Cowboy Music

I was aware that Gene did some of these tunes. You'd hear one now and then but to have them all on one great CD is just great! I have been a Gene Autry fan since I first heard one of my Grandmother's scratchy 78's back in the late 40's. He was THE Country-Western singer! And a very good writer also. I just love old time Country Blues and to have a CD of Gene singing it is just downright special to me. Jimmie Rodgers is more historically important in the genre and Cliff Carlise was a better musician but Gene had the pipes! Just simple straight ahead music-you can't go wrong with this album!!

A lot of people have covered Jimmy Rogers, but Autry's have to be the best. Even better than Lefty's or Merle's, which are very, very good. This is not an interpretation with the benefit of 20 or 30 years hindsight; it is, essentially, simultaneous. Besides he worked on the RR as well as having better pipes, phrasing and guitar work. And Autry never goes overboard with the accompaniment... Bobos, however, I do not believe, yodel - blue or otherwise.

Most artists start by copying their heroes before developing their own style: the Beatles ripped off countless Chuck Berry licks, Bob Dylan wrote and sang like Woody Guthrie, early Sinatra tried to sound like Bing Crosby, and Gene Autry did his own version of Jimmie Rodgers. In fact he's just a bit better, having been endowed with a better set of pipes. Heresy, I know, but there it is.

It's surprising to hear Autry singing about T.B., murder, and infidelity if you know the slightly corny pop singer he latter became. I prefer this Autry to that one.

I reccommend this to fans of either Gene Autry or the music of Jimmie Rodgers.

When it came to singing, you name it and Ole' Gene could do it. He shows that in this wonderful collection of old blues sides, a la Jimmie Rodgers (but Gene does them a little better, I think). Notice how he adds just enough "black" accent when he sings these to sound bluesy, but doesn't overdo it by continually saying "Lawd! Lawd!" or such other blues-type exclamations. His voice was still definitely a tenor at this young age, and hadn't deepened yet into the rich baritone most people remember. Wonder what those blues would have sounded like sung by a more mature Gene Autry? This is one of those gems you don't find without some digging, but it's definitely worth it.

I just love this CD, here he is, the squeaky-clean idol of Hollywood's 'Singing' Cowboys', yodeling about booze, women, and jail. Blues and folk music is fundamental to what eventually became the cowboy, western, and country genres, and Gene demonstrates here that prior to his 'Cowboy' fame, he had a solid grip on the blues. He emulates the style of blues legend Jimmie Rodgers, but each track, including the 10 original compositions, is genuinely convincing. Gene's voice & timing are wonderful, and his playing competent, especially when backed up by Roy Smeck's banjo or delicious steel guitar. Before I heard this recording I felt that Gene's major contribution to music was 'Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer' and a bunch of movieland hokum, but, as with 'Roy Rogers' early 'Sons Of The Pioneers' recordings (pre 1938), I have come to find that these cowboy-era musicians were at their best before Hollywood re-fabricated them. If you are a fan of Gene Autry 'The Cowboy', this CD will surprise you, if you're not it may surprise you even more, and if you're a fan of Jimmie Rodgers, this is definitely your stuff.

Buy one CD and get almost all of his hits..Great bargin.

PURCHASED FOR MY BROTHER, AND HE ENJOYS IT. I LISTENED TO SONG SAMPLES, AND I LIKED THE SELECTIONS AS WELL. GREAT CD FOR JOHNNY LEE FANS!!!!

Johnny Lee is one of my favorite singers, and whenever I think of him, I think of "Urban Cowboy". This CD has some good songs on it, such as "Lookin' for Love" and "Cherokee Fiddle". Johnny Lee is a true country singer.

When you hear of Johnny Lee you automatically have visions of
Gilley's and "Urban Cowboy".At one time he was the hottest
artist in the great state of Texas.Even today on the Houston
golden oldie country and western music station you hear a very
steady flow of Johnny Lee songs.This CD has some of his best and
most notable songs.You will hear "Lookin For Love","Cherokee
Fiddle","Bet Your Heart On Me",and "Could Have Heard a Heart
Break".I was confused as to why the song "Yellow Rose of Texas"
was left off of this CD.This was the theme song for a television
show also titled "Yellow Rose of Texas".Buy this CD and listen to
it. You will be treated to some outstanding music.

