Ray Price, Floyd Tillman, Carl Smith and Cowboy Copas

Today we have a doubleheader with music from four of the best singers in country & western history - a set of early hits from Ray Price, Floyd Tillman and Lefty Frizzell, and a bonus LP of gospel songs from Cowboy Copas.

Ray Price, the "Cherokee Cowboy," on stage in 1956

I transferred "Greatest Western Hits" a while back following the death of Price, one of the finest singers in any genre. It contains "Crazy Arms," perhaps the singer's best record, and a gigantic success for him in 1956. Price's performance is haunting - it only takes a few notes for his voice to give me the shivers. By the way, the excellent harmony singing on this record is by Van Howard.

Nearly as famous is Frizzell's "If You've Got the Money, I've got the Time," the sly anthem of the honky-tonk lothario, which came out in 1950. (I actually prefer Willie Nelson's jaunty 1976 remake.)

Among the the Carl Smith hits here is "Hey Joe," a number one record in 1953, also the first top hit for writer Boudleaux Bryant.

Price, Smith and Frizzell were mainstays of the Columbia catalogue of the early 50s. During that period, Cowboy Copas was one of the big stars on the King label of Cincinnati. His 1959 LP of "Hymns and Gospel Songs" collects songs he recorded in the early 50s.

By the time the album came out Copas had moved on to the Dot and Starday labels. This is a good record, but the production may be a little too smooth and bland for the material.