Essential

It is difficult to categorise Earl's musical style. Some of his songs sound more traditional than others, but they are all of a remarkably high quality. Earl sings mostly love ballads, sometimes sad and sometimes philosophical. He never seems to get really excited, so you won't find any up-tempo rockers here. He wrote most of his own songs and I wonder if he found true happiness in love because his songs seem to suggest not.

Earl smoked heavily, which gave his voice a distinctive quality but ultimately took its toll and he had to quit the music business for a while. Before doing so, had about thirty hits on the country chart, of which twenty are to be found here. Seventeen of these tracks were number one hits, the exceptions being Heavenly bodies, I have loved you girl but not like this before and the duet with Keith Whitley, Brotherly love. The only missing number one hit is We believe in happy endings, a duet with Emmylou Harris.

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When I think back to the eighties in country music, the only male vocalist that comes to mind as being the best 'artist' is Earl Thomas Conley. I was new to country music when I bought my first ETC tape back in the 80's and I've been a huge fan of his ever since. This guy is so unique; whether describing his vocals or describing his first-rate song writing. He should be given some kind of honorary award for his most important and significant contributions to country music. While I was disappointed that this collection didn't include "Too Many Times", a duet with Anita Poynter, it is a fantastic selection of material from one of the best artists that country music has ever seen.

Earl Thomas Conley has to rank in my top 3 favorite C/W artists of all time. This cd is hardly ever taken out of the player in my vehicle. Every song on this CD is a hit that you can listen to over and over. I have had the pleasure of playing golf with Earl a couple of times over the past two years and this man is as common as the cold. You would never know he was a superstar. I have a feeling that the info in the last review may be a little off, the part about Earl never returning to the country music spotlight. Stick around, trust me, Earl has not lost his singing voice and he will be back, soon. Earl is the man.