Bear Family Records. Release: 1998. Remastered.

5-CD box set contains songs from 1944-50, inc. all of his output from this period as well as over 35 of his hits, available here in their original version for ... Full Descriptionthe first time

Contains 120 songs.

Digitally remastered by Martin Haskell and Tim Debney.

The 120 tracks on these five CDs constitute a group of Eddy Arnold songs with which few people under the age of 50 could be familiar -- only about a half-dozen of them ever appeared on LP, much less CD. Recorded between 1944 and 1950, they represent his rise to country stardom (but not yet to pop stardom), and also the evolution of country music in the period immediately after the war. His performances on the early sides were heavily influenced by the work of Gene Autry, but they were much closer to hillbilly music, with thin, twangy guitars and fiddle. With the help of producer Steve Sholes, Arnold and his group (the Tennessee Plowboys) achieved a fine, lean sound that was a good compromise between hillbilly authenticity and commercial country music. Disc Two, covering 1947-48, shows Arnold consolidating his earlier success, and acquiring a greater range in the process. Disc Three shows Arnold's voice mellowing into the fine instrument that it became as he later emerged into pop stardom; his low range is richer, and he reaches those high notes more easily. This was all of a piece with making Arnold accessible to the widest possible audience; what no one realized at the time was that Arnold was helping to change country music in the process. While Disc Four shows Arnold moving toward an ever more mainstream sound, Disc Five has a number of religious songs that come off extremely well -- largely due to the quality and sincerity of Arnold's singing. By this time, Arnold's voice had evolved into a wonderfully polished baritone, turning him into almost a countrified Bing Crosby. The sound is excellent, and the notes are extremely informative, although there is relatively little about the recording sessions themselves. The booklet is filled with wonderful photos as well.

Track Listing:

Disc: 1

1. Mother's Prayer
2. Mommy, Please Stay Home With Me
3. Cattle Call
4. Each Minute Seems Like a Million Years
5. Did You See My Daddy Over There
6. Many Tears Ago
7. I Walk Alone
8. You Must Walk the Line
9. (I'll Have To) Live and Learn
10. Be Sure There's No Mistake
11. I Couldn't Believe It Was True
12. I Talk to Myself About You
13. All Alone in This World Without You
14. Can't Win, Can't Place, Can't Show
15. What Is Life Without Love?
16. That's How Much I Love You
17. Why Didn't You Take That, Too?
18. Chained to a Memory
19. Easy Rockin' Chair
20. To My Sorrow
21. It's a Sin
22. I'm Somebody Nobody Loves
23. That Little Boy of Mine
24. Don't Bother to Cry
25. Me Too

Disc: 2

1. I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)
2. Bouquet of Roses
3. What a Fool I Was
4. Little Angel With the Dirty Face
5. Wondering What to Do
6. Prisoner's Song
7. Rockin' Alone (In an Old Rockin' Chair)
8. It Makes No Difference Now
9. Will the Circle Be Unbroken
10. Seven Years With the Wrong Woman
11. Molly Darling
12. I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes
13. Who at My Door Is Standing
14. Then I Turned and Walked Slowly Away
15. Texarkana Baby
16. (In The) Hills of Tomorrow
17. My Daddy Is Only a Picture
18. Say You'll Be Mine
19. There's Not a Thing (I Wouldn't Do for You)
20. I've Got a Lifetime to Forget
21. Anytime
22. Heart Full of Love
23. My Heart Cries for You
24. I've Got Other Fish to Fry
25. This Is the Thanks I Get (For Loving You) Disc: 3
26. You Know How Talk Gets Around
27. Just a Little Lovin' (Will Go a Long Way)
28. Till the End of the World
29. Save a Little Corner in Your Heart
30. M-O-T-H-E-R (A Word That Means the World to Me)
31. I Wouldn't Trade the Silver in My Mother's Hair
32. That Wonderful Mother of Mine
33. Bring Your Roses to Her Now
34. I Wish I Had a Girl Like You Mother
35. My Mother's Sweet Voice
36. There's No Wings on My Angel
37. Echo of Your Footsteps
38. Why Didn't You Take That, Too?
39. That Little Boy of Mine
40. My Heart Cries for You
41. This Is the Thanks I Get (For Loving You)
42. Don't Rob Another Man's Castle
43. Me Too
44. Little Angel With the Dirty Face
45. I've Got Other Fish to Fry
46. Many Tears Ago
47. I Walk Alone
48. Show Me the Way Back to Your Heart
49. Homesick, Lonesome and Sorry
50. One Kiss Too Many

Disc: 4

1. I Was Foolish When I Fell in Love With You
2. Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue
3. I Tied a Little String Around My Finger
4. I'm Throwing Rice
5. Shepherd of My Heart
6. Why Should I Cry
7. C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S
8. To the Last Beat of My Heart
9. Take Me in Your Arms and Hold Me
10. Evil Tempt Me Not
11. When Jesus Beckons Me Home
12. Will Santy Come to Shanty Town
13. Beautiful Isle of Somewhere
14. Lily of the Valley
15. Softly and Tenderly
16. Mama and Daddy Broke My Heart
17. You Touched Me
18. Cattle Call
19. Chained to a Memory
20. Nearest Thing to Heaven
21. Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue
22. Prison Without Walls
23. Cuddle Buggin' Baby
24. Enclosed One Broken Heart

Disc: 5

1. Tie Me to Your Apron Strings Again
2. Behind the Clouds
3. Million Miles from Your Heart
4. At the Close of a Long, Long Day
5. C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S
6. If I Never Get to Heaven
7. Lovebug Itch
8. White Christmas
9. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
10. There's Been a Change in Me
11. Precious Little Baby
12. Through a Stranger's Eyes
13. Open Thy Merciful Arms
14. Jesus and the Atheist
15. Behind the Clouds
16. Precious Little Baby
17. Kentucky Waltz
18. Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue
19. Jesus and the Atheist
20. May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You
21. I'm Writing a Letter to the Lord