3-CD Digipak (6-plated) with 104-page booklet, 104 tracks. Playing time approx. 231 mns

Eddie Noack ... wanted to be a journalist. But we have enough journalists, and not enough people who could sing and write like Eddie Noack.' - Bob Dylan, 2007.
Fans of hard-core honky tonk, hillbilly, and rockabilly have requested this set for years! It took us THAT long to get it right.
Contains every 1950s single by Texas honky tonk legend Eddie Noack, including alternate takes, from the master tapes where they still exist.
Contains 27 demos, false-starts, and original session chatter, most issued for the first time, plus many other songs never available on CD.
Includes a wealth of vintage photographs and clippings, newly researched biography, and complete discography.

Many lifelong country singers who had made a rockabilly single or two during its brief commercial reign were only too happy to later accept this rebranding if it translated to a critical acclaim or recognition they had otherwise never experienced. Eddie Noack forcefully resisted the temptation. 'No, I'm pure country,' he insisted. He wrote the honky tonk anthem Too Hot To Handle, Hank Snow's hit These Hands, and many more songs that endeared him to Dylan and lovers of unadulterated Texas honky tonk music.

The first of two retrospectives devoted to the music of Noack, 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' spans the early recordings, 1948 to 1961. Collecting all of his 1950s singles, plus 13 unissued masters and alternate takes, along with 27 acoustic demos, it gives the fullest overview yet of the most vital years of Noack's career. Only one of these records, 1958s 'Have Blues - Will Travel', was a hit for Noack himself, and most people never heard these records when they were current. When he died in 1978, it was as 'songwriter' Eddie Noack rather than singer-songwriter. This collection corrects this, and redefines the artist as he should have been known in life, and wanted to be known to posterity - not simply as a 'songwriter,' but as a defender of 'pure country' music.

Track Listing

• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
• Triflin' Mama Blues
• Pyramid Club
• Simulated Diamonds
• Hungry But Happy
• Raindrops In The River
• Frown On The Moon
• Unlucky Me
• Green Back Dollar
• Tragic Love
• I Can't Run Away
• I'd Still Want You
• Music Makin' Mama From Memphis
• Please Mr. Postman
• There's A Place In My Heart
• I'm Going To See My Baby
• Too Hot To Handle
• How Does It Feel To Be A Winner
• Nothing
• First And Last Thing
• (As The Band Played) Paul Jones
• Pride
• Spoken message to Don Pierce
• Don't Worry 'Bout Me Baby
• As Long As You Call
• Forlorn, Forgotten, and Forsaken
• Walking The Street
• Moonlight On The Water
• Fair Today, Cold Tomorrow
• Take It Away Lucky
• Don't Trade
• Left Over Lovin'
• I'll Be So Good To You
• Think Of Her Now
• Wind Me Up
• If It Ain't On The Menu
• Me And My New Baby
• The Life You've Lived
• You Done Got Me
• If Hearts Could Talk
• When The Bright Lights Grow Dim
• It Ain't Much But It's Home
• For You I Weep
• The Worm Has Turned
• She Can't Stand The Light of Day
• Scarecrow
• Dust On The River
• What's The Matter Joe
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes [alt]
• For You I Weep [alt]
• Can You Answer To God
• Lucky In Cards
• Mister Nice Guy
• Six Feet Down
• Relief Is Just A Swallow Away
• Are You Really Here
• It's Hard To Tell An Old Love Goodbye
• That Certain You Know What
• Can't Play Hookey
• My Steady Dream
• Wonderin' Oakie
• Have Blues -- Will Travel
• The Price Of Love
• Love's Other Face
• I Don't Live There Any More
• Walk 'Em Off
• The Man On The Wall
• Shake Hands With The Blues (1)
• A Million Friends But No Sweetheart
• Don't Look Behind
• A Thinkin' Man's Woman (A Lovin' Man's Girl)
• Shake Hands With The Blues (2)
• Sunflower Song
• Too Weak To Go
• Firewater Luke
• The Price Of Love [alt]
• The Same Old Mistakes
• Invisible Stripes
• So Funny I Could Cry
• Shotgun House
• I Slipped Out Of Heaven
• Where Do You Go (When You Say Goodnight)
• Love Is For Fools
• I Speak Your Name
• You've Got A Woman

Additional Details

Label: Bear Family Records

Genre: Country

Run Time: 231 mins

Release Date: 11/02/12

UPC: 4000127171429