Hi friends – welcome back to 50s Tunes with Steve - the best place to learn about, listen to, and snap along with some of the great artists of the 1950s.
This post will be dedicated to the great Pat Boone, one of the most successful artists of the 50s and definitely a personal favorite of mine.
Today I’ll be reviewing a 12 CD collection put together by “Bear Family Records” in 1997, that includes all of Pat Boone’s recordings from the 1950s.
Pat Boone was constantly coming out with hit records in the 50s, and for 220 consecutive weeks, Boone stayed on the hit music charts - arguably acting as one of the only artists to pose a threat to Elvis Presley.
At the time he was the youngest person to host his own television program, not to mention he had 4 daughters by the time he was 23 years old.
He was a singer, an actor, and a family man. Boone was the squeaky-clean image that America loved when the rough and rowdy Rock and Roll artists were attempting to take over America’s popular music.
I started listening to Mr. Boone in my sophomore year of high school. At the time, he was far from a first-round pick when it came to who I would listen to the most, but as I opened up to more of his music, he slowly worked his way up my ladder of favorite artists.
This past summer I listened to his albums more than any other singer, even obtaining his
autograph on his Gold Collection CD, which he signed directly to me – “To my youngest fan, a lover of music – Steven B.”
While searching for some of his music I came across the ultimate collection. “Pat Boone: The Fifties - Complete (12-CD Deluxe Box Set.)”
When I found this set, I was absolutely thrilled! I wasn’t sure what was going to be inside, but I knew I had to have it.
I purchased the set on a disc collectors website called, “Discogs.” If I purchased the set through the manufacturer, “Bear Family Records,” it would have been far to expensive, so I went to Discogs and got a great deal!
You’ll notice that in the above photo, the set comes with a book as well. The book is over 80 pages and lists all of the songs that appear in the collection as well as photos from Pat’s time in films, pictures of his family, rare photos of him with famous artists, and commentary from the many individuals involved in Boone’s career.
Now, in this review I will not be going over all 320 songs that appear in this collection! I don’t want to write that much, and God knows you don’t want to read that much, but I will go over a few tracks from each CD that make this collection enjoyable for me! And as always, please click on a few of the songs listed, so you may listen along with the review.
CD 1
The first CD contains 32 tracks, starting with a few of Pat’s early recordings from his time with “Republic” records, where he had no success, so I’m not going to bother with those. But following those tracks is some of Pat’s first recordings with “Dot” records – “Two Hearts,” “Ain’t That A Shame,” “At My Front Door,” “Tutti Frutti,” “I’ll Be Home,” and “I Almost Lost My Mind.”
Many of these songs, if not all of them, were Rhythm and Blues songs which Boone covered, most prominently, Fats Dominoes “Ain’t That A Shame,” which Boone took all the way to #1 on the charts in 1955, and Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti.”
Obviously, Boone’s versions of these songs will never hold up to the originals, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t personally prefer his stylistic take on the songs over the original recordings.
Given the age of these recordings, I give Bear Family Records a lot of credit, as they are all very good quality.
CD 2
This disc contains 30 tracks, many of them from Boone’s 1956 album, “Howdy!” With songs like “All I Do Is Dream Of You,” “Beg Your Pardon,” and “Begin The Beguine,” it was nice to hear Boone’s voice on these American classics.
This disc also featured Pat’s #1 hit “Don’t Forbid Me,” one of my favorite songs from his repertoire. All good quality, no complaints here!
CD 3
This compilation had to have been one of the most intriguing of the collection. Here, Boone sings the Bill Hayley classic “Rock Around The Clock,” which I don’t personally think was a great song for him, but an interesting take to say the least.
On this CD there’s also a few versions of Pat’s most popular song “Love Letters In the Sand,” many of them unreleased takes and only ever heard on this collection, so I enjoyed that very much. It also features a few others of Boone’s big hits, including “Bernadine,” which was the name of a movie he was in - performing the song for the film. A few other hits included here are Boone's, “Too Soon To Know,” and “Why Baby Why,” which are good songs, but I’m not as crazy about them as some others on this set.
CD 4
The 4th CD in this collection includes many of Pat’s religious songs, which was a nice touch to the collection, but there were 2 songs that I think people will be most pleased to hear on this disc. Pat’s song “April Love” is featured here, which was another movie he starred in, and performed the song for, and he also does a beautiful rendition of “Cheek to Cheek” which is considered one of the great American standards. Hearing him do this song was a pleasant surprise, as his smooth crooning voice was perfect for a song like it. Of course, he’s no Sinatra!