The reason some of his later hits such as "The Yellow Rose", "You Could've Heard A Heart Break", etc. are not on this CD and are so hard to find are because this is an outdated Warner Bros. compilation from an LP released a couple of years before those hits were released. And again, its Warner Bros., a studio who would rather do something stupid like waste their resources releasing back titles on the doomed DVD-audio instead of stuff we might buy. Its not hard to find Warner titles needing a CD release...

Luckily, all of Johnny's missing hits can easily be found on a 2 CD "Greatest Hits and More" set sold on Johnny Lee's web site at this moment although I find the audio quality of this CD to be of higher quality then the 2 CD set.

At under $10 I would consider this a reasonable buy if you just need the intro into Johnny Lee's music though.

Most of these songs I had heard a long, long time ago, and really enjoyed hearing them again.

My parents had an LP with songs 1 - 12 on it, and I loved it then, and love it now. It's great to have those extra songs on it. This is real American folk music, with guts, heart, soul, and humor. My kids like me to sing them to sleep with songs from this CD, and I'm not even a good singer!

I'm referring to the second half of this disc, which was their country debut called "Exile". This debut of theirs is phenominal and one of the best recordings in country music of the 80's. From the jumpy "Take Me to the River" to the beautiful "I Just Came Back to Break My Heart Again", this is Exile at their best. These are some of the greatest country-pop tunes ever recorded and I'm not exaggerating! It also contains their mega hits "Woke Up in Love" and "I Don't Wanna Be a Memory". It is rare to find any CD where all the songs are good and this is one of them. You won't be disappointed in the second-half of this disc!! The first-half of this CD is from the "Hang On To Your Heart" release, which is fairly good, but not as spectacular as their debut release. I enjoy the hits "It'll Be Me", "She's Too Good to be True", and "I Could Get Used to You"; but the rest of the songs on the first half are ok, but nothing to get real excited over. All-in-All, this CD is worth your money, especially the last half.

Exile hail from Kentucky so nobody should be surprised that country music was where they were most consistently successful. In fact, they started off as a pop group and had an international hit with Kiss you all over. It topped the charts in America and also made the UK top ten. They had some minor hits on both sides of the Atlantic but nothing came close to matching the success of Kiss you all over.

Meanwhile, country singers were covering their songs and having success with them. Janie Fricke had a huge hit with It ain't easy being easy. Dave and Sugar did Stay with me. Even more significantly, Alabama had number one country hits with Take me down and The closer you get. Mark Gray quit Exile to pursue a solo career as a country singer. Finally, the rest of Exile decided to go country although they remained firmly at the pop end of the country spectrum. Exile's music is not for die-hard traditionalists who like nothing else. I love traditional country but I also listen to many other forms of music too and there will always be a place for Exile in my collection.

Exile released four albums with the line-up that began their country career. Originally, they were all released on CD individually but they are now available as twofers. The first two original albums (Exile, Kentucky hearts) were, to my ears, sensational but I see that the record label has kept them apart when making up the pairs for release as twofers - a wise move commercially. Nevertheless, the third album (the first half of this twofer) is well worth hearing.

The first album (the second half of this album) begins with Take me to the river, my favorite Exile track. It was not released as a single - perhaps it was not what country radio was looking for - but it is a classic. The country hits were Woke up in love and I don't want to be a memory, both great songs, but every song here is outstanding. If I have to choose best of the rest, I'll go with Red dancing shoes and After all these years. Lee Greenwood makes a guest appearance, playing saxophone on one of the tracks.

The third album (the first half of this album) contains many fine songs including the title track, She's too good to be true, It'll be me, I could get used to you and Promises promises.

If you enjoy eighties pop-country music, particularly if you like Alabama or Sawyer Brown, you ought to give Exile a listen. Actually, I think that at their best (their first two country albums), they were better than those other groups, but they could not maintain that exceptionally high standard.

When you hear Eddie Dean sing (if you don't remember his Saturday matinee movies of the 1940's)you will easily agree that he was by far the best vocally gifted singin cowboy. Blessed with a strong,robust, and yet very melodic voice that stayed on key more than Autry and had greater depth than Rogers. A totally fantastic singer who should have been a much bigger star than he was. This is a great cd with a full 26 trax that exemplify the voice of the best singer of the "singin cowboys". We miss you Eddie.

