Pat's 40 Big Ones [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
UK compilation for the former teen idol whose sales rivaled Elvis Presley's in the years immediately prior to the British Invasion. The first mid-price compilation to feature virtually all of his 50's and 60's British and American chart hits. Digitally remastered and packaged with an eight page booklet with comprehensive notes and illustrations. 40 tracks in all. 2000 release. Slimline double jewel case.

Tracks:

Two Hearts, Two Kisses
Ain't That A Shame
At My Front Door (Crazy Little Mama)
Gee Whittakers
I'll Be Home
Tutti Frutti
Long Tall Sally
I Almost Lost My Mind
Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)
Chains Of Love
Don't Forbid Me
Why Baby Why
Love Letters In The Sand
Hernadine
Remember You're Mine
There's Goldmine In The Sky
April Love
A Wonderful Time Up There
It's Too Soon To Know
Sugar Moon

Tracks:

If Dreams Came True
Gee, But It's Lonely
I'll Remember Tonight
With The Wind And The Rain In Your Hair
Good Rocking Tonight
For A Penny
Twixt Twelve And Twenty
A Fool's Hall Of Fame
(Welcome) New Lovers
Walking The Floor Over You
Moody River
Big Cold Wind
Johnny Will
I'll See You In My Dreams
Quando, Quando, Quando (Tell Me When)
Speedy Gonzalez
The Main Attraction
Beach Girl
Little Honda
As Tears Go By

Album Description

UK compilation for the former teen idol whose sales rivaled Elvis Presley's in the years immediately prior to the British Invasion. The first mid-price compilation to feature virtually all of his 50's and 60's British and American chart hits. Digitally remastered and packaged with an eight page booklet with comprehensive notes and illustrations. 40 tracks in all. 2000 release. Slimline double jewel case.

Album Details

An Extensive Collection of Recordings by the Man that Became the Antithesis of Elvis Presley's Swagger in the 1950's. Boone was Demure, Poised and Sang Each Note Given Him Perfectly. He Emerged from Ted Mack's Amateur Hour (The American Idol of It's Day) and was a Popular Favorite on the Arthur Godfrey Show. His Initial Career was Built on Covers of R&B Tunes Like "Ain't that a Shame" (His First #1 Hit), "Long Tall Sally" and "Tutti Frutti". By the End of the 50's, He Had his Own TV Show and Authored Self Help Books for Teens and was Riding High. Much to the Chagrin of Purists, Boone's Versions of These Songs Are Wider Known Than the Originals. His Years of Success were Usurped by the Arrival of the British Invasion, When He Fell Out of Pop Favor. His Chart Successes Are Well Documented on These Two Discs.

Customer Reviews:

No More Mr. Nice Guy.......2007-07-11

Okay folks, if you know anything about Pat Boone, you'll et a chuckle out of this title.

This is the stuff that the crown prince of cool is best known for-wacky covers of R&b songs in the 50s that some people actually beleived was real rock &roll until the real thing came along (black artists not being welcome on most stations during the early years of R&B). If you've seen the (in)famous 50s clip of our man doing Tutti Fritti with his jerky, non-rhythmic dancing, then you get the idea.

His attemtps to do "Aint That a Shame," "Tutti Frutti" with cleaned up lyrics (pretty little Suzy s the gal for me), "At My Front Door," and a tune more befitting to his corny style "Gee Whillikers" which is a catalog of the most cornball fifties suburban slang. This stuff with fill you with disgust or have you roll over with laughter.

With that said, I personally like Pat Boone. "No More Mr. Nice Guy" (the faux-metal album) and "We Are Family" (an atrocious set of duets with REAL soul singers including James Brown!) shows that he has a sense of humor about his geeky image and doesn't mind poking fun at himself. Listen to this and you'll see why.

benny scott , belgian fan of the 50's music.......2005-02-18

Great compilation !!!
Most important fact : these are the ORIGINAL MONO RECORDINGS
of most of Pat's great hits ( with the exception of April Love,
in stereo on the CD, but exactly the same version as on the original 45 PM in mono. This means that the song was recorded in stereo but originally released in mono, but was not re-recorded in 1959 ! )
Today most of Pat's big hits are released in the re-recorded stereo-versions of 1959. Only the German " Big Bear Family " company issued a boxed set " The Fifties Complete " containing also all the original mono and stereo-re-recordings of 15 songs.
This double CD " Pat's 40 Big Ones " was probably issued with the permission of Big Bear Family Records.
A REAL MUST for all Pat Boone fans who want the original recordings in true mono !!

'Twixt Rock and Elevator Music.......2005-02-05

I hope this will be more objective than most reviews, because while I have no special interest in Pat Boone, I've never been in full agreement with the rock-critic types who only grudgingly give a nod towards pure pop music and pop vocalists.

I'm not thrilled that Boone and fellow Dot artists the Fontane Sisters, among others, essentially stole the glory from hard-working black acts also trying to get hit records and make a little money. In fairness, however, the real opportunist was Dot founder Randy Wood, who had better ability to get his records played and distributed than the smaller labels for which such acts as the Charms, El Dorados, and others toiled. I think it's unfair to expect a young artist, in the excitement of being handed a potential hit song to sing, to sit and ponder who out there might be upset at their record's potential success.

However, not even the rock "cognoscenti" (love that word) deny that Boone and the more-respected Ricky Nelson helped rock 'n' roll get past the overreaction of ultraconservative politicians and other oddballs convinced (or pretending) that this stuff was actually "devil's music."

