Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. You Can Steal Me [#]
2. Apartment No. 9
3. She Didn't Color Daddy [#]
4. Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad
5. Walk Through This World With Me
6. My Elusive Dreams - David Houston, Tammy Wynette
7. I Don't Wanna Play House
8. Take Me to Your World
9. D-I-V-O-R-C-E
10. Sweet Dreams
11. Lonely Street
12. I Believe
13. He
14. Stand by Your Man
15. You'll Never Walk Alone
16. How Great Thou Art
17. Singing My Song
18. Too Far Gone
19. Ways to Love a Man
20. I'll See Him Through
21. Kids Say the Darndest Things

Disc 2:

1. He Loves Me All the Way
2. We Sure Can Love Each Other
3. Deepening Snow
4. Good Lovin' (Makes It Right)
5. Bedtime Story
6. 'Til I Get It Right
7. My Man (Understands)
8. We're Gonna Hold On - George Jones, Tammy Wynette
9. (We're Not) the Jet Set - George Jones, Tammy Wynette
10. Another Lonely Song - George Jones, Tammy Wynette
11. I Don't Think About Him No More - George Jones, Tammy Wynette
12. No Charge
13. Woman to Woman
14. This Time I Almost Made It
15. Near You - George Jones, Tammy Wynette
16. I Still Believe in Fairy Tales
17. 'Til I Can Make It on My Own
18. Golden Ring - George Jones, Tammy Wynette
19. Did You Ever - George Jones, Tammy Wynette
20. You and Me
21. Let's Get Together (One Last Time)
22. One of a Kind
23. Southern California - George Jones, Tammy Wynette
24. Dear Daughters
25. They Call It Making Love

Disc 3:

1. Two Story House - George Jones, Tammy Wynette
2. Cowboys Don't Shoot Straight (Like They Used To)
3. Crying in the Rain
4. Another Chance
5. You Still Get to Me in My Dreams
6. Unwed Fathers
7. (I'm Not) A Candle in the Wind
8. Sometimes When We Touch - Mark Gray, Tammy Wynette
9. Between Twenty-Nine and Danger
10. Alive and Well
11. Talkin' to Myself Again
12. I Wasn't Meant to Live My Life Alone - Vince Gill, Tammy Wynette
13. Beneath a Painted Sky - Emmylou Harris, Tammy Wynette
14. Your Love - Ricky Skaggs, Tammy Wynette
15. Higher Ground - Larry Gatlin, Rudy Gatlin, Steve Gatlin, Tammy Wynette
16. Liar's Roses
17. We're Strangers Again - Randy Travis, Tammy Wynette
18. Suddenly Single
19. It Could Have Been So Good [#][*]
20. Justified and Ancient [Stand by the Jams] - The KLF, Tammy Wynette
21. Precious Memories [#][*] - Masters V, Tammy Wynette

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #133067 in Music
• Released on: 1992-11-10
• Number of discs: 3
• Format: Box set

Amazon.com essential recording
Sometimes it is hard to be a woman. That, of course, is the central line in Tammy Wynette's signature song, and the message that she conveyed repeatedly over the course of her three-decades-long recording career. Wynette was uniquely suited to convey pathos with pluck. She, along with Loretta Lynn, pretty much defined country music from the female perspective from the late '60s through the '70s. But while Lynn presented a mostly amiable façade, Wynette was the more gripping and imposing artist. For starters, she possessed pipes that could tear your heart out of your chest. Tears of Fire (and what and excellent--and appropriate--title) gathers all her hits and a few oddities (1964's pre-flight "You Can Steal Me," her weird but captivating 1991 collaboration with the urban dance unit the KLF) in one three-disc package. Old fans will find this essential; the merely curious with a skewed outlook on the down-home diva based on "Stand by Your Man" will be stunned by how talented Wynette really was. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

I Am Not a Country Fan...Just a Fan of Tammy.
Thank God I finally discovered Tammy Wynette. Even with all her success and legendary status, she still hasn't gotten what she's due. Some of her songs are pure pop and others quintessential country. "My Man (Understands)" and "Good Lovin'" are my favorites. She is the BEST BEST BEST BEST!

The ultimate collection..though still missing some gems
Having been a fan foever, and, for a few years in the mid 80's, a personal friend, I am grateful CBS has this box set for all of her fans. The "essential" hits and many early LP cuts are here and she, of course, is the best of the best. I only wish CBS would now put out an additional disc (or two?) "Tears Of Fire - disc 4 & 5" ! Many singles and great recordings of her later 70's and 80's are missing including : Reach Out Your Hand, Love's The Answer, There Goes That Old Steel Guitar, You Make Me Want To Be A Mother, I'd Like To See Jesus, Womanhood, No One Else In The World, He Was There When I Needed You, Starting Over, Next To You, Thank The Cowboy For The Ride, Let's Call It A Day Today, Lonely Heart, You Can Lead A Heart To Love. Also, Tammy's favorites she like to do in concert : Stayin' Home Woman and Your Memory's Gone To Rest. Don't get me wrong, this box set is well worth the money. CBS/Epic owes the public more from the First Lady. She was as humble as they come and it's such a shame they added her to the Hall Of Fame after her death. She told me she really didn't think she was that big of a deal. Peace and love to you Tammy, and Richey & the girls too.

Superb collection of music by a unique singer
This is a very impressive set, containing most of Tammy's hits from her first minor country hit (Apartment number nine) to her last major international hit, Justified and ancient, though this track sits uneasily on this collection. Of course, if you don't like it, you can easily skip it as it's the last track.

There are also a few previously unreleased rarities, best of which is Deepening snow. Like all Tammy compilations, this one misses out some big hits including (in this case) Run woman run, Reach out your hand and my favorite Tammy track, Womanhood. Still, this is still the best collection of Tammy's music yet released for the true fan. The missing big hits (and a few missing lesser hits) can be found elsewhere.

As well as getting the vast majority of her classics from her first ten years, there are many of her best songs from later in her career including Another chance, Unwed fathers and several tracks from her acoustic album, Higher ground. Tammy also recorded plenty of covers and some of these are included, among these being Sweet dreams, Lonely street, You'll never walk alone (the best version I've heard of this famous song) and No charge. I've never liked No charge, whoever sings it, and would much prefer to have had Sweet music man, another song that Tammy did better than anybody else (even including Dolly and Reba, though they came close).

This collection will appeal to everybody who enjoys Tammy's music but who wants more than a single CD can offer. I would have liked a fourth CD, which would have allowed all the remaining hits to be included and a few more choice album tracks. But this set is plenty good enough to be going on with.