Cherry Red's Morello imprint is opening up the honky-tonks.  The label has remembered late country legend Lefty Frizzell with an expanded three-for-one release drawn from Frizzell's mid-sixties recordings for Columbia Records (where his recording career began in 1950).  Saginaw, Michigan/The Sad Side of Love/Puttin' On + 16 Bonus Tracks offers a total of 51 tracks including three complete albums and a selection of singles spanning 1964-1971.

William Orville "Lefty" Frizzell (1928-1975) was inspired by Jimmie Rodgers, a.k.a. "The Singing Brakeman," to make his living in music.  His nickname was earned for his left hook - not for a Golden Gloves match, as the story went, but rather for a schoolyard fight.  Born in Texas and raised in Arkansas, Frizzell gained an early signature song with his rendition of Ernest Tubb's "I Ain't Going Honky-Tonkin' Any More."  But in fact, he never stopped honky-tonking.  After serving his time for an early brush with the law (unfortunately not his last), Lefty had a different kind of encounter with the Law - Don Law, that is.  The singer-songwriter was signed on June 15, 1950 to Columbia Records by Law, soon to become the label's nationwide country chief.  The London-born expatriate never lost interest in Lefty's career, and roughly a decade-and-a-half later, co-produced all three albums on Morello's collection.  Law's faith in Frizzell aided the singer/sometimes-songwriter in earning pop crossover hits, too.

1963's "Saginaw, Michigan," penned by Bill Anderson and Don Wayne, recaptured Lefty's magic for a new decade.  It gave him his first Country chart-topper in 13 years, crossed over to the Hot 100 Pop chart, and earned him a Grammy nomination.  The next year's Saginaw, Michigan album opens Morello's collection, supplementing the title track with compositions from Lefty ("What Good Did You Get (Out of Breaking My Heart)," "When It Rains the Blues," "Hello to Him," "Don't Let Her See Me Cry," and "Lonely Heart"), Merle Kilgore ("There's No Food in This House" and "James River," the latter co-written with June Carter), and other Nashville A-listers.

But Lefty wasn't able to capitalize upon the success of "Saginaw, Michigan," only releasing two more albums in the latter part of the 1960s.  Both of these are featured here.  1965's The Sad Side of Love added songs written or co-written by Harlan Howard ("She's Gone, Gone, Gone," "How Far Down Can I Go," and "Woman, Let Me Sing You a Song"), Mel Tillis ("Running Into Memories of You"), and Hank Cochran ("A Little Unfair") into the mix while Lefty supplied another four of his own works.  His final Columbia album, 1967's Puttin' On, featured a cover of Hank Mills and Dick Jennings' "Little Ole Wine Drinker Me" just as Dean Martin and Robert Mitchum were scoring hits with the song, as well as a rendition Billy Sherrill and Glenn Sutton's "Almost Persuaded," a major C&W hit for David Houston on Columbia's sister label Epic in 1966. Lefty only contributed one song, the Bruce Delaney co-write "I Couldn't See the Forest (For the Trees)."

Surprisingly, Columbia either failed or didn't even bother trying to convince him to record contemporary pop material favorable to country artists from songwriters like Jimmy Webb, Bob Dylan, John Hartford, or Lee Hazlewood.  Lefty avoided the pop-influenced countrypolitan style that was sweeping the C&W genre, perhaps to the detriment of his sales.  Though the label mandated Don Law's retirement in 1967, Lefty stayed on until 1972.  By that time, the parting of the ways had seemed inevitable.  While Lefty initially continued working with Don Law's co-producer Frank Jones, Columbia soon brought in others.  Younger, hitmaking producers like Larry Butler (the fiddle-heavy "Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboy" and plaintive "What Am I Gonna Do") and Glenn Sutton had tried to capture Frizzell's singular essence on record, but the results hadn't gelled completely.  All of the sides were in a squarely traditional vein, limiting their commercial prospects.  The artist decamped for ABC Records in 1972, beginning the final chapter of his career.  He died on July 19, 1975 at just 47 years old, the result of a lifetime of hard living.

Morello's collection has been mastered by Alan Wilson at Western Star Studios.  The packaging is typically sparse, with a two-page essay by Tony Byworth that fills the reader in on the basics of Frizzell's career and of this period.  Unfortunately, there's no discography included for the albums or the selected singles.  For those who would like to dig deeper into Lefty Frizzell's career, all of this material and more is available on Bear Family's 20-CD box An Article from Life: The Complete Recordings (2018).

Saginaw, Michigan/The Sad Side of Love/Puttin' On + 16 Bonus Tracks is available now from Cherry Red and Morello.

Lefty Frizzell, Saginaw, Michigan/The Sad Side of Love/Puttin' On + 16 Bonus Tracks (Cherry Red/Morello MRLL99D, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

Saginaw, Michigan (Columbia CS 8969, 1964)

1. Saginaw, Michigan
2. Stranger
3. What Good Did You Get (Out of Breaking My Heart)
4. There's No Food in This House
5. When It Rains the Blues
6. Hello to Him (Goodbye to Me)
7. James River
8. I'm Not the Man I'm Supposed to Be
9. Through the Eyes of a Fool
10. I Was Coming Home to You
11. Don't Let Her See Me Cry
12. Lonely Heart

The Sad Side of Love (Columbia CS 9186, 1965)

13. She's Gone, Gone, Gone
14. Running Into Memories of You
15. I Don't Trust You Anymore
16. Preparations to Be Blue
17. Stranger
18. Love Looks Good on you
19. Confused
20. It's Bad (When It's Thataway)
21. How Far Down Can I Do
22. I Can Tell
23. A Litte Unfair
24. Woman, Let Me Sing You a Song

CD 2

Puttin' On (Columbia CS 9572, 1967)

1. Little Old Wine Drinker Me
2. Get This Stranger Out of Me
3. You Gotta Be Puttin' Me On
4. Almost Persuaded
5. When the Rooster Leaves the Yard
6. Anything You Can Spare
7. A Prayer on Your Lips Is Like Freedom in Your Hands
8. You Don't Have to Be Present to Win
9. I Couldn't See the Forest (For the Trees)
10. Money Tree
11. Heart (Don't Love Her Anymore)

Bonus Tracks

12. The Rider (Columbia single 4-43051, 1964)
13. Make That One for the Road a Cup of Coffee (Columbia single 4-43169, 1964)
14. Mama (Columbia single 4-43590, 1966)
15. Writing on the Wall (Columbia single 4-43590, 1966)
16. Everything Keeps Coming Back (But You) (Columbia single 4-43747, 1966)
17. A Song from a Lonely Heart (Columbia single 4-44023, 1967)
18. When the Green Grass Grows Again (Columbia single 4-44563, 1968)
19. Wasted Way of Life (Columbia single 4-44692, 1968)
20. An Article from Life (Columbia single 4-44738, 1969)
21. Only Way to Fly (Columbia single 4-44738, 1969)
22. She Brought Love, Sweet Love (Columbia single 4-45145, 1970)
23. Watermelon Time in Georgia (Columbia single 4-45197, 1970)
24. Out of You (Columbia single 4-45197, 1970)
25. I Must Be Getting Over You (Columbia single 4-45310, 1971)
26. What Am I Gonna Do (Columbia single 4-45437, 1971)
27. Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboy (Columbia single 4-45437, 1971)