CD 5 & 6
Both of these discs have to be two of my favorites in the whole collection! While the 5th disc does include Pat singing some of the classic Christmas songs like “Jingle Bells” and “Silent Night,” it also features 2 versions of Pat’s #1 song “A Wonderful Time Up There,” 3 versions of his song “If Dreams Came True,” and 2 more versions of “April Love,” one of them from the movie itself where he sang it with actress Shirley Jones!
On the 6th disc is many songs originally featured on Pat’s 1958 album, “Star Dust,” such as “Stardust,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Blueberry Hill,” and “St. Louis Blues.” Along with these many songs, Pat sings his own version of “Ave Maria,” which has to be one of my favorite songs of all time, except not his version – Perry Como’s! While I think Pat does an excellent version of this religious standard, it’s meant for a person with a far more mature voice than that of Mr. Boone’s.
CD 7 & 8
CD 7 is okay – it has some nice songs, including a Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn American standard, “I’ve Heard That Song Before,” which was a pleasant surprise to hear from Pat, as well as one of his smaller hits, “I’ll Remember Tonight.”
One of the songs on this compilation that has come to mean something to me is called, “Wait for Me Mary.” I mention this one because my Grandmothers name is Mary, and she was never a big fan of Pat Boone until I showed her this song, and now I think it’s become one of her favorites!
On the 8th CD I find myself with yet another set of Christmas songs, and while I love Christmas time and these wonderful tunes, now is not the time to talk about them. This compilation though does feature a second version of “Wait for Me Mary” and another rendition of a song that was included on the first CD called “Money Honey,” which has since become one of my favorites by Boone. “Money Honey,” is another R&B cover and most people find his covers of these songs too soft or too clean, but I’ve always preferred his smooth voice on tunes like this, so it’s really nice to hear these unreleased versions. Definitely a great addition to my collection.
CD 9
Pat Boone has always had a niche for love songs, and this compilation certainly makes that clear. Here, we hear Pat do a recording of Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly’s song “True Love,” from the 1956 picture “High Society,” a very good song choice for his voice. Also included on this disc are renditions of Jo Stafford’s “You Belong To Me,” Doris Day’s “Secret Love,” and Rosemary Clooney’s “Tenderly.” These are all perfect song choices for Pat’s voice, if I do say so myself!
CD 10 & 11
The tenth disc in this set is another compilation of various Christmas and religious songs Pat performed, which at this point, I’m fine with since this collection is supposed to be all of his recordings from the 50s, but I wouldn’t have been upset if they removed these songs from the set and lowered the cost of the collection!
Aside from the holiday tunes, this disc does include a few of Pat’s hits - “Twixt, Twelve, and Twenty,” “Fool’s Hall of Fame,” and “It’s A Sin.” “It’s A Sin” oddly sounds a lot like both “Ain’t That A Shame” and “Don’t Forbid Me.” I suppose you could say, Pat developed a style!
CD 11 is nothing spectacular. A few more religious and Christmas songs, and some unreleased takes of his hits like “Love Letters In the Sand,” and a horrible rendition of “Money Honey,” where Pat was clearly struggling to perform the song. Luckily that one was unreleased!
CD 12
The final CD in this wonderful collection is arguably the best one. In 1959 Pat re-recorded some of his major hits, all featured on this final compilation. Some people might say that after hearing 4 different versions of “Love Letters In the Sand” throughout the set, you wouldn’t want to hear it a 5th time, but being a super fan, this collection does justice and presents the song one more time! Very pleased with the final disc, especially since it didn’t feature any Christmas or religious songs!
Final Thoughts
All in all, I was more than happy with this collection! It’s not often you get to hear the full repertoire of an artist all in one set, especially not with unreleased material. If I hadn’t ordered this collection, there are songs I would have never heard Mr. Boone perform, and being a huge fan, I wouldn’t have been able to live with the idea that there was music by him I had never heard.
For anybody just starting to listen to this genre of music, obviously I don’t suggest starting with something this big, but I hope the links I’ve left throughout the review have been a helpful guide, and maybe you’ll start listening to some of Pat’s songs yourself!
This box sets gets a 5/5 stars from me! Props to Bear Family Records.
That’s all for today!
Thanks for reading folks, I hope you enjoyed hearing these great tunes, and hearing my thoughts on this set!
Until next time friends, this is your 50s fanatic, Steven B. – signing off!
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