Tennessee Ernie Ford - Masters 1949-1976
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CD Details
Artist: Tennessee Ernie FordEdition: Music CD
Format: Box set
CD Release Date: 1994-11-15
Music Label: Capitol
Soundtracks:
- You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry
- Ain't Nobody's Business But My Own
- I Don't Hurt Anymore
- I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train
- Ain't Goin' Down in the Ground Before My Time
- Nine Pound Hammer
- Trouble in Mind
- Sixteen Tons
- Blackberry Boogie
- I Don't Know
- I'll Never Be Free
- It's All in the Game
- Old Cape Cod
- Ocean of Tears
- Blues Stay Away from Me
- Country Junction
- This Must Be the Place
- River of No Return [From the Film of the Same Name]
- Cry of the Wild Goose
- Roving Gambler
- Mule Train
- Work Song
- Rainy Night in Georgia
- Printer's Alley Stars
- I'm a Bad Man - Tex Williams
- Smokey Mountain Boogie
- Tennessee Border No. 1
- Put Your Arms Around Me
- Tennessee Local
- Blue Canadian Rockies -
- Streamlined Cannonball - The Dinning Sisters
- Dark as a Dungeon
- Sixteen Tons
- Tennessee Waltz
- Anticipation Blues
- Milk 'Em in the Morning Blues
- Shotgun Boogie
- Stack-O-Lee - Joe "Fingers" Carr
- You Can Tell a Texan Everytime
- Rock City Boogie - The Dinning Sisters
- False Hearted Girl - The Dinning Sisters
- Cool Cool Kisses - Helen O'Connell
- You're My Sugar - Kay Starr
- She Called Me Baby - Glen Campbell
- Bright Lights and Blonde Haired Women - The Starlighters
- Since You've Been Gone
- It's the Talk of the Town - The Starlighters
- Take Me Back and Try Me One More Time
- Sweet Dreams
- That's All
Music reviews of Masters 1949-1976
Music Review: The stellar talent of Ernie Ford
Rating: 5 Stars
It is a peculiar thing to be writing about a now long out-of-print CD set, but there are still copies of this to be had, and no other reviews at this site, so here goes.
First, my five-star rating is an automatic one, since no other collection of Ford's music containing more than half this amount of music currently exists. That said, it is certainly a good collection. In fact, given the superlatives in this set, one can hardly imagine why it was available for so short a time. The only explanation I can offer is that its distributor, EMI/Capitol, is widely known for the practice of issuing, then suddenly withdrawing lots of recordings.
There is a wide range of styles and moods in this set, amply demonstrating that Ernie Ford was a versatile and sophisticated performer. He appears to have ridden the cornpone circuit until 1955, when "Sixteen Tons" gave him his first Number One hit and Capitol's biggest selling record to date. Afterward, Ford successfully traversed multiple styles of music.
The "cornpone" comment above was not a derogatory one. Certainly, Ernie Ford spent the first phase of his career in the country vein, but he was a master and worked with some fabulous session musicians, so these recordings are not to be dismissed. After "Sixteen Tons", however, things became even more interesting. Highlights in this set (my personal ones, anyway) include "River of No Return", which raises goosebumps with ghostly session voices backing Ford's stoic but resigned baritone in a song of lost love. "Dark As a Dungeon" is another song about coal mining (sadly lesser-known than "Sixteen Tons")which could have been maudlin in another singer's care, but shines here courtesy of Ford's personality and sheer good will--not to mention that voice!
One more song I must mention is "Rainy Night in Georgia". Yes, Brook Benton had the big hit record here, and rightly so. But Ernie Ford's recording is arguably just as good. Ford doesn't seem to have been aiming at the Top Ten with this recording but, rather, straight for the heart. Bullseye!
I should note quickly that none of Ernie Ford's justly popular sacred/gospel recordings are here, but since they are widely available otherwise (via the Gaither organization, Curb records, et al.) this is not an issue.
The sound of these discs is quite good, and there is well-written and -illustrated book to read while you enjoy the music. There are but fifty tracks over the three discs when at least eighty would have comfortably fit but, as mentioned earlier, there simply isn't any competition for this set.
And finally, to answer "Music Fan", who wrote the only other entry here: Try Amazon Marketplace or ebay. Seriously, this one is worth your time and money, and no one knows if or when a better selection of Ernie Ford's music will be available.
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