Ronnie McDowell first made his mark with a 1977 hit, "The King Is Gone," a tribute to the late Elvis Presley which cracked the Top 20 and established McDowell as a country music star. What little I've heard of his work leads me to class him as a second-stringer, but who knows? Maybe I'll be change my mind someday when I gat a chance to hear more of his music... Your recommendations are welcome... In the meantime, here's a quick look at his work...
Ronnie McDowell "Older Women And Other Greatest Hits" (Sony, 1987)
There are only ten tracks on here, but at least they are the original chart singles, as opposed to the Curb collections below, which include re-recorded versions of other songs. Not included, alas, is McDowell's best-known song, "The King Is Gone," a tribute to Elvis Presley that was released almost immediately after Presley's death in 1977. McDowell's fans will want to track this disc down, although it would be nice if the Sony-BMG empire might make some fo these songs available again in some format or another...
Ronnie McDowell "The Best Of Ronnie McDowell" (Curb, 1990)
Ronnie McDowell "Greatest Hits" (Curb, 1994)
Rerecorded versions of his old '80s hits. Avoidable, although fans may want to pick it up since the original versions are comparatively hard to find.
Ronnie McDowell "The King Is Gone" (Scorpion, 1977) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "I Love You, I Love You, I Love You" (Scorpion, 1978) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Live At The Fox" (Scorpion, 1978) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "A Tribute To The King (Elvis) In Memory" (Scorpion, 1978)
Ronnie McDowell "Elvis" (Dick Clark, 1979) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Rockin' You Easy, Lovin' You Slow" (Epic, 1979) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Love So Many Ways" (Epic, 1980) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Going, Going, Gone" (Epic, 1980) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Good Time Lovin' Man" (Epic, 1981) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Love To Burn" (Epic, 1982) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Personally" (Epic, 1983) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Country Boy's Heart" (Epic, 1983) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Willing" (Epic, 1984) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "In A New York Minute" (Epic, 1985) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "All Tied Up In Love" (Curb/MCA, 1986)
Ronnie McDowell "I'm Still Missing You" (Curb, 1988)
Ronnie McDowell "American Music" (Curb, 1989)
Ronnie McDowell "Unchained Melody" (Curb, 1991)
Ronnie McDowell "Your Precious Love" (Curb, 1991)
Ronnie McDowell "When A Man Loves A Woman" (Curb, 1992)
Ronnie McDowell "Country Dances" (Curb, 1993)
Ronnie McDowell "Great Gospel Songs" (Curb, 1996)
Ronnie McDowell "Elvis: A Tribute To The King" (Intersound, 1997)
Ronnie McDowell "Now & Again: The Best Of Ronnie McDowell" (Intersound, 1998)
Ronnie McDowell "Country" (Curb, 2002)
Ronnie McDowell "...With Bill Pinkney's Original Drifters" (Curb, 2002)
An oldies set, with backup from a latter-day line-up of the old R&B group, The Drifters.
Ronnie McDowell "The King Is Gone" (Curb, 2004)
Yet another Elvis homage, this time recorded along with a crew of Elvis' old backing musicians, including DJ Fontana, Scotty Moore and an edition of The Jordanaires. (Is this the same set as the Intersound release from 1997?)
Ronnie McDowell "...At Church Street Station" (Acrobat, 2006)
Ronnie McDowell "Lost In Dirty Dancing" (Curb, 2009)
TMI, dude... TMI.
