Jan Howard "Love Is Like A Spinning Wheel" Single Of The Day"

Greetings from Asheville, where today’s Single Of The Day turned out to be the final Country 40 single for Jan Howard.  Twenty times between 1960 and 1972 Jan would chart Country 40 singles, the biggest being her 1967 duet with Bill Anderson, “For Loving You”, which spent a month at number one.  In all, six of Jan’s appearances would result in top ten hits, including four with Bill Anderson.

Unfortunately, today’s Single Of The Day was not one of those top ten hits.  ”Love Is Like A Spinning Wheel” was released by Decca in late 1971, and debuted on the Country 40 in early February, 1972, only peaking at thirty-six.  There is an understandably Italian flavor to this song, despite Owen Bradley’s largely country arrangement, as it was written by Italian songwriter Sergio Endrigo.  It’s an easy mid-tempo track that is very melodic, enjoyable to listen to.  Jan’s vocals are in fine form, here, and it’s actually kind of puzzling to me, as to why this single didn’t do better; it should have, in my opinion.

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Jan Howard "Love Is Like A Spinning Wheel" Single Of The Day"

Kitty Wells "Singing On Sunday" Classic Album Review

Greetings from Asheville, where good music is always on the turntable, in the CD player, or in the MP3 files.  Today’s Classic Album Review looks back into the discography of country music hall of famer Kitty Wells, as we pull out her 1962 effort, Singing On Sunday.  Decca Records issued the album in June, making it her ninth studio album and twelfth, overall.  Country albums were not yet given their own charts in 1962, so this album has no chart performance.  There were also no singles released from this album.

The album opens with the catchy title track, “Singing On Sunday”.  I’d have to say it’s one of the album’s best tracks.  Great melody, just an irresistible piece.

“Paul’s Ministry” is the next track. A slower tempo piece, telling the story of Paul.  An okay track, but not anything particularly special.

On the other hand, you have to like “Too Far From God”.  Nice, bouncy piece, and of course, an outstanding performance from Kitty Wells, which is to be expected.  I’d argue that Kitty is one of country music’s most underrated vocalists, when it comes to the inspirational side.

The mid tempo’d “Do You Expect A Reward From God” is a nice track; nothing too spectacular, just a solid composition from Johnny and Walter Bailes, with a great message.

Of course, “The Wings Of A Dove” is one of the all-time great country sacred pieces, having spent ten weeks at number one in 1960 for Ferlin Husky.  While no one can touch the Husky version, Kitty’s take on the track is a more-than-solid effort, worthy of praise.

Side one ends with “The Footsteps Of My Lord”, comparing the thunder to being the Lord’s footsteps (along with other things such as babies crying.  I like this track, a good end to the first side.

Side two opens with “Wait A Little Longer, Please Jesus”, which certainly has to be one of the more recorded pieces in country-sacred music history.  And this is one of the best versions I have heard of this track.  Great piece, which Kitty performs flawlessly.

“I’ll Reap My Harvest In Heaven” has that old-time church feel to it, feeling like a song that might have been performed in a little country church, somewhere.  Not quite a hymn, but it has that feel.

“How Far Is Heaven” was culled from Kitstty’s discography, having been a number eleven single in late Spring, 1956.  Featuring Kitty’s daughter, Carol Sue, singing the child’s part.  A sad song, typical of that era, the little girl wants to go to Heaven, where her daddy has just gone (we’re not told how).  While it’s a little too morbid for me, I’m sure that it ranks highly among many of Kitty Wells’ fans.

Another often-heard track, over the years, especially in the 1950′s-1960′s era of country music is “Gathering Flowers For The Master’s Bouquet”.  Again, it’s hard to find a version much better than Kitty’s.

“Sinner, Kneel Down And Pray”, a bouncy track from the pen of Johnny Bailes.  I’d rank it almost has good as The Bailes Brothers’ classics “Dust On The Bible” and “(I’ve Got) My One-Way Ticket To The Sky”.  Great track.

The album wraps with the quick moving “That Glory Bound Train”.  I really like this one (and not just because it includes a railroad theme, though that helps).  Great ending track for this very good album.

This album is out of print, but did last long enough to make it at least into the 8-track era.  Originally, this album was released in both mono and stereo versions.  I did find a few used copies, but a little pricey, most at least $15, and a couple as high as $50.

