Kitty Wells was a major influence on Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and so many other women who crossed over from country to pop. "Too many times married men think they are single" is the sentiment displayed in "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" — which is 1950s male bashing, and Wells' perfect vocal cuts through the violin and accompaniment. It's pure country music that is far removed from the slick pop Nashville began manufacturing decades after this groundbreaking disc. "Paying for That Back Street Affair" is one of three Billy Wallace titles, featuring the lyrics "you gambled and I lost/now I must pay with hours of despair." The songs are full of someone having done someone wrong, and though there is a sameness throughout, vocally and instrumentally, the purity of Wells' performance and sincerity makes the 12 short stories very appealing. "I don't claim to be an angel, my life's been full of sin" is her statement, and she's sticking to it. Wells covers Roy Acuff, Zeke Clements, and J.B. Miller, and the work is consistently high. The passion in the opening track, Jimmy Work's "Making Believe," is powerful stuff, but it's her performance on the Eddie Miller/Dube Williams/Robert Yount classic "Release Me" which is the album's high point, as influential as the hit "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels." This track may have helped establish Engelbert Humperdinck's career as he took the song to the Top Five in 1967. Jimmy Heap had a country hit with the "Release Me" in 1955, and Esther Phillips took it to the top of the R&B charts in 1962 (as well as Top Ten on the Top 40), but Kitty Wells adds something extra to it here, and her performance of the tune is timeless. Release Me doesn't have "your lips are sweet as honey" lines, but "There's Poison in Your Heart" lines, and maybe that's what makes it so effective. Still, Kitty Wells can take corny country lyrics and deliver them with total sincerity. Kitty Wells Country Hit Parade is a classic of the genre and gave inspiration to decades of male and female vocalists who went on to inspire others. It is entertaining beyond its historical importance.
KITTY WELLS
COUNTRY HIT PARADE
Decca DL-82931956
Produced by Paul Cohen
Eddie Hill, Ray Edenton, Louis Innis - guitar
Shot Jackson - steel
Joe Zinkan - bass/vocal
Johnnie Wright, Ernie Newton - bass
Paul Warren, Benny Martin - fiddle
Recorded:
May 3/1952, Castle Studio, Tulane Hotel, Nashville (7,11,12)
Sept 16/1952, Castle Studio, Tulane Hotel, Nashville (8)
Jan 12/1953, Castle Studio, Tulane Hotel, Nashville (9,10)
March 15/1953, Castle Studio, Tulane Hotel, Nashville (6)
July 10/1953, Castle Studio, Tulane Hotel, Nashville (5)
Sept 17/1953, Castle Studio, Tulane Hotel, Nashville (3)
Jan 19/1954, Castle Studio, Tulane Hotel, Nashville (2)
Jan 15/1955, Bradley Studio, Nashville (1)
Apr 8/1955, Bradley Studio, Nashville (4)
1.
MAKING BELIEVE
(Jimmy Work) « © '54 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »Making believe that you still love me
It's leaving me alone and so blue
But I'll always dream still I'll never own you
Making believe it's all I can do
Can't hold you close when you're not with me
You're somebody's love you'll never be mine
Making believe I'll spend my lifetime
Loving you making believe
[ fiddle ] Making believe that I never lost you
But my happy hours I find are so few
My plans for the future will never come true
Making believe what else can I do
Can't hold you close...
**********
2.
RELEASE ME (AND LET ME LOVE AGAIN)
(Eddie Miller - W.S. Stevenson - Robert Yount) « © '54 Roschelle Publishing, BMI »Please release me let me go
I don't love you anymore
To live together is a sin
Release me and let me love again
[ guitar ] I have found a new love dear
And I'll always want him near
His lips are warm while yours are cold
Release me darling let me go
[ fiddle - steel ] Oh please release me let me go...
**********
3.
CHEATING'S A SIN
(Billy Wallace) « © '53 Unichappell Music, BMI »You're in the arms of another where you've no right to be
We made vows together your love isn't free
You're making new plans now our love's gone with the wind
You're cheating on me dear and cheating's a sin
The love in your eyes dear for me has grown dim
I keep trying to hold you but my chances are slim
I might as well face it I'm just a has been
You're cheating I'm losing but cheating's a sin
[ steel ] Though you are unfaithful you're still in my heart
You're in love with another you play a double part
Why don't you change dear for cheaters can't win
You'll never be happy for cheating's a sin
Can you honestly tell me our love isn't real
Just speak for your ownself I know how I feel
I'll carry your mem'ry though our love must end
You're cheating on me dear and cheating's a sin
**********
4.
THERE'S POISON IN YOUR HEART
(Zeke Clements) « © '55 Unichappell Music, BMI »Once I loved you darling and you thrilled me through and through
I must admit I wanted only you
Your kisses left me breathless when you said we'd never part
Your lips are sweet as honey but there's poison in your heart
[ fiddle - steel ] The way that you two-time me is a sin and it's a shame
You even said you'd like to change my name
You vowed that you'd be faithful but you lied right from the start
Your lips are sweet as honey but there's poison in your heart
[ steel - fiddle ] Maybe I'll find that fate is kind and let me love again
Then I'll forget my fickle dreams of you
It's just too bad we've never had an even-steven start
Your lips are sweet as honey but there's poison in your heart
**********
5.
