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The Ballads Of Johnny Horton
Johnny Horton
The Ballads Of Johnny Horton
Genres: Country, Pop
 
  •  Track Listings (25) - Disc #1

A new slant on one of the greatest country artists of all time! Some well-known hits...North To Alaska, All For The Love Of A Girl, When It's Springtime In Alaska...plus many overlooked gems!Originally, a 'ballad' was a st...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Johnny Horton
Title: The Ballads Of Johnny Horton
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Bear Family
Release Date: 4/27/2010
Album Type: Import
Genres: Country, Pop
Style: Oldies
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
Other Editions: Ballads of Johnny Horton
UPC: 4000127163844

Synopsis

Product Description
A new slant on one of the greatest country artists of all time! Some well-known hits...North To Alaska, All For The Love Of A Girl, When It's Springtime In Alaska...plus many overlooked gems!Originally, a 'ballad' was a story song, and then it became shorthand for a slow love song. Johnny Horton was the master of both sorts of ballads. Bear Family has issued everything that Johnny Horton ever recorded on two monumental boxed sets, and we have also issued the best of his rock 'n' roll recordings. Now, on this exclusive single CD collection, we've focused upon his ballads, and emphasized just what a great singer he was. The set was compiled by Richard Bennett, who has produced Emmylou Harris and currently works with Mark Knopfler. As Bennett writes, 'Horton's voice was big, infectious and friendly, bursting with charisma and personality. While he is much admired for the rocking up-tempo tunes and the mega hit Battle Of New Orleans, Johnny Horton is less remembered as the great ballad singer he was. Very often the flip side of the record was where the heartfelt ballad was hiding or maybe a few would turn up tucked into a long playing album. It's these overlooked treasures that make up this set.
 

CD Reviews

If you can listen to "Lost Highway" and not get a lump in yo
OffBeat Magazine | 07/10/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Even though Louisiana Hayride product Johnny Horton scored big with the rockabilly shuffle "Honky Tonk Man" and patriotic productions such as "The Battle of New Orleans" and "Sink the Bismarck," his fame rests with these remarkable country ballads. This style came naturally to Horton as he manages to balance both confidence and vulnerability throughout. Collecting material between 1951 and 1960, the earliest recordings--"Shadows on the Old Bayou," "Done Rovin'"--feature fiddles and pedal steel, while later tracks--"Words," "Miss Marcy"--are more polished and include strings and vocal choruses.



While the overwhelming theme here deals with the perils of love, we get a sense of Horton's down-home sense of humor, particularly on "Tetched in the Head." The Ballads of Johnny Horton also includes some of his history songs, including "Comanche (The Brave Horse)" and "Johnny Reb," as well as a predilection for geographic subject matter, "North to Alaska." Horton absolutely wears his heart on his sleeve on every track here. You don't have to even like country music to be slightly more than impressed with this release. If you can listen to "Lost Highway" and not get a lump in your throat, you're stronger emotionally than I. First class packaging as we've come to expect from Bear Family. Recommended.--OffBeat Magazine, June 2010 issue

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