Spotlight: The Best of Tompall Glaser & The Glaser Brothers

The spotlight feature is me discussing an album not because it's a new acquisition, but just because it's something I own and about which I feel like blogging.

This spotlight is of The Best of Tompall Glaser & The Glaser Brothers, the title of which is a good description of the content. The tracks include a good retrospective of the early Glaser Brothers sound, which is country music with folk elements. You also get some of Tompall Glaser's biggest solo hits as well as the Glaser Brothers' less folky ones. The only songs missing are some of their later hits. Still, this is a great CD with many highly-enjoyable tracks. I'd recommend it for both fans of the folk side of country and fans of outlaw country. Tompall Glaser is one of the heroes of outlaw country, after all.

Track listing (songs by Tompall & The Glaser Brothers unless otherwise noted):
1. Streets of Baltimore
2. Gone, On the Other Hand
3. Gentle on My Mind
4. Through the Eyes of Love
5. The Moods of Mary
6. One of These Days
7. California Girl (And the Tennessee Square)
8. All That Keeps Ya Goin'
9. Walk Unashamed
10. Wicked California
11. Gone Girl
12. Faded Love
13. Rings
14. Sweet, Love Me Good Woman
15. Ain't It All Worth Living For
16. A Girl Like You
17. Charlie
18. Bad Bad Bad Cowboy (by Tompall Glaser)
19. Texas Law Sez (by Tompall Glaser)
20. Musical Chairs (by Tompall Glaser)
21. Put Another Log on the Fire (by Tompall Glaser)
22. Wild Side of Life (by Tompall Glaser)
23. T for Texas (by Tompall Glaser)
24. Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)

Some of my favorite tracks are the early tunes, especially those written or co-written by the legendary Jack Clement. One of these, "California Girl," is the reason I bought this CD in the first place. It's a great, great song. Others of his include "The Moods of Mary," "Wicked California," "Gone, On the Other Hand" and "Gone Girl." All excellent. Other highlights include the Shel Silverstein penned "Musical Chairs," a countrified version of Cymarron's hit "Rings," and the version of the Kris Kristofferson composition "Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)." Jim Glaser's own composition, "Walk Unashamed," is also not to be missed. Really, though, there's not a single track on here that I skip. If you don't want to take my word for the caliber of the music, listen to a fan video of "Lovin'..." here.

For chart fans, here is a comprehensive look at Glaser placements on Billboard's country chart. GB denotes a Glaser Brothers hit. JG denotes a Jim Glaser hit. TG denotes a Tompall Glaser hit. CG denotes a Chuck Glaser hit.

1967
-Gone, On the Other Hand: #24 (GB)
-Through the Eyes of Love: #27 (GB)

1968
-God Help You Woman: #32 (JG)
-One of These Days: #36 (GB)
-The Moods of Mary: #42 (GB)

1969
-California Girl (And the Tennessee Square): #11 (GB)
-Wicked California: #24 (GB)
-Please Take Me Back: #40 (JG)
-I'm Not Through Loving You: #52 (JG)
-Molly: #53 (JG)

1970
-Gone Girl: #23 (GB)
-Walk Unashamed: #30 (GB)
-All That Keeps Ya Goin': #33 (GB)

1971
-Rings: #7 (GB)
-Faded Love: #22 (GB)

1972
-Ain't It All Worth Living For: #15 (GB)
-Sweet, Love Me Good Woman: #23 (GB)

1973
-A Girl Like You: #46 (GB)
-Charlie: #47 (GB)
-I See His Love All Over You: #67 (JG)
-Bad Bad Bad Cowboy: #77 (TG)

1974
-Musical Chairs: #63 (TG)
-Fool Passin' Through: #68 (JG)
-Gypsy Queen: #81 (CG)
-Texas Law Sez: #96 (TG)

1975
-Put Another Log on the Fire: #21 (TG)
-Woman, Woman: #43 (JG)
-Forgettin' Bout You: #51 (JG)
-One, Two, Three (Never Gonna Fall in Love Again): #88 (JG)

1976
-T for Texas: #36 (TG)
-She's Free but She's Not Easy: #66 (JG)

1977
-It'll Be Her: #45 (TG)
-Don't Let My Love Stand in Your Way: 86 (JG)
-Chasin' My Tail: #88 (JG)
-It Never Crossed My Mind: #91 (TG)

1978
-Drinking Them Beers: #79 (TG)

1980
-Sweet City Woman: #34 (GB)
-Weight of My Chains: #43 (GB)

1981
-Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again): #2 (GB)
-Just One Time: #17 (GB)

1982
-It'll Be Her: #19 (GB)
-I Still Love You (After All These Years): #28 (GB)
-Maria Consuela: #88 (GB)

1983
-When You're Not a Lady: #16 (JG)
-The Man in the Mirror: #17 (JG)
-You Got Me Running: #28 (JG)

1984
-You're Gettin' to Me Again: #1 (JG)
-If I Could Only Dance With You: #10 (JG)
-Let Me Down Easy: #16 (JG)

1985
-In Another Minute: #27 (JG)
-I'll Be Your Fool Tonight: #54 (JG)

1986
-The Lights of Albuquerque: #40 (JG)
-If I Didn't Love You: #53 (JG)

Several of the later Glaser Brothers hit are available on the 2-albums-on-1-CD release Lovin' Her Was Easier/After All These Years, but I don't own that yet, so I can't comment. Jim Glaser's solo work is hard to find on CD, as is Chuck's lone hit. The Tompall solo hits not included on the CD discussed here are available on a set entitled The Outlaw which I don't currently own.