My Standout Track pick is the title cut, “Singing On Sunday”, while I give “Sinner, Kneel Down And Pray” the Hidden Gem.  ”Paul’s Ministry” gets the Weakest Track, simply just didn’t do much for me.

Overall, a very good collection of sacred country music from The Queen Of Country Music.  This was her second sacred collection, following the 1959 classic Dust On The Bible, an album I rank as one of the three best sacred country albums of all-time.  While this collection isn’t quite as good, it’s still strong enough to merit a 4 out of 5.

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Kitty Wells "Singing On Sunday" Classic Album Review

Don Williams "Then It's Love" Single Of The Day

Greetings from Asheville, where good music is always to be found.  Today’s Single Of The Day is from Don Williams.  One of the top vocalists of the 1970′s and 1980′s, Don’s stellar career racked up fifty-two Country 40 singles between 1973 and 1991.  Of those, forty-five climbed into the top ten, with seventeen climbing all the way to number one.  Today’s Single Of The Day didn’t quite reach the top, but as the follow-up to his last number one, “Heartbeat In The Darkness”, “Then It’s Love” did pretty well, peaking at three.

Released by Capitol Records in late 1986, it features a unique tempo pattern of mostly up-tempo, but with short stops, throughout, it features a very catchy melody, good lyrics, and I believe a very strong refrain.  The record really stood out on the radio, during it’s chart life in early 1987.  You can’t help but like this record.

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Don Williams "Then It's Love" Single Of The Day

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band "I've Been Lookin' Single Of The Day

Greetings from Asheville, where good music is always on the turntable, in the CD player, or in the MP3 machine.  Today’s Single Of The Day heads back a few years, 1988, to be exact.  The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band were in the midst of a streak of 15 consecutive top ten singles (they had 16, overall), and today’s single would be number 14 of that streak.

“I’ve Been Lookin’ was released in late Summer, following up their hit “Workin’ Man (Nowhere To Go)”.  Making it’s Country 40 debut in mid-September, “I’ve Been Lookin’ would race up the charts, nearly making it to number one, stopping just one position short.  A bright, peppy little number, it’s hard not to like, as it simply has that “feel-good” spirit to it.

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Nitty Gritty Dirt Band "I've Been Lookin' Single Of The Day

"Favorite Waltzes By Hank Thompson" Classic Album Review

Greetings from Asheville, where the good music is always found.  Today’s Classic Album Review takes you all the way back to the end of 1958, for a release from the legendary Hank Thompson.  Favorite Waltzes By Hank Thompson was his eighth Capitol release, entering the market in December, after having been recorded over a span of several days in April, 1958.  There were no singles included on the release, and no chart information for the album, as the country album charts were still a few years away.

The album is a mix of vocal and instrumental pieces, and side one opens with one of the vocal tracks, a cover of the popular 1947 Clyde Moody recording, “Shenandoah Valley Waltz”.  This track features the typically outstanding work of Hank and his Brazos Valley Boys, as the playing (as it is throughout the album) is stellar and Hank’s vocals are dead-on.

“Wednesday Night Waltz” dates to the 1930′s, when several popular versions were released by numerous country music bands.  One of the best things about this, and the album’s other instrumentals, is that it puts the spotlight on one of the finest backing groups ever heard in country music, The Brazos Valley Boys.

Next, Hank Thompson covers the Cowboy Copas hit “Signed, Sealed, And Delivered”, producing a very smooth sound that is a delight to hear.

Even though it’s an album of waltzes, “The Skater’s Waltz” may not be a song you’d expect to hear from a group known more for it’s honky-tonk/western swing mix.  Yet, here it is, one of the most famous melodies ever heard and performed rather impressively.

One of the album’s best tracks is “Warm Red Wine”.  Simply an outstanding performance for Hank Thompson.

Side one ends with “50 Year Ago Waltz”.  It’s a nice melody, but the song seems to drag a bit and my interest waned before it was over.

Side two opens with another vocal track, “In The Valley Of The Moon”.  It’s not the strongest side on the disc, but an okay track.  Slower in tempo, as is most of the album.

“La Zinda Waltz” is another nice melody performed exceptionally well by the Brazos Valley Boys.

No doubt that “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” was a good choice in 1958, as the song from 1910, was still popular among the older generation of music lovers. Including an old-style piano sound into the mix was a great idea, here, as were the backing vocals, making for a nice, smooth, rich sound.

