B.J. Thomas - Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 [Scepter]

All Music Guide

This Greatest Hits collection was compiled only three years into a career that was to span decades. As a result, it doesn't provide much of a retrospective of B.J. Thomas' career, and it was released just a bit too early to include his signature song, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," which was released the same year. But it does a nice job of encapsulating his first three records, Tomorrow Never Comes, I'm So Lonely I Could Cry, and On My Way. Those albums, recorded between 1966-68, consisted of pop standards rendered in Thomas' resonant Texas baritone and backed by strings, piano, and guitar. A few of the songs on the record were made famous by Thomas, such as the catchy Mark Charron songs "Billy and Sue," "Mama," "Bring Back the Time," and "Plain Jane," but most had already been recorded before Thomas came along. There are two old Elvis Presley tunes, "Love Me Tender" and "Crying in the Chapel," as well as two by Hank Williams: "I Can't Help It If I'm Still in Love With You" and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," which was Thomas' first big hit. The record, with its straightlaced lyrics and guy-next-door photos, projects a wholesome image that could as easily have been marketed in 1959 as 1969.

- Evan Cater, All Music Guide