Eddy Arnold – The Tennessee Plowboy And His Guitar

Eddy Arnold is the most successful performer ever to appear on the Billboard Top Country Singles chart. His sustained dominance included 43 Top Ten hits from 194551 alone. It is understandable if this comes as a surprise. Prior to the release of this five-CD set, it was impossible to locate most of the man’s numerous huge hits from these early, stone country days.

One forgets that Arnold had a firm grip on radio play and record sales during the seven years this box rigorously documents. Once Arnold switched from Opry Plowboy to Tonight Show crooner, however, he appeared anxious to put his previous pure country image and these recordings far behind him. As such, much of his catalog has been long out-of-print.

Like his one-time manager, Colonel Tom Parker, Arnold has been acknowledged as a powerful defender of his own business interests. In fact, he is the only artist ever to have enough clout to block Bear Family from releasing material, albeit temporarily. The singer purportedly thought many of the early songs featured on this box to be embarrassingly weepy and maudlin.

And make no mistake, there is plenty of emoting here. But in this context it’s an inseparable part of the style. When Arnold pleads “Mommy Please Stay Home With Me”, the urgency seems immediate even after 50 years; “My Daddy Is Only A Picture” delivers the wrenching lament that the title promises. Arnold need not be embarrassed by these songs. It was exactly this type of unflinching sincerity that caused publisher Fred Rose to remain permanently in Nashville, when he had originally just stopped in to laugh at the hicks.