Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - Oldiemarkt
In den 50er Jahren war Lefty Frizzell ei-ne Legende der Countrymusik. Daran er-innert Bear Family mit einer 20 CD-Box.
Die 50er Jahre sind nicht nur gesellschaftlich und politisch eine ganz andere Ära als die, in der wir jetzt leben, sondern vor allem auch musikalisch. Wer in den 50er Jahren Erfolg hatte, klang in der Regel nicht nur ganz an-ders als jede Musik, die man heute hören kann, sondern verdiente auch deutlich weni-ger Geld damit, weil die Musikindustrie noch in den Kinderschuhen steckte. Erst die Beat-les machten aus einem Gewerbe, in dem man vor allem durch Konzerte sein Geld ver-diente, eine Multi-Millionen-Pfund- oder Dollar-Industrie, die eigentlich erst aus ei-nem Teil der Unterhaltungsindustrie insge-samt eine eigene Branche machten. Plötzlich konnte es sich ein Musiker leisten, überhaupt keine Konzerte mehr zu geben, sondern nur noch im Studio zu arbeiten und aus dem frü-her mehr oder weniger lokalen Geschäft wur-de eine globale Unternehmung, das dement-sprechend auch Einnahmen aus der ganzen Welt generierte.
20.12.2018
Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - The Best Boxed Sets of 2018
Lefty Frizzell: An Article From Life: The Complete Recordings
The Best Boxed Sets of 2018
The exhaustive work of German label Bear Family is something that fans of roots music and jazz have long been in awe of. But recently, they’ve gone above and beyond as with 2018’s massive collection of material broadcast on the Louisiana Hayride radio show and this year’s set that compiles everything country legend Lefty Frizzell recorded during his three decades in the limelight. At 20 CDs, it’s a lot to absorb, but considering the breadth of his influence on fellow icons like Willie Nelson, George Strait and Pokey LaFarge, it’s deep dive worth taking. —Robert Ham
20.12.2018
Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-CHRONICLE
William Orville Frizzell is probably the most influential singer-songwriter you may not knowby Philip Martin | Today at 2:02 a.m
The expansive boxed set of Lefty Frizzell’s music — An Article from Life: The Complete Recordings
To many modern people, country singer "Lefty" Frizzell may seem obscure, and the idea of a 20-CD set presenting not only every track he's known to have recorded but nine CDs of his younger brother David -- also a notable country singer -- reading the audiobook version of his (pretty good) biography I Love You a Thousand Ways: The Lefty Frizzell Story might seem ridiculous.dustrie insge-samt eine eigene Branche machten. Plötzlich konnte es sich ein Musiker leisten, überhaupt keine Konzerte mehr zu geben, sondern nur noch im Studio zu arbeiten und aus dem frü-her mehr oder weniger lokalen Geschäft wur-de eine globale Unternehmung, das dement-sprechend auch Einnahmen aus der ganzen Welt generierte.
20.12.2018
Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - Goldmine
Bear Family’s penchant for behemothic box sets has always been a reissue industry standard. Indeed, even today, with the majors bombarding us with similarly weighty, career-long round-ups (Nazareth, Judie Tzuke and Kate Bush are the latest), the Bear still stands head and shoulders above their efforts.
Rock boxes, after all, seem to focus only on past albums as-they-were-released, with a few unreleased bonuses or b-sides to sweeten the load. Bear Family, on the other hand, offer up everything. Every released track, every studio take, every false start… if it’s out there, they find it, and rock collectors can only gaze on enviously as their country-loving cousins unwrap… for example, Lefty Frizzell’s An Article from Life. It’s subtitled “the complete recordings,” and you know what? That’s an understatement.
02.01.2019
Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - National Public Radio
Lefty Frizzell Box Set Showcases The Original Recordings Of A Country Classic
Though he's widely considered one of the best country-music artists of all time, Frizzell's music is not well known or widely heard today. Ken Tucker says An Article From Life aims to correct that.
TERRY GROSS, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. Lefty Frizzell is widely considered one of the best country music artists of all time. And performers like Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard have claimed him as an influence, yet his music is little known or heard today. A new release aims to correct that. It's a new 20-CD box set called "Lefty Frizzell: An Article From Life." Rock critic Ken Tucker has a review.
