Red Sovine "Red Sovine" (MGM Records, 1956) (LP)
Red Sovine "The One And Only" (Starday Records, 1961) (LP)
Red Sovine "The Golden Country Ballads Of The '60s" (Starday Records, 1962) (LP)
Red Sovine "Red Sovine" (Decca Records, 1963) (LP)
Red Sovine "The Heart Rending Little Rosa" (Starday Records, 1965) (LP)
Red Sovine "Country Music Time" (Decca Records, 1966) (LP)
Red Sovine "Giddy Up Go" (Starday Records, 1966) (LP)
Red Sovine "Town And Country Action" (Starday Records, 1966) (LP)
Red Sovine "The Sensational Red Sovine" (Starday Records, 1966) (LP)
Red Sovine "The Nashville Sound Of Red Sovine" (Starday Records, 1966) (LP)
Red Sovine "I Didn't Jump The Fence" (Starday Records, 1967) (LP)
Red Sovine "A Dear John Letter" (Starday Records, 1967) (LP)
Red Sovine "The Country Way" (Vocalion Records, 1968) (LP)
Red Sovine "Phantom 309" (Starday Records, 1968) (LP)
Red Sovine "Tell Maude I Slipped" (Starday Records, 1968) (LP)
Red Sovine "Sunday With Sovine" (Starday Records, 1968) (LP)
As with many late-edition Sovine albums, this 'Sixties snoozefest will soon have you wondering just why exactly the record labels kept employing the guy... Whatever spark he had back in the hillbilly boogie and rockabilly days had long since departed, and in a strange way, Sovine's anemic delivery is made even more problematic when he's recording religious material: if this is the stuff he really cares about, how could his secular records sound any better? This set is heavy on old-school gospel standards -- you may amuse yourself with producer Don Pierce's claiming composer credit (as "William York") for hymns such as "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" and "Bringing In The Sheaves" -- all of it delivered at a snail's pace, with modest musical backing and very little vim or vigor. An occasional tootly-tootle flourish on the piano or pipe organ were probably meant to inject some groovy wildness into the proceedings, but again: is this all there is to a gospel album? No producer or musician credits, alas... but does it really matter?
Red Sovine "Anytime" (Starday Records, 1968) (LP)
Red Sovine "Classic Narrations" (Starday Records, 1969) (LP)
Red Sovine "Closing Time Till Dawn" (Starday Records, 1969) (LP)
Red Sovine "Who Am I" (Starday Records, 1969) (LP)
Red Sovine "Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town" (Starday Records, 1969) (LP)
Red Sovine "I Know You're Married" (Starday Records, 1970) (LP)
Red Sovine "Greatest Grand Ole Opry" (Chart Records, 1973) (LP)
Red Sovine "It'll Come Back" (Chart Records, 1974) (LP)
Red Sovine "Teddy Bear" (Starday Records, 1976) (LP)
Red Sovine "Woodrow Wilson Sovine" (Starday Records, 1977) (LP)
Red Sovine "Christmas With Red Sovine" (Starday Records, 1978) (LP)
Red Sovine "16 New Gospel Songs" (Gusto Records, 1978) (LP)
Red Sovine "Juke Joint Johnny" (Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight series) (Bear Family Records, 2012)
Red Sovine "I'm The Man: A Starday Singles Anthology 1960-71" (Ace Records, 2012)
Red Sovine "How Do You Think I Feel" (BACM, 2005)
(Available through the British Archive of Country Music website.)
Red Sovine "Classics Narrations" (Gusto Records, 2004)
Red Sovine "20 All-Time Greatest Hits" (TeeVee, 2002)
Red Sovine "20 All-Time Greatest Gospel Hits" (TeeVee, 2003)
Red Sovine "16 Super Gospel Hits" (King Records, 2000)
These later Sovine sessions show him mining Tennessee Ernie Ford territory -- poppish country gospel with a painfully earnest "oooh-waaah" chorus singing behind him. Actually, these recordings aren't so bad, although hearing Sovine in a context where he's called upon to really sing, you kinda get why he was best when he was doing recitations. Still, the songs that were more simplistically written ("Church Around The Corner," for example...) suit him well. As with many of these latter-day King releases, the liner notes are pretty vague, and it's hard to say exactly when these recordings were made... I'd guess the mid-1970s, or so.
Red Sovine "20 All-Time Greatest Hits" (Varese Sarabande, 2005)
Red Sovine "Phantom 309" (Gusto Records, 2004)
Red Sovine "Christmas With Red Sovine" (Starday Records, 1978)
Red Sovine (1917-1980) was the all-time king of the corny country recitations, with several sentimental smash hits that were touchstones of the 1960s and '70s: "Giddyup Go," "Phantom 309" and "Teddy Bear Song," from 1974. For an artist who was so stylistically limited, Sovine had remarkable staying power, charting well into the disco/hippie '70s. Indeed, he was one of those old-school country dudes who somehow put out countless albums, back when not every record had to be a million-seller, or else. Here's a quick look at his work...
