Jimmy Dean - Big Bad John [Bear Family/Sony]

Artist:

Dean, Jimmy

UPC:

790051157234

Description:

This 26-song single disc collection covers the highlights of Jimmy Dean`s 1961-1962 recordings for Columbia Records; not everything, but most everything that counts. The sheer diversity of material demonstrates some of the problems that Dean had finding and following up on hits; he was a passable singer and likable personality, but he would follow up a pop/rock piece like "Little Black Book" with a blues piece such as "Gonna Raise a Ruckus Tonight." But apart from the hokiest of these tracks ("A Day That Changed the World"), it all holds up, including the title track; the freewheeling "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette"; the weirdly topical "Dear Ivan"; his cover of Merle Travis` "Sixteen Tons"; the sentimental father-to-daughter soliloquy "To a Sleeping Beauty"; the rough-hewn "Big Bad John" follow-up "The Cajun Queen"; the delightful sequel to both songs, "Little Bitty Big John"; "P.T. 109," a tribute to John Kennedy`s World War II exploits written in the same vein as Johnny Horton`s "Sink the Bismarck"; the wryly cynical "Walk on Boy"; the workers` anthem "Steel Men"; the pop/rock ballad "Little Black Book"; the old Texas blues "Gonna Raise a Ruckus Tonight"; the strange D-day remembrance "A Day That Changed the World"; the breezily folky "Gotta Travel On"; the sad dog (and war) song "Oklahoma Bill"; the effective sub-Elvis "Night Train to Memphis"; and two previously unissued numbers, the slow blues "Lonesome Road" and the swamp ballad "Cajun Joe." ~ Bruce Eder

Track Listing:

DISC 1

1. Big Bad John
2. I Won`t Go Huntin` With You Jake
3. Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette
4. Dear Ivan
5. To a Sleeping Beauty
6. Cajun Queen, The
7. P.T. 109
8. Walk on Boy
9. Little Bitty Big John
10. Steel Man
11. Little Black Book
12. Please Pass the Biscuits
13. Gonna Raise a Ruckus Tonight
14. Day That Changed the World, A
15. Gotta Travel On
16. Sixteen Tons
17. Oklahoma Bill
18. Night Train to Memphis
19. Make the Waterwheel Roll
20. Lonesome Road
21. Grasshopper Mac Clain
22. Old Pappy`s New Banjo
23. You`re Nobody `Til Somebody Loves You
24. Cajun Joe
25. Nobody
26. Kentucky Means Paradise

Album Information

Release Date:

09/05/1994

Type:

Performer

Genre:

Country

Subgenre:

Nashville Sound

Label:

Bear Family Records (Germany)

Catalog Number:

15723

Original Release Year:

1993

# of Discs:

1

Studio/Live:

Studio

Mono/Stereo:

Stereo

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