John Anderson-Greatest Hits (1984)

 

Artist: John Anderson

Title: Greatest Hits 

Label: Warner Bros

Format: CD

Cat #: 9 25169-2

Year of Release: 1984

Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 1984

Sold Price: $2.99

Listed Condition: VG+/VG+

Sell Date: 9/26/20

Discogs Last Sold: 7/25/20 NM/VG+ $3.00

Low: $1.50

Median: $3.00

High: $9.99

Current low price: $3.00 VG/VG

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 7

Have/Want: 80/7

Where Sold: Keyser, WV

Time it took to sell: 9 years

Where and When Bought: Some record club in 90's

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: B

Sad To See It Go?: No

I got this sometime in the pre-internet years either from Columbia House or CDHQ on good ol' record club credit.  This was on a want list from somewhere, maybe one of the Rolling Stone Record Guides gave it 5 stars and I had on a list it as a curio.  I don't even remember if I listened to it start to finish, certainly not more than once in the background if I did.

I gave a rip of this a headphone listen tonight.  The opener, "Swingin'" was a Billboard #43 hit, but I never knew it or anything else here, having ignored country outside of top 40 in the late 70's/early 80's as most rock fans did.  It's a bit "countrypolitan" on that track with jarring background vocals.   As you go deeper into this 10 track vinyl era collection, there are some winners.  "She Just Started Liking Cheatin' Songs" and "1959" both grabbed my ear, but I think the topper is  "Would You Catch A Falling Star".  

He had a silver plated bus and a million country fans/Now there's just a few of us and he drives a little van/And they were beatin' down his door the lovely women left and right/And now he's on a hardwood floor a wonderin' where he'll spend the night

Could there be a more sorrowful tale?  I think not.

So this is a weird era of country.  Pre-Garth Brooks, post-Waylon & Willie, roughly.  There seems to be feet in both those worlds.   The world where country was country, and the high-falootin' concept of NPR approved "Americana" was at least a decade to two away.   I wonder if the guy from West Virginia bought it because there is a new Dan Auerbach of Black Keys produced release (which I just noticed looking at the allmusic discography), or if he just wanted to replace his well worn record for $3 on that newfangled format on this website he heard so much about.  One thing about country,  the performers are often looked down outside that world in their hitmaking youth and suddenly looked up to when they are gristled.  It's cool to catch a Falling Star, just like the song goes.  The reality is a little more complicated, since the best music is often made in the younger years.  Americana is the cottage industry now for the likes of John Anderson as the Nashville meat grinder rolls on.