Search - BOBBY BARE :: Part 1-3-Mercury Years 1970-72

Early seventies recordings

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 01/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bobby Bare was a significant country singer from the early sixties (when he had major American pop hits with Shame on me and Detroit city, the latter eventually becoming a UK pop hit for Tom Jones) till the early eighties but never quite achieved the status that some of his contemporaries did. Maybe it was just because Bobby was content with life generally and didn't push his career that extra bit, but the consequence is that his music is largely neglected these days.



This set of three volumes includes everything that Bobby recorded for Mercury between 1970 and 1972, a period when Bobby recorded many songs by Billie Joe Shaver (with whom he sometimes co-wrote), Kris Kristofferson and Tom T Hall. Sadly, none of Bobby's recordings here are famous although they deserve to be.



Kris Kristofferson is represented by Please don't tell me how the story ends, Help me make it through the night, For the good times, Loving her was easier, Me and Bobby McGee, Darby's castle, Come sundown, Just the other side of nowhere and Great society talking blues. Several of these are now regarded as classics but Bobby was among the first to record these songs.



Tom T Hall wrote plenty of other songs here - The year that Clayton Delaney died, Pamela Brown, When love is gone, She gave her heart to Jethro, Mama bake a pie Daddy kill a chicken, A million miles to the city, That's how I got to Memphis, I took a memory to lunch, Woman you've been a friend to me, Mrs Jones your daughter cried all night, The waitress at the main street café, Dropping out of sight and Where have all the seasons gone. Perhaps it is no surprise that Bobby liked to record Tom's songs, as both like great story songs.



Of the other covers here, the most famous songs are Sylvia's mother, That's alright mama, Leaving on a jet plane, Hello darling, The year that Clayton Delaney died, Lonely street, Roses are red my love, Crazy arms and Don't you ever get tired of hurting me. Some will be familiar to pop music fans while others will only be familiar to country fans.



There are many other excellent but obscure songs including Alabama Rose, Take some and give some and City boy country born.



Bobby was one of the finest traditional country singers of the sixties and seventies. While his famous songs were mostly recorded for RCA and the rest for Columbia, there is plenty of interest in his Mercury recordings - if you can find them."