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Various Artists - The World Is A Monster (Omni Recording Corporation Omni - 140)

Track listing:
  1. The World Is A Monster - Rocky Porter 2:22
  2. All I Can Do Is Cry - Johnny Bond And His Red River Valley Boys 1:55
  3. Beer Bottle Mama - Andy Reynolds & His 101 Ranch Boys 2:28
  4. I'm Playing It Cool - Neal Jones 2:10
  5. Pick Up Blues - Johnny Hicks 2:44
  6. Blue - Freddie Hart 2:36
  7. The Record - Billy Walker 2:56
  8. Rainy Night Blues - Johnny Hicks 2:44
  9. I'm The Devil Who Made Her That Way - Bobby Lord 3:03
  10. Throwing My Life Away - Jimmy Johnson 2:30
  11. Drinking All My Troubles Away - Paul Howard & His Cotton Pickers 2:52
  12. What A Line - Carl Story 2:13
  13. Me And My Big Loud Mouth - Little Jimmy Dickens 2:26
  14. Ugly And Slouchy - The Maddox Brothers 2:10
  15. I Can't Keep The Girls Away - Billy Walker 2:32
  16. A Shot In The Dark - George Morgan 2:17
  17. No Parking Here - Jimmy Littlejohn 2:26
  18. Here Kitty Kitty - Jimmy Murphy 2:07
  19. Red Hot Mama And An Ice Cold Beer - Smiley Maxedon 2:21
  20. Oh Stop! - The Tunesmiths 2:15
  21. Hey! Where Ya Goin - Frankie Miller 2:09
  22. I'm A Railroad Daddy - Charlie Adams 2:19
  23. Don't Talk To Me About Men - Polly Possum And Joe Wolverton With The Dog Patch Boys 3:15
  24. Pistol Packin' Mama Laid Her Pistol Down - Charlie Adams 2:17
  25. Much Too Young To Die - Ray Price 2:05
  26. There's A Bottle Where She Used To Be - Carl Smith 2:43
  27. The Barroom Girl - Chuck Wells 3:07
  28. I've Lived A Lot In My Time - Jimmy Johnson 2:30
  29. Buddy's Boogie - The Country Boys 2:22
  30. Eternity - Jack Rhodes & His Lone Star Buddies 2:42
  31. The Wall - Freddie Hart 2:47
  32. When The Sun Goes Down - Rose Maddox 2:18

Notes

VA - The World Is A Monster
Release Date: October 19, 2010
Label: Omni Recording Corporation (OMNI - 140)


Another fantastic compilation from the seemingly infallible Omni Recording Corporation, this one focusing on hillbilly music, specifically from the vaults of Columbia Records, between 1948 and 1959, and all focused around a Dallas recording studio run by a man named Jim Beck, and had the winds of fortune blown a little bit differently, and had Beck not died prematurely, then perhaps the recording industry in Nashville would have actually ended up based in Dallas. It's an interesting story, told in great detail in the copious liner notes, as are the stories of all the artists and their songs, and oh, what an awesome collection of singers and players, most of which we'd never before heard or even heard of.
A selection of some of the best hillbilly sides recorded for Columbia in the forties and fifties, lots of songs about drinking, and about women, and of course drinking AND women: "Beer Bottle Momma", "Drinking All My Troubles Away", "Red Hot Momma And An Ice Cold Beer", "There's A Bottle Where She Used To Be", "The Barroom Girl", "I'm The Devil Who Made Her That Way", and like all Omni comps, there's plenty of weirdness, howsabout "Ugly And Slouchy", a track about the joys of having a less than attractive lady friend cuz there'll "never be no fear of her loving someone else", or the darkly creepy cabaret of the title track, with it's refrain "The world is a monster, its food is man's heart".
And then of course there's just a stunning array of incredible unsung country classics, from heartfelt tales of loneliness, to bittersweet ballads, super rambunctious bluegrass hoedowns, rife with wild fiddling, earnest crooning, boasting and bragging, begging for forgiveness, wondering where it all went wrong, even some yodeling, fantastic stuff.
And as with all Omni stuff, there's a massive booklet with tons of rare photos and ephemera, and extensive liner notes. --Aquarius Records

Track Listing:
1. Rocky Porter - The World Is A Monster
2. Johnny Bond and His Red River Valley Boys - All I Can Do Is Cry
3. Andy Reynolds & His 101 Ranch Boys - Beer Bottle Mama
4. Neal Jones - I'm Playing It Cool
5. Johnny Hicks - Pick Up Blues
6. Freddie Hart - Blue
7. Billy Walker - The Record
8. Johnny Hicks - Rainy Night Blues
9. Bobby Lord - I'm The Devil Who Made Her That Way
10. Jimmy Johnson - Throwing My Life Away
11. Paul Howard & His Cotton Pickers - Drinking All My Troubles Away
12. Carl Story - What A Line
13. Little Jimmy Dickens - Me And My Big Loud Mouth
14. The Maddox Brothers - Ugly And Slouchy
15. Billy Walker - I Can't Keep The Girls Away
16. George Morgan - A Shot In The Dark
17. Jimmy Littlejohn - No Parking Here
18. Jimmy Murphy - Here Kitty Kitty
19. Smiley Maxedon - Red Hot Mama and An Ice Cold Beer
20. The Tunesmiths - Oh Stop!
21. Frankie Miller - Hey! Where Ya Goin?
22. Charlie Adams - I'm A Railroad Daddy
23. Polly Possum and Joe Wolverton with The Dog Patch Boys - Don't Talk To Me About Men
24. Charlie Adams - Pistol Packin' Mama Laid Her Pistol Down
25. Ray Price - Much Too Young To Die
26. Carl Smith - There's A Bottle Where She Used To Be
27. Chuck Wells - The Barroom Girl
28. Jimmy Johnson - I've Lived A Lot In My Time
29. The Country Boys - Buddy's Boogie
30. Jack Rhodes & His Lone Star Buddies - Eternity
31. Freddie Hart - The Wall
32. Rose Maddox - When The Sun Goes Down


Cool and crazy hillbilly/honky tonk from the vaults of Columbia Records.
Personal picks: Rocky Porter - The World Is A Monster, Carl Story - What A Line, Little Jimmy Dickens - Me And My Big Loud Mouth, The Maddox Brothers - Ugly And Slouchy, The Country Boys - Bud's Bounce and Carl Smith - There's A Bottle Where She Used To Be.


Enjoy!