No country artist is more strongly associated with songs of the Texas oil fields than
Slim Willet. Although
Willet's main claim to fame is writing "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes," a number one pop hit for
Perry Como, that song isn't very representative of his unique recording and songwriting career.
Slim Willet, an installment in Collector Records' Boppin' Hillbilly Series, collects 30 recordings
Willet made for the 4 Star and Winston labels, spanning the years 1952-1960. The first cut, chronologically speaking, is
Willet's own version of "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes," which was a number-one country hit. Many of
Willet's other songs from the early '50s describe the oil industry and surrounding culture, and his "Tool Pusher on a Rotary Rig" was also recorded by Capitol's Ramblin' Jimmie Dolan. In the late '50s,
Willet recorded some rock & roll instrumentals under the name
Telli W. Mils (read it backwards), of which "Pandemonium" and "Ain't Goin' Home" are examples. There is also a banjo instrumental ("Blue Eagle"), an instrumental piano boogie ("Four Hand Blues"), and a rock instrumental
Willet co-wrote performed by a group called the Cruisers. The mastering, from vintage vinyl, is a better than the average Collector release, and the program -- while not compiling everything
Willet recorded -- offers a lengthy retrospective of a fascinating regional country star. ~ Greg Adams