Ronnie Milsap – The Essential Ronnie Milsap
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been unfair to Ronnie Milsap. I’ve dismissed him as just a second-rate country-pop singer, and a cheesy one at that — and this from someone who’s been known to like quite a lot of cheesy, second-rate country-pop.
This two-disc, 40-track collection has me reassessing my dismissal. I still think Milsap is second-rate, but I’ve thought more about what that means. For one thing, to be a second-rate country singer in, say, 1973, when Milsap scored his first top-10 hit, the Dan Penn-penned “I Hate You”, or in 1982, when his version of “Any Day Now” crossed over to pop, was to be second-rate while country radio was still regularly highlighting such first-rate singers as George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Gene Watson.
Milsap had his Watson-ish moments, too; early on in his chart career, he’d not infrequently go for those closing crescendos, a la “Farewell Party”. Milsap’s most obvious role model, though, is actually another first-rate country contemporary, Charlie Rich. Now, Milsap never sang or played a note that was as emotionally present as Rich could be. Still, his R&B-inspired phrasing, choice of material, and piano-centric arrangements are nearly always in the style of the Silver Fox.
That is, Milsap was a country-soul singer. In fact, in 1965, he scored a major R&B hit (“Never Had It So Good”), and later he worked sessions in Memphis, adding piano and harmonies to Elvis’ “Kentucky Rain”.
Then, stardom. Indeed, through the ’70s and deep into the ’80s, Milsap, who was born blind in 1943, was as big as a country star could be. During a nearly two-decade stretch, he scored 35 #1 singles, plus nine more top-5s. As recently as 1991, Milsap remained a major radio presence, but then Hot New Country arrived.
But while the hits lasted… “Day Dreams About Night Things” is, sonically and thematically, close kin to Charley Pride’s “Kiss An Angel Good Morning”. “(I’m A) Stand By My Woman Man” is a fine adjunct to Tammy Wynette’s masterpiece. “Stranger In My House” is a ghost story disguised as a cheating song (or vice versa), and its cool yet dramatic production polish renders it all the spookier.
“The Woman Who Waits On Tables” sounds like a lost Conway Twitty track, and 1974’s “Pure Love” (“Milk ‘n’ honey and Cap’n Crunch and you in the morning”) just might be the catchiest record of its era. And there’s all those swell covers, too — “(I’d Be) A Legend In My Time”, “Don’t You Ever Get Tired (Of Hurting Me)” — as well as lots of strong songs by the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Bob McDill, and Mike Reid.
True, things become dicier the further into the ’80s this set travels — two discs of Milsap hits is nearly one too many — but even at its schlockiest, The Essential argues that second-rate can be pretty damn good after all. Or, put another way, if Milsap’s a second rate-country singer, what does that make Big & Rich?