Honky Tonk Angel: All The Early Hits And More 1952-62 [2xCD] - Kitty Wells

The acknowledged Queen Of Country Music, Kitty Wells was the first solo female singer to top the U.S. Country charts, in 1952, with It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels. She went on to establish herself as Country's first female superstar, and in doing so she took down the barriers on behalf of all the female Country singers who came to prominence in her wake. 

Her piercing, penetrating voice ached with melancholy and during the 50s and 60s she was unstoppable, with an almost unbroken run of success. This compilation features the fifty-five hits that she racked up on the U.S. Country charts between 1952 and 1962, plus a further half-dozen singles. Several of these sides are surprisingly difficult to find elsewhere on CD, making this a most welcome release.

Disc 1

1. It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels
2. A Wedding Ring Ago
3. The Things I Might Have Been
4. Paying for That Back Street Affair
5. You Said You Could Do Without Me
6. I Don't Claim to Be An Angel
7. Hey Joe
8. Cheatin's a Sin
9. Release Me
10. One By One (With Red Foley)
11. I'm a Stranger in My Home (With Red Foley)
12. You're Not Easy to Forget
13. Thou Shalt Not Steal
14. As Long As I Live (With Red Foley)
15. Make Believe (Till We Can Make It Come True) (With Red Foley)
16. Makin' Believe
17. Whose Shoulder Will You Cry on
18. There's Poison in Your Heart
19. I'm in Love with You
20. I've Kissed You My Last Time
21. Lonely Side of Town
22. You and Me (With Red Foley)
23. How Far Is Heaven (With Carol Sue)
24. Goodbye Mr. Brown (With Roy Acuff)
25. Searching (For Someone Like You)
26. I'd Rather Stay Home
27. Repenting
28. Oh, So Many Years (With Webb Pierce)
29. Three Ways (To Love You)
30. (I'll Always Be Your) Fraulein

Disc 2

1. One Week Later (With Webb Pierce)
2. I Can't Stop Loving You
3. She's No Angel
4. Jealousy
5. I Can't Help Wondering
6. He's Lost His Love for Me
7. Touch and Go Heart
8. Mommy for a Day
9. All the Time
10. Your Wild Life's Gonna Get You Down
11. You'll Never Be Mine Again
12. Amigo's Guitar
13. Lonely Is a Word
14. Left to Right
15. Memory of Love
16. Carmel By the Sea
17. The Man I Used to Know
18. I Can't Tell My Heart That (With Roy Drusky)
19. The Other Cheek
20. Fickle Fun
21. Heartbreak U.S.A
22. There Must Be Another Way to Live
23. Day Into Night
24. Our Mansion Is a Prison Now
25. Unloved Unwanted
26. Au Revoir (Goodbye)
27. Will Your Lawyer Talk to God
28. The Big Let Down
29. We Missed You
30. Wicked World
31. Cold and Lonely (Is the Forecast for Tonight)