Forty-seven songs cut by
Jimmy C. Newman
for
Dot Records
between late 1953 and February of 1958, showcasing the singer in his early prime --
Newman
's recordings go back to 1946, but these were the ones where he hit his stride. The sound is a mix of
Cajun
and
country
, with the strong influence of
Ernest Tubb
, whom
grew up idolizing along with
Gene Autry
--
Tubb
's lead guitarist
Billy Byrd
even played on
's first sessions (alongside
Chet Atkins
), although
Jimmy
's real sound can be heard on the songs from his second and third sessions, which prominently feature
fiddler
Rufus Thibodeaux
.
's earliest
Dot
sessions, directed by
Fred Rose
(who was then looking for a successor to the recently deceased
Hank Williams
), show him working in a hillbilly vein, on songs like
"You Didn't Have To"
"Cry, Cry Darling"
-- the early sessions also show
with a marked lisp from a badly fitted gold tooth, which was later corrected. Surprisingly, a lot of the better material here, such as
"Do You Feel Like I Feel About You,"
was not released until a decade later, when
started putting out albums on
and dipped into their vaults. Disc two includes
's attempts to crack the
rock & roll
pop
markets, with numbers like
"Bop a Hula,"
"Step Aside Shallow Water,"
"Carry On,"
which work to varying degrees (the last is considered a classic by
rockabilly
fans) but were more aberrations than a genuine new direction for him. When asked to do an
Elvis
-like piece like
"I Can't Go On This Way"
(complete with
the Jordanaires
, who also appear on the same session's cover of
Jim Reeves
'
"Need Me"
), however, he gave a good account, and
history buffs will find at least a half-dozen tracks worth hearing on this disc. ~ Bruce Eder