"The World of The Statler Brothers" compilation

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by BradOlson, Sep 15, 2020.

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  1. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

    A vintage example of a retitled compilation of an album that is essentially a twofer of 2 original albums is The Statler Brothers volume of "The World Of..." series from the 1970s which reissues all but 3 of the songs from their first 2 Columbia albums, the albums being Flowers On The Wall and The Big Ones. The 3 tracks omitted on the World Of... compilation are My Darling Hildegarde, Funny, Familiar Forgotten Feelings and The Doodlin' Song. This compilation came out as a 2 LP set in 1972.

    The tracks on the 2 albums are:
    1 Flowers On The Wall
    2 My Darling Hildegarde (not on The World Of...)
    3 King Of The Road
    4 Memphis
    5 I'm Not Quite Through Crying
    6 My Reward
    7 This Ole House
    8 Billy Christian
    9 The Doodlin' Song (not on The World Of...)
    10 Quite A Long, Long Time
    11 The Whiffenpoof Song
    12 I Still Miss Someone
    13 Ruthless
    14 Green, Green Grass Of Home
    15 Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)
    16 Walking In The Sunshine
    17 Funny, Familiar, Forgotten Feelings (not on The World Of...)
    18 Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town
    19 You Can't Have Your Kate And Edith, Too
    20 There Goes My Everything
    21 Almost Persuaded
    22 I Can't Help (If I'm Still In Love With You)
    23 Shenandoah

    All you have to do to get The World Of... configuration is to remove the 3 songs with the parethentical notes, and you have the World Of... compilation, all in the same order as the original albums.

    Columbia issued The World Of... compilation in the 1980s and remains in print as a budget priced item, while Wounded Bird would years later reissue the full albums restoring the 3 omitted tracks to the lineup and this Wounded Bird issue is rare, but you can download lossless downloads for both albums on 7digital.com and high-resolution for The Big Hits on HDTracks, Acoustic Sounds, etc. The original albums are widely available on eBay in original vinyl as well.

    The World Of... cover:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]




    Wounded Bird artwork:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Since these recordings are great sounding, just buy The World Of... CD and download the 3 missing tracks if you are on a budget or buy the LPs, if you wish to track down the Wounded Bird issue, now be prepared to spend big bucks.
     
    jeffrey walsh, GerryO and Shawn like this.
  2. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

    They only had a few stray single tracks and one more album after these 2 for Columbia, the album being Oh Happy Day (mostly a Gospel album) so for most people looking for their Columbia stuff, get The World Of... or the 2 albums the World Of... came from.
     
  3. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

    The albums came out in 1966-1967. The single for Flowers On The Wall came out in 1965.
     
  4. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

    Ranwood Records had also issued a standalone CD issue of the Flowers On The Wall album in the mid 1990s.
     
  5. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

    In fact, I'd say that unless one is a completist, The World Of... comp is the cream of the crop of their Columbia output, definitive and an essential comp.
     
    agundy likes this.
  6. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

  7. agundy

    agundy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lock Haven, PA
    Had The Big Ones on vinyl many moons ago...always loved "Ruthless":agree:
     
  8. agundy

    agundy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lock Haven, PA
    Unfortunately, their discography has always been a MESS on CD:rolleyes:
     
  9. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

    Yes it has been a mess on CD. As great as their hit singles are, many of the albums are equally as great.
     
    agundy likes this.
  10. agundy

    agundy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lock Haven, PA
    The "Gold" compilation (2 cd) is really good for the later stuff...not much of the Columbia stuff, though. But still probably the best option other than the CDs you posted above as far as most bang for the buck.:)
     
  11. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

    Correct. Get The World Of... Columbia disc from the 1980s or if you stumble across the later Wounded Bird disc on online auction sites, etc. get that for the Columbia material and Gold or 30th Anniversary Collection or the original hits LPs on CD for the later stuff on Mercury.
     
    agundy likes this.
  12. agundy

    agundy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lock Haven, PA
    Thanks, Brad, for getting me to pull out some Statlers for the first time in 25 years!!
     
  13. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

    Their stuff is timeless.
     
    agundy likes this.
  14. Kevin In Choconut Center

    Kevin In Choconut Center Offensive Coordinator

    Brad, thanks for the information on these. I had the pleasure of seeing the Statler Brothers on their farewell tour. It was nice to be there, as I had grown up
    with most of their music. They put on a solid show that night.
     
  15. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

    You're welcome Kevin.
     
  16. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    I love those guys. Will get.
     
    BradOlson likes this.
  17. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

    Most of the non-LP singles, which mostly didn't chart, appear on the "Flowers On The Wall: The Essential Statler Brothers" compilation which is out of print. The World Of... is still the cream of the crop of their Columbia catalog.
     
  18. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

    I am glad that this thread got Steve interested in this compilation.
     
  19. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    My sister used to have The World Of... and I remember liking it. I recently found the Flowers On the Wall album for $1.00 in a used bin and it shows their folk, country, and gospel quartet roots with a touch of rock'n'roll on their cover of "Memphis." I remember hearing their song "That'll Be the Day" (not the Buddy Holly song) on the radio shortly after "Flowers On the Wall." Since it's not on either of these albums, I'm guessing it was an orphan single. Would have made a great bonus track.
     
  20. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

    Yes it was a stray single, and in the digital world only on the Flowers On The Wall: The Essential Statler Brothers comp.
     
  21. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

    You should find The Big Hits and then you'll have the original albums that the World Of... came from.
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2020
    Folknik likes this.
  22. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

  23. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

    Last edited: Sep 16, 2020
  24. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    Yesterday I went to a used record store specifically looking for The Big Hits. Flipping through the country section, there it was! Got it for $4.00, and listened to Flowers On the Wall and The Big Hits back to back this morning. Flowers On the Wall is an eclectic album of folk, country, gospel ( "This Ole House"), and a touch of rock'n'roll ("Memphis"). In addition to 6 inspired covers, there are 5 good original songs including Lew DeWitt's brilliantly crafted hit title song. As far as I know, Tom T. Hall's "Billy Christian" was written specifically for them and credited to T.P. Hall.
    The Big Hits is more of a straight country album. In addition to "Ruthless" and "You Can't Have Your Kate and Edith Too" (written for them by staff Nashville songwriters Curly Putnam and Bobby Braddock) and the traditional capstan chantey "Shenandoah", the rest of the album consists of covers of country hits made famous by others. They made all of the songs their own with their impeccable harmonies, but despite showing strong songwriting talent on the first album, there are no Statler Brothers originals on The Big Hits (although they were given writers' credit on the label and in the liner notes for the traditional "Shenandoah"). They would return to displaying their remarkable writing skills on their later Mercury albums with the brilliant vignette "The Class of '57" and many others. Though both Columbia albums are keepers, of the 2, I prefer Flowers On the Wall. As for The World Of..., I can only guess that 3 songs were omitted so Columbia wouldn't have to pay as many royalties. Now I'm on a search for Oh Happy Day.
     
  25. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven Thread Starter

    Plus the songs they kept that are copyrighted include the hits from the Columbia years which means that The World Of... is definitive to most people.
     
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