02.01.2019
Pres Archiv - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - Good Times
BEAR FAMILY PRESSE Magazin: GOOD TIMES Ausgabe 6-18 BCD 17540 LEFTY FRIZZELL "An Article from Life" LEFTY FRIZZELL AN ARTICLE FROM LIFE Der größte Coun-trymusiker aller Zeiten? Wenn es nach Merle Hag-gard geht, ist dies zweifellos Lefty Frizzell: „Er hatte die Seele von Hank Williams, den Reiz von Johnny Cash und das Charisma von Elvis Presley. Er hatte alles." Auch George Jones begann seine Karriere als Lefty-Nachahmer, die Phrasierung des charakteristischen Gesangs von Wil-lie Nelson stammt von Frizzell, und als Roy Orbison zu den Traveling Wilburys stieß, nannte er sich nicht umsonst Lefty Wilbury. Auch Bear Family, der deutsche Spezialist für amerikanische Country-helden, setzte dem im Jahr 1928 in Texas geborenen Musiker schon 1984 ein erstes musikalisches Denkmal, als sie mit einer 14-LP-Box sein komplettes Lebenswerk (wieder) zugänglich machten.
02.01.2019
Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - THE AQUARIAN WEEKLY
Lefty - In the annals of country music, there’s only a handful of such beloved artists that only a first name is needed: Willie, Waylon, Dolly, Merle, Loretta, Tammy, Conway, Hank and a singer who may have influenced more than any of them: Lefty. Lefty Frizzell, that is [1928-1975]. His vocal mannerisms were pure White Soul, his phrasing, timing and delivery practiced and copied by generations since. In the argument for greatest country singer of all-time, he now gets the Bear Family treatment. Lefty Frizzell, An Article From Life: The Complete Recordings is a big, beautiful box of 361 songs on 20 CDs with a 264-page hard-cover book. An update of their ‘92 box, this one has all the never-before-issued tracks and it comes as something of a revelation. Plus, the man had a sense of humor. He starts laughing midway through some of the songs. He wrote his first song at 19 while in jail on a trumped-up charge for having sex with a minor. Later, booze killed him at 47.
02.01.2019
Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - americanahighways.org
Lefty Frizzell arguably played almost as big a role in the development of modern country music as his friend Hank Williams. Nevertheless, he didn’t make it into the Country Music Hall of Fame until 1982 and, for reasons I’ve never quite figured out, he is not as well known or loved by the public today as, say, Williams or George Jones.
He continues to be revered by his fellow musicians, however. “The soul of Hank Williams, the appeal of Johnny Cash, and the charisma of Elvis Presley. He had it all,” said the late, great Merle Haggard, one of Frizzell’s biggest fans. “The impact he had on country music, and on me, is not even measurable.” Indeed, Frizzell had a huge influence on many artists, including, in addition to Haggard, Randy Travis, John Anderson, and Willie Nelson. (Nelson recorded a whole album called To Lefty from Willie). Roy Orbison paid homage to him by choosing the name Lefty Wilbury for himself when he joined the Traveling Wilburys. George Jones looked up to Frizzell and Williams so much that his producer reportedly admonished him for trying to sound too much like them.
02.01.2019
Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - pop matters
Singer-songwriter Lefty Frizzell was a country music legend who critics credit with creating and popularizing the honky-tonk sound. His debut single, the 1950 number one hit "If You've Got the Money (I've Got the Time) made him a star. The B-side of that record, "I Love You a Thousand Ways" was also a huge success and showcased his softer, romantic side. Frizzell had a slew of chart entries during the early 1950s, but they dried up during early rock's heyday later in the decade. Although he was only in his 20s during most of that time (he was born in 1928), his persona was more adult than those rockabilly cats like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. Frizzell had a few more hits during the late 1950s/early 1960s performing original songs he did not write including "The Long, Black Veil" and "Saginaw, Michigan".
30.11.2018
Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - ink19
There was a time when giants walked the earth. They had names like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash…and Lefty Frizzell. Born William Orville Frizzell in 1928 in Arkansas, Lefty helped create an uniquely American art form – country and western music, and his vast impact is felt on every honky-tonk stage and jukebox. The songs he wrote or popularized form the basis of “classic country” and have been recorded by thousands, ranging from Dwight Yoakam – “Always Late With Your Kisses” or Merle Haggard with “I Want To Be With You Always”. Willie Nelson recorded an entire album of Frizzell – 1977’s To Lefty From Willie and The Band’s remarkable reinvention of Frizzell’s 1959 hit “The Long Black Veil” on Music From Big Pink introduced many (including myself) to a previously unheard genre – one that Frizzell helped create.
