Adam Wade recorded all of his major hits for Coed Records before signing with Epic in 1962. Epic almost immediately issued
Adam Wade's Greatest Hits, which consists of re-recordings of eight Coed hits, two B-sides, one flop single ("Speaking of Her"), and a pop version of the country classic "The Prisoner's Song."
Joe Rene produced the sessions, which sound so similar to the Coed originals that fans have debated ever since whether the Epic album contains originals, re-recordings, or alternate takes from the original sessions. An A/B comparison of the Coed and Epic versions of
Wade's second-biggest hit, "Take Good Care of Her," shows that the two are different recordings.
Wade, a smooth pop vocalist akin to
Johnny Mathis, specialized in pop updates of old songs such as
Hank Williams' "I Can't Help It" and
Buddy Clark's "Linda." He scored three Top 10 hits -- "Take Good Care of Her," "The Writing on the Wall," and "As If I didn't Know" -- versions of which appear on his Epic greatest-hits album.
Wade's original Coed hits have yet to be compiled on a legitimate anthology, but
Adam Wade's Greatest Hits is a convincing re-creation.