Musically, the first few remakes here rock more authentically than those cognoscenti led me to expect. I wish the liner notes identified the sax player and drummer who help propel "Two Hearts, Two Kisses". If you can separate "Ain't That a Shame", "Tutti Frutti", and "Good Golly Miss Molly" from the legendary Fats Domino and Little Richard originals, you'll find some genuine excitement in these versions and that Boone has an actual feel for this music. He is also the only act to get Roy Brown's "Good Rockin' Tonight" (a #1 R&B hit for Wynonnie Harris in 1948) on the Hot 100 during the rock era.

Unfortunately, as these two discs go on, Pat and the backing musicians tone it down, even on the "fast" ones (check "Why Baby Why"), putting Pat squarely (pun not intended but not regretted) in teen-idol territory with Frankie Avalon and Fabian. The gooey romantic ballads that come to predominate ("Love Letters In the Sand", "April Love",) are well-made Adult Contemporary before there was such a thing as Adult Contemporary. Critics REALLY hate "Speedy Gonzales," Pat's last Top Ten. Decide for yourself if the song is really racist or if he (and Mel Blanc as the title character) are merely describing one person who happens to be of Mexican descent.

There are also a couple of surprises toward the end of Disc Two: "Beach Girl" (#72, 1964) and "Little Honda" are not-bad takes on the surf movement of the time, with participation from surfmusicmeisters Terry Melcher and (future actual Beach Boy) Bruce Johnston. But then there's the last track, a version of "As Tears Go By" that anticipates the 1997 "In a Metal Mood" CD by 33 years and ends this collection with an unfortunate thud.

An earlier review compared Boone to Bobby Vinton, Barry Manilow, and Air Supply. Actually, Pat Boone appears to be more in line with Perry Como and Andy Williams, technically-gifted crooners with slight nods towards rock. While it's true Manilow initially won fame for a bunch of romantic hits, lumping him in here seems as severe an overgeneralization as that which the otherwise-fine review sought to avoid on Boone's behalf. Manilow writes, produces, and arranges much of his own material, and has demonstrated a much broader range than what appears here. And in no way has he had the generically handsome, all-American image of Pat Boone. Pop lovers unite: don't let the rock snobs divide and conquer by tricking you into blurring the distinctions between our pop heroes.

As it seems that U.S. discs exclude the Little Richard remakes as well as the Johnston-Melcher songs, this looks like the best Pat Boone set available. Also, the booklet has very good liner notes (with the exception noted above) and plenty of pictures that will please Boone fans.

Don't-a Forbid Me.......2004-10-12

That's one example of how recording artists, and many of them, used the early Elvis style; Pat Boone did. And he even used the unusual style of country singer/songwriter Floyd Tillman when he did Tillman's "I Almost Lost My Mind" (Ivory Joe Hunter had the definitive version). And elitist or not, it has not been a mystery that record producers took recordings by black artists into their own studios to try to duplicate the sound (never worked) but the white versions got the airplay. (I could cite 20 examples here). It's hard not to like Pat Boone and he had some good stuff that belonged to him, "With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair", "Moody River" and "Love Letters in the Sand", but Mr. Nice Guy's renditions of the earthy "Tutti Fruitti" and "Long Tall Sally"....come on now. Loved "Speedy Gonzalez" (you never see him in old cartoons anymore, politically incorrect). You really don't hear Pat Boone on the oldies stations either, not even the stations covering the late 50s, early 60s. He was just too clean, too uncool, but he had a successful career and not just in music. So don't cry for Pat. Ooga mooga.

More than just a balladeer.......2004-06-05

People remember Pat for his love songs and the novelty up-tempo Speedy Gonzalez. But rock'n'roll - surely not?

Actually, Pat's earliest hits were covers of songs by Little Richard and Fats Domino. In those days, people tended to buy records according to race, so it was common practice for singers to cover songs first recorded by somebody of a different race. So it was that Pat achieved major American hits with his versions of Ain't that a shame (Fats Domino), I'll be home (The Flamingos), Tutti Frutti, Long tall Sally (both Little Richard) and I almost lost my mind (Ivory Joe Hunter). Of course, Pat's versions lacked the rawness and energy of the originals, but they established him as a major pop singer in the fifties. They are certainly worth hearing and all of them are included here.

After all those covers of R+B songs, he switched his attention to the ballads he is now remembered for. Love letters in the sand, Remember you're mine, April love, A wonderful time up there, Sugar moon, If dreams come true and I'll remember tonight were all huge American hits. Later hits were smaller, but they are also included in this set. In 1961, Pat's career took off again with Moody river, but there was to be only one more major hit - Speedy Gonazles.

Apart from all the hits, there are a few interesting non-hits, like Little Honda. Pat recorded this when he discovered that the Beach boys were not going to release their original as a single, but was foiled when somebody else had the same idea and they had the hit instead.

So, this is an interesting compilation that includes all the obvious hits, most of the minor hits and a few interesting non-hits. You can get all the obvious stuff on a single CD, but it is interesting to explore further than that. As such, this set, which includes comprehensive liner notes, is ideal.

Pat's 40 Big Ones
Average customer rating:
Pat's 40 Big Ones
Pat Boone
Manufacturer: Connoisseur (windsong)
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B0002B649I
Release Date: 2001-09-11

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