I'm Movin' On

Since European copyright law releases into the public domain all recordings more than 50 years old and this compilation was assembled in 2002, the makers of Hank Snow's I'm Movin' On [Prism] were able to include, without charge to themselves, tracks released on RCA Victor Records by Hank Snow prior to 1953. Although Snow began recording in 1936, he didn't start having hits in the U.S. until the winter of 1949-50, so the collection begins with a bunch of those early favorites including, of course, the title track, as well as the additional Number One country hits "The Golden Rocket" and "The Rhumba Boogie," and the Top Five "(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I," which came right at the end of 1952. Actually, more of the early-'50s hits could have been included, but such major songs as "Down the Trail of Achin' Hearts" and "The Gold Rush Is Over" are missing. After the first ten tracks, which are all 1949-52 chart singles or their B-sides, the remaining 16 selections are forgotten numbers that range between 1938 and 1950. On the earliest ones, Snow's initial affection for Jimmie Rodgers is easy to discern; in fact, he sometimes sounds like he's deliberately doing a fairly good impersonation of Rodgers. It's hard to recommend a random collection like this one, constructed to take advantage of copyright law with little other rhyme or reason to the selections. But it does contain some of Snow's early hits and some of his very early curiosities, and it is inexpensive. ~ William Ruhlmann|