22.11.2018
Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - amazon
The German-based label, Bear Family Records, is the preeminent reissue label in the whole world. When they issue a box set of r5ecordings by an artist and call it “The Complete Collection”, they mean it. And if additional items are located, or new info discovered, they correct that. And here is a case in point. In 1984 (yes the label is now 44 years old – though the ownership has changed from founder Richard Weize to Detlev Hoegen and Michael Ohlhoff) the label issued a compilation of country music legend Lefty Frizzell’s recordings on a 14-LP set. In 1992 (with CDs being the norm) they issued a 12-CD box set with a large format paperbound book of photos and notes. But in the 25 years since that last release the label and it’s researchers, not only found additional previously unreleased recordings and photos but decided to update the late Dr. Charles Wolfe’s essays with corrected info. Oh yes, they also remastered the CDs for better sound.
22.11.2018
Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - amazon
The German-based label, Bear Family Records, is the preeminent reissue label in the whole world. When they issue a box set of r5ecordings by an artist and call it “The Complete Collection”, they mean it. And if additional items are located, or new info discovered, they correct that. And here is a case in point. In 1984 (yes the label is now 44 years old – though the ownership has changed from founder Richard Weize to Detlev Hoegen and Michael Ohlhoff) the label issued a compilation of country music legend Lefty Frizzell’s recordings on a 14-LP set. In 1992 (with CDs being the norm) they issued a 12-CD box set with a large format paperbound book of photos and notes. But in the 25 years since that last release the label and it’s researchers, not only found additional previously unreleased recordings and photos but decided to update the late Dr. Charles Wolfe’s essays with corrected info. Oh yes, they also remastered the CDs for better sound.
22.11.2018
Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - allaboutjazz.com
To a singer of popular music, one song can make the difference. For country singer/songwriter Lefty Frizzell that song was "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time." The song was recorded on Frizzell's first session for Columbia Records on July 25, 1950, and was the second of four songs recorded that day, the other three were "I Love You A Thousand Ways," "Shine, Shave, Shower (It's Saturday)" and "Cold Feet." They were all Frizzell classics, but "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time" stood out.
21.11.2018
Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - EclipsedLEFTY FRIZZELL „An Article From Life — The Complete Recordings"(20CD-Boxset) (Bear Family)
Der Name Lefty Frizzell ist in Europa kaum geläufig, und auch in den USA war er lan-ge Jahre nur auf die Country-Szene be-schränkt. Laut landläufiger Geschichts-schreibung waren die großen Vorbilder des Genres Hank Williams, Merle Haggard und natürlich Johnny Cash. Nach seinem Tod wurde aber zunehmend erkennbarer, dass Frizzell, der mit bürgerlichen Namen Wil-liam Orville Frizzell hieß, besonders in der Gesangs-Stilistik Maßstäbe setzte, denn er dehnte bestimmte Vokale und zog all-gemein die für das Genre bedeutenden Lexeme. John Fogerty zählte zu seinen Fans wie auch Glen Campbell, der Coun-try-Outlaw Willie Nelson und sogar Roy Orbison („O0000nley the L0000nly"). Bear Family veröffentlichten schon 1984 ein Vinyl-Boxset mit Frizzells Musik, gefolgt von einer 12-CD-Auflage 1992 die nun deutlich aufgestockt und exquisit gemas-tert wurde. Insgesamt finden sich hier 361 Songs, darunter die großen Hits („Long Black Veil", „If You've Got The Money"), Material von 78ern, 45ern und natürlich den Alben, Live-Aufnahmen, Azetaten und Session-Aufnahmen — also nach bestem Wissen und Gewissen alles, was der Mann jemals einspielte. Bis auf wenige Ausnah-men (ältere Tracks) wurde das Material her-vorragend gemastert. Zusätzlich zu den 12 Musik-CDs begeistert auch das von Leftys Bruder David eingesprochene und manch-mal mit Musik unterlegte Hörbuch mit Lef-tys Lebensgeschichte auf acht CDs. Die Krönung ist dann sicherlich die 264-seiti-ge, gebundene Bio im LP-Format, bei der wirklich alle Fragen beantwortet werden. Bear-Family-Qualität eben!
