Mr. Walker, It's All Over/Just Singin'

Spears' 1969 album Mr. Walker, It's All Over and her 1972 effort Just Singin' are combined onto one CD on this two-fer. It makes for a good package of some of her Capitol material, although the pairing's not entirely logical since the records were originally released three years apart, with other Spears LPs appearing in the interim. The title track of Mr. Walker, It's All Over was a big country hit, and guaranteed a big audience in the small towns that formed much of the backbone of the country listenership with its sassy put down of the New York lifestyle. The rest of that LP was by no means filler. It was quite a strong set of material, hewing to the gutsier side of late-'60s country-pop, with Spears proving herself as one of the tougher, harder-edged, commercial country singers of the era. Merle Haggard, Jack Rhodes, Dallas Frazier, and Ed Bruce were among the top country songwriters covered, and some of the songs, like "The Price I Pay to Stay," bristled with a lively assertive defiance. She was also a good interpreter of more sensitive material and laments, like on "Tips and Tables," though the spunky tunes were what stood out. It takes some real courage to cover "Stand By Your Man," so ingrained is Tammy Wynette's version on the public consciousness, but Spears did manage to make it her own; if you're bold enough to tackle it at all, you might as well belt out the chorus for all it's worth, which she certainly did with ear-tingling stridency here. Also surprisingly good was her cover of Johnny Nash's "Hold Me Tight," which convincingly makes his soul-pop-reggae hit over into an up-tempo, wistful, Latin-tinged country cut. Just Singin', however, perhaps relied too heavily on covers of big country hits -- "Snowbird," "Apartment #9," "For the Good Times," and "Help Me Make It Through the Night," along with the much older "I Love You Because" -- to make the kind of more individual impact this richly talented vocalist deserved. It was still a respectable set, though without standout songs tailored to the best of her strengths. She made a good honky tonk rabble-rouser out of Faron Young's "Goin' Steady," and her version of "Snowbird" absolutely eats the more famous Anne Murray hit for breakfast, helped by a fine, buoyant arrangement with gliding steel guitar. ~ Richie Unterberger|