Juke Box Pearls: I'm Ready If You're Willing

Illustrators: R.A. Andreas; Mimi Roman.
Photographers: R.A. Andreas; Mimi Roman.
Released as part of Bear Family's ongoing Juke Box Pearls series, Mimi Roman's I'm Ready If You're Willing shines a spotlight on a singer signed to the legendary Decca Records, where she failed to have a single hit between 1954 and 1958. All those sides for Decca are on this 25-track collection, as are her subsequent singles for Kapp, and they present a vocalist possessed with powerful chops but not a specific identity, a situation not helped by Decca and producer Owen Bradley trying her out in a number of different settings. Roman sounds best when she had a bit of rhythm ("Little Lovin," "I'm Ready If You're Willing") or when the setting was purely country ("Honky Tonk Girl," "Cheaters Luck," "Weary Blues from Waitin'"), but she was also pushed into recording a bunch of sickly sweet teenage pop, some swinging big-band remnants, and a lot of run-of-the-mill country with crossover aspirations. Roman was better than the material she received and Bradley certainly gave her expert productions, which is enough to make this a bit interesting on the archaeological level, but it's clear why Mimi Roman never had a hit: she was never given a song good enough to chart and she never had the opportunity to develop a distinctive persona. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine