Tennessee Ernie Ford
RELEASED June first, 1964, Country Hits…Feelin’ Blue was Ernie Ford’s twenty-fifth album for Capitol Records.
Recorded at Coast Recorders in San Francisco in November of 1963, the entire project was conceived, recorded, and produced by Ford himself with his long-time friend and legendary Wrecking Crew guitarist, Billy Strange. One of Ernie’s favorite LP's, Feelin’ Blue stands today as a work of minimalist genius: a twelve-song set of lonesome, brokenhearted standards from ten of Country Music’s most legendary writers, including Jenny Lou Carson, Don Gibson, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, and Ernest Tubb.
k Williams, Willie Nelson, and Ernest Tubb.
Twelve tracks cut over ten hours with three cats: Ford, Billy Strange on acoustic guitar and John Mosher on upright acoustic bass. No overdubs. No harmonies. Maybe two takes…every selection. By bringing each song back to its most basic elements; unfiltered, uncluttered by unnecessary production and unapologetically blue, Strange, Mosher and Ford unwittingly created a work that is both a musical masterpiece of simplicity and a profoundly moving exploration of love lost and heartache.
​
It is perhaps the best album of this legendary artist's career... and it’s time to bring this classic back to a new audience.
THE CONCEPT: to create a Grammy-winning re-issue, re-imagined and re-produced. To bring the concept to reality without losing the essence and heart of the original.
​
While the simplicity and spare production of the original is what gives 'Feelin' Blue' its heart, the album's identity is reflected in the sheer effortlessness, and range of emotion in Ford's vocals. Every phrase in every song is turned as a story in and of itself...and as we all know, there are two sides to every story, making most, if not all the tracks on this LP, perfect for a duet; that old love that tells her side in the alternate verses... a voice that would fit these traditional acoustic arrangements, and fit Ford's mellow baritone.
​
--Alison Krauss. Patty Loveless. Allison Moorer....
​
​
With the original production featuring only two instruments, recorded with no overdubs, the accompaniment presents a unique opportunity in the hands of the right producer(s) to tastefully add additional, select instrumentation to compliment and layer Strange's acoustic guitar lead and Mosher's bass.
​
--Lee Roy Parnell. Vince Gill. Jenee Fleenor. Alison Krauss.
THE RECAP: TEF Enterprises is earnestly seeking a production partner to help us realize this reimagination of one the greatest albums by one of the world's most legendary singers.
​
Tennessee Ernie Ford