Two early classic albums
Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 03/30/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"These two albums from the sixties were issued on separate CD's in America, but as a twofer in Britain. There are no bonus tracks, so if you bought them separately, you can ignore this.Your good girl's gonna go bad was Tammy's debut album, although it forms the second half of this twofer. It includes her first hit, Apartment number nine. It was only a minor country hit but it was followed by Your good girl's gonna go bad, which was a major country hit. It didn't quite get to the top, but Tammy did not have to wait long for her first number one, although it wasn't on this album.The album contains many covers of contemporary country songs, including Don't come home a-drinking (Loretta Lynn), Don't touch me (Jeannie Seely), There goes my everything (Jack Greene - Elvis and Engelbert both had pop hits with it), Walk through this world with me (George Jones) and Almost persuaded (David Houston). It also includes I wound easy, which is the only song ever written by Dolly that Tammy ever covered. At the time, Dolly was even less well known than Tammy.The first half of this twofer, the Divorce album, was actually Tammy's third album. Apart from the title track, a number one country hit that eventually became a British top twenty pop hit, covers also dominate this album.The covers here include Gentle on my mind (Glen Campbell), Honey (Bobby Goldsboro), Legend of Bonnie and Clyde (Merle Haggard), Sweet Dreams (a Don Gibson song that became a hit also for Patsy Cline), Yesterday (Beatles) and Lonely Street (Andy Williams). Note that Tammy changes the lyrics to sing the woman's role from beyond the grave. I know there are a lot of people who don't like the standard song. Such people will dislike Tammy's version even more.Most of the above songs are well known and brilliantly performed, but the six obscure songs (All night long, Come on home, When there's fire in your heart, Kiss away, Send me no roses and I'm not mine to give) are all well worth hearing.These two albums are among the finest Tammy ever recorded."