The 23
Patsy Cline
songs compiled on
Walking and Dreaming
predate her success with producer
Owen Bradley
on
Decca Records
. In fact, most people will only be familiar with one song on this compilation,
"Walkin' After Midnight,"
for none of the others registered as a hit. Nonetheless,
Cline
was a gifted singer and there are some compelling performances here, some of which border on
rockabilly
and
gospel
. On the other hand, there is a number of dull songs here that not even
can liven up, and the sound quality of these recordings for
Four Star Records
is really poor. There has been an endless stream of
compilations released over the years, and there's little about
to differentiate it from the others that present these same early recordings. One of these compilations will be all a collector will need, whereas casual listeners are advised to steer clear of any collection comprised of recordings predating her years at
Decca
, some of which are deceptively packaged. ~ Jason Birchmeier