Pat Boone - Greatest Hits (18 tracks) +Album Reviews

These Are The Originals

T. Everett | Los Angeles, CA USA | 07/26/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As I was involved in putting the Pat Boone album on this page together (interviewing Pat for the liner notes), I should reiterate that these are the original Dot label recordings, which MCA now owns; that the reviews saying they are not refer to the Curb Record collection, which also has fewer tracks. How this got messed up, I don't know, but the MCA collection (and Volume 2, on Varese Sarabande) are the originals, both compiled with Pat's approval."

Unintentional Pioneer

Henry R. Kujawa | "The Forbidden Zone" (Camden, NJ) | 10/23/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Along with Rick Nelson, Pat Boone was an artist in the 50's who helped make what had been called "race" music popular to non-black audiences-- outselling the originals while no doubt leading many to seek out what the originals really sounded like. (The Beatles' early recordings had the same effect on me, introducing me to earlier artists I might not have found otherwise.) For someone like me, who doesn't rank Boone as highly as dozens or even hundereds of other artists (call it personal taste) this is an EXCELLENT collection that features his early R&B covers, and a nice selection of his later "shmaltzy" stuff. Sure, I don't play it much-- but I can't argue with the quality & beauty of the stuff here!However, my favorite song here is the one Pat says his manager urged him NOT to record, as by then he'd put rock & roll behind him: "Speedy Gonzales"! I find it hard to believe the story that Pat's manager somehow invited his friend Mel Blanc to contribute to the recording without realizing Blanc was ALREADY the voice of the cartoon mouse! (Talk about too silly for words.) That it became Pat's BIGGEST-selling single only proves to me that Boone, if anything, had better instincts that his manager. GO, PAT! I only wish they'd have included the MONO 45 mix, as it has more "punch" than the stereo version here. This is a common problem with repackages; if they're giving us the "hits", they should make sure it's really the "hit" versions! The same thing plagued The Monkees' "Pleasant Valley Sunday" for over 2 decades' worth of reissues..."

This is the Real McCoy!! Buy the MCA version!!

T. Everett | 06/10/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Want to clarify an earlier review....The bogus recordings appear on the CURB label's version of "Greatest Hits". The MCA label's "Greatest Hits" are authentic and original DOT Records recordings! Review for the CURB lable Cd was erroneously placed under the MCA Cd.....are you confused yet??"

Pat Boone's Greatest Hits

arunas carl blandis | Sydney, Australia. | 05/15/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album contains a wide selection of Pat's greatest hits. I have listened to several samples and the recordings are not the original hits as released for the hit charts, nevertheless they are excellent renditions by a singer with a superb voice.Any mature long term fan of Pat's would know that his truly great hits include songs that did not make the top forty or any other radio or press listing. So my rating of the album is not based on the quality or merit of the recordings but rather what an old and frequent listening fan considers Pat's greatest hits to be.Certainly the album is highlighted by Pat's classics, tracks 4 through 13 and also 15. If you added super hits like Stardust, Ebb Tide, Anniversary Song, St Louis Blues and such like the album would most certainly rate 5 star+.I acknowledge tracks such as 17,18, 1 and 2 as part of the pop scene of the fifties but I do not consider them to be performances which endear you to the qualities of a superb balladeer. Pat is one of the last of a line of crooners which stunned the music world with an original sound but he like others had to be careful in their selection of songs. Sinatra and Crosby recorded a much narrower pop range of songs (excluding Crosby's early jazz recordings)but Pat Boone was caught in the explosion of rock music in the mid fifties. He almost had to record songs of rock & roll sound and rhythm. This was a pity because they did not suit his voice and style of presentation - he was a crooner with a huge and true vocal range suitable for classical love songs in the 'Stardust' tradition.Any fan of this artist will greatly appreciate the excellent material contained in this album. For a new listener, try to discount the songs which do not suit the smooth, silky sounds of the real Pat Boone, listen to the high quality love songs of that time, April Love, Remember You're Mine, Chains of Love, Sugar Moon, these are marvellous, sensual vocal presentations of romantic interludes from one of the very best vocalists of our time."

Great singer-Great songs

Charles H. Levenson | new jersey | 03/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Pat Boone's misfortune was that he came along too late in the game...Boone is essentially a crooner,even if I am stretching the definition of that word a bit..He came along at a time when popular music was undergoing a very radical change(a change that has not been for the better,as rap and heavy metal ,two forms of musical self-abuse,have shown)..His voice is pleasant(whereas most of today's"stars" have ruff,untrained,untalented voices,better suited to singing in the shower-or not singing at all-than singing for a living),and most of his songs are sentimental rather than artsy-fartsy,mind-numbingly personal,or just plain rubbish(as are most of the stuff we are subjected to today)...and Boone suffers because some of his cover versions are sweetly done,while the originals,often by "artists"with less talent than Boone,sound raw which,unfortunately,has been the standard since the late 1950s...For those who hate talent,sentiment,quality,romance,and other pre-Elvis musical attributes,Pat Boone's music is anathema..Most listeners who hate Boone's work have very little tolerance for anything other than the gutter trash that is today's'popular"music..But for those who appreciate QUALITY,Pat Boone remains a hero,and this album contains a lot of his very best sides."

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