Dave Edmunds: Various Greatest Hits Albums

Alright, I'm going to finish off the Dave Edmunds section with a look at two of his greatest hits albums...

Dave Edmunds: The Best of Dave Edmunds

1981

Swan Song Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: Deborah  2. Girls Talk  3. I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock & Roll)   4. A.1. On the Jukebox  5. The Race is On  6. Here Comes the Weekend  7. Almost Saturday Night  8. Queen of Hearts  9. Crawling From the Wreckage  10. Trouble Boys  11. Ju Ju Man  12. Singing the Blues  13. The Creature from the Black Lagoon


Let's say I was forced to toss out a few thousand records and narrow my collection down to one hundred or so.....What would end up in the trash bin (spoiler alert: the Peter Criss solo album and my extensive collection of "The Rapist Wit of  Bill Cosby" albums) and what would earn a spot in the golden crate?

One of my first picks for the golden crate would be "The Best of Dave Edmunds," which was my introduction to his work,  (via the FYE cheapola record bin) and it's seriously one of the most-played records in my collection...A greatest hits album that only covers what is hands down the best period for Dave Edmunds, the Swan Song years....

 When I blindly bought it, I knew of Daved Edmunds but I hadn't yet heard him...He was always mentioned in the same breath as Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe Joe Jackson and Graham Parker, so I was expecting something a little more acerbic and pub-punk... At first I was taken aback by the good-natured twanginess of it all, but good God, did "Girls Talk" floor me, so I put it on again and the next time around, "It's Almost Saturday Night" floored me, and the next time I played it "Crawling From the Wreckage" floored me, and so on and so forth...

I mean, yea...It would be great if they could have gone outside the Swan Song era and included "I Hear You Knocking"...And I would gladly replace "Singing the Blues" for "Never Been in Love," "It's Been So Long," or his take on "Heart of the City" but those are some minor-ass gripes...There's so much fun contained on these two sides, that it puts any other "Greatest Hits" packages to shame...If you're not planning on splurging on Dave's entire Swan Song discography, then get this...

Here's "Ju Ju Man" by Dave Edmunds...

Dave Edmunds: From Small Things: The Best of Dave Edmunds

2004

Legacy/Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock And Roll)  2. I Hear You Knocking  3. Born To Be With You  4. Let It Be Me  5. Crawling From The Wreckage  6.Almost Saturday Night  7. Warmed Over Kisses (Left Over Love)  8. From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)  9. Girls Talk (Live)  10. Information  11. Slipping Away  12. Something About You  13. Stay With Me Tonight  14. Ju Ju Man (Live)  15. Do You Wanna Dance  16. Run Rudolph Run



I'm glad this wasn't my introduction to Dave Edmunds...This is one of those weird Greatest Hits packages hampered by licensing issues...Apparently the Swan Song era (by FAR his best stuff) was mostly off limits and to compensate, the compilers rely on live takes, that while enjoyable, are no match for the studio originals (remember, Dave was a studio perfectionist)...

Ultimately, it makes Dave Edmunds career sound wildly inconsistent, which is oddly accurate in a big-picture sense, but betrays the fact that Dave had a very large run of ultra-consistent albums...So yea...Too much Phil Spector stuff, too much live stuff, too many 80's soundtrack cover songs...There's nothing bad on here at all, but if you're unfamiliar with Dave's work, you;ll probably walk away from this wondering, "What the hell kind of music does this guy do exactly?"

I think I originally bought this as a five dollar CD from Amazon...I needed an extra five bucks to get the free shipping, and I didn't feel like buying a 3 pack of Scotch Tape, so I went for this CD...

And it is nice to have some Dave Edmunds that I can listen to in my discman at work...And I personally appreciate all the soundtrack and rarity stuff, since I don't have any of it, but I just can't recommend it as anyone's first Dave Edmunds purchase... Again, it's not bad, it just doesn't leave the correct impression...

Here's "I Hear You Knocking" by Dave Edmunds...Enjoy...