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Like A Song: Craft Recordings Compiles "The Best of Ronnie Milsap" on CD

April 9, 2020 By Randy Fairman 8 Comments

Ronnie Milsap The Best Of

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

Craft Recordings has just announced a new collection celebrating country superstar Ronnie Milsap. Due out on May 29, The Best of Ronnie Milsap gathers up 12 of the artist's biggest hits from his first tenure at RCA. Craft's parent company, Concord Music, acquired the rights to 16 of Milsap's RCA albums from between 1977-2006 last year, and this is the first physical product to come from the acquisition (an expanded digital version of this compilation featuring 25 songs was released last June by Craft and is available now).

Born in 1943 in North Carolina with a congenital condition that rendered him nearly blind, Milsap was abandoned by his mother at age one. He was taken in by his grandparents who enrolled in a school for the blind. Tragically, he was the subject of physical abuse while there that left him completely blind. But the school did allow him the opportunity to study music which lead him on his path to stardom.

A talented multi-instrumentalist who was intuitively drawn to the piano, Milsap fell in love with R&B at a young age.  After recording some solo sides himself including a moderate hit with Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson and Joshie Jo Armstead's "Never Had It So Good," he moved to Memphis.  There, he became an in-demand session musician, even recording with Elvis as both a pianist and a singer.  A run-in with Charley Pride convinced him to move to Nashville where his country career got started in earnest at Roger Miller's King of the Road Hotel. By 1973, he was signed with RCA - a relationship which would last until 1991 and give Milsap 35 country chart-toppers. Craft's new collection rounds up 12 of the most popular and enduring songs from his classic period, including his three biggest crossover hits, 1977's "It Was Almost Like a Song" (No. 16 Pop), 1981's "(There's) No Gettin' Over Me" (No. 5 Pop) and 1982's "Any Day Now" (No. 14 Pop). All twelve tracks on the compilation are either a U.S. or Canadian No. 1 Country hit.

After leaving RCA, Milsap first moved to Liberty and then Capitol before going to a variety of labels. He even returned to RCA for 2006's My Life. His last album was last year's Duets on Riser House/G Force, on which he was joined by artists including Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Leon Russell. Milsap has been awarded 6 Grammys, 8 CMA awards and 3 Academy of Country Music Awards over the years, also receiving the CMA's Pioneer Award in 2002. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2014.

The Best of Ronnie Milsap has been remastered by Grammy Award-winning engineer Paul Blakemore. The liner notes have been written by our own Joe Marchese. We've got the tracklisting and pre-order links below if you would like to revisit some of Ronnie Milsap's greatest songs.  (The Amazon U.S. link isn't currently accepting orders, but we anticipate that will change shortly.  U.K. and Canadian links should also go live soon.)

Ronnie Milsap, The Best of Ronnie Milsap (Craft Recordings, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Craft Recordings Online Store)

  1. Smoky Mountain Rain
  2. I Wouldn't Have Missed It For The World
  3. (There's) No Gettin' Over Me
  4. Stranger In My House
  5. Any Day Now
  6. Lost In The Fifties Tonight (In The Still Of The Night)
  7. It Was Almost Like A Song
  8. Don't You Know How Much I Love You
  9. A Woman In Love
  10. He Got You
  11. What A Difference You've Made In My Life
  12. Show Her

Track 1 from Greatest Hits, RCA Victor LP AHL1-3772, 1980
Tracks 2-3 from There's No Gettin' Over Me, RCA Victor LP AHL1-4060, 1981
Tracks 4, 8, 12 from Keyed Up, RCA CD PCD14670, 1983
Tracks 5, 10 from Inside, RCA LP AHL1-4311, 1982
Track 6 from Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, RCA CD PCD1-5425, 1985
Tracks 7, 11 from It Was Almost Like A Song, RCA LP AHL1-2439, 1977
Track 9 from Stranger Things Have Happened, RCA Victor CD 9588-1-R, 1989

Categories: News Formats: CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming Genre: Country, Pop Tags: Ronnie Milsap

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Randy Fairman

Entertainment historian and writer Randy Fairman is a graduate of Northwestern University. Randy has written for publications including University Reporter Chicago and co-authored the graphic novel Love Bytes. A native of Indiana, he currently resides in New Jersey.

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Comments

  1. Johnathan says

    April 9, 2020 at 4:06 pm

    I know not all of the 25 songs from the digital compilation would fit into a single disc, but they certainly could have included more than the 12 that made it to the physical release!

    Reply
    • Bill says

      April 10, 2020 at 12:26 pm

      Exactly. Wasted opportunity.

      Reply
  2. Zubb says

    April 9, 2020 at 4:45 pm

    Yeah, just more rehash. Nothing here to entice me to buy. I just hope when they get around to reissuing Ronnie's 1979 album Images, they will include the 12 inch mix of his stellar funk recording of "Get It Up" as a bonus track.

    Reply
  3. FRANCES SUMNER says

    April 10, 2020 at 3:51 pm

    LOVE RONNIE MILSAP AND HIS WONDERFUL MUSIC AND HIS BEAUTIFUL VOICE. HAVE BEEN A HUGE FAN OF HIS SINCE HE FIRST STARTED. HAVE ALL HIS CDS AND HAVE TO HAVE ONE LISTENING TO HIM SING. AM EXCITED ABOUT THIS TWELVE DISC SONGS COMING IN MAY. I'LL HAVE TO PUCHASE IT. IT WILL BE AWESOME. I GO SEE HIM EVERY TIME HE COMES TO MY AREA.

    Reply
  4. Rick Bartlett says

    April 13, 2020 at 12:45 pm

    Thanks to Craft Recordings, this looks to be a nice collection of Milsap's songs. I see this CD being geared more toward casual listeners who won't be buying every Milsap album on CD or any multi disc boxed sets.

    Reply
  5. SC says

    April 14, 2020 at 2:30 pm

    Another compilation from Ronnie...yawn. It's a nice reminder of his great music and phenomenal voice, but it has already been done umpteen times.

    If there must be another compilation released by Ronnie, why not a package of all his charted country hits that didn't reach # 1:
    * I Hate You
    * That Girl Who Waits On Tables
    * In No Time At All
    * Prisoner Of The Highway
    * Old Folks
    * Button Off My Shirt
    * Houston Solution
    * Are You Lovin' Me Like I'm Lovin' You
    * Turn That Radio On
    * All Is Fair In Love And War
    * LA To The Moon
    * True Believer
    * Time, Love And Money
    * Local Girls

    ...and you can toss in the charted B-sides as well:
    * (All Together Now) Let's Fall Apart
    * Santa Barbara
    * Silent Night (After The Fight)
    * Carolina Dreams
    * Misery Loves Company
    * Get It Up

    Reply
  6. C Clough says

    May 29, 2020 at 12:11 pm

    Really? A 12-song "Best Of" CD from an classic artist as legendary as Mr. Milsap is an insult.

    Reply
    • Avatar photoJoe Marchese says

      May 29, 2020 at 12:45 pm

      As of this writing, the CD is selling for five bucks on Amazon. Full disclosure - I’m biased - but I think it’s a great way to introduce people to Ronnie’s timeless music in a compact, budget-priced package reminiscent of a classic “greatest hits” LP. Hopefully it will inspire people to seek out more from his rich discography.

      Reply

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