I saw Paul Thorn in concert last night, again. He played this song: Paul Thorn is an ex-boxer turned country blues songwriter. He fought (and lost to) Roberto Duran.
Englebert Humperdinck stole that one from Carl and had a pretty big hit with it in 1968. It's still nice to hear Carl's original version though.
Definitely. It's hard to understand why Bear Family haven't issued a comprehensive box set. At this point, even BGO or Morello/Cherry Red could issue a series of 2CD fourfers including his classic albums. It would be even more amazing if some of Carl Belew's later recordings (publishing demos, studio tracks etc.) could be unearthed and given a proper release. Not only was Belew a talented songwriter, but he was a competent vocalist and performer whose work was often overshadowed by the bigger-named artists who recorded his songs. The prime of Belew's career were the sophisticated country albums he recorded for Decca. Between his hit songs and solid studio albums, Belew deserves credit as one of the originators of what music historians label the "Nashville Sound." In 1990, Belew died prematurely from cancer at age 59. Two years after his death, Belew won the Music City News award under the "Best Song" category for writing the hit song 'Look At Us,' which was a chart-topping single for Vince Gill. Sadly, Belew's back catalog has been severely neglected and overlooked. Aside from one official 'best of' compilation containing some of his original Decca hits, a Gusto budget CD containing re-records and a pirate CD-R from the questionable B.A.C.M. label containing needle-drops of his pre-Nashville 1950s material, very little has been done to preserve Belew's significant legacy. The Carl Belew composition 'Look At Us' as recorded by Vince Gill
Found a sealed copy of Del Reeves Greatest Hits on Razor and Tie mastered by Steve Hoffman the other week. Nice find I rec. Great voice and some solid music, not a lot available from this guy, another overlooked country singer...
That's nice. Would I be making an original comment if I said I never thought of country music having instrumentals for hits. (Not saying this was a hit.)
I don’t think of him that way. He’s just Paul Thorn to me. The first I heard him was on the Bob and Tom show with this song; I think when he started, he was focused on being a comedian like Rodney Carrington but, over time, dropped the comedy for more serious songs; not to say he can’t tell a funny story during his show, it’s not his main focus.
Love this CD! I got to see him in concert once and he just dives in and plays and plays. Very little talking between songs. It was just a great experience! I was listening to this the other day:
I heard this one a lot growing up, broadcast from our local radio station. It peaked at #11 on the Billboard country chart and #2 on the pop chart. “Last Date” by Floyd Cramer
pound for pound. the "best" country/rock/whatever band out of la. sales figures, notwithstanding. when poco played, others took note(s).
[QUOTE="ralphb, ] gary stewart was the ****. that first rca lp is superlative. "she's actin/out of hand/drinkin thing/backsliders wine" etc etc. classic. if country records still sounded like that? i'd complain less. ( mostly ) the lyrics are timeless.
