"...Dreaming Of Henry Ford..."
This is the kind of twofer
reissue that Beat Goes On Records of the UK does so well (BGO for short) - four
now forgotten and obscure albums remastered in full onto two CDs by Audio
Engineer Andrew Thompson. You get a classy looking card slipcase – foldout
double jewel case, new liner notes and a decent asking price. The original
vinyl was "Jerry Reed" from 1972 alongside three from early to late 1973
- "Hot A' Mighty", "Lord, Mr. Ford" and "The Uptown
Poker Club" - all originally on RCA Victor Records in the USA.
UK released 31 May 2019 -
Beat Goes On BGOCD1377 (Barcode 5017261213778) offers up all four albums newly
remastered in high def in their entirety - the third platter included giving
the witty Georgia Boy a US Country Music No. 1 with the oil, gas, wheezing,
automobile spluttering song "Lord, Mr. Ford" - a lyrically very funny
tune by Dick Feller that tapped into the truckers craze of the early Seventies.
In fact wit abounds in songs
choices like "Alabama Wild Man" and the Rock n' Roll tribute album of
sorts "Hot A' Mighty" where he tackles hunks of Chuck Berry but still
manages to slot in Mickey Newbury's "Sweet Memories". With Chet
Atkins production across all four of the platters (played Guitar too on most) and
a huge bevvy of quality Nashville players – it’s no wonder that the audio
transfers are lovely - really clear and full of body. His acting career
skyrocketed then (eventually becoming integral to the Smokey & The Bandit
films) and he gave music a bit of a back seat.
For sure Seventies Country
music (on RCA especially) has had the reputation of being just the wrong side
of hick - but when Reed covers songs like Rodney Crowell's "You Can't Keep
Me Here In Tennessee" and "Everybody Has Those Kind Of Days"
whilst throwing in his own "It's Tough All Over" – JR showed his
smarts and sass at picking a winning tune. It can be dated in places as these
albums tended to be, but this is a very good reissue from BGO (yet again)
highlighting a songwriter and personality who deserves a second-go-round. Nice
one...
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