Search - Kitty Wells :: The best of Kitty Wells: Millenium Collection

Budget-priced collection of Country's queen

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 06/29/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As the first real female star of country music, Wells holds a special place in both its hit-making history, and as a primary influence on the female voices that followed in her footsteps. Her first hit, 1952's "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels," not only provided a lyrical rebuff to Hank Thompson's "The Wild Side of Life," but staked out a feminist viewpoint that had never been heard in country music before. Her other answer songs, and hits like 1959's "Mommy for a Day" (written by Harlan Howard and Buck Owens) found their voice in Kitty Wells, detailing the emotional travails of a woman's life, and opening the door for Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette and others.



By the mid-60s, Wells' hardcore fiddle-driven backings found moderation in the Countrypolitan sound, but her uncompromising hillbilly twang still shone through. Even the backing choruses of "Heartbreak USA" and "Will Your Lawyer Talk to God," and the double-tracked vocal of "You Don't Hear," couldn't dilute the emotional strength of her songs or the Southern roots of her singing. Though late-60s radio had moved on to smoother crossover material, Wells remained a very popular concert attraction.



MCA/Decca's collection focuses on Wells most productive years at Decca, covering 1952 through 1965. These are original recordings, produced by Owen Bradley, and digitally remastered for CD release. (Several other domestic collections, including Tee Vee Records' "Twenty Greatest Hits" and Step One Records' "Greatest Hits, Volume 1" and "Greatest Hits, Volume 2," feature re-recordings, and are recommended only to completists.) The selections, like the "Country Music Hall of Fame" collection, are weighted towards ballads, but unlike the HoF disc, this anthology includes a pair of fine Red Foley duets, "One By One" and "As Long as I Live." Newly penned liner notes from Joseph F. Laredo provide a quick career overview.



The only way to gather a more complete Kitty Wells catalog on CD is to pick up import releases. Edsel's "God's Honky Tonk Angel: The First Queen of Country Music" offers up 25-tracks, and Bear Family's "Queen of Country Music" provides four packed CDs. In both cases, be prepared to pay import prices. Those looking for a simple introduction to the queen of country music will find this twelve-track budget-priced sampler a fine overview.



3-3/4 stars, if Amazon allowed fractional ratings."

The Queen of Country

Jess | Coal Country, PA | 10/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am impressed with the "20th Century Masters" series of Country Music, and this is a real fine collection of the purest voice of country music. Sure, there were many other songs which could've been included here, but this is a fine sampling; and they are well mixed. I have had the good fortune of hearing many of Kitty's albums on their original LP's while growing up, and the clear sound of the CD actually surprised me. While the album obviously covers Kitty's response to Hank Thompson with "It Wasn't God....", the two finest tracks here are "Searching" and "Heartbreak USA". I would love to see many of her original LP's rereleased on disc; Lord knows we need it with today's offering coming out of Nashville. Buy the disc (and dont be afraid to purchase others in this 20th Century Masters series...they are good). After watching CMT and GAC, it's refreshing to harken back to the days when ladies had real class."

Forever The Queen of Country Music

"Tee" | LA | 09/21/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have a feeling one day the vintage country music stars might be reclassified as folk or even blues - certainly Kitty Wells' hardcore country sound has no more in common with the music of Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood than it does with Beverly Sills or Donna Summer. In the meantime while the queen of country music can still fall under the country label here's a sensational package of 12 of Miss Kitty's classics from the Decca archives. There's the legendary songs like IT WASN'T GOD WHO MAKE HONKY TONK ANGELS and MAKING BELIEVE, to her hits that have had so many covers she doesn't get enough credit for them like I CAN'T STOP LOVING YOU and RELEASE ME, to her smash duets with Red Foley like ONE BY ONE and AS LONG AS I LIVE, as well as blockbuster hits like SEARCHING and HEARTBREAK USA. Her 1959 classic MOMMY FOR A DAY opened a whole new door for domestic dramas in country music that Tammy Wynette and others would later follow through and there's even a touch of Mexico with AMIGO'S GUITAR. The collection also includes one of Kitty's less remembered top tens, WILL YOUR LAWYER TALK TO GOD, a sensational little domestic drama playing on Christian guilt. Kitty Wells is truly one of the pioneer artists in the country music field and it's clear even if she hadn't been the first major female country star she would have always been one of the greatest.





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