Customer Reviews

Walk Tall: The Mercury Hit Singles 1963-75

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

 

 

When I first received this CD in the mail, I had very high hopes. I had the stereo Mercury LPs which these titles first appeared on. However, over the years they wore out and I was looking to replace some of the songs with digital copies. When I finally put this CD in my player, to say I was extremely disappointed would be an understatement. This has got to be, without a doubt, the most horrendous attempt at mastering for CD release I have EVER encountered. The folks who put this out should be ashamed of themselves!! What a way to treat one of the truly great stylists in the history of country music!! A real shame- -and a sham!!

This import features most of the biggest hits of Farons Mercury years. The original recordings are here but the sound quality could be better as they sound like they may have come off from 2nd or 3rd generation tapes which gives some the songs a slight muddy sound. Most of these songs are hard to find on CD so buy it until something better comes along. Faron Young was one of true Country Giants of his time.

It was some time ago now, but as I am a Faron Young fan, I took well-preserved vinyls of my favorites which turned up on this product later, along with some of Faron's earlier works, and recorded them onto a cassette (my own version of his greatest hits). Having no sophisticated recording equipment at the time, I recorded them with an open microphone. Today, they still sound better on my tape player than they do on the compilation here (I never burned a CD). Even so, I question the quality of Mercury's original recordings. "Yellow Bandana", "She Went a Little Bit Farther" and "It's Four in the Morning" evoke special memories for me. They deserve a better presentation, a "do over" maybe.

I had never heard Faron Young's later music--except for "Four the Morning." I bought this with low expectations, not knowing what it would sound like.
The man was a giant and when he was in his groove, the music was stunning. Faron's "Wine Me Up" is the best up-tempo drinking record from '60s-'70s era that I've heard, and its follow-up "Your Time's Coming" is just a briliant vocal achievement. The rockin' remake of "Going Steady" is a killer--as good as or better than the '50s original.

I won't give it a full five stars because there's also some weak stuff here, where Faron appears to be copying Marty Robbins or other singers, to little avail.

This package includes all of Faron Young's Top 10 Mercury Hits and most of his bigger hits for the label.

Now some bad news up front. Like the previous reviewer, I must complain about the sound. It does sound like some of these cuts were taken off 3rd and 4th generation masters. For such an important compiliation, that is unexusable. More bad news, no recording data. At least a listing of the dates by the songs would have been appreciated.

But on the other hand, I guess this is better than nothing!!! The songs are all original recordings. The booklet is very imformative, and like I said, the only thing missing is the recording data.

This album has a lot of hard to find songs that I heard on the radio growing up.

Thanks