I'VE KISSED YOU MY LAST TIME
(Bill Carlisle - Virginia Suber - Tommy Cutrer) « © '55 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »Down the road of love I see sign after sign
That tells me you're no longer mine
But a heart full of love is a heart that is blind
I love you so and it hurts me to know
That I've kissed you my last time
[ steel ] Ev'ry sign that I see tells me you're not for me
But I cherish thoughts of days gone by
I'll be your slave till I'm in my grave
I love you so and it hurts me to know
That I've kissed you my last time
[ fiddle ] I have searched ev'rywhere but there's none can compare
With the thrill of your kiss that once was mine
But now you kiss so cold don't know what the future holds
I love you so and it hurts me to know
That I've kissed you my last time
**********
6.
WHOSE SHOULDER WILL YOU CRY ON
(Billy Wallace - Kitty Wells) « © '53 Unichappell Music, BMI »Once you were my life and breath
Then you rode your free horse to death
Oh you trifled around too much then you lost your loving touch
Now whose shoulder will you cry on
You didn't love me all along
Cause you can't love and do me wrong
I don't trust you no more so go knock on another's door
And whose shoulder will you cry on
[ steel - fiddle ] Just let those hot tears burn your eyes
They're just payments on the lies
That made a wreck of me from that chain I've been set free
Now whose shoulder will you cry on
You didn't love me all along...
**********
7.
IT WASN'T GOD WHO MADE HONKY TONK ANGELS
(Jimmy D. Miller) « © '52 Peer International, BMI »As I sit here tonight the jukebox playing
The tune about the wild side of life
As I listen to the words you are saying
It brings mem'ries when I was a trustful wife
It was't God who made honky tonk angels
As you said in the words of your song
Too many times married men think they're still single
That has caused many a good girl to go wrong
[ fiddle ] It's a shame that all the blame is on us women
It's not true that only you men feel the same
From the start most ev'ry heart that's ever broken
Was because there always was a man to blame
It was't God who made honky tonk angels...
**********
8.
THINGS I MIGHT HAVE BEEN
(Robert B. Sherman - Richard M. Sherman) « © '52 Songs Of PolyGram, BMI »I might have been a helpless soul with nothin' much in store
I might have been without a goal just dreams and nothing more
I might have known a life alone but that's where you came in
Your loving arms have saved me from the things I might have been
I might have been the kind who roams a stranger ev'rywhere
Or one of those who're stay at homes with no one's lips to share
But your sweet kiss has changed all this and made my life begin
Keep loving me don't let me be the things I might have been
[ steel ] I might have been the kind who roams a stranger ev'rywhere...
**********
9.
BACK STREET AFFAIR
(Billy Wallace - Jimmy Rule) « © '52 Unichappell Music, BMI »Yes I thought that you were true when I fell in love with you
For you told me you always would play square
Then I learned you had a home that your wife had not gone wrong
And our love was just a back street affair
Was too late to say no when I found you'd fooled me so
For as time passed on I'd learned so much to care
Though I knew I must atone but my will was not my own
I'm paying for that back street affair
[ fiddle ] You didn't count the cost you gambled and I lost
Now I must pay with hours of deep despair
You still can live your life with a true forgiving wife
But I can't live down a back street affair
The love I gave so free is left to torture me
Though I know it's hopeless and it isn't fair
But still I must go on while the gossips spread are wrong
I'm paying for that back street affair
**********
10.
I DON'T CLAIM TO BE AN ANGEL
(Johnny Wright - Jack Anglin - Jim Anglin) « © '53 Unichappell Music, BMI »I don't claim to be an angel my life's been full of sin
But when I met you darling that all came to an end
Never doubt my love dear whatever you may do
I don't claim to be an angel but my love for you is true
You'll hear talk around town of things I used to do
Some will try to poison your mind that my love can't be true
Many nights I lay awake dear hoping our love will last
Wondering if your love is strong enough to forget about my past
I don't claim to be an angel my life's been full of sin...
[ steel ] I never knew what real love was till you came along
You changed my outlook on life made me regret my wrong
Why should my past keeps haunting me all through the years
I've paid for each mistake with millions of bitter tears
I don't claim to be an angel my life's been full of sin...
**********
11.
I'M TOO LONELY TO SMILE
(Harmie Smith) « © '52 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »All my life I've had nothin' but trouble
I can't find no way to ease my aching heart
And I feel as though that I'm forgotten
I'm so lonesome since we've been apart
I'm too lonely to smile dear
Without you my life is o'er
I can't keep the tears from falling
I'm too lonely to smile anymore
[ fiddle ] You are gone but I'll never forget you
You're the only one that ever made me care
When I leave this earth I pray I'll meet you
For I can't live this life without you here
I'm too lonely to smile dear...
**********
12.
SEARCHING FOR A SOLDIER'S GRAVE
(Roy Acuff) « © '52 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »Somewhere here among these many thousands
of Americans who all died true and brave
That's where I know I'll find him resting
So I'm here I'm searching for his grave
You ask me stranger why I made this journey
Why I crossed three thousand miles of rolling waves
Like many others my darling was killed in action
That's why I'm here I'm searching for his grave
Somewhere here among these many thousands...
[ fiddle ] When I come to the spot where he's sleeping
I know it will cause more heartaches inside
But I long to be by his side once more and tell him
Tell him that I love him and will until I die
Somewhere here among these many thousands...
**********
