Wild And Wooley,Big Unruly Me

Sheb Wooley is best known to American novelty song fans as the cat who recorded "Purple People Eater" in 1958, a number one smash, and "That's My Pa" from 1962. Still others know him as the character Pete Nolan in the TV show Rawhide, or Ben Wilson in the film High Noon. But only collectors know about the astonishingly varied career Wooley created between roughly the end of 1956 and 1971. This is the second volume of his work issued by Bear Family. The first, Purple People Eater, concentrated mostly on hits and all of the novelty songs that scored in an even minor way. Wild and Wooley, Big Unruly Me fixes its sites on the more obscure recordings, a couple minor hits, and rare unissued tracks and B-sides from 1957-1970. Few tracks on either set concentrate on Wooley's voluminous country music catalog, which is now the subject of a BF four-CD box set. Here is the near doo wop "Recipe for Love" juxtaposed against the rockabilly/calypso (?) mishmash that is "I'm Too Young." But there's also the wacky "Sweet Chile," which is part Cajun, part Bo Diddley, and part Pat Boone! There's an absolutely dreadful rendition of "'Til The End of the World," which was a hit for Jim Reeves, and a knockout rock & roll tune called "Mississippi Twist" that went unreleased until this volume appeared. Ultimately there are a few of the nuttier novelty numbers here, such as "Buba Hoo, Baba Dee," the title track in a different version than the one that appears on Purple People Eater, "One of Them Roarin' Songs," and "Little Bitty Bilbo Abernathy." The only thing the tracks seem to share is the warm baritone Wooley effortlessly displayed in his younger years -- that and his restlessness for any kind of song. Highly recommended as one of pop & roll's true oddities. ~ Thom Jurek