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From the Vault...
12/09/2001
#763 |
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info
Tom T. Hall
"Greatest Hits Volumes I And II"
© Mercury Records
Year of Release: 1983
Rating:
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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
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WSVNRadio Archives
Tom T. Hall related sites:
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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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Review or any portion may not be reproduced
without written permission. Cover art is the
intellectual property of
Mercury Records
and is used for reference purposes only.
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