Search - Jimmie Skinner :: Doin' My Time

Jimmie Skinner reissue long overdue

Pawpaw Bruce | Asheville, NC United States | 12/04/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jimmie Skinner sang country when country definitely wasn't cool. His gravely voice and sidekick Ray Lunsford's electric mandolin were unique. His style was similar to that of Jimmie Rodgers and Ernest Tubb and Johnny Cash resembled him in some ways. Skinner's song-writing talents were superb. Skinner was never a superstar, but he left a body of music from country's golden years that deserves preservation and reissue. Bear Family Records scores again with "Doin' My Time", titled after Skinner's biggest song. It was a hit for Flatt & Scruggs in the late 40s and Cash made it Skinner's most rewarding royalty maker when he did it on the live Folsom Prison LP. "Doin' My Time" is a beautiful boxed set that includes six CDs and a wonderful 12" by 12" book in color. The text and photos are great and there is a discography. Five CDs include Skinner's Red Barn, Radio Artists, Capitol, Decca and Mercury releases along with some acetates preserved by the singer's family and a few bluegrass songs made for mail order sales. The sixth CD is a real treat where Skinner taped his unfinished autobiography. This set took me back 50 years to when I listened as a teenager to his songs nightly on WCKY in Cincinnati, a 50,000 watt station that reached much of the country with its Jamboree. Nearly a quarter century has passed since Skinner's death. Bear Family deserves thanks for taking us back to the life of this wonderful singer."

Can't Bear Family Do Anything In Affordable Moderation?

Pawpaw Bruce | 08/09/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Their products are always so beautifully packaged, and with quality sound reproduction and extensive background notes [92 pages in this case in a hard-cover book written by Dave Samuelson], so assigning less than 5 stars risks criticism from fans of the Germany-based distributor.



However, does Bear Family truly believe there are still thousands of Jimmie Skinner fans around willing to pay the hefty price being asked for 164 songs contained in five discs [Disc 6 contains readings by Jimmy of passages from his never-published autobiography] by a man who only HAD 10 hit singles spread out over eleven years? Wouldn't a nice 20-track CD with all ten and their flipsides be better received by those with limited budgets?



To make matters worse, anyone purchasing this set to get all sides of his hits would still be left searching for the B-sides to his first two, Candy Kisses which backed Tennessee Border in 1949 [# 15 for the Radio Artist label], and Carroll County Blues which was on the reverse of his best hit ever - I Found My Girl In The U.S.A. [# 5 in 1957 for Mercury] - the now-classic answer song to both Bobby Helms' Fraulein and Hank Locklin's Geisha Girl.



All the remaining Mercury hits and their B-sides are here, however: What Makes A Man Wander peaked at # 8 in early 1958 b/w We've Got Things In Common; Dark Hollow, which reached # 7 in 1959 and its flipside, Walkin' My Blues Away, which also charted at # 21; John Wesley Hardin, a # 17 in September 1959 b/w Misery Loves Company; Riverboat Gambler which topped out at # 14 in March 1960 b/w Married To A Friend; Lonesome Road Blues, a # 21 in June 1960 b/w Two Squares Away; Reasons To Live, a # 13 in September 1960 b/w I'm A Lot More Lonesome Now; and Careless Love, his last, which hit # 30 in December 1960 b/w I'll Weaken And Call.



It's interesting to note that that final charter, although his lowest ranking hit, still finished in the Top 30, as did the other nine, which in itself indicates a quality matched by few having the same limited commercial success. This, and the obvious appeal of some of those failed cuts, at once begs the question "why did he not have more hits?"



Two factors may offer an explanation. Jimmy avoided relocation to the mecca of Country music, Nashville, despite invitations from Roy Acuff to join the Grand Ol' Opry, and Mercury never did become a major player in the Country field. Indeed, they rank well below industry leaders like RCA Victor, Columbia, Capitol, and Decca/MCA in terms of Country hit singles over the years.



Also, in comparison to contemporaries like Carl Smith, Webb Pierce, Eddy Arnold, Hank Snow, et al, Skinner's accompaniment was always sparse and often quite stark. It was not, however, without influence as his unique guitar style provided a steady backbeat through aggressive upstrokes, copied by many Rockabilly artists in the mid- to late-1950s.



The former Ohio- and Tennessee-based DJ, born on April 27, 1909 in Blue Lick, Ohio, toiled for a variety of labels, both small and large, over the course of his recording career, including Red Barn and industry giants Capitol, Decca, and Mercury, while making his home base in Ohio. He left Mercury of his own volition in the early 1960s, ostensibly unhappy with the material being foisted upon him by company suits.



Later recordings for the small Vetco label, owned by a business partner, were sold through his mail order store, Jimmie Skinner Music, an operation he maintained until the late 1960s [it continued to bear his name after he divested himself of all involvement]. In the mid-1970s he relocated to Hendersonville, Tennessee where he continued performing Bluegrass off and on through Bill Monroe's booking agency. On October 27, 1979 he died from a heart attack at age 70.



In essence, this package, despite its evident quality, provides far too many alternate takes, even on some of his failed singles, including duets with Connie Hall. There is even a Connie Hall solo effort in the form of her "answer" song to Jimmie's biggest hit - I'm The Girl In The U.S.A. All that at the expense of two B-sides to two hit singles. So, unless you happen to be a millionaire with money to burn, I would suggest waiting around until some other outfit produces a moderately-priced 20-track compilation."