From the Vault...

12/09/2001
#763

info
Tom T. Hall
"Greatest Hits Volumes I And II"


© Mercury Records

Year of Release: 1983
Rating:

track listing
  • Homecoming
  • Shoeshine Man
  • I Miss A Lot Of Trains
  • Salute To A Switchblade
  • I Washed My Face
    In The Morning Dew
  • Ballad Of Forty Dollars
  • The Year
    That Clayton
    Delaney Died
  • That's How I Got
    To Memphis
  • A Week In A
    Country Jail
  • One Hundred Children
  • Me And Jesus
  • Country Is
  • I Love
  • The Little Lady Preacher
  • Sneaky Snake
  • I Like Beer
  • Ravishing Ruby
  • Old Dogs, Children And
    Watermelon Wine
  • Deal
  • Who's Gonna Feed
    Them Hogs
  • That Song Is Driving
    Me Crazy
  • I Care

  • WSVNRadio Archives
    A B C D E F G H I J K L M
    N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

    Tom T. Hall related sites:
    Tom T. Hall Website
    Wikipedia
    Previous Review: #762
    Ringo Starr--Ringo's Rotogravure
    Next Review: #764
    R.L. Burnside--Come On In
    Tom T. Hall
    "Greatest Hits Volumes I And II"



    Classic Country returns once again with Tom T. Hall's Greatest Hits Volumes I And II. As many times mentioned of previous country album reviews on this website, today's current Country is much different than previous decades. True Country is best defined in the early decades of popular music, especially the 1970s. One of many artists who truly defined 1970s Country was Tom T. Hall. His 2-album greatest hits on 1 CD is featured this week.


    Memories of 1970s Country Music flow back listening to this album, as back then Chicago's WMAQ AM 670 featured the latest Country hits. And they were famous for calling people and expecting them to answer their phones by saying, "WMAQ is gonna make me rich!" But as the 1980s approached, WMAQ would change their format to an all-News format, then all-Sports in the late 1990s. Nowadays, they have kept the all-Sports format, and dropped their call letters for another sports station that was located on another frequency with low-wattage power -- AM 670 is now The Score -- WSCR.


    But as we enjoy listening to Tom T. Hall's Greatest, it truly defines Country, and best of all, the art of storytelling. There are numerous great storytelling songs on this set, and most songs also features the topic of drinking -- with songs like "I Like Beer" and "Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine." The guitar picking on most songs here, truly defines Country music as well. If you're familiar with the country picking on Jerry Reed tunes, or even on Jeannie C. Riley's "Harper Valley P.T.A." (which Tom T. Hall wrote, by the way...), you'll easily say, that sound is definitely Country. Likewise, the steel guitar is displayed in excellent form on "That's How I Got To Memphis."


    The great storytelling songs are here -- "Salute To A Switchblade, "I Washed My Face In The Morning Dew," "The Year That Clayton Delaney Died" and "Old Dogs, Children And Watermelon Wine" to name a few, and my personal favorites, "I Love," and "I Like Beer."


    Tom T. Hall had 7 #1 hit singles, and 6 are on this collection: "A Week In Country Jail" (1970), "The Year That Clayton Delaney Died" (1971), "Old Dogs, Children And Watermelon Wine" (1973), "I Love" (1974), "Country Is" (1974), and "Sneaky Snakes/I Care" (1975). His remaining #1, "Faster Horses (The Cowboy and The Poet)" was in 1976; his Greatest Hits Volumes were originally released as separate albums -- Volume I in 1971, and Volume II in 1975.


    Tom T. Hall's Greatest Hits Volumes I And II, like in his song, "Country Is," IS COUNTRY... It's an excellent, superior album of what Country music sounded like before it was given a makeover in the late 1980s and beyond. Today's Country has a more pop sound mixed with the common Country sound, but it just doesn't really define true Country as it was heard in previous decades. Tom T. Hall, as well as many other great country artists, defines great country, and his Greatest Hits will be enjoyable by the old and new Country fan alike.


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    Previous Review: #762
    Ringo Starr--Ringo's Rotogravure
    Next Review: #764
    R.L. Burnside--Come On In