Rating:
Genre:
Country
Release Date: 04/09/2002
Tompall Glaser was one of the leading lights of
outlaw country, and before he struck out on a solo career, he made a name for himself with his brothers, who had several
country hits in the early '70s. Though they rarely cracked the Top Ten -- only
"Rings" went into the upper reaches of the
country charts -- they made some of the best music of the era, turning out music that sounded
country but had distinct elements of
rock and
pop and even post-
Dylan singer/songwriterism. Clearly, they laid the groundwork for
outlaw with this music and
Glaser, along with
Waylon and
Willie, was one of the key figures of the movement, but for some reason he never became a legend and he and his brothers kind of faded into the history books by the late '80s. No good collection of their music existed for years, not until
Collector's Choice Music issued
The Best of Tompall Glaser & the Glaser Brothers late in 2001. Though it spins heavily toward the brothers' recordings -- a full 18 or the 24 tracks are
Glaser Brothers sides -- that's fine, because that's where the great majority of the charting hits and great music was made. Perhaps the collection could have been a double-disc set, giving both sides of
Glaser's career equal time, but what's here is tremendous, offering proof that
Tompall and his brothers did indeed deserve to stand alongside
Waylon,
Willie, and
Kris Kristofferson as one of the great
progressive country icons of the '70s. Few reissues in 2001 were as essential and as necessary as this.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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