Bob Luman - Let's Think About Luman: The Nashville Recordings And More 1959-1962 (2016)

Bob Luman's 'Let's Think About Living' was one of the wittiest and catchiest pop hits of 1960 - a chart marker all around the world and a record that should have set the singer up for a lengthy career at the top. Unfortunately for Bob he received his call up to the US Army just as the record was breaking and could not fully promote any of his excellent follow-ups due to being in the military for nearly two years.

Despite Uncle Sam's intervention Luman kept his career going and eventually became a successful country artist towards the other end of the decade. That's another story for another sales note however. Jasmine's new Luman anthology concentrates on the years 1959-62 and features every recording that he made during that time frame.

'Let's Think About Luman' collects the A and B-sides of 11 singles plus all the tracks from Bob's 1960 album that were not originally issued as 45s. All but four of the tracks were recorded in Nashville and feature accompaniment from the city's A-team of musicians - the same ones who played on hits by Elvis, Roy Orbison, Johnny Tillotson, Patsy Cline, the Everly Brothers and scores more.

As an artist affiliated with Acuff-Rose Music, Bob also had access to the work of some of the best local writers of the 50s and 60s, among them John D Loudermilk, Hank Williams, Don Gibson and the prolific husband and wife team of Boudleaux and Felice Bryant - all of whose work is featured here.

It was a shame for Bob that the Army got in the way of his plans for stardom, but the music he made and couldn't properly promote was never less than first rate, as this essential collection proves.