Billy Brown is an unknown name, but
Did We Have a Party, his installment in
Bear Family's ongoing Honky Tonk Heroes series, proves that he deserved a better fate. Perhaps this 2012 compilation will give him the credit he deserves. The biggest feather in
Brown's cap is that he recorded the original version of "He'll Have to Go," a country standard popularized by
Jim Reeves, but that shouldn't suggest that
Billy Brown was merely a countrypolitan crooner. Certainly, he had a smooth, easy touch, sliding into ballads with nary a ruffle, sounding similar to his idol
Eddy Arnold, but he could also tear it up, as the relentless opening rocker "Flip Out" amply illustrates. "Flip Out" and a handful of similarly minded rockers like "Did We Have a Party" show that unlike some country singers,
Brown was ready to jump on
Elvis Presley's coattails -- a move that produced some great singles if no hits. Chart success always eluded
Brown but it surely wasn't for lack of trying, either from him or his label
Columbia, who gave him many bites at the apple. That all ended once
Brown discovered
Reeves cut "He'll Have to Go," thereby undercutting
Brown's version, a situation he put entirely at the label's feet. They parted ways afterward and
Brown wound up on
Republic, where he abandoned the rollicking rock & roll of his latter-day
Columbia sides in favor of a smooth touch not so dissimilar from
Reeves, but he did a bit of
Elvis/
Charlie Rich-styled boogie on "Lost Weekend," another failed single, and he then turned to religion for a number of years before surfacing at the end of the '60s on
Challenge Records, recording some modern-sounding country with a slight pop tint. He kept going throughout the '70s, but
Did We Have a Party stops there, offering his '50s and '60s prime, the sides that show the range of his talent. The non-chronological sequencing of
Did We Have a Party does suggest he backslid from rockabilly into crooning, but this makes for a more dynamic listen, pulling listeners in with his immediate rock & roll then opening up to the cheerful cowboy shuffles of "Tight Wad," barroom weepers of "Drunk, Drunk Again," and occasional incident of bandwagon hopping ("Echo Mountain," a rewrite of "Wolverton Mountain." According to
Martin Hawkins' excellent liner notes,
Brown suffered from drink and temper, afflictions that derailed his career, but judged strictly on music as he is here, he is a country singer with range, depth, and a pretty impressive, albeit largely unheard, body of work. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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