Red Sovine, who died in 1980, had considerable musical horsepower long before his Starday trucker recitations “Phantom 309”, “Giddy-Up-Go” and “Teddy Bear”. He recorded beefy honky-tonk at MGM (1950-53) and Decca (1954-59). He became typecast as a recitation specialist during his Decca years with his 1956 “If Jesus Came To Your House” and his faux-Italian monologue on “Little Rosa”, a duet with Webb Pierce.
Sovine arrived at Starday in 1960, a time when it was a niche label for unrepentant raw country; labelmates included Cowboy Copas, Johnny Bond, the Willis Brothers and Minnie Pearl. Honky Tonks, Truckers & Tears, another of the British Ace label’s reissues from the Starday catalogue, endeavors to intelligently survey Sovine’s 1960-71 and 1975-80 Starday-Gusto stints. While beautifully produced by Tony Rounce, with informative notes, the music reflects a decidedly mixed bag.
While non-trucker hits “I Didn’t Jump The Fence”, “I Know You’re Married” and “Class Of ’49” wear well, Sovine’s trucker records placed him alongside Dave Dudley and Dick Curless as a master purveyor of that idiom. His jaunty name-dropping of fellow stars on “Freightliner Fever” remains entertaining (if dated). While the set includes three non-hits, a pair of trucker gems that merited inclusion, the witty “Hitch Hiking Girl” and “Gear Jammer And The Hobo” (a duet with Johnny Bond) aren’t here.
His three biggest trucker hits were recitations, an acquired taste under the best circumstances. “Phantom 309” retains its supernatural appeal; 1965’s “Giddy-Up-Go” projects warmth and sentimentality. Sovine’s biggest single, however, was 1976’s bathos-ridden “Teddy Bear”, a tear-jerking tale of truckers, CB radios and…a crippled kid. While it captivated country record buyers, its mawkishness earned scorn from critics such as Nick Tosches, whose caustic Country Music magazine review of the Teddy Bear album sparked a swell of hate mail.
Beyond that, the overall programming here doesn’t serve Sovine’s legacy terribly well. Since most of his charted Starday and Gusto singles peaked between the 50s and the high 90s, they’re of minimal merit, one exception being a surprisingly effective cover of Eric Clapton’s 1978 rock hit “Lay Down Sally” (#70). And did we really need an awful remake of “Little Rosa”? Difficult as it is to second-guess subjective repertoire choices on reissues, it might have been more prudent to create a career-spanning CD with all the best work from all labels represented. A gifted, albeit second-string legend like Sovine merits being chronicled by material that’s powerful, not peripheral.