Johnny Horton

The legendary Johnny Horton was one of the most popular honky tonk singers of the late 1950s, even though he is best known for historical saga songs such as “The Battle of New Orleans”, “Johnny Reb”, “Sink the Bismarck” and “North to Alaska”. He managed to infuse honky-tonk with an urgent rockabilly underpinning. Although his career was cut short by a fatal car crash in 1960, his music has continued to reverberate throughout the following five decades.

This quintessential collector’s edition contains 28 remastered studio tracks from Horton’s harder-edged recordings, consisting of a variety of the great sides he made for Columbia, Mercury and the small Abbott label, between 1951 and 1960. Some of the material
here isn't available on other collections, nor have these recordings ever been previously compiled together on the same CD.

These songs are true snapshots of the period, when an energetic brand of honky tonk was on the cusp of changing into rockabilly, or rock & roll with hints of hillbilly boogie. Highlights include explosive numbers like “Cherokee Boogie”, “All Grown Up”, “I’m Coming Home”, and “Ole Slew Foot”, together with some obscure country numbers culled from his early career, such as “Tennesse Jive” and “You, You, You”. This is an essential set for rockabilly fans interested in the birth of the genre.

PERSONNEL:

JOHNNY HORTON, lead vocals and guitar, plus:

Grady Martin (lead guitar)
Hank Garland (guitar)
Bill Black (bass)
Buddy Harman, Jr. (drums),
among others.

Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, between 1951 and 1960.
Original recordings produced by Don Law.

INCLUDES 16-PAGE BOOKLET

TRACKS:

01. CHEROKEE BOOGIE 2:32
02. I’M COMING HOME 2:06
03. THE FIRST TRAIN HEADIN’ SOUTH 2:21
04. HONKY TONK HARDWOOD FLOOR 2:21
05. ALL GROWN UP 1:56
06. HONKY TONK MAN 2:14
07. LOVER’S ROCK 2:35
08. THE ELECTRIFIED DONKEY 2:25
09. OLE SLEW-FOOT 2:05
10. I’M READY IF YOU’RE WILLING 2:29
11. GOT THE BULL BY THE HORNS 1:55
12. THE GOLDEN ROCKET 2:09
13. TENNESSEE JIVE 2:19
14. I DON’T LIKE I DID 2:11
15. MEAN, MEAN SON OF A GUN 2:13
16. SHE KNOWS WHY 2:22
17. TELL MY BABY I LOVE HER 2:12
18. SLEEPY-EYED JOHN 2:35
19. SUGAR-COATED BABY 2:16
20. YOU, YOU, YOU 2:33
21. THEY SHINED UP RUDOLPH’S NOSE 2:11
22. SMOKEY JOE’S BARBECUE 2:34
23. I’M A ONE WOMAN MAN 2:00
24. SAL’S GOT A SUGARLIP 1:58
25. THE WILD ONE 1:56
26. SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL 2:14
27. HONKY TONK MIND 2:14
28. LET’S TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME 2:07

TOTAL TIME: 63:02