Tom T. Hall is not only one of country's biggest stars of the past, but he was a singer-songwriter in the vein of Hank, Sr. who wrote about everyday occurences and sung them with a sincere conviction that no one else could. This is a re-issue of two classic early 70's albums originally released on the Mercury label and the sound was never better. The "100 Children" half would be worth the cost alone. Every Tom T. Hall fan out there should thank Bear Family for presenting us this! Again, Mercury continues it's shameful treatment of their classic country catalog, so, again, we must look to Bear Family.
It's a shame that it takes a country like Germany to release a CD by one of America's greatest songwriters. This CD is incredible. If you've only heard of Tom T.Hall through other people doing his songs, you owe it to yourself to hear them from the master.
For those who like country music with great lyrics, there is no one better,
I stumbled across a promo copy of Tom T. Hall's "100 Children" (on vinyl, of course) in a school library in 1971. I was into rock and folk music at the time, but I already knew that a lot of true country songs really WERE folk songs, so I listened to just about anything, including this country album with the grim-looking crew-cutted redneck on its cover.
The title track alone was enough to hook me: an early-'70s country-and-western song about a protest march, in which the narrator joins with the hippies marching by? Wow! Who'd a-thunk it? Then there was "I Can't Dance", covered to great effect by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris; "I Want To See The Parade", which is as hokey a tearjerker as you'd ever want to hear, and yet still incredibly effective; and "Sing A Little Baby To Sleep", lamenting the dearth of kinder, gentler songs in those days of rage.
The very next track - "Mama Bake A Pie (Daddy Kill A Chicken)" - is one of the most cogent arguments I've heard against the futility of our involvement in Vietnam, and the agonizing human cost of the war. That somber note is followed (and relieved by) "Ode To Half A Pound Of Ground Round", which sounds like a goofy little ditty unless you've actually BEEN that hungry. "Pinto The Wonder Horse Is Dead" really WAS a goofy little ditty, to me, until I read the excellent booklet included with this CD re-issue. "I Hope It Rains At My Funeral" needed no such explanation, and neither did the more classically "country"-sounding "I Took A Memory To Lunch". "The Hitch-Hiker" is one of the story-songs Tom T. Hall is famous for, and it's not surprising to learn he was once the hitch-hiker with a battered suitcase full of dreams and not much else. "Old Enough To Want To" (mis-titled on the CD cover, but correctly ID'd in the booklet) is what Tom T. calls a "little darlin' song" about love at a certain age, and a great closer to a classic album.
Being a dishonest little punk, I swiped the LP and played it near to death. I also listened to Tom T.'s hits of the '70s, when country radio was playing the only thing CLOSE to the singer-songwriter genre I love, and even got to meet the man at a book-signing in 1982, but I never got over "100 Children". Much to my delight, my folks didn't toss my record collection during the years I spent drifting around the country, and I actually retrieved my stolen copy from their basement in the mid-'90s. It hadn't lost its charm, and I happily played it again and again, but only recently thought to look for a CD copy. When I did, up popped this twofer reissue from Bear Family Records, with Tom T.'s 1970 release "I Witness Life". Score!
I'm not going to bore you with chapter and verse about THAT disc, except to say that it's just as interesting and outstanding for its day as "100 Children", and well worth a listen. Whether you're an old folkie like me, a C&W fan, or just looking for some excellent, intriguing, topical and timeless songwriting by a master storyteller, this CD will more than satisfy.
Here is another fine release by Bear Family Records. While best known for their immense and comprehensive Box Sets, this Bear Family release covers two classic, though lesser known, Tom T Hall albums. There are 22 fine numbers here, though none that really hit it big on the charts as earlier and later albums would provide. Still, the songwriting and storytelling are outstanding, as only Tom could provide. If I have one criticism, these two albums seemed to introduce a little more of the "preachy" side of Mr Hall. Still, this is easily overlooked (and overheard) with other outstanding songs, such as "I Hope It Rains at my Funeral" and "Thank You Connellsville". Great sound, and an even better set of liner notes.
