John D. Loudermilk was one of the best and most interesting songwriters of the '50s and '60s. He was endlessly creative in coming up with unusual and intriguing topics for his songs, as It's My Time shows. Bear Family broke from their usual M.O. of offering complete and/or chronological packages, and assembled two dozen message-oriented songs Loudermilk recorded for RCA Victor from 1961-68, sequenced in no particular order. Although it isn't entirely thematically consistent, many of the songs on It's My Time do contain some kind of social commentary. "No Playing in the Snow Today" concerns nuclear testing, "The Jones" takes a swipe at conformity, "Brown Girl" deals sensitively with an interracial relationship, and "The Little Grave" could be interpreted as a song of non-violence, vegetarianism, or both. Several cuts are Loudermilk's performances of songs he wrote that had been, or later became, hits for other artists, including "The Little Bird" (for Marianne Faithfull), "The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian" (for Paul Revere and the Raiders), and "Tobacco Road" (for the Nashville Teens). A few were hits for Loudermilk as well, and three are previously unreleased. Among the latter, "Givin' You All My Love" is notable for sounding a lot like a British Invasion song, even though it was recorded in 1962. It's My Time, in combination with Bear Family's other two Loudermilk collections, Blue Train and Sittin' in the Balcony, form a thorough survey of this talented songwriter's recording career. ~ Greg Adams
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