“The Anniversary Waltz” has a sound that has a bit of a Russian feel to it, with it’s minor keying.  It also features some outstanding steel guitar work, too.

On “What Will I Do Next Monday” Hank is wondering what to do on Monday, after his girl get married on Sunday (not to him, of course).  More of that piano sound can be heard, here, too.  In fact, the overall feel is very similar to “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”.  Almost as good of a track, as well.

The album’s final track, “Gold And Silver Waltz” goes back to more of the western swing kind of sound you expect from Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys.  Here, the piano, the trumpets (heard on a couple of tracks), and backing vocals are gone.  Simply good steel and fiddle work, here, mixed with some solid electric guitar work.

Originally released on vinyl (both 33 1/3, as well as a 45 EP), this album is long out of print.  Used copies are not too difficult to find; the ones I located ranged widely in price from around $5, to as high as $40.

Overall, this is a rather interesting album.  When you take each track, individually, each one is strong enough to stand on it’s own, all highlighting the stellar work that always came from Hank’s band, as well as great vocal abilities by Hank, himself.  On the other hand, trying to listen to twelve cuts of similarly tempo’d waltzes does get rather monotonous, after awhile.  Probably easier to listen to in bits and pieces.  I rate it a 3.5 out of 5.

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"Favorite Waltzes By Hank Thompson" Classic Album Review

Charlie Louvin "See The Big Man Cry" Single Of The Day

Greetings from Asheville, where good music is always found on the turntable, especially at 45 rpm.  Today’s Single Of The Day comes from Charlie Louvin, one of his hits of the post-Louvin Brothers era.  Charlie’s solo career began in 1964, as he quickly scored a top ten hit with “I Don’t Love You Anymore”, then returned to the top ten, a year later, with “See The Big Man Cry”.

Released in early Spring, 1965, the single would climb the charts, to as high as seven, becoming his final top ten entry.  In addition, the single was one of the early successes for a young songwriter who would later go on to pen the iconic hit “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys”, as well as scoring several of his own hits in the early 1980′s, Ed Bruce.

Simply one of Charlie’s best recordings, I think it should have been an even bigger hit.  Great melody, strong lyrics, just an overall great sounding record.

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Charlie Louvin "See The Big Man Cry" Single Of The Day

Jim Reeves "Stand At Your Window"/"What Would You Do" Single Of The Day

Greetings from Asheville, where good music always fills the air.  Today’s Single Of The Day wasn’t one of Jim Reeves’ biggest hits, though both sides did crack the Country 20.  It is noteworthy, though, because it was a part of an early 1960′s experiment that RCA Victor made with several releases, where, in addition to the standard 45 rpm format, they also issued a 33 1/3 rpm single, as seen here.

Unlike many double-sided hits, this single had a different life.  Most of the time, both sides would chart within weeks of each other, or in some cases, were simply lumped together, taking only one position on the charts.  But what happened, here, is that “What Would You Do” would debut on the Country 40 in July, 1961, while “Stand At Your Window” didn’t debut until October, after “What Would You Do” had finished it’s  hit life.  ”What Would You Do” would fare slightly better, peaking at fifteen, compared to sixteen for “Stand At Your Window”.

Both sides are pretty much the standard Jim Reeves sound; a nice, smooth vocal, mixed with the polished arrangement.  ”What Would You Do” is more of a mid tempo track, while “Stand At Your Window” has a little more rhythm to it.

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Jim Reeves "Stand At Your Window"/"What Would You Do" Single Of The Day

Loretta Lynn "What Kind Of A Girl (Do You Think I Am)" Single Of The Day

Greetings from Asheville, where it’s always easy to find good music.  Today’s Single Of The Day became Loretta Lynn’s eleventh top ten hit, as it climbed the charts in Fall, 1967.

“What Kind Of A Girl (Do You Think I Am)” is vintage Loretta, standing up for the woman’s point of view, in this case, against a man who wants the goods.

Written by Loretta Lynn (Teddy Wilburn is listed as co-writer), the record debuted in October, climbing as high as five, by the end of the year.

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Loretta Lynn "What Kind Of A Girl (Do You Think I Am)" Single Of The Day

Willie Nelson "I Love You A Thousand Ways" Single Of The Day

Greetings from Asheville, where good music is always on the turntable.  Today, we look back at one of the many hits of Willie Nelson, a single that was the second Lefty Frizzell hit that Willie would also score with.

