GREAT 1957 SLIM WHITMAN 78 LOVESICK BLUES LON.HL8459 EX

Slim Whitman got his first big break after Colonel Tom Parker - who was managing Eddy Arnold at the time -- heard him singing on radio station WFLA. Parker landed a contract with RCA for Whitman by the end of 1948. After reluctantly complying with the label's request to change his first name to "Slim," he released his first single, "I'm Casting My Lasso Towards the Sky" -- eventually to become his theme song. He made his national debut on the Mutual Network's Smokey Mountain Hayride in the summer of 1949, and the following year joined the Louisiana Hayride. Despite his national exposure, Whitman's career wasn't making much of an impact and he was forced to take a job as a part-time mailman.

In the early '50s, he released a cover of Bob Nolan's "Love Song of the Waterfall," which became his breakthrough hit, peaking at number ten on the country charts; the follow-up single, "Indian Love Call," made him a star, peaking at number two on the country charts and crossing over into the pop Top Ten. Both sides of his next single -- "Keep It a Secret" / "My Heart Is Broken in Three" -- were also major hits and he continued to have a string of Top Ten hits into the mid-'50s. In 1955, his title song for the film Rose-Marie became a smash on both sides of the Atlantic; following its success, Whitman joined the Grand Ole Opry, and then went to Britain in 1956 as the first country singer to play the London Palladium. Throughout the late '50s and early '60s, he had a string of British hits, including "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," "I'm A Fool","Serenade" and "I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen."

Amazingly Slim Whitman's great version of "Lovesick Blues" never made the charts - yet 5 years later a similar - perhaps slightly more uptempo version by Australian raised yodeller Frank Ifield made it to number 1!!