Eddy Arnold - Cattle Call & Thereby Hangs a Tale (1990)

This CD is made up of two similarly conceived albums that were among the finest LPs Arnold ever cut, when he was in the midst of the extended peak of his career. Cattle Call was an apparent attempt (and almost wholly successful one) to tap into the revival of interest in Western songs fostered by Marty Robbins and Johnny Cash at Columbia. In addition to Arnold's re-recording (his fourth version in less than 20 years) of the title tune, in a spare but polished rendition, he also does an excellent job with Bob Nolan's "Cool Water" and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," the traditional "Carry Me Back to the Lone Prairie," and pieces like the singing-cowboy anthem "Leaning on the Old Top Rail." Grady Martin is the lead guitarist on these sessions, which were produced by Chet Atkins and have a clean, lean sound, not overproduced and all rather similar to the sound that Robbins got on his records. What is lacking is the tone of urgency and involvement that Robbins brought to this same material. Thereby Hangs a Tale grew out of the folk music boom and Arnold's successful 1959 single of Jimmie Driftwood's "Tennessee Stud." The Anita Kerr Singers turn up here and there, but are used in a fairly restrained manner. The stereo separation is extremely crisp and the instrumental textures are vivid throughout. Jimmie Driftwood's original notes on Thereby Hangs a Tale have been replaced by new notes, focusing more on the songs themselves. Chet Atkins produced both albums, but only played on Tale.