The story of Willie Nelson is well known; his incredible songwriting talents, but also his years of struggle to become a singing star, that finally culminated with his breakthrough Red-Headed Stranger album, featuring his first number one single, “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain”.  One year later, Willie was back on top, this time with a remake of the Lefty Frizzell classic “If You’ve Got The Money, I’ve Got The Time”.  Fast forward another two years, to August, 1977, and once again, Willie calls on a Lefty classic, this time “I Love You A Thousand Ways”.   Taken from his Lefty Frizzell tribute album, To Lefty From Willie, the song, ironically, was Lefty’s second chart single, and second number one hit, as well as the flip side to his first of each, “If You’ve Got The Money, I’ve Got The Time”.

Willie’s version made it’s debut in August, climbing the charts to as high as nine, by early Fall.  Performed in that standard Nelson style of that era, where his guitar is nearly as prominent as his voice.  It was an amazing sound, so different than anything else on the radio.  And if you listen close, you can tell the Frizzell influence on Willie, on this track.

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Willie Nelson "I Love You A Thousand Ways" Single Of The Day

Hank Snow "Hits, Hits, And More Hits!" Classic Album Review

Greetings from Asheville, where there’s always good music on the turntable or in the CD player.  Don’t let the title fool you; today’s Classic Album Review is not a compilation of Hank Snow’s biggest hits, but rather Hits, Hits, And More Hits! is a collection of Hank’s takes on the hits of others (mostly).  Hank’s RCA Victor release hit the store shelves in March, 1968.  The album wasn’t one of Hank’s biggest sellers, it failed to chart and contained no singles to help push sales.

The album opens with Hank’s take on the Billy Walker hit, “A Million And One”, which may be the album’s standout.  It certainly ranks as one of the best tracks on the album, performed in a manner no less than outstanding by the great veteran.

Next, Hank covered the Jim Reeves classic “Blue Side Of Lonesome”.  An interesting choice, as Hank and Jim’s styles were completely different, which is very apparent in the way that Hank sings the song.  Not a bad version, overall.

Hank takes one from the Stonewall Jackson collection, next, as he does a pretty decent cover of “A Wound Time Can’t Erase”.  Honestly, I don’t believe anyone can sing this song any better than Stonewall, but Hank’s version is okay.

“Green Green Grass Of Home” is another pretty decent track.  Hank had such a unique, one-of-a-kind delivery, something very apparent, here.

“Once More You’re Mine Again” is an original tune; a bit surprising that it wasn’t issued as a single, it’s good enough.  A nice ballad by Hank Snow.

Side one ends with Hank’s version of the Jack Greene classic “There Goes My Everything”.  Hank gives a fine performance, here, handling the song with ease.

Side two opens with “All Nite Cafe”, titled “Sittin’ In An All Nite Cafe” on the Warner Mack hit single.  A bouncy little track that works pretty well.

Another Jack Greene hit gets the Snow treatment, and this one is very good, as Hank nails “All The Time”.  Great track, right here.  Some of Hank’s best vocals on the album are heard, here.

Another original ballad is “It Kind Of Reminds Me Of Me”.  Not anything spectacular; the performance is good, but the song is a little bland.

Another track that deserves consideration for the album’s best track, is Hank’s take on the Don Gibson hit, “Blue, Blue Day”.  This one scoots at a pretty good pace, one of those fast-styled songs that Hank always seem to excel at.

One more original ballad is “He Dropped The World In My Hands”.  Another single-worthy track and the strongest of the three original songs on the album.

The album wraps with Hank’s take on the Bill Anderson classic “The Tip Of My Fingers”.  A pretty good finale to a pretty good album.

Long out of print, I was able to find a few used copies, mostly under $10.

My pick for Standout Track is “A Million And One”, while I give “He Dropped The World In My Hands” the Hidden Gem.  ”It Kind Of Reminds Me Of Me” gets the Weakest Track, being a little on the bland side.

Overall, this is an album that may not be classic Hank Snow, but it is a nice collection of music from one of the all-time greats.  For someone wanting to learn more about “The Singing Ranger”, I would recommend one of the several fine hits collections on the market, but if you’re already a Hank Snow fan, you’ll like this one.  3 out of 5.

