Guy Lombardo's Greatest Hits and His Royal Canadians (Reel to Reel Tape)

Mitch Miller.Song listing:side one--Singing the Blues/Sparrow in the Tree Top/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania/She Wears Red Feathers/Knee Keep in the Blues/Christopher Columbusside two--My Heart Cries For You/The Roving Kind/My Truly, Truly Fair/Feet Up/Belle, Belle, My Liberty Belle/Rock-A-BillyGreatest hits packages: you can thank Mitch Miller. He pioneered retreads (the good kind--original hit recordings tracked six at a side for Lp play):This album dates about November, 1958, release. It was part of a then-new concept series, Columbia's "GREATEST HITS" albums. The first, the template for GREATEST HITS albums, was Johnny Mathis's Columbia CL 1133 package from April, 1958, which is one of the longest-lasting chart albums in Joel Whitburn's Billboard histories. The success of Mathis' package set up a succession of Columbia compilation 45 singles albums for other '50s pop artists. Here are the early ones; by 1962+, hits packages were a retail staple:Johnny Mathis, Columbia CL 1133 (stereo version CS 8634)Doris Day, Columbia CL 1210 (stereo version CS 8635)Guy Mitchell, Columbia CL 1226 monoJohnny Ray, Columbia CL 1227 monoJo Stafford, Columbia CL 1228 monoTony Bennett, Columbia CL 1229 (stereo version CS 8652)Frankie Laine, Columbia CL 1231 (stereo version CS 8636)Four Lads, Columbia CL 1235 monoVarious artists, Columbia CL 1308 monoMarty Robbins, Columbia CL 1325 (stereo version CS 8639)Johnny Mathis #2, Columbia CL 1344 (stereo version CS 8150)Percy Faith, Columbia CL 1493 (stereo version CS 8637)Jerry Vale, Columbia CL 1529 (stereo version CS 8778)Mitch Miller, Columbia CL 1544 (stereo version CS 8638)Ray Price, Columbia CL 1566 (stereo version CS 8866)--far more hits came later, most in true stereo. The above are from the pre-1958 mono recordings period and the "stereo" versions were rechanneled.You'll notice that a few artists' Columbia hits comps didn't have a (fake) stereo version. The mono-only packages suggest that Columbia didn't get enough bang for the buck on those packages, so they didn't budget the sound engineers any money to twiddle with the sound balance knobs and play around with out-of-phase audio butchery on those old catalog warhorses.This is an album compiled from some of Mitch's big hit productions. They are catchy, happy, poppy, smiley, have a bright novelty direction, which means that they are some of the most dreadfully cheerful, bright and smiley, awful things that topped the charts you'll ever hear (like Eddie Fisher). Additionally, as a fan of West Texas and West Coast/Bakersfield honky-tonk, I noted some song titles, just an old fav-oh-right artist in the songs on this Lp package: two Marty Robbins' songs...dreadfully popped and vanilla-ed, just like Tony Bennett baying and howling Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart" to a #1 excruciating BAD pop disc.I was doing some record collector crate junk rack flipping at my shellac pal's place (we were spinning old pre-war jazz, Charlie Feathers, Wanda Jackson, and Mac Curtis rockabilly 78s) and I came across a red Columbia 45 that had both "Guy Mitchell" and "Rock-A-Billy" printed on the label. Oh, wow, that combination suggests ketchup and ice cream. I put it on: putrid, stinking, gawdawful, gut-busting nirvana, a glorious STENCH of BAD taste! Yep. Had to have it. "Rock-A-Billy" made me a fan. So BAD it's good. Like Guy's later little 45, "If You Ever Go Away (I'll Go Out and Eat Some Worms)" on Joy 270.This set, coming too early for the songs, is unfortunately missing three horrible C&W covers: "Heartaches by the Number" (Ray Price), "The Same Old Me" (Ray Price again), and "My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You" (Ray Price, AGAIN! Pat Boone covering Little Richard must've been EXTREMELY influential).Buy this album. You'll regret it deliciously at every noxious, retching play.I live for the day that I just might be able to put my greedy mitts on the rechanneled out-of-phase "stereo" version of this, IF it exists!