You Only Hurt

Born to Be Hurt: The Anthology 1966-1982 Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
At 29 tracks on a single CD, Raven's 2004 release Born to Be Hurt: The Anthology 1966-1982 is by far the biggest Sandy Posey collection yet released, and it's also the most comprehensive, being the first collection to cover all of her major labels. Prior to this, the two main Posey CDs, Collectables' 1996 release The Best of Sandy Posey and RPM's 2002 disc A Single Girl: The Very Best of the MGM Recordings, covered only her MGM recordings, which admittedly were her most popular work, containing the hit singles "Born a Woman," "Single Girl," "I Take It Back," and "What a Woman in Love Won't Do." However, her story did not end there. After leaving MGM in 1968, she turned toward country, signed with Columbia, and went through several labels during the '70s – Monument, Warner, and, finally, Audiograph in the early '80s – before leaving the music business, and Born to Be Hurt is the first time any of this material has been released on CD.

One of Millie's best, Jackson gives fans tough raps, raunchiness, and scathing dialogue that threads the songs together. Millie's love for country ballads shows on "I Wish That I Could Hurt That Way Again." The appeal heightens on deep soul ballads, and For Men Only is loaded: check out her rendition of Latimore's gritty "Ain't No Coming Back," the earthy "That Don't Turn Me On," "Despair," "This Is Where I Came In," and "A Fool's Affair."

While "folk music" originally defined the sort of indigenous music that was passed from one self-taught musician to another over years and even centuries, by the '60s the phrase came to refer to the work of singers and songwriters who used acoustic melodies as a vehicle for lyrics that often carried personal, social, or political messages. Featuring 30 songs, The Only Folk Collection You'll Ever Need offers a bit of the former and a great deal of the latter; along with performances by legitimate folk legends the Carter Family, Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter, Mississippi John Hurt, and Woody Guthrie, this set also features classic tracks from most of the major folk stars of the '50s and '60s, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, Phil Ochs, Dave Van Ronk, Gordon Lightfoot, Donovan, Judy Collins, and many more. Though it is far from the only folk collection one might need or want, this set does feature an impressive cross-section of important and essential artists, who are for the most part represented by their most celebrated works. As a sampler of the cream of the postwar folk boom, this collection does a fine job, and would be a good starter for a youngster eager to learn about the folk and singer/songwriter movements.