Rating:
Genre:
Country
Release Date: 07/09/1998
One of many songbook albums that
George Jones recorded while at
Musicor Records,
The Great Songs of Leon Payne is one of the finest minor gems in
the Possum's catalog. Though
Payne's reputation as a terrific
honky tonk songwriter was well-known among
country music fans, he only had a handful of hits, which were often recorded by other artists. Granted, the biggest of those were
Hank Williams' versions of
"Lost Highway" and
"They'll Never Take Her Love from Me" as well as his own
"I Love You Because," but the depth of
Payne's songwriting is not well-known to many casual
country fans.
George Jones' tribute album remedies that fact. Apart from
"They'll Never Take Her Love from Me" and
Jones' hit single
"Things Have Gone to Pieces," these songs are all rather obscure and there's not a bad one in the bunch. From
ballads like
"Blue Side of Lonesome" to uptempo
honky tonkers like
"Brothers of a Bottle," all of the cuts on
The Great Songs of Leon Payne are first-rate and
Jones brings each of them to life. It's a forgotten album in
Jones' catalog -- and
Leon Payne's reputation has faded somewhat in the decades following his death -- but that doesn't change the fact that
The Great Songs of Leon Payne is one of his best records of the '60s.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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