Jimmy Dean’s "I.O.U."

Has the original recording of Jimmy Dean's I.O.U. showed up on any CD yet, maybe an import? There's numerous listings for it on AllMusic.com, but only two of those are listed in the book, and they're rerecordings:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE4721ED E4DAB7F20D7872F41DBB666A329C742F281116E495AD1A9271DA52646E47 9EC95C8AEFB74AB7BAFFF2BE85F05D3C3E454F8CC1740&sql=33:5tkkuh2 san7k

I'm trying to put together a birthday CD for a friend, a CD of the top twenty or so chart hits on the week she was born, so I need to know as soon as possible. (I'm using the Variety sales-based singles chart -- it was #19 that week... peaked at #11 in sales, believe it or not!)

FOUND IT!!! I found the original version of "I.O.U." -- on a domestic commercial CD, too, albeit one that's long out of print. But I found mine on Ebay for $6.99 the same day I started looking, so they're out there.

It's on the Jimmy Dean CD "24 Greats," copyright 1987 Highland Music Inc., UPC 0 12676 78602 7. The spine lists the company as Deluxe, DCD-7860.

I did buy the Casino 45 to verify, and A/B'd them by getting them in sync on my PC. This absolutely is the original version, though the CD has the stereo album mix, while the 45 was mono. But it sounds to me like the 45 is just a fold-down of the stereo album version.

And the 45 does run a hair faster -- 5:59 verses 5:56. It's a bit hissy, but it's definitely from tape, not a needle drop. (Strangely, when you fold it to mono, it reduces the hiss.)

I had gone to All Music Guide to listen to all the audio samples of the song on all the different compilations, and I found one that sounded like it was a different recording from the rest. But I didn't own the 45, so I didn't know what I was listening for. So I came up with a strategy -- I did a search for the OTHER songs from his "IOU" album, which everyone told me had never been issued on CD.

Ta-da! At least seven of the eleven songs from that album were on this CD and this CD alone, so I figured it was a pretty good bet they weren't re-recordings.

So we can cross another one off the "never been on a full-length domestic CD" list!

The songs from the IOU album that are on this CD are:

Frilly Shirt
Waking Up to Love
Sleeping Beauty
That New Old Fashioned Love
This Ole House
I Didn't Have Time
I.O.U.

...and probably "Let Me Sing My Song"... there's a song on the original called "I Gotta Sing My Song for You," which appears to be the same song... espcially since it starts out, "Well, I'm back," which was the promotional slogan for the album. (This makes me wonder if more of the original album's songs are there, and some of them retitled.) The 45's B-side and album track, "Let's Pick Up the Pieces," is not included on this CD.

NOTE: In listening further to the CD, some of the tracks are obvious needle drops, but all the tracks from the "IOU" album are from tape. Most of the tracks taken from vinyl appear to be from his 1968 RCA album "A Thing Called Love."



Edited by Brian W.

There is a short promo version of "I.O.U." with the 5:59 "Complete Version" on the flip side. The catalog number is GRT-052 on Casino Records. The listed time for the "Edited Version" is 4:00, but it runs 4:01. I almost fell asleep while timing it.

Ah, but you're forgetting I'm really from Michigan! Texas imported me.

Ha! Are we ever paid in full when it comes to that? I suppose bringing this topic to the top of the board is timely, since Mother's Day is just a couple weeks away.