A forties radio program of future greats
Tom Willett | Tennessee | 03/27/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Cliffie Stone was the manager of Tennessee Ernie Ford and Tommy Sands, among others. Cliffie wrote songs with Merle Travis and Stan Freberg during his seven decade career. This package has some musical and spoken excerpts from his radio programs. If you are ever in Hollywood you will see Cliffie's star on the Walk of Fame. It is located 7 stars north of Sunset Boulevard on the western (music) side of Vine Street. On this CD is an interesting combo of Tennessee Ernie Ford doing a song called "Mine All Mine" with Merle Travis. It was recorded in December of 1948. About 7 years later Ford would record Travis' song "16 Tons" and it would reach the #1 spot on the pop charts. It would go on to sell more than five million copies in it's first year. Cliffie would go on to do live shows mostly in Southern California until he was eighty years of age. He passed away in February of 1998. These recordings are wonderful memory makers. Cliffie sounded the same in 1948 as he did in 1998. Also on this CD are recordings by Jimmy Wakely, The Armstrong Twins and Harold Hensley. The sound quality is less than perfect, but it brings back the memories of the days they did it live and enjoyed the mistakes. A great addition to the collector's treasures. Tom Willett"