Search - Tom T Hall :: Definitive Collection

Country music storyteller

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 11/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Please note that this is a re-issue of an earlier compliation (Ultimate collection) with a different title and packaging but an identical track listing.



Tom wrote and recorded songs that told stories - little vignettes of everyday life. Other country singers did this too, but only as a part of what they did. For Tom, story songs were what mattered. You want typical love songs? Look elsewhere. Yes, Tom sometimes sang about love but, like everything else, he told it in a story.



This collection includes all his country top ten hits plus his own recording of Harper Valley PTA, a song that he wrote but which became a huge international hit for Jeannie C Riley. Her version, which sold over four million copies, topped the American charts but didn't quite make the top ten in the UK.



Among Tom's classics here are Old dogs children and watermelon wine (my favorite), Faster horses, I like beer, Ballad of forty dollars, I love, Country is, That song is driving me crazy and The year that Clayton Delaney died.



Conspicuous by their absence are Sneaky snake and One hundred children. They may not have reached the country top ten but they are among his best songs and certainly better known than some of the songs that are included here. Still, I've yet to see a compilation that includes all Tom's classic songs. Other compilations that include those two miss out other classics - and that includes the double CD boxed set, which (as I said in my review of it) could so easily have been a triple CD with no drop in quality. Dedicated fans can at least get all the classics by buying different compilations, though that means a lot of duplication. If you are such a fan, you may be better to start with the box, then add Greatest hits 2 and one of the RCA compilations, then see what else you want.



If you only want one CD of Tom's music, this is the one to buy despite the absence of two classics. If you enjoy it as much as I do, you can always buy more of his music another time."

Repackaged version of Hall's Ultimate Collection from 2001

James E. Bagley | Sanatoga, PA USA | 07/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The most underrated singer-songwriter of the `70's, Tom T. Hall's best sides play out with remarkable freshness on this twenty-four song compilation. Boasting booklet notes by Colin Escott, the set smartly spotlights the Kentuckian's narrative gifts, commercial rise, and fall.



Literate and folkie, Hall's early Mercury recordings were often inspired by real life events. Produced by Jerry Kennedy, the earliest hits - "Ballad of Forty Dollars," "A Week in a County Jail," and "Salute to a Switchblade Knife" - sound similar to his work with Roger Miller. These sardonic sides, along with such classics as "Homecoming," "The Year That Clayton Delaney Died," and "Old Dogs, Children, and Watermelon Wine," still conjure wry poignancy.



Hall embraced country radio by mixing barfly sing-a-longs "That Song is Driving Me Crazy" and "I Like Beer" with kid-friendly ditties ala "I Love" and "I Care." Yet, he also boldly experimented with his basic sound. Examples? "Ravishing Ruby" employed Mexican xylophone long before Jimmy Buffet did, and "Fox on the Run"was a rare commercial blow for bluegrass.



At his commercial peak, Hall left Mercury for RCA, where the enclosed hits "What Have You Got to Lose" and "The Old Side of Town" demonstrate an artist whose work had become merely product. A return to Mercury yielded a popular remake of Rudy Vallee's "P.S. I Love You" (the final track found here) before his star completely faded.



Although it omits interesting lesser hits, this crisp sounding collection is a strong retrospective of a great singer-songwriter. It is a repackaged version of Hall's Ultimate Collection that was put out in 2001.

"

More greats from a one of a kind man

Donald T. Wardlow | goose creek, sc usa | 07/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
This is another great CD of hits by Tom T. Hall. Two days ago, I got to hear him on XM radio, interviewed by Bill Anderson, and a couple of songs from this album were mentioned. He mentioned not being allowed to sing "I Love," on network TV, because one of the things he loves is, grass. The Tv censor took "Grass," to mean pot. Any fan of Tom T. Hall knows that would be the furthest thing from his mind when he mentioned grass. He was of the generation which, if he wanted to alter his mind, would do it with beer. see "I like Beer." "Deal," "Fox on the Run," and "Old Side of Town," were totally new to me when I got this, and I love them all. "Old Side of Town," sounds like a George Jones song. "Homecoming," was first offered to Bill Anderson himself, who passed on it, letting Tom T. take it into orbit. just some of the good stuff on this excellent CD."