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 Music, 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 Records, 1990)
Ronnie McDowell "Greatest Hits" (Curb Records, 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 Records, 1977) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "I Love You, I Love You, I Love You" (Scorpion Records, 1978) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Live At The Fox" (Scorpion Records, 1978) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "A Tribute To The King (Elvis) In Memory" (Scorpion Records, 1978) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Elvis" (Dick Clark Records, 1979) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Rockin' You Easy, Lovin' You Slow" (Epic Records, 1979) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Love So Many Ways" (Epic Records, 1980) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Going, Going, Gone" (Epic Records, 1980) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Good Time Lovin' Man" (Epic Records, 1981) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Love To Burn" (Epic Records, 1982) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Personally" (Epic Records, 1983) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Country Boy's Heart" (Epic Records, 1983) (LP)
Ronnie McDowell "Willing" (Epic Records, 1984)
Ronnie McDowell "In A New York Minute" (Epic Records, 1985)
Ronnie McDowell "All Tied Up In Love" (Curb/MCA Records, 1986)
Ronnie McDowell "I'm Still Missing You" (Curb Records, 1988)
Ronnie McDowell "American Music" (Curb Records, 1989)
Ronnie McDowell "Unchained Melody" (Curb Records, 1991)
Ronnie McDowell "Your Precious Love" (Curb Records, 1991)
Ronnie McDowell "When A Man Loves A Woman" (Curb Records, 1992)
Ronnie McDowell "Country Dances" (Curb Records, 1993)
Ronnie McDowell "Great Gospel Songs" (Curb Records, 1996)
Ronnie McDowell "Elvis: A Tribute To The King" (Intersound Records, 1997)
Ronnie McDowell "Now And Again: The Best Of Ronnie McDowell" (Intersound Records, 1998)
Ronnie McDowell "Country" (Curb Records, 2002)
Ronnie McDowell "...With Bill Pinkney's Original Drifters" (Curb Records, 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 Records, 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. (Possibly the same set as the Intersound release from 1997...)
Ronnie McDowell "...At Church Street Station" (Acrobat Records, 2006)
Ronnie McDowell "Lost In Dirty Dancing" (Curb Records, 2009)
TMI, dude... TMI.
