AMG Review of Sweet Dreams: The Four Star Recordings 1955-1960

Jason Birchmeier
All Music Guide

The 23 Patsy Cline songs compiled on Sweet Dreams: The Four Star Recordings 1955-1960 predate her success with producer Owen Bradley on Decca Records. In fact, most people will only be familiar with one song on this compilation, "Walkin' After Midnight," for none of the others registered as a hit. Nonetheless, Cline was a gifted singer and there are some compelling performances here, some of which border on rockabilly and gospel. On the other hand, there is a number of dull songs here that not even Cline can liven up, and the sound quality of these recordings for Four Star Records is really poor. There has been an endless stream of Patsy Cline compilations released over the years, and there's little about Sweet Dreams: The Four Star Recordings 1955-1960 to differentiate it from the others that present these same early recordings. One of these compilations will be all a collector will need, whereas casual listeners are advised to steer clear of any collection comprised of recordings predating her years at Decca, some of which are deceptively packaged (like Sweet Dreams, which doesn't include the song "Sweet Dreams," one of her best-known hits).