of them. I think that "Six Feet Away", the heart warming story of the outlaw who holed up and they had to shoot him even though they didn't want to was my favorite. It ranks right up there with "El Paso" by Marty Robbins in the pantheon of outlaw songs where the outlaw got shot at the end of the song. It doesn't have the je ne sais quoi of "Pancho & Lefty" by Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson but it's close.

The title song in which the narrator couldn't shoot his dog even though the dog was old and feeble is a classic. It reminded me of Argo, Odysseus's dog who pined for his masters return for almost twenty years and then when Odysseus finally did return, Argo smelled him and died. Odysseus may not go down in the annals of great dog owners but "Old Shep" will live forever alongside that other dog classic, "Dad Gave My Dog Away".

It was a stroke of pure genius to close the album with "Suppertime". The fond reminiscence of his mother calling him to the dinner table and it's juxtaposition with his belief that the almighty is soon to call him home was inspiring, to say the least.

When some people thing of the "concept album" they thing of "Tommy" by The Who. It seems ironic that I first heard this concept album on the very same day that John Entwistle, bass player for The Who died.

Neither Walter Brennan nor Elvis Presley first did Old Shep. It was a song written and sung by country music icon Red Foley (Pat Boone's father-in-law.....Debbie Boone's grandfather...oh, well). Close the blinds, grab a hankie and let Walter break your heart. He was such an expressive actor; narration must have been a snap for the old New Englander. I don't know when this package of music was first released but except for "Dutchman's Gold" circa 1960, I don't recall any of these songs as being any more than cover versions of others' songs. You also have to have "Old Rivers" and Bill Anderson's "Mama Sang a Song" (both in 1962) to have the best of Walter Brennan, but go ahead and have a good sniffle with the old Oscar winner. You'll feel better.

When seemingly everyone else in the movie and television business decided to try their luck at cutting records in the early 1960s [Patty Duke, Johnny Crawford, Shelley Fabares, etc. etc.], this grizzled old veteran character actor, whose first film was in 1924, and who was then playing Grandpa on The Real McCoys, figured he might just as well join the club. Not singing, of course, but narrating stories set to music.

His first shot came in 1960 at age 66 for the Dot label when Dutchman's Gold [track 9], the story of a tragic miner, was released billed to Walter Brennan with Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra. Emulating an earlier success by Vaughn [1955's The Shifting, Whispering Sands with narration by Ken Nordine, and which Walter does here at tracks 3 and 4], this reached a quite respectable # 30 that June. The B-side was the comical Back To The Farm [track 5].

When nothing else turned out by Dot could repeat that success, he next turned up at Liberty, releasing the marvelously whimsical Old Rivers, the story of a farmer, his mule, and a young friend, soared to the # 2 Adult Contemporary, # 3 Country, and # 5 Billboard Pop Hot 100 spots in May of 1962 with the backing of The Johnny Mann Singers. The flip was a story about America's first astronaut, The Epic Ride Of John H. Glenn.

Two more Liberty hits followed that year, both again backed by Mann, with Houdini just making the Hot 100 at # 100 in August b/w The Old Kelly Place, and then his version of the Bill Anderson Country smash, Mama Sang A Song, which peaked at # 14 Adult Contemporary and # 38 Hot 100 in November b/w Who Will Take Gramma?

It's too bad that only one of his hits and its B-side appears in this album because, while Old Rivers is also fairly easy to locate, you simply cannot find Mama Sang A Song or Houdini anywhere in CD format, never mind the other flipsides. At least I can't.

As for the other contents here, he also does a fabulous job on each, but especially on Old Shep and the Carson Robison 1948 hit Life Gets Tee-Jus, Don't It. There are, unfortunately, no liner notes, which is a shame. It's not as if there wasn't reams of material associated with his long career [he died in September 1974 at age 80] with which to compose a few paltry paragraphs.

A MUST HAVE FOR FOR THOSE WHO LIKE EASY COUNTRY. A VOICE AND MUSIC FROM THE PAST. OLD SHEP WAS HIS AWARD WINING RECORD ALONG WITH HIS THREE ACADEMY AWARDS. AS USUAL AMAZON CAME THROUGH WITH THE RIGHT PRICE AND FAST DELIVERY. YOUR SERVICE IS "ALMOST" AS ENJOYABLE AS THE CD IS.

I am not young any more, but back when I was just a little kid, my mama sang sad songs. One of my favorites was Old Shep. I have managed to find just about all of those sad songs now. I have other versions of Old Shep, but love this CD by Walter Brennan.

This CD is Walter Brennan's best ever the songs are done in a story telling way and tell of the old west and a dog named Shep I love all the songs on this CD have played it several times and each time it is like the first time I have heard the song or songs they are ones that I myself could listen to every day

Walter Brennan has a way with words, especially "Ole Shep" that brings tears to your eyes and makes your heart sing.