Frankie Laine

Frankie Laine became a major figure in Western-related pop music almost by accident -- had Tex Ritter's own record label, Capitol Records, moved a little faster to get "High Noon" released in connection with the movie of that name, Ritter (who did have a country hit with it) would have almost certainly crossed over to pop success as well. As it was, they hesitated, and Laine cut the song for Columbia in the meantime. Then Capitol rushed out and subsequently pulled back a version by Ritter that didn't have the ominous drumbeat, while Columbia's version -- with the drumbeat -- got out there, and the result was a career-redefining hit for Frankie Laine. And across the next decade, Laine would periodically record Western songs, either as commercial releases or in connection with movie and television themes, such as Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and Rawhide, or covering numbers such as the title tune to The Hanging Tree. This CD is the result of that decade of singles and an album done by Columbia in the early '60s to cash in on the Western theme, and it isn't bad. His best work here is the film- and television-related material with which he was associated, including "3:10 to Yuma" and "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral," but he also acquits himself well, in his exuberant style, on songs such as "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," "The Hanging Tree," and remakes of his Mercury hits such as "Cry of the Wild Goose" and "Mule Train." ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi