Country

Amid scores of albums on both LP and CD, only one official live George Jones album exists: 1985's First Time Live! This in-concert performance, introduced by Alan Jackson, is actually the soundtrack of the long-available Jones concert video Live in Tennessee, taped in Knoxville in the early 1990s. Jones, newly signed to MCA at the time, performs a muscular, vigorous set heavy on hits from his 1972-1991 Epic period and adds his MCA single, the maternal tribute She Loved a Lot in Her Time. He reaches back further for his 1963 hit The Race Is On and a ballad medley mixing The Grand Tour with earlier material. Lest there be any question as to the era, while introducing A Picture of Me (Without You), he mentions Lorrie Morgan's recent 1991 hit remake. While Live with the Possum is an excellent... Less

With only a skimpy greatest hits LP reissue available here in the States, we thought the time had come for a big, bad collection from that country singer, storyteller and, yes, sausage-maker supreme, Jimmy Dean! This-here is his COMPLETE Columbia hits, some of which have never been on CD, along with some key album tracks and non-charting singles with special attention to those story songs that Jimmy did so well. 24 slices of some of the most infectious country music ever waxed! Includes 'Deep Blue Sea; Big Bad John' with the hell of a man ending; 'P.T. 109; The First Thing Ev'ry Morning (and the Last Thing Ev'ry Night); Harvest of Sunshine; Little Sandy Sleighfoot; Sing Along; Dear Ivan; To a Cajun Queen; To a Sleeping Beauty; Little Bitty Big John; Steel Men; Little Black Book; Gonna... Less

Trucker anthology albums are a country tradition. Unlike Starday Records' classic 1960s LPs with their wonderfully cheesy covers, this one takes a historical approach, beginning with the original trucker lament, Western swing bandleader Cliff Bruner's Truck Driver's Blues from 1939. Other early rarities reflect varied styles and moods. The slick Hollywood Western sound of Dick Reinhart's 1941 Truck Driver's Coffee Stop contrasts with duo Karl and Harty's old-timey Truck Driver's Sweetheart. Likewise, the Milo Twins' dainty Truck Driver's Boogie is light years from Doye O'Dell's foreboding Diesel Smoke (Dangerous Curves) with its dazzling (and uncredited) instrumental backing from Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West. The set encompasses obvious standards: Johnny Horton's I'm Coming Home, Del... Less

Vinyl LP pressing. 2009 release from this Nashville musician who created some classic underground albums in the '70s for Monument Records, full of funky southern vibes. For over three decades, Wilson's bottomless talent has been hailed by Kris Kristofferson, Guy Clark, Willie Nelson, Steve Earle and many others. Larry Jon never learned how to be an uptown outlaw; he lived and toured with Townes Van Zant, his best friend was Mickey Newberry. He never sold out or took the easy option. His songs were too soulful for the rednecks, too down home for the discos. He was too real for the radio, too sophisticated for the honky tonks. He travelled restlessly throughout the country; playing endless solo shows to mesmerized audiences. He continued to write, he stayed in touch with his friends,... Less

First released as a vinyl LP in 1976, this was always the definitive live Outlaw country set. But it was originally meant to be a double album, and the nine songs that were edited out back then now appear here (with one from the initial album now deleted). They range from Lonesome, On'ry and Mean (which has a shell as hard as a desert reptile) to Never Been to Spain (well, he always did show erratic taste in pop songs). They join such LP tracks as the slow-death Last Letter and the rip-snorting I'm a Ramblin' Man. The 1970s Waylors created a crackling, propulsive sound featuring loping rock-influenced beats, guitars that alternated between meditation and back-alley snarl, and Ralph Mooney's primer on how to play pedal steel. More than ever, this is the definitive live Outlaw set. --John... Less

Two LPs on One CD. One of the Classic Honky-Tonk Performers of the 1950's & Early 1960's, Faron Young Made Some of the Rowdiest, Most Energetic Country Records of the Decade.

(4-CD LP-sized box with 24-page book, 100 tracks) This set picks up the story of Wilf Carter's post-War career, beginning with his comeback in 1944 after a debilitating road accident. This set embraces all of his RCA recordings up to 1952. As an added bonus for collectors, it includes the rare Canadian Apex sessions in which Wilf recorded a set of specifically Canadian cowboy songs like The Capture Of Albert Johnson and The Calgary Roundup. Other titles include perennial Wilf Carter classics like There's A Bluebird On Your Windowsill, The Little Shirt My Mother Made For Me, Sick Sober And Sorry, Blue Canadian Rockies, My Mountain High Yodel Song, The Strawberry Roan, and My French Canadian Gal.

45 years ago in Australia, Slim Dusty and EMI celebrated Slim's 33rd birthday with a historic debut 33rpm LP release: Slim Dusty Sings. This was one of the first ever Long Play releases by an Australian artist and there was no way anyone would have anticipated that Slim Dusty would have gone on, not only to release 18 albums just in the decade of the '60s, but also continue on to release a remarkable 100 plus albums over the following four decades of his career. On the eve of what would have been Slims 78th birthday, EMI Australia here releases for the first time on CD six of Slim Dusty's classics albums from the 1960s. These historic CD releases commemorate Slim's hugely successful '60s era (12 Gold LP's) and the 45th anniversary of his debut. Slim is truly the voice of the nation, the... Less

2002 10-track Tomato Records CD release of Townes Van Zandt's third and self-titled 1969 LP housed in standard clear jewel case with see-through-tray graphics. Track listing: 1. For the Sake of the Song; 2. Columbine; 3. Waiting Around to Die; 4. Don't Take It Too Bad; 5. Colorado Girl; 6. Lungs; 7. I'll Be Here in the Morning; 8. Fare Thee Well, Miss Carousel; 9. (Quicksilver Daydreams of) Maria; and 10. None but the Rain. Produced by Kevin Eggers and Jim Malloy.

This issue in Collectables' Priceless Collection series is actually a reissue of a 1981 LP by Harmony Records. Here are 14 tracks by Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys ranging from the 1930s to the early '50s. All are original recordings, and while San Antonio Rