AMG Review of Voice of Johnny Horton

Stephen Cook
All Music Guide

Before making it big on Columbia during the latter half of the 1950s, Johnny Horton spent five years recording for smaller labels like Cormac, Abbott, Dot, and Briar. Horton fashioned himself as a honky tonk singer in the mold of Webb Pierce and Hank Williams (he would marry Williams' widow Billie Jean in 1953) and made a slew of solid rockabilly-flavored tracks throughout the '50s. More in the vein of his first Columbia smash "Honky Tonk Man" than later historically-minded hits like "The Battle of New Orleans" and "Johnny Reb," Horton's early sides are full of fiddles, pedal steel guitar, and shuffle beat drumming: music tailor made for tavern jukeboxes. For those curious about Horton's early material but unable to handle Bear Family's mammoth collection of the singer's pre-Columbia material, this fine yet somewhat skimpy highlights package will do the trick. Including minor hits like "Smokey Joe's Barbecue," the collection also takes in down-home humor a la Little Jimmy Dickens ("Old Gobbler" and "Barefoot Boy Blues") and songs like "Banks of the Nile," which would presage Horton's later predilection for geographical subject matter. A fine sampling of Horton's early sides.