Meet Claude King was
Claude King's debut long-player, even though he had been recording for a variety of labels since 1947. As a new Columbia artist he had already made three big hits, all of which are included on this album. The biggest was the enormously successful story-song "Wolverton Mountain." "The Comancheros" was recorded for, but not used in, the film of the same name, and "Big River, Big Man" was the third in
King's trio of early Top Ten hits.
King was a good songwriter, but had a hand in writing only a couple of songs on this album. Many of the other selections are oldies that smack of filler, like
Jimmie Rodgers' "Pistol Packin' Papa" and Karl & Harty's "I'm Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail," although the latter receives an appealingly wistful treatment from
King. The hits are the bright spots on
Meet Claude King, and all of them can be heard on subsequent greatest-hits anthologies. ~ Greg Adams