Rose Garden You're My Man
From its breathless opening rush of pile-driver strings, Lynn Anderson's signature hit, "Rose Garden," announces itself to be every bit as pop as it is country, and consequently it stands as a supreme example of the countrypolitan sound. A crossover smash, "Rose Garden" was nothing less than a dense, twangy version of Phil Specter's Wall of Sound, all pounding country rhythms, whizzing steel guitar, soaring backing vocals, and dramatic strings. What gets lost a bit in there, though, is that Anderson was a fine and subtle country singer, a gift she displays repeatedly onGolden Classics, never more so than on countrypolitan classics like "How Can I Unlove You" and her thrilling 1972 version of the pop standard "Cry."--David Cantwell