07.11.2018
Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - Rolling Stone
William Orville Frizzell was a classic country contradiction: a teenage jailbird and chronic alcoholic who wrote thoroughly believable songs of heartbreak and redemption; a massive star in the early and mid-Fifties, in the wake of Hank Williams’ passing, who endured his own version of the latter’s downward spiral, bereft of hits in the Sixties and dead of a stroke in 1975, only 47. But even in free fall, Frizzell was a pivotal influence on singers across the country-rock divide, from George Jones and Willie Nelson to John Fogerty and Levon Helm, who covered Frizzell’s bleak 1959 masterpiece “Long Black Veil” to immortal effect 10 years later on the Band’s Music From Big Pink, with Rick Danko singing lead. At 20 CDs, An Article From Life is everything from Frizzell’s tumultuous life on record including 78’s, 45’s, LP cuts, outtakes, live material and an audio documentary by his younger brother David, also a country singer. “If you’ve got the money, I’ve got the time,” Lefty sang on his 1950 breakout hit. Both are well spent here.
02.01.2019
Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - mykindofcountry.
It wasn’t a great year for reissues but there were some bright spots. As always our British and European friends lead the way. Also, please note that these can take a while for foreign titles to become available from US suppliers, so it may be into 2019 before these are generally available.
In those cities that still have adequate recorded music stores (sadly, a rare commodity these days), it can be a real thrill finding a label you’ve not encountered before reissuing something you’ve spent decades seeking. It can be worthwhile to seek out the foreign affiliates of American labels for recordings that the American affiliate hasn’t reissued. For example, there are Capitol recordings not reissued in the US that are available on the UK or European EMI labels. For the rest of us, scanning the internet remains the best alternative.
Unfortunately as the sales of physical CDs continue to plummet, so does the willingness of labels, domestic and foreign, to invest in reissuing material by second and third tier artists. Still missing in action are the catalogues of such significant artists as Liz Anderson, Wilma Burgess, Johnny Darrell, Jack Greene, The Hager Twins, Freddie Hart, Warner Mack, Kenny Price and David Rogers. While there has been a slight uptick in vinyl sales and reissues, most of that has been of only the very top selling artists (and at $22 to $33 per title).
Anyway …
02.01.2019
Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - theseconddisc.com
The music of William Orville “Lefty” Frizzell (1928-1975), one of the most influential honky-tonk singers of all time, has long been a cornerstone of the Bear Family catalogue. The German reissue specialists first compiled the Frizzell oeuvre in 1984 as a 14-LP box set, updating that in 1992 on 12 CDs. Now, more than 25 years later, the Bears have returned to the country-and-western troubadour’s career for the most definitive chronicle ever. An Article from Life: The Complete Recordings has every one of Frizzell’s original recordings presented on 20 CDs in a package also including a comprehensive hardcover book.
Inspired by his hero, “the singing brakeman” Jimmie Rodgers, Lefty (so named for his left hook in a schoolyard fight, not a Golden Gloves match as legend has sometimes had it) had sensed by age twelve that his destiny was in song. In his earliest performing gigs, he began to broaden his repertoire to tunes by Ernest Tubb and Roy Acuff. Born in Texas and raised in Arkansas, the local talent made waves on radio in New Mexico. While his theme song was Ernest Tubb’s “I Ain’t Going Honky-Tonking Any More,” he not only kept honky-tonking, but made the country-and-western style his own. His burgeoning career was almost derailed in 1947 when he was found guilty of statutory rape. He served six-months in the Roswell, NM county jail, and while there wrote the words that would later be fashioned into one of his most memorable songs. “I Love You, I’ll Prove It a Thousand Ways” was addressed to his wife Alice, who was left behind with their daughter Lois while he served his time.
02.01.2019
Press Archive - Lefty Frizzell An Article From Life - The Complete Recordings - LA Times
Lefty Frizzell, “An Article From Life — The Complete Recordings” (Bear Family)
This massive 20-CD, $230 set weighs in at close to 20 pounds and, as the title indicates, pulls together all the recordings by one of the three or four most influential country singers ever. Frizzell’s fluid vocals opened up new vistas for country music that can be heard in subsequent artists from George Jones and Merle Haggard to Dolly Parton and Keith Whitley on through to Miranda Lambert. (R.L.)
02.01.2019
