The Essential Floyd Cramer

This is the CD you will want to own if you treasure your old Floyd Cramer LPs of the 1960s. It's a terrific compilation of Cramer singles and LP cuts, many of which haven't been available on CD before. From Last Date to Java to Shrum, there's not a clinker in the bunch. One thing to note however, is that the version of Chattanooga Choo Choo on the CD is a different take from the original that appeared on the Magic Touch LP. It still sounds great though. If you like Floyd Cramer, buy this CD. And RCA, please give us volume two! P.S. The remastering is incredible.

The "Essential Floyd Cramer" is a mixed bag of instrumental country. FC's reputation as a top recording session pianist far exceeds his success on the charts. According to Billboard, this Samti, LA native had only 3 chart hits from 1960-1980. That statistic hides his obvious talent at the keyboard. I referred to the CD as a "mixed bag" because FC divides the 20 selections between mellow and upbeat. This reviewer strongly favored the former. These include his trademark "Last Date" plus "Stood Up", "The Young Years" and "Your Last Goodbye". For traditionalists there are 2 solid renditions of Hank: "Lovesick Blues' and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". The other half of the CD is upbeat, which I don't believe is FC's strong point: "What'd I Say", Corrine Corrina (!) and something called "Flip Flop and Bop" were in sharp contrast to the mellow sounds. Fans of instrumentals may consider this...Read more

I don't have 40 albums by FC like one reviewer; I bet you don't either. Obsession and single-gaitedness are not my virtues. I do believe that Floyd Cramer had a wider range of knowledge about music than the possessor of so much of his work; witness THIS package of tunes. I like FC music as much as, say, Michael Jackson's mother who was treated by her son to a private FC concert once. Besides "Last Date" and "On the Rebound", Floyd's version of "Java" preceded Al Hirt's version into the market. There are two Hank Williams, Sr. tunes, one from Texas Playboy Bob Wills, two from the (ahem) eclectic Ray Charles (three if you count "Georgia on My Mind", written and first performed by Hoagy Carmichael), and "Corinne, Corinna", a song associated with Ray Peterson of "Tell Laura I Love Her Fame" and blues shouter Big Joe Turner before that and even back to Bo Chatmon in the 1930s before that. (Oddly the same song is on Eric Clapton's "Blues" album as "Alberta, Alberta"; what does HE...Read more