Don Rocks

by Don Gibson

Overview

Never deliberately flashy, Don Gibson had an unerring ability to take complex emotions and turn them into deceptively simple-sounding songs, and as any songwriter knows, that's far from an easy trick to pull off, but Gibson did it time and time again. Unassuming to a fault, his best songs like "Sweet Dreams" (a hit initially for Faron Young in 1955 but ultimately defined a few years later by Patsy Cline's version), "Oh Lonesome Me" (slowed down, a key track on Neil Young's After the Gold Rush album), and "I Can't Stop Loving You" (covered by countless artists, but most notably by Ray Charles) are models of graceful construction (amazingly, the latter two songs were written by Gibson in a trailer park on the exact same afternoon). Of these, only "Oh Lonesome Me" from 1958 is included in this 33-track set drawn from Gibson's second tenure with RCA Victor (he had been signed to the label in 1950 but was let go, only to resign in 1957), but there are several other fine Gibson-penned songs here, including 1958's "If You Don't Know It," 1960's "What About Me," and 1961's "Lonesome Number One," among others, and if this isn't exactly the ideal introduction to Gibson (it leans toward his more uptempo material), it does spotlight his unique rhythm guitar style, which always had more to do with Django Reinhardt than it did Maybelle Carter. Gibson's second stint with RCA lasted until 1969, after which he signed with Wesley Rose's Hickory Records and remained there from 1969 until 1980, when he left Hickory and promptly re-recorded his hits for K-Tel Records before leaving the music business for good, remaining relatively reclusive between 1980 and his death in 2003. Again, this set is skewed toward his uptempo side, so it isn't a complete portrait of this fine singer, guitarist, and songwriter, but it is certainly revealing in its own right. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	11/14/2008
Label:	Bear Family Records
UPC:	4000127169914

Tracks

1. Look Who's Blue
2. Sweet Sweet Girl
3. Blue Blue Day
4. Didn't Work Out, Did It?
5. Who Cares (For Me)
6. I Can Mend Your Broken Heart
7. Bad Bad Day
8. Sittin' Here Cryin'
9. Won't Cha Come Back to Me
10. If You Don't Know It
11. Oh Lonesome Me
12. Far Far Away
13. Don't Tell Me Your Troubles
14. I'm Movin' On
15. Even Tho'
16. Hurtin' Inside
17. Sea of Heartbreak
18. What About Me
19. Camptown Races
20. What's the Reason I'm Not Pleasing You
21. Satisfied
22. I Sat Back and Let It Happen
23. Lonesome Number One
24. That Lonesome Valley
25. Why Don't You Love Me
26. Fireball Mail
27. My Hands Are Tied
28. Head Over Heels in Love with You
29. There's a Big Wheel
30. There She Goes (Let Her Go)
31. Singing the Blues
32. (Yes) I'm Hurting
33. You Don't Knock

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Don Gibson   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
The Anita Kerr Singers   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Brenton Banks   Organ
The Jordanaires   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Chet Atkins   Guitar,Guitar (Electric)
Johnny Smith   Guitar
Lloyd Green   Guitar (Steel)
Charles McCoy   Harmonica
Jerry Kennedy   Guitar
Jerry Smith   Piano
Ray Edenton   Guitar
Mildred Kirkham   Vocals
James "Jimmy" Riddle   Harmonica
Hoyt Hawkins   Choir/Chorus
Harold Bradley   Guitar
Anita Kerr   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Luke Brandon   Guitar,Guitar (Rhythm)
Douglas Kirkham   Drums
Buddy Harman   Drums
Hank Garland   Guitar
Marijohn Wilkin   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Thomas Jackson   Fiddle
Jerry Carrigan   Drums
Floyd Cramer   Piano
Grady Martin   Guitar
Hargus "Pig" Robbins   Piano
Samuel K. "Sammy" Pruett   Guitar
Jerry Reed Hubbard   Guitar,Guitar (Electric)
Summie L. Hendricks   Guitar (Steel)
Troy Hatcher   Drums
Morris Palmer   Drums
Priscilla Ann Hubbard   Choir/Chorus
Hugh Gordon Stoker   Choir/Chorus
Morris Wilson   Harpsichord
Harold Rugg   Guitar (Steel),Guitar (Steel)
James "Jimmie" Selph   Guitar
William Guilford Wright, Jr.   Choir/Chorus
Hugh Jarrett   Choir/Chorus
Henry Newton "Tommy" Vaden   Fiddle
Troy M. Hatcher   Drums
Neal Matthews, Jr.   Choir/Chorus
William Paul Ackerman   Drums
Summie L. Hendrick   Guitar (Steel)
Raymond Walker   Choir/Chorus
Jerry Glenn Kennedy   Guitar
Leonard Sutton   Guitar
Russell Lee "Rusty" Kershaw   Guitar
Culley Holt   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
James Clayton Day   Guitar (Steel)
Weldon Myrick   Guitar (Steel)
Charlie McCoy   Harmonica,Vibraphone
Joe Zinkan   Bass
Millie Kirkham   Choir/Chorus
Priscilla Hubbard   Vocals
George W. McCormick   Guitar
Henry Strzelecki   Bass
Dorothy Ann Dillard   Choir/Chorus
Velma E. Williams Smith   Guitar
Walter L. Garland   Guitar
Brenton Bolden Banks   Organ
Charles R. McCoy   Harmonica
James Selph   Guitar
Joseph Layne   Organ
Walter Lenk   Drums
Leon Sutton   Guitar
Mary Frances Lyell   Vocals,Choir/Chorus
Russell Kershaw   Guitar

Technical Credits

Paul Hampton   Composer
Teddy Randazzo   Composer
Chet Atkins   Producer,Audio Production
Coy Poe   Composer
Lester Flatt   Composer
Kenneth S. Morris   Composer
Martha Carson   Composer
Pinky Tomlin   Composer
Roy Drusky   Composer
Melvin Endsley   Composer
Stephen C. Foster   Composer
Brook Benton   Composer
Hank Williams   Composer
Hank Snow   Composer
Willie Jones   Composer
Dave Rich   Composer
Hal David   Composer
Colin Escott   Liner Notes,Biographical Information
Floyd Jenkins   Composer
Jimi Westbrook   Composer
Jimmie Grier   Composer
Richard Weize   Reissue Producer,Discographical Information
Chester B. Atkins   Producer
Erich Huelsenbeck   Photo Scanning
Andreas Merck   Photo Scanning
Marcus Heumann   Mastering
R.A. Andreas   Photography,Illustrations
Cirino Colacrai   Composer
Reinhard Pietsch   Photography,Illustrations
Clyde Otis   Composer
Curt Peeples   Composer
Earl Hatch   Composer
Vic McAlpin   Composer
Don Gibson   Leader,Composer
Walton   Composer
Webb Pierce   Composer