Reviewed by Dave Brassington

These recordings emanate from some of his very early RCA Victor releases from the late 1940s to his very many successful records from the early to middle years of the 1950s on the Imperial label, which actually made him a big star on both sides of the Atlantic. Fans of the late singer might easily opine that some of his later recordings were actually better than some of the poorer tracks on this otherwise excellent release. The opening track "Rose Marie" from the world of light opera, along with its predecessor "Indian Love Call" are arguably two of the most unlikely selections a country singer has ever chosen to release. In fact I know that some country stations refused to play the latter until it started to sell well! On the strength of his huge success in Britain, Slim was one of the very first country singers ever to tour Britain. With 60 tracks on this excellent value CD, all of Slim's early hits are here, including the wonderful "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen", "Love Song Of The Waterfall" and "China Doll" to name only a few that achieved considerable sales success. One thing that always stood out for Slim throughout his long career was his choice of wholesome material, based on his Christian values. For much of the material here we have the singing steel guitar of Hoot Rains augmenting the simply terrific high vocal range of the younger Slim Whitman with that world famous yodel. On many of these recordings there is a distinct western flavour, ranging from the wonderful "Cattle Call", "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" to "Roll River Roll" and then we get renditions of the lovely "Beautiful Dreamer" and the classic "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain". If you don't possess anything by this legendary country singer, be sure to get this, as selling for a minuscule few pounds it really does represent wonderful value for money.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.