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From the Vault...
08/03/2008
#1110 |
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info
Tex Ritter
"Collectors Series"
© Capitol Records
Year of Release: 1992
Rating:
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track listing
Jingle Jangle Jingle
I've Done The Best I Could
There's A New Moon Over My Shoulder
Have I Stayed Away Too Long
I'm Wastin' My Tears On You
Jealous Heart
We Live In Different Worlds
You Will Have To Pay (For Your Yesterday)
Boll Weevil Song
You Two-Timed Me One Time Too Often
Blood On The Saddle
Bad Brahma Bull
Rye Whiskey
Green Grow The Lilacs
Have I Told You Lately That I Love You
When You Leave Don't Slam The Door
Rock And Rye
Big Rock Candy Mountain
Deck Of Cards
Daddy's Last Letter
High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)
Buffalo Dream
I Dreamed Of A Hillbilly Heaven
Just Beyond The Moon
The Americans (A Canadian's Opinion)
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Tex Ritter "Collectors Series"
Tex Ritter was a very popular Country singer, but most remember him being the father
of John Ritter, star of the TV show, Three's Company. The Capitol Collectors
Series captures 25 songs from his career on Capitol Records, from 1942-1974. (He would
record for other labels prior to 1942; his most popular songs would surface with Capitol.
"Jingle Jangle Jingle" would become a #1 hit for big band leader Kay Kyser in
the 1940s, and Ritter's version was just as popular, being his beginning hits on Capitol.
"I've Done The Best I Could" almost sounds like Vera Lynn's "Auf Wiedersehn
Sweetheart," yet faster. "There's A New Moon Over My Shoulder" was another big
hit for Ritter. The following songs, despite the songtitles develops a sad sounding style:
"Have I Stayed Away Too Long," "We Live In Two Different Worlds," "You Will Have To Pay
(For Your Yesterday)."
"I'm Wastin' My Tears On You," and "Jealous Heart" has the nice ol'
fashioned very early Country. Hillbilly-styled "Boll Weevil Song," and (another
appropriate County title) "You Two-Timed Me One Time Too Often." "Blood On The Saddle"
definitely has the drawn-out hillbilly Country atmosphere. especially the "quiverness" in
Ritter's voice. (Would this be the inspiration decades later for Garth Brooks?)
"Bad Brahma Bull" again has the typical early hillbilly Country. "Rye
Whiskey" is a CLASSIC! It's great, hillbilly (and drunken) music!
"Green Grow The Lilacs" is another typical hillbilly-styled Ritter tune, "Have I
Told You Lately That I Love You" has been around long before everyone most remembered
this song, sung by Rod Stewart.
Is this an ultimate title for a Country song? -- "When You Leave, Don't Slam The Door."
(Obviously related to the infamous term, "Don't let the door slam behind you, when you get
your sad-assed butt outta here!" or something like that...) This song even Hank Williams Sr.
could easily have recorded.
"Rock And Rye" is another hillbilly drunken driven tune, yet "Rye Whiskey"
definitely has the "better taste." "Big Rock Candy Mountain" is another good ol'
fashioned Country tune.
My personal favorite is the spoken word classic, "Deck Of Cards," as Tex Ritter
explains the story of how a regular deck of cards relates to the Bible. Many artists have
covered this story, as the two versions I remembered best, were by Tex Ritter, and Phil Harris.
"Daddy's Last Letter" is also a spoken word storyteller.
"High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)" was another huge hit, "Buffalo Dream" is
very different, and maybe one of the least favorites. "I Dreamed Of A Hillbilly Heaven"
has another ultimate Country title for a song, as it is a pretty good song, with singing
and spoken words. "Just Beyond The Moon" is another song like the previous one,
with singing and spoken words.
"The Americans (A Canadian's Opinion)" was most famous by Canadian broadcaster
Gordon Sinclair in the early 1970s. Ritter's version was recorded before his death in
late 1973, and was released shortly afterwards. Ritter even referenced Sinclair's name.
(Just ironic that American-born Ritter would record this version, being that Sinclair was a
Canadian.) This spoken word "documentary" has been labeled as a classic, even to that of
John Wayne's Amerca, Why I Love Her."
Tex Ritter's Capitol Collectors Series is a classic look at Ritter's most popular
recordings from his career with Captiol Records. Ritter would be one of the founding fathers
of Country music, and one of the earliest artists to record Country. There are classic tunes
here, and they can be easily influenced in later decades for upcoming future Country stars.
Tex Ritter is a legend in Country music, and likewise his son John, who may not have followed
in his father's footsteps as a singer, but he was known as a great actor in comedy, and other
television and movie roles. Tex Ritter passed away of a heart attack on January 2, 1974,
shortly before his 69th birthday. His son John would not live as far as his father, as he
passed away unexpectedly from an aortic dissection, caused by a previously undiagnosed
congenital heart defect, shortly before his 55th birthday, on September 11, 2003.
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Review or any portion may not be reproduced
without written permission. Cover art is the
intellectual property of
Capitol Records
and is used for reference purposes only.
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