Reviewed by Paul Davis

In mid life Jimmie felt an inner call to write and sing gospel music which he continued until the close of the century! Switching from country to gospel he wrote many songs, the best known of which is "Someone To Care". His wife Alvern Adams died in 1967. They lived with their son in Baton Rouge, kept busy with a public relations business, music publishing, and a cattle and horse farm managed by Jimmy Junior. Davis has the rare honour of being elected to both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Even at the age of 73 he was still actively singing, recording and running again for the Governor's job for the third time. Assisting in his unsuccessful attempt was his new bride, Anna Gordon, one of the original members of the Chuck Wagon Gang, founded in 1936. Amazingly, Davis continued to sing well into his late 90s right up to the end of the millennium! These impressive two sets of five CDs magnificently capture his pre-gospel singing of the '30s and '40s that wonderfully blends country with a form of blues-tinged Dixieland. There's a true-blue collector's sense of music museum in these well rounded Bear Family sets. I hope the outstanding gospel chapters (the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, and even the '90s) of the Davis story get the same treatment. Or, is that too much to ask!? Much of the Davis career mirrors the mythical American dream with its rags to riches theme. If you are a big fan this exhaustive five CD box set and its companion 'Nobody's Darlin But Mine' may be items of musical history you will want to invest in.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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