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Hank Snow "Hits, Hits, And More Hits!" Classic Album Review

Porter Wagoner And Dolly Parton "If Teardrops Were Pennies" Single Of The Day

Greetings from Asheville, where the good music flows like a fresh mountain stream.  Today’s Single Of The Day became one of the big  hits of late Summer, 1973, and features two legends, Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton.

Since 1968, their singles were regularly near the top of the country charts, having already scored nine top ten hits.  For what they hoped would be number ten, they dug into some country music history and pulled out “If Teardrops Were Pennies”. The song had been written by a then-unknown singer named Carl Butler.  Carl Smith got hold of it, and at the end of the Summer of 1951, it was in the top ten, Carl’s third.

Porter and Dolly’s version debuted on the Country 40 in July, 1973, and would eventually surpass Carl Smith’s performance, peaking at three, compared to the eight peak for Smith.  The Wagoner/Parton version was recorded at a quicker pace, than the original, giving the song a somewhat different feel that gave it a good dose of freshness.

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Porter Wagoner And Dolly Parton "If Teardrops Were Pennies" Single Of The Day

Ultimate Twang Show, February 7, 2013

Greetings from Asheville, where good music is always on the turntable.  This week’s Ultimate Twang Show is now in the archives, at the Asheville Free Media website, where you can listen, anytime, through this coming Thursday night.

It’s simple to listen, just click here, to go to the page, and once there, scroll down past the play list dates and click the gray play button.  Simple as that!  And don’t forget to catch us, live, every Thursday afternoon at 4p EST, on Asheville Free Media.

Here’s what you’ll hear on the latest Ultimate Twang show.

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Ultimate Twang Show, February 7, 2013

Roger Miller	King Of The Road
Marty Robbins	The Shoe Goes On The Other Foot Tonight
Eddy Arnold	The Lovebug Itch
Joe Stampley	Soul Song
Willie Nelson	Good Times
Hank Williams & Hank Williams Jr.	There’s A Tear In My Beer
Johnny Lee	When You Fall In Love
Loretta Lynn	Don’t Come A Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)
Vern Gosdin	Jesus Hold My Hand
Emmylou Harris	To Daddy
Travis Tritt	Country Club
Tom T. Hall	Cloudy Day
Tex Williams	Don’t Telephone, Don’t Telegraph, Tell A Woman
George Jones	My Tears Are Overdue
George Strait	Carrying Your Love With Me
Buck Owens	Second Fiddle
Big Al Downing	Touch Me
Del Reeves	Girl On The Billboard
Dolly Parton	The Seeker
Ray Price	It Don’t Hurt Me Half As Bad
Sonny James	I’ll Never Find Another You
Karen Brooks	Walk On
C. W. McCall	Roses For Mama
Johnny Paycheck	Drinkin’ And Drivin’
Mark Chesnutt	It’s A Little Too Late
Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper	Are You Walkin’ And A-Talkin’ For The Lord
Faron Young	Three Days
Ronnie Milsap	I Wouldn’t Have Missed It For The World
Freddy Fender	My Happiness
Kenny O’Dell	Let’s Shake Hands And Come Out Lovin’
Mel Tillis	Stomp Them Grapes
Walter Brennan	Old Rivers
Dottie West	Childhood Places
Brad Paisley	Me Neither
Anne Murray	Snowbird
Hank Snow	The Gold Rush Is Over
Lee Roy Parnell	A Little Bit Of You
Porter Wagoner	Misery Loves Company
Ray Stevens	Indian Love Call
Juice Newton	What Can I Do With My Heart
Lionel Cartwright	I Watched It All (On My Radio)
Razzy Bailey	I Keep Coming Back
Johnny Cash	He’ll Understand And Say Well Done
Webb Pierce	Missing You
Kenny Rogers	Lady
Red Foley	When You’re Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You)
Sylvia	The Matador
Marty Robbins	Touch Me With Magic
Gary Stewart	She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles)
Tammy Wynette	Lonely Heart
Vince Gill	World’s Apart

Tom T. Hall "Ballad Of 40 Dollars" Classic Album Review

Greetings from Asheville, where good music is always found.  Today’s Classic Album Review is the 1969 debut album from Tom T. Hall, Ballad Of Forty Dollars And His Other Great Songs.  Released by Mercury in May, the album included five singles already released, including “I Washed My Face In The Morning Dew”, “Beauty Is A Fading Flower”, “The World The Way I Want It”, “Ain’t Got The Time” and the title cut.  The album failed to chart, his only non-charting album until 1979′s Saturday Morning Songs.

