Still on the Possum train, but talk to me in an hour... And wake me up when there are four Epic years boxes!!
I just counted 51 George records on the shelf with 2 more on their way. I am a sick person. For some strange reason my wife is ok with this
You should post most of this in the George Jones thread, some are getting a bit overwhelmed that it's going off the 'Bear' track. Just sayin'. George jones
Tom T. Hall is an artist that I enjoy, and have grown to appreciate more as I've gotten older. It's worth mentioning to those that might not be familiar with them, that only the first 2 show above are Bear Family items. I have to say that one glaring weakness in your selection shown above is the omission of the Hux Records two-fer which includes the 2 classic Mercury albums, THE STORYTELLER and WE ALL GOT ToGTHER AND... THE STORYTELLER lp is one of his strongest, although all of the late 60's/early 70's stuff is good. I always wondered why Bear Family stopped the releases after the two-fers of the first 4 albums. The next 4 albums were great, and were finally re-issued by other companies. I wish Bear Family could have completed a box set since the bulk of Tom's material was with Mercury and RCA. I will add that while I enjoy most of his material, I strongly dislike the popylar songs such as Sneaky Snake, and I Like Beer. My favorite song is Ravishing Ruby. The 2 Mercury Greatest Hits cds are a great starting point.
My "R&B in D.C." box set just arrived, and it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I was expecting it to arrive this Tuesday, but now I have the whole long weekend to dig in!
A radio program with Tom T Hall and Bill Anderson playing songs written by Tom T Hall: Tom T. Hall on Bill Anderson Visits with the Legends 6-22-07 part 1 - YouTube
Working my way through this and learning how central Bill Woods and Lewis Talley were to the titular music.
Speaking of Bill Woods, I found this record in a shop in Springfield Oregon a couple of weeks ago. It's by an artist that I hadn't ever heard of named Jimmy Patton. I gave it a quick glance and saw Bill Woods on piano, so I knew I had something! I saw "Playboy" on the back and I was sold. It wasn't even in the country section and it was $4. There's no listing for this on Discogs... not even the record label Stereotone has a listing. Hardly anything online about Patton or this record at all. I'm VERY glad I found it! The record is pretty scratched up but it plays through fine with just a little noise. The sound is pure Honky Tonk and his voice is wonderful... reminds me a little of early Jimmy Newman. Is Jimmy Patton on the Bakersfield box set or another Bear release? I'm sure somebody on this thread know something
