Although she began in the field of traditional pop, Patti Page is oft ignored for her vital contributions to the world of country music. She was regularly influenced by the style, and by the time rock ‘n’ roll took over the mainstream charts in the late 50s and early 60s, Patti had moved from her pop fame (which allowed her a good ten years of commercial success, making her the best-selling female artist of the 1950s) to make music that could wholly be identified as country. Her back catalogue is extensive (in fact, she released six albums in 1954 alone) and is full of classics such as ‘Tennessee Waltz’, ‘(How Much Is That) Doggie In The Window’, ‘All My Love (Bolero)’, ‘I Went To Your Wedding’ and many more. Although her sales began to wane heading into the 1960s and 1970s, she continued to release a plethora of albums and singles, with her final original recordings surfacing in the early 1980s. She was posthumously given a lifetime achievement award by the Grammys in 2013, and had continued to tour regularly up until 2012 when she retired for health reasons (she died on New Years’ Day 2013, mysteriously exactly sixty years since Hank Williams did). By all accounts, she is a pop and country music legend.
So it seems appropriate, therefore, that the many compilations of her best material over the years would be trumped by 2015’s ‘Patti Page Sings Country Memories: The Definitive Collection’. Spread over two discs with a total of fifty tracks, it covers a huge breadth of fan favorites, including her first million seller ‘With My Eyes Wide Open I’m Dreaming’ and famous covers such as Johnny Cash’s ‘I Walk The Line’ and Patsy Cline’s ‘I Fall To Pieces’. The tracklisting opts not to run in chronological order of recording, meaning that we’re not tied to focusing on the musical progression, but rather able to lose ourselves in a wash of traditional country and pop standards. Patti’s vocals sound as on form as if the whole collection was recorded in one bunch of sessions (not over the course of a couple of decades), and though we note the comparative age of songs like ‘I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine’ in terms of style and production, they all sound remarkably clean and fresh enough to be modern recordings appropriating an older sound. It’s really quite an impressive feat considering the way that master recordings can be known to deteriorate over time (particularly if they’re not kept properly, which can happen with changes of labels and copyright holders), so whatever work the team behind this double album have done to restore the recordings is very impressive.
It’s true, fifty songs are quite a lot to take in. Having said that, with much of the tracks ranging between two and three minutes in length (due to recording constraints of the time), and such lush arrangements and melodies, it flows quite efficiently and enjoyably with a nice mix of ballads and more upbeat offerings. Prior to listening to this album I wasn’t particularly familiar with Patti’s work (nor her importance in the canon of American popular music), but I could tell very quickly that she was an extremely talented vocalist and had a knack for cutting catchy, well-written songs that have the timeless quality so many of today’s releases yearn for. The songs on this record, whether originally made famous by Patti or another artist (‘Big Bad John’, ‘Please Help I’m Falling’, ‘Have I Told You Lately That I Love You’), are a snapshot of an incredibly seminal time in the US music industry and popular culture, and helped to shape the popular music we know today. With her simple, demure style and smooth vocals, Patti represents the beginnings of country pop crossover, and a lot of artists owe her their entire careers.
I highly recommend getting your hands on this collection, as no matter your musical affiliation it is a truly great listen that allows you a renewed appreciation for those who came before. Go back in time for an afternoon and bask in the glory of Patti Page.