The album opens with a song that Tom T. Hall wrote, but became a hit for Bobby Bare in 1970, “That’s How I Got To Memphis”.  An outstanding song, everytime I hear it, it sticks in my head, be it Tom T.’s or Bobby Bare’s version.  I wonder why they didn’t release his version as a single.

Nearly all of us can relate to “Cloudy Day”, as we all have had those times that are on the trying side.  As always, Tom T. Hall can put an interesting spin on nearly any subject.

“Shame On The Rain” is a slower, rather bluesy-styled number that comes off pretty well.  Great melody, here.  Hidden Gem contender.

Another one I really like is “Highways”.  A quick-paced piece that compares a journey on highways with the journey of trying to reach someone’s heart.  Sound complex?  Tom T. Hall makes it work.

Another fine composition, here, is “Forbidden Flowers”, particularly from a lyircal standpoint.  While the lyrics speak of flowers, there’s much more hidden in the lyrics, one has to just really listen.

Side one ends with “Ain’t Got The Time”, which charted briefly in the Summer of 1968, is an up tempo piece with lyrics that bring a similar message to a mid-1960′s pop hit, “You’ve Got Your Troubles, I’ve Got Mine”.  Nice little track.

Side two opens with the title cut, which also became Tom T. Hall’s first top ten single, “Ballad Of Forty Dollars”.  When released as a single in the Fall of 1968, it was completely unlike anything else on Country radio, at the time.  No real refrain, a true story song that just tells the whole story of a man’s death and funeral, ending with a surprise; the deceased still owes the narrator forty dollars.  It’s my understanding that label execs weren’t sold on this track, but of course, the public loved it, and with good reason.

“I Washed My Face In The Morning Dew” was Tom T. Hall’s first single, and his first Country 40 single, peaking at 30 in 1967.  A moralistic message, something once common in the genre, but even by the 1960′s, much less common.

“A Picture Of Your Mother” is a sad song talking about a father and daughter dealing with the loss of their wife/mother, and the daughter wants to know more about her.

“The World The Way I Want It” is yet another up tempo piece that spent a brief time charting as a single in early 1968.  A Utopian message that might have been a little more progressive than what country audiences were ready for, at that time.  That said, it’s a decent track, lyrically strong.

Whereas much of this album has a distinct folk feel mixed with the country sound, “Over And Over Again” is more straight country (maybe a little country-pop, actually).  A basic love song, not anything spectacular, but a nice little track.

The album ends with the fast moving “Beauty Is A Fading Flower”, a  non-charting single at the end of 1967.  An alright track, again, nothing spectacular, but not bad.  Again, pretty strong, lyrically.

Originally released on vinyl, this album is still available as a two-fer compact disc, being paired with his second album, Homecoming.  A bit surprising that I didn’t find too many used copies on the market and the few I did find were in the $10 to $15 range.

The title cut gets my Standout Track nod, while I’m giving “That’s How I Got To Memphis” my Standout Track nod.  If there’s one track that’s a little weaker than the rest, I’d say “A Picture Of Your Mother”, but then again, that may be because it’s a bit too depressing for me.

Overall, not a bad debut effort that started what ultimately wound up to be a Hall of Fame career.  This isn’t his strongest album, but it’s a good album that a Tom T. Hall fan should enjoy.  I rate it a 3.5 out of 5.

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Tom T. Hall "Ballad Of 40 Dollars" Classic Album Review

Tammy Wynette "Lonely Heart" Single Of The Day

Greetings from Asheville, where today, we look back at a Tammy Wynette release for our Single Of The Day.

One of country music’s greatest female vocalists, Tammy scored thirty-nine top ten hits, during her career, but all but three came during the the 1967-1979 period.  Only three times would she make the top ten, afterwards, two of those efforts were duets with George Jones and Mark Gray.  Today’s single was from the 1980′s, 1984, to be exact, but spent only a week on the Country 40.  ”Lonely Heart” was release in early Summer, but could only muster a peak at forty, in July.

The song is an up tempo piece, a country-pop sound pretty typical of that era.  I actually think it’s one of her better singles of that time, a stronger piece than even some of the singles that broke into the Country 20.

