Rca Country Legends [Original recording remastered]

Floyd Cramer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 20, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Buddha
• ASIN: B000058DW7
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,566 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good collection, but too much overlap from previous discs., April 28, 2001

By 

David Kenner (Fort Worth, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rca Country Legends (Audio CD)

Buddha Records has been mining the RCA/BMG vaults as of late and reissuing some great material. This is a very nice 16 track compilation from the king of country piano. My only complaint is that it doesn't act as a very good companion to Cramer's ESSENTIAL disc from a few years back. That's because 6 of the tracks from this disc were on that one as well. In addition, 5 of the tracks have been digitally remastered on BMG's German reissue of Cramer's HELLO BLUES album. So all in all, 11 of these tracks are already available. It would have been nice if Buddha had concentrated on tracks that had not already been remastered on compact disc before. Of the 5 that have been cleaned up sonically for the first time, two are rarely heard latter day singles: "Rhythm of the Rain" (from 1977) and "Dallas" (from '80). They are both pleasant surprises and probably the reason Cramer fans will want this disc even if they already have ESSENTIAL and HELLO BLUES. I just hope that the next Cramer compilation will include less common tracks such as these, rather than "Last Date" and "Flip Flop and Bop" yet again. The packaging is beautiful, by the way, with great liner notes and nice photos, including full page reproductions of the pics that were featured on the covers of the COMING ON and CLASS OF '66 LPs.

3.0 out of 5 stars Too few cuts on this CD, December 20, 2011

By 

Calvin Stout (Des Moines, Iowa - USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rca Country Legends (Audio CD)

Floyd Cramer never recorded a bad track in his career, never. So how come this CD gets only a three-star review? Because it is only 38 minutes in length. Less than half the time available on a CD. True, the 16 measly cuts are wonderful, but there is room for 16 more wonderful recordings. Floyd Cramer appears on so many hit recordings it his hard to imagine a number that big. He was on the Elvis Presley monster "Heartbreak Hotel", Patsy Cline's "Crazy", The Jim Reeves multi-million seller "He'll Have To Go" and the Roy Orbison classic "Only The Lonely". His "slip note" piano sound was copied from fellow artist and songwriter Don Robertson, but Floyd is the one who made it famous. This CD covers a few of Floyd's hits and pays homage to one of his best, but least appreciated LP's. That
LP is the 1960 album "Hello Blues" (RCA Victor Records LP #LSP-2151). Five tracks on this CD appeared on that album. One of the great unsung rock and roll instrumentals of the late 1950's, Flip, Flop and Bop from 1958, open's this CD. Other tremendous tracks include Floyd with his piano and syntheizers covering the
1963 Cascades hit of "Rhythm Of The Rain". Woody Herman would be delighted with Floyd's version of "Woodchoppers Ball" and it would be two thumbs-up from Ralph Marterie and Gus Jenkins on "Tricky". All great cuts on this little package and if you don't mind a running time of 38 minutes instead of 60 or more, as you should have on a CD, then this will be pure pleasure for you. Actually the time on the CD is 37 minutes and 58 seconds, but who's counting.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One Of Many Similar Cramer Compilations, June 23, 2008

By 

AvidOldiesCollector (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rca Country Legends (Audio CD)

I have to agree with reviewer David Kenner in that there are far too many Floyd Cramer compilations on the market which more or less present the same songs over and over. At least this one, issued by Buddha for the RCA Legends Of Country series, has three pages of informative liner notes written by the well-known country music journalist, critic and historian Rich Kienzle, to go along with the excellent sound quality.

None in the series purport to be the "best of" or "greatest hits" of the artist concerned, although a few of those do (by necessity I suppose in order to generate sales) appear in each volume. In this instance, seven of the 16 tracks were hits for Floyd who, for some reason, was always more commercially popular where the Billboard Pop Hot 100 was concerned (11 hits there with two more on the Adult Contemporary (AC) adjunct) than he was on the Country charts where he had just 5 hits. I believe that's a reflection of the attitude of Country fans in general who seemed to prefer the vocals to pure instrumentals.

Indeed, the first track here, Flip, Flop And Bop, was also his first charted hit, coming in April 1958 on RCA Victor 7156 when it reached # 87 Hot 100 b/w Sophisticated Swing. In heavy demand as a session pianist, and appearing in some of the biggest hits of that era, his next solo hit didn't come until late 1960 - but what a hit! Last Date soared to # 2 Hot 100 and made a significant impact on the Country charts as well, reaching # 11 b/w Sweetie Baby on RCA Victor 7775.

1961 was a good year for Floyd as On The Rebound got to # 4 Hot 100 that March b/w Mood Indigo on RCA Victor 7840 (neither of them here), followed in June by the Bob Wills tune San Antonio Rose, which hit # 3 AC as well as # 8 on both the Hot 100 and Country charts b/w I Can Just Imagine on RCA Victor 7893. Early that fall he was back with Your Last Goodbye, a # 63 Hot 100 b/w Hang On, a # 95 Hot 100, on RCA Victor 7907.

Another two-sided hit then followed early in 1962 when the old Glenn Miller tune, Chattanooga Choo Choo. became a # 9 AC and a # 36 Hot 100 for Floyd, b/w Let's Go, which topped out at # 90 Hot 100 on RCA Victor 7978. Neither side is here, nor are Hank Williams' Lovesick Blues (# 20 AC and # 87 Hot 100 in April 1962 b/w The First Hurt on RCA Victor 8013) and Hot Pepper (# 63 Hot 100 in July 1962 b/w For Those That Cry on RCA Victor 8051. But Java is, a # 12 AC/# 49 Hot 100 in late 1962/early 1963 on RCA Victor 8116 b/w Melissa (and his final Hot 100 entry).

Floyd was also conspicuous by his absence from the Country charts (at least as a solo artist) from mid-1961 to early 1967, when he finally reappeared with Stood Up (not the same one as the Ricky Nelson hit), which reached # 24 AC and # 53 Country b/w Good Vibrations on RCA Victor 9065. A year later. his rendition of By The Time I Get To Phoenix registered at # 32 AC b/w Gentle On My Mind on RCA Victor 9396, and in May 1970 Theme From Two-Twenty-Two peaked at # 39 AC b/w Leaving On A Jet Plane on RCA Victor 9841.

In fact it would be a decade-long gap before he returned to the Country charts with his cover of Rhythm Of The Rain, a # 67 in April 1977 b/w Prelude To Love on RCA 10908. Billed as Floyd Cramer And The Keyboard Kick Band, it was actually a mix of Floyd playing eight different keyboards. His final hit came in April 1980 with the theme from the TV series Dallas, a # 32 Country/# 34 AC b/w Lover's Minuet on RCA 11916.

Releases like this are fine in their own right as they prove he was capable of handling anything from Pop to Jazz to Classical to pure Country. However, what we need is THE definitive hits compilation containing ALL his charted singles and their uncharted B-sides - especially his wonderful rendition of Duke Ellington's Mood Indigo - where applicable.