This is a must for any of Eddie's fans! Taken from the Standard Radio Transcriptions, these are Eddie at his best. There is an early version of On the Banks of the Sunny San Juan written by Eddie and Glenn Steange (Sam from Gunsmoke)which was one of his most requested songs. With 26 tracks, it is LOADED with music. A real feast for the ears of any Eddie Dean fan!

It's kind of hard to believe that America's most famous singing cowboy does not have a more thorough release than this, while many other and far less famous singing cowboys have received complete discography box sets. But as it stands, this 2-CD compilation provides a lot of bang for the buck and a great introduction to the huge mass of records Autry recorded during his decades as America's most beloved cowboy. CD-1 contains a nice overview of Autry's major hits spanning from his earliest years as a yodelling Jimmie Rodgers clone to a more polished TV and movie star. The second CD contains less-popular but even more enjoyable tracks with some really super tunes including "Pretty Mary". There has been a problem with many other Autry releases culling his songs from movies, TV shows and live performances (which would actually be great if the original versions were all released as well) but not to worry here, these are all the original studio versions!!

My order was placed on/about Dec 18th, standard (snail mail) shipping...received the "Christmas" gift on Dec 22nd...totally impressed! Product quality is equally impressive. Will definitely purchase from this seller in the future.

outstanding cd......one of the best i have heard in this field of music

This is the classic album that propelled and has fueled MMM's career for many years. I recall seeing Michael perform the songs from this album live the year it came out, and I cannot separate the memory of that powerful performance from the album. The thing that makes this studio album really special is the piano work of Jac Murphy which drives many of the tunes. The music is timeless and not bound to the '70s. Get it. Enjoy it.

Michael Martin Murphey has always done pretty good stuff, and this album was one of my favorites, so I was glad when it finally became available on CD. And, after all, "Wildfire" is a classic in its genre, in spite of the much-joked-about line where the horse (and subsequently the girl) dies because of a "killing frost" (which most certainly CAN kill... a tomato plant)! It's still a good album.

It seems like all of MMM's albums are classics, but this one has the breakout hits 'Wildfire' and 'Carolina in the Pines'. Hidden later on is the song 'Without My Lady There', which has a California sound that I think Jimmy Buffett imitates so poorly. The songs are well-written and the music is awesome...this is an album for the MMM collection no matter what!

The only *fantastic* song on this CD is Wildfire, (as it is also my favorite) but his other songs are great too.

This album was my first experience listening to Michael Murphy (no "Martin" back then!). I fell in love with him and every single song on the album (no CD's back then, either!). Yes, "Wildfire" is wonderful and I played it at my wedding, but I love "Carolina In The Pines" and even "Desert Rat" has it's own special meaning. "Blue Sky Riding Song", "Medicine Man", "Night Thunder", "Wild Bird", "Secret Mountain Hideout" and let's not forget "Without My Lady There". I think all of the songs are great! Mr. Murphy was in concert here a few weeks ago and it was my first opportunity to see him perform live, it's nice to have someone like him perform in the smaller towns in the country. Thanks, Michael, we truly appreciate it. Michael "Martin" Murphy has always been a great singer/songwriter, please, keep up the good work for another thirty years or so!

This is a fun nostalgia trip for boomers who grew up playing cowboys and indians and those of us who are younger who grew up with Disney LPs and song records- truly great fun. A note here- the Ballad of Davy Crockett was a top selling number one hit in the 50s for its singer- BIll Hayes known today for his role as Doug WIlliams on the soap Days of Our Lives. Bill has an accomplished career in music, stage and song as well as soaps.

My two sons love Davy Crockett, so when we saw the Riders in the Sky in concert and heard this CD would be coming out we could hardly wait. The CD didn't disappoint us a bit, except maybe that it left us wanting more. Includes wonderful versions of the Crockett songs you've heard before such as the all famous "Ballad," "King of the River," and "Farewell," and new songs written by the Riders like "Headin' for Texas" (beautiful!). I highly recommend this! Brings back fond memories of the days when Davy was huge, and introduces a great hero to our children today, someone willing to fight for what's right ("Be Sure You're Right, And Then Go Ahead").

We take the Riders with us on vacation everywhere we go. They are fun for the whole family to sing along, and if nothing else, our attempts at their yodel techniques are quite entertaining.