The Very Best of Wynn Stewart & Jan Howard Wynn Stewart

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CD

  • Release Date: 08/10/2004
  • Sales Rank: 67,242
  • Label: VARESE SARABANDE
  • UPC: 030206657524

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  • Editorial Reviews
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Track List
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The Very Best of Wynn Stewart & Jan Howard

1LISTENWrong Company 2:15
2LISTENWe'll Never Love Again 2:30
3LISTENWishful Thinking 2:44
4LISTENA World I Can't Live In / Jan Howard 2:55
5LISTENThe One You Slip Around With / Jan Howard 2:19
6LISTENFaded Love / Jan Howard 2:36
7LISTENAbove and Beyond (The Call of Love) 1:58
8LISTENHow the Other Half Lives 2:21
9LISTENMake an Honest Woman Out of Me / Jan Howard 2:32
10LISTENToo Many Teardrops Too Late / Jan Howard 2:41
11LISTENPlayboy 2:21
12LISTENBig, Big Love 2:23
13LISTENYankee Go Home 2:34
14LISTENLet Me Know / Jan Howard 2:08
15LISTENAges and Ages Ago / Jan Howard 2:27
16LISTENUncle Tom Got Caught 2:06
17LISTENBring It on Back to Me / Jan Howard 2:01
18LISTENHeartaches for a Dime 2:30

About this Artist

Editorial Reviews

Wynn Stewart and Jan Howard both recorded for Challenge Records in the late '50s and early '60s, during which time they cut several duets. The title of Varese Sarabande's 2004 compilation, The Very Best of Wynn Stewart & Jan Howard, suggests that this 18-track disc focuses solely on the duets, but there weren't enough duets to fill a collection of this size (in fact only one song -- "Wrong Company" -- hit the Billboard country charts). Instead, it collects four of those duets ("Wrong Company," "We'll Never Love Again," "How the Other Half Lives," "Yankee Go Home"), six solo singles by Stewart, and eight tracks by Howard. While there are Stewart compilations available -- a comprehensive box set on Bear Family and Varese itself has an excellent single-disc collection of hits -- Howard has yet to have her singles reissued on CD, so this release is quite welcome. Even if it effectively uses the better-known Stewart songs to sell the record, that's fine because Howard is a strong straight-ahead hardcore country singer, and the sides collected here are excellent, unheralded pure honky tonk with a Bakersfield tinge, worth acquiring even if you already own a Stewart collection or two. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Customer Reviews

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Very Best of Wynn Stewart & Jan Howardby Anonymous

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August 31, 2004: Varese continues to fruitfully mine the masters of Challenge and Jackpot records, augmenting their previous Wynn Stewart collection with this volume of work by Stewart and Jan Howard. Although the track list duplicates several cuts from the earlier collection, the addition of three more Stewart-Howard duets and Howard's solo sides really fleshes out their work from this seminal period of California country music. ¶ Stewart and Howard were introduced through Stewart's friend, and Howard's husband, songwriter Harlan Howard. Jan Howard's work singing demos for her husband and his songwriting pals (Buck Owens, Hank Cochran, and others) quickly blossomed into a career that included several fine duets with Stewart, as well as numerous charting solo singles. The four duets balance Stewart's dramatic delivery with Howard's more level-headed accompaniment, creating the sort of dynamic a real-life husband and wife might share. The call-and-response of "Wrong Company" plays Stewart's sad-sack sorrow against Howard's scolding reminder, and the harmonious singing of "We'll Never Love Again" and "How the Other Half Lives" provides cruel contrast to the lyrics of broken love. ¶ Like their duets, both artists' solo sides hung tight to the fiddle and steel sound that Nashville was smoothing over in the early '60s. Stewart waxed some of the finest hard-country singles of the era, including icons like "Wishful Thinking," "Playboy," "Big, Big Love" and "Heartaches for a Dime." Howard could sing to a twangy honky-tonk backing too, with singles like "The One You Slip Around With" and "Too Many Teardrops Too Late" being prime examples. More often though, Howard sang ballads, including steel-lined weepers like "Ages and Ages Ago" and piano-backed heartbreak like "A World I Can't Live In" and "Make an Honest Woman Out of Me." Both Stewart and Howard picked up the beat to near rock 'n' roll once in awhile, with the former's "Uncle Tom Got Caught" featuring a fine Bo Diddley beat, and the latter's "Bring it on Back to Me" set to a superb blues-rockin' sound. ¶ Deeper helpings of Stewart and Howard are available separately, but one could barely ask for a better introduction to their charms, and the power of California country music's rebuttal to the Nashville Sound. (Collector's note, tracks 6, 10, 14, and 15 are in true stereo.)