what Frank is listening to #213 – BOBBY GOLDSBORO – Bobby Goldsboro – (Epic) – 1981
Way back in what Frank is listening to #31 I said:
As if there wouldn't be a Bobby Goldsboro LP in the pile somewhere … the guy put out a lot of albums …. and they are staples in op shops …in fact I think there are some others in the "pile"of vinyl behind me.
This is one of those.
Here Bobby has gone country ….well as country as he can go. He's sporting a moustache, wearing a cowboy hat, and has some wood panelling behind him. But is this enough?
Here is some meaningful wikipedia background: Goldsboro was born in Marianna, Florida. In 1941, Goldsboro's family moved 35 miles north from Marianna to Dothan, Alabama. He graduated from Dothan High School in 1959, and later enrolled at Auburn University. Goldsboro left college after his second year to pursue a musical career. He played guitar for Roy Orbison from 1962 to 1964, while releasing a few unsuccessful singles….Goldsboro's solo career picked up steam with the "Top Ten" hit "See the Funny Little Clown." The self-penned single reached No. 9 on the U.S. national charts in early 1964. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. It was to be the first of a string of similar awards. Goldsboro would go on to have 11 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and 12 on the country chart….His biggest hit was 1968's "Honey", a maudlin tear-jerker about the death of a man's young wife. The song, written by Bobby Russell, was recorded in one take. It topped the U.S. chart for four weeks, reached Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart on two separate occasions (1968 and 1975), and was a #1 single in Australia. The single sold in excess of one million copies. It also became his first country hit, and marked a career transition, as his songs became more successful on the country chart than on the pop side. Goldsboro's last "Top 40" hit on the "Hot 100" came in late 1973, but he remained a fixture in the country top 40 into the early 1980s.
I also said this in #31: I have nothing against Bobby but unfortunately he was the least interesting of the male soft pop country / singer-songwriters of the 60s. The music is quite bland and was intentionally so to appeal across the board… and worse still there is a fair bit of schmaltz in here. His big hit was "Honey" from 1968 and if you haven't heard it you must.( preferably on drugs with the lights out). It is the last throw of the teenage death song ( though this is an "adult" death song) which were quite popular in the late 50s / early 60s ( "Tell Laura I Love Her","Teen Angel, "Endless Sleep", "Leader Of The Pack", "Last Kiss", "Johnny Angel", "Ebony Eyes")
from wikipedia: His biggest hit in both fields was 1968's "Honey", a controversial tear-jerker detailing the tragic death of a man's young wife. The song, written by Jimmy Webb, was recorded in one take. The single reached Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart on two separate occasions (1968 and 1975), selling in excess of one million copies. In Australia, "Honey" also made it to #1. The track was also # 1 in the US.
All this from a guy who started playing guitar for Roy Orbison ( though Roy has dabbled in a fair bit of schmaltz himself). What Bobby does have is : he's not a bad songwriter and he has incredibly good taste when it comes to choosing covers.
So, what do we have here? Not surprisingly … schmaltz. Albeit schmaltz with a country flavour. The country music industry is not afraid of schmaltz so Bobby would be a perfect fit I think. Maybe it's a little overdone but the 80s were not the best years for country anyway.
But, I will say that this is so slick that some of it is irresistible and totally pleasant like fairy floss when you are wasted. I will not be in a bar smoking cigarettes and knocking back a whiskey listening to this but I could quite happily have this playing in the background as I'm having a coffee, probably a Café Bombón, and a shortbread biscuit …..
oh yes, it's as country as some of the recent alt country acts.
Tracks (best in italics)
- Goodbye Marie -McDaniel,Linde – Dennis Linde is a legend (he wrote Elvis' "Burning Love" and many other great tracks) …here he hangs high also. Pop and pap but still convincing and with a quirky edge.
- Love Ain't Never Hurt Nobody -Goldsboro- barf
- Let The Little Bird Fly –Killen,Putman- any song with this title has to be perfectly ethereal or it will die. This one dies.
- Just The Way Merle Travis Used To Play – Goldsboro – Merle would never play this but full points to the homage.
- Me And You –Gibb- nup, but I could see Gene Pitney doing this and making a treat out of it.
- Alice Doesn't Love Here Anymore -Goldsboro- a reference to Scorsese's squalid contemporary Americana film from 1974 perhaps? Yes, in name only but this is a total throwback to the sickly sweet "Honey" Bobby did so well. Not sure if it works in the 1980s.
- Wings Of An Eagle -Goldsboro- I was hoping for a cover of Russell Morris magnificent power ballad …..to no avail
- I Got A Thing About You Baby -White- a great song by Tony Joe White who wrote "Polk Salad Annie" which Elvis covered. Elvis also covered this one ….and I would think Bobby is doing Elvis version, given the tempo, rather than Tony Joe's original. A good version but it's a good song.
- Love Has Made A Woman Out Of You – Weatherly- wow …I love how country music can "PG" something when it needs to. You've become a woman since you've pulled a root. Hello. The best thing is that, apparently according to the lyrics, sex gets rid of freckles. Fair enough.
- Green Eyed Woman, Nashville, Blues -Goldsboro- crap
And…
I didn't have high hopes and I wasn't let down. Still … tape a couple of congs (congs? … too many wines, I meant "songs" thank God for werdchek) and sell.
Chart Action
US
Singles
1980 "Goodbye Marie" Country#17
1981 "Alice Doesn't Love Here Anymore" Country#20
1981 "Love Ain't Never Hurt Nobody" Country#19
Album
#54 Country
Singles
1980 "Goodbye Marie" Country#17
1981 "Alice Doesn't Love Here Anymore" Country#20
1981 "Love Ain't Never Hurt Nobody" Country#19
Album
#54 Country
England
Singles
Singles
Album
––
Sounds
Goodbye Marie
Love Ain't Never Hurt Nobody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5-sN1eGGfk
I Got A Thing About You Baby
attached
original
elvis cover
Love Has Made A Woman Out Of You
attached
Others
Honey":
Review
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Bio
Website
Trivia
- wikipedia: "Goodbye Marie" is a country-pop song written by Mel McDaniel and Dennis Linde. The song is about a man who has to leave his lover to head for "the lonesome highway" back to his home in Houston, Texas.Bobby Goldsboro took a version of the song to #17 on the Billboard Country chart in 1981. Kenny Rogers later covered the song on his 1979 #1 album Kenny. Although the song was not issued as a single at the time, after Kenny Rogers signed to RCA Records his former label Liberty Records issued a newly overdubbed version as a single that went to #47 in 1986.McDaniel also released the song on his I'm Countryfied album in 1981, and as the B-side of his single "I Call It Love."
Other Comments
what Frank is listening to #31 – BOBBY GOLDSBORO – Today – (United Artists) – 1969
(originally posted: 12/06/2011)
