Search - Merle Travis :: Best of Merle Travis: Sweet Temptation 1946-53

Good compilation of a Country Giant

T. C Lane | Marina, CA USA | 05/26/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Travis-pickin" is what is was called and it was a style of guitarplaying that Merle Travis popularized that influenced every Country picker from Chet Atkins to Scotty Moore and even Jerry Reed. This fine CD spotlights this overlooked giant. It's sad that Merle Travis never gets mentioned with the greats of Country Music but this CD is a sturdy reminder that he was indeed a great one. While it is his guitar playing that often gets Merle Travis mentioned in Country history books he was also a consistent chart topper during the period that this CD covers. His songs had a sense of humor ("Fat Girl"), addressed issues of the day ("No Vacancy" about the lack of housing Veterans faced when they returned from World War II, and he also wrote "Sixteen Tons". This CD is basically a replacement for Rhino's Best of from 1990 which is now out-of-print. While that CD had 18 songs this has 20 (with 13 of Rhino's appearing here, also). But the sound is better on this CD. With one glaring omission: the absence of Merle's classic coal miner anthem: "Dark as a Dungeon" (how could they skip that song!). You can find "Dungeon" on Folk Songs of the Hills, which is in print. If you haven't added Merle Travis to your CD collection this is the one to own. It's a good place to get to know a forgotten Country great."

Can't Any Of These North American Distributors Get It Right?

T. C Lane | 08/30/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It seems like every North American distributor has had a crack at putting out the definitive Merle Travis compilation. but no one has got it completely right. Some you find are re-makes of his 13 hits for Capitol between 1946 and 1966, while others, although offering original versions in so-called "best of" compilations, see fit to leave of some pretty significant selections.



This one from the normally reliable Razor & Tie is no different. His first charters are here, the 1946 double-sided hit Cincinnati Lou [# 2 Country and kept from the # 1 slot only by Bob Wills' phenomenal New Spanish Two Step which stayed at # 1 for 16 solid weeks], b/w No Vacancy which itself went as high as # 3.



He then reached # 1 later that year with Divorce Me C.O.D. which almost repeated the Wills feat by remaining there for 14 weeks, also going to # 25 Pop, while its flipside, Missouri, made it to # 5 Country early in 1947. That last is omitted here. In March 1947 he repeated that accomplishment when the wonderfully-suggestive So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed also stayed at # 1 for 14 weeks, and made the Pop charts at # 21 b/w Sweet Temptation. Both sides are here, as are Steel Guitar Rag and Three Times Seven, both of which peaked at # 4 in June.



He then closed out a very successful 1947 with Fat Gal [# 4] b/w Merle's Boogie Woogie [# 7 early in 1948], but only the A-side is included. Also missing are both sides of his next two hits, which is disappointing in an album that purports to cover his best from 1946 to 1953. These are Crazy Boogie [# 11 in September 1948] b/w I'm A Natural Born Gamblin' Man, and What A Shame [# 13 in February 1949 b/w Dapper Dan].



Six long years would then pass before Merle returned to the charts with Wildwood Flower [# 5 in July 1955 billed to Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys with Merle Travis, b/w Breakin' In Another Heart. His last hit came eleven years later when John Henry, Jr. reached # 44 b/w That Same Ol' Natural Urge.



Merle, who was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977, passed away at age 65 on October 20, 1983. A Hall of Famer deserves a decent 18-selection compilation covering all 13 of his hits for Capitol along with the five uncharted B-sides. In the meantime, this is easily the best available.

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