Search - Various Artists :: 16 Country Hits From the 40's

A Curious Mix With Absolutely No Information

09/10/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, this compilation, released by Highland Music of Dearborn, Michigan in 1989, contains no liner notes whatsoever so, in several instances concerning selections not immediately recognizable, you're left wondering in what year of the 1940s they were alleged "hits." Secondly, there were no compiled "Country" charts prior to 1944.



The legitimate hits are: Pee Wee King's Tennessee Waltz which charted twice - once at # 3 Country/# 30 Pop in the spring of 1948, and again in early 1951 [# 6 Country] after Patti Page's version became a monster pop hit; Filipino Baby by Cowboy (Pappy) Copas which made it to # 4 Country in September 1946 [the lyrics would never go over in this politically-correct day and age]; "T" Texas Tyler's sappy, syrupy Deck Of Cards [a soldier was going to be "punished as no man has ever been punished before" for playing with his deck of cards in church! yeah, right - this made it to # 2 Country/# 21 Pop in spring 1948]; Hawkshaw Hawkins' # 15 Country, I Wasted A Nickel in late December 1949; the # 1 Country smash in fall 1949 by The Delmore Brothers - Blues Stay Away From Me; Jole Blon [actual title was New Pretty Blonde, which Moon Mullican & The Showboys took to # 2 Country/# 21 Pop in spring 1947; George Morgan's first hit, Candy Kisses, another # 1 Country early in 1949; Tex Ritter's 1948 comical hit Rye Whiskey, a # 9 Country in March; the equally-funny Take An Old Cold 'Tater (And Wait) by Jimmie Dickens [as he was then billed], his first hit which made it to # 7 Country in May 1949; Why Don't You Haul Off And Love Me - a # 1 Country/# 22 Pop for Wayne Raney in late summer 1949; and, finally, Choc'late Ice Cream Cone, another comedy-type by Kenny Roberts, which actually charted in May 1950, going to # 8 Country.



as for Money, Marbles And Chalk, no one, it seems, has ever heard of Pop Eckler, not even Barry McCloud who doesn't mention him in his massive volume The Ultimate Encyclopedia Of Country Music And Its Performers. The song WAS a hit in 1949, but for Patti Page and Captain Stubby & His Buccaneers. River Of Tears, a late 40's King Records single by The York Brothers, did not chart. Where Cowboy's Sweetheart is concerned, who knows when this was recorded? Patsy Montana did have a 1935/36 record called I Wanna Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart, but whether this is the same song is anyone's guess hanks to the lack of liner notes. If it was a 1940's re-make, i did not chart. Lulu Belle & Scotty's 1945 single Have I Told You Lately That I Love You was another non-hit, as is Philadelphia Lawyer by The Maddox Brothers And Rose.



As far as I can tell, all the legitimate hits are original selections, and the sound quality is surprisingly good.

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