• Track Listing

This extraordinary 2-CD set brings together nearly every recording Jimmy made in the final two years of his life. All were either originally produced or posthumously acquired by the Texas record impresario Huey P. Meaux, and they’re presented here (some in stereo for the first time) from freshly made transfers of the original tapes. The As and Bs of all of Jimmy’s Tear Drop singles are here on Disc One, along with several demos that Meaux overdubbed and released after Donley’s death, including Think It Over; Please Mr. Sandman; Loving Cajun Style; I’m To Blame, and other swamp pop standbys that can still be heard regularly in jukeboxes and on the radio throughout South Louisiana. Disc Two will impress even the most ardent Donley completists with nearly 30 home demos including songs that Donley never recorded commercially, plus revivals of Louisiana R&B classics and the original versions of several hits that Jimmy wrote for his friend and fan, Fats Domino. A few of these have been released before—but the vast majority have not. The booklet features a plethora of label shots plus many never-before-seen lyric manuscripts in Jimmy’s own handwriting! 56 tracks in all!