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Tammy Wynette "Lonely Heart" Single Of The Day

Kenny O'Dell "Let's Shake Hands And Come Out Lovin' Single Of The Day

Greetings from Asheville, where good music is always on the turntable.  Today’s Single Of The Day became the only top ten hit for Oklahoma singer/songwriter Kenny O’Dell.  Kenny O’Dell is best remembered as a songwriter, thanks to penning hits such as the Charlie Rich classic “Behind Closed Doors”, as well as Rich’s 1st top ten hit, “I Take It On Home”, and the Loretta Lynn number one hit, “Trouble In Paradise”.  Kenny, though, had some success as a singer, scoring several chart singles during the 1960′s and 1970′s, on both the Country and Pop charts.  In 1967, his “Beautiful People” made a brief appearance on the Pop top 40, but he wouldn’t score another top 40 hit on any chart until 1975, when “Soulful Woman” climbed as high as eighteen on the Country charts.

Kenny’s most successful single came during the Summer of 1978, with a song he also penned, “Let’s Shake Hands And Come Out Lovin’.  The standard Country-Pop sound of the time, yet I think it’s a somewhat underrated record, featuring a great hook that is a take off of the an old boxing line.  In my opinion, great hooks are something that Country music generally lacks, today.

The record debuted in July, and would peak at nine, becoming one of three Country 20 hits for Kenny O’Dell, and his only top 10 hit.

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Reba McEntire "Have I Got A Deal For You" Classic Album Review

Greetings from Asheville, where good music is always on the speakers.  Today, we’re looking back at one of Reba McEntire’s earlier efforts.

July, 1985, a little over a year and a half since she had switched from Mercury to MCA, and it’s time for a new album release, as Have I Got A Deal For You hits the store shelves.  Reba’s third MCA album would feature two top ten singles and eventually attain Gold status for sales of over 500,000.  The album would peak at twenty-seven on the bestseller lists, and as of this writing (2/13), is her last studio album (excluding Christmas and compilations) to fail to reach the top ten.

This album opens with a rousing piece titled “I’m In Love All Over”.  Some very good country swing, right here, giving the song a fun feel.

“She’s Single Again” is an interesting take that is completely different than the Janie Fricke hit version.  Whereas her version was the standard country-pop style of the times, Reba turns it into a honky tonk sound, perfect for an old dusty dance floor.

The first ballad on the album is “The Great Divide”.  Not the same track as the Roy Clark hit from 1974, this is a quality piece of music that features some strong writing to go with Reba’s stellar vocals.  A Hidden Gem contender.

The title cut is next, a song that only peaked at six on the charts in the early Fall of 1985.  Rhythmic and country and one of her more underrated hits.

Another Hidden Gem contender is “Red Roses (Won’t Work Now)”.  One could argue this is how a country ballad should sound.  It would be hard to dispute.

The album’s other single opens side two (on the vinyl version), “Only In My Mind”.  A top five hit at the end of 1985 and I would argue another underrated hit.

The tempo picks up on “She’s Loving You Now”, which features a great melody, simply infectious.  Another Hidden Gem contender.

The one song on the album that failed to generate any excitement for me was “Whose Heartache Is This Anyway?”.  A mid tempo beat, the song simply isn’t quite the same level as the other nine.  It does feature some nice fiddle work, though.

“I Don’t Need Nothin’ You Ain’t Got” may also not be the strongest composition, but Reba’s performance, mixed with a great Bob Wills-type sound more than makes up for that.  You keep waiting for Bob to chime in with one of his trademark, a-ha’s.  Good stuff.

You could argue that Reba saves her best for last, with the track “Don’t Forget Your Way Home”.  May well be her best performance on the album.

Originally released on vinyl and cassette, and later compact disc, this album remains on the market on both compact disc and MP3.  As for used copies, they are plentiful in all three formats, mostly in the $10 or less, range.

I give “Only In My Mind” the Standout Track nod, while “She’s Loving You Now” gets the Hidden Gem nod.  I would say “Whose Heartache Is This Anyway?” gets the Weakest Track, as it just didn’t generate any real excitement or interest.

Overall, this is the Reba McEntire that I still like to hear, the most.  The days when she was country, plain and simple.  While polishing the sound may have increased fanbase size and record sales, something in the music was lost when she strayed from this sound, at least for me.  I rate this one a 4 out of 5.

Your thoughts?

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Reba McEntire "Have I Got A Deal For You" Classic Album Review