Search - Burl Ives :: On Top of Old Smoky

HERE'S THE SONG LIST FOR THIS CD:

06/22/2001

(1 out of 5 stars)

"1) Riders In The Sky 3:05; 2) Leather-Winged Bat / Cotton-Eyed Joe 2:07; 3) Jolie Jacqueline 2:44; 4) Got The World By The Tail 2:26; 5) Wee Cooper O' Fife / Riddle Song 2:59; 6) Mule Train 2:38; 7) Cowboy's Lament 2:36; 8) Colorado Trail / Roving Gambler 2:20; 9) Darlin' Cory 3:21; 10) On Top Of Old Smoky [with Percy Faith Orch/Chor] 2:31 --and that's it.A very strange mishmash of radically different styles, and not enough of anything to be able to call it a fair overview of Ives. The songs bundled into single tracks were originally recorded separately. Exceedingly unattractive & offputting cover art, even worse than Sony's grotesque "A Twinkle In Your Eye" (which purports to be a children's collection, but is no substitute for the lovely but now withdrawn "Little White Duck"). For good & fully packed CDs of Ives' folk & kids' music, largely self-accompanied with solo guitar, but also including some orchestrated pops, go to Collectables' reissues of "The Wayfaring Stranger" and "Return of the Wayfaring Stranger", and Jasmine's "Lavender Blue" - unlike Flapper's "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" (which is taken from 78s, and is much more useful as an Ives document than for casual listening) all of these have consistently excellent sound. For orchestrated pops, try MCA's "Greatest Hits". The people at Sony nowadays have no concept of who Ives was or what he did, and are just trading on his name by throwing together sparse tidbits at random."

Complaint

Dr. Max Marco Tejeda Nichols | 05/14/2001

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I wish you'd have a list of the songs in the CD so I could decide whether I want to buy it or not."