UPC/Barcode: 4000127156341
The single best collection of Tex Ritter's Capitol recordings isn't quite complete, but it's a lot better than Capitol's own Collector Series release on Ritter, and it's the best listeners are likely ever to see on this extraordinary artist, at least until a boxed set is forthcoming. The 28 songs here include most of the important tracks that he cut for Capitol between 1942-1956, including the ultra-rare 1952 British recording of "High Noon" (bar none, the best version of the song that Ritter ever did, and one that has a very unusual history to it) as well as the undubbed (i.e., drumless) original Capitol release; "Blood On the Saddle," "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle," "Goodbye, My Little Cherokee," the pop-western "Boogie Woogie Cowboy," and Ritter's definitive 1946 version of "Rye Whiskey." The range of styles here is daunting, as Ritter moves from early-'40s pop with a western twang ("Jingle, Jangle, Jingle") through authentic folk material ("Rye Whiskey") and into the western screen mythos -- "Gunsmoke" is unexpectedly beautiful, but so is "Wichita," and Ritter's version of "The Searchers" is the best recording ever done of that Stan Jones movie theme song. There's also one previously unreleased track, Ritter's gorgeous rendition of "When It's Springtime in the Rockies." The notes and the detailed sessionography are up to Bear Family's usual daunting standards of excellence.