Another coup for the Collector's Choice label
Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 12/31/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"For a guy who was once so famous, former sausage king and soft-country crooner Jimmy Dean sure dropped off the radar over the years. This is the first major retrospective of his work to come out in the States on CD, gathering together his biggest hits for Columbia, including "Big Bad John" and the various "big, bad" spinoff singles, along with the remainder of his chart singles made before he left the label in 1966. Dean's star was already falling when he split for RCA, and there's not much notable in his career after that, other than his mid-'70s Mother's Day novelty hit, "IOU," which sadly is not included on here. This 24-song collection is pretty comparable to the Bear Family import that came out a decade earlier: both albums have all his major hits, and then they veer off in different directions when it comes to the B-sides and album tracks, and the Bear Family set only goes up to '62. This new retrospective sticks more strictly to his chart material, so it may be more interesting to folks who knew Dean through the radio... at any rate, if you want to check Dean out, this is the place to go."
Tears from your heart.
James R. Samples | wauseon ohio usa | 05/14/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This song will bring tears of joy from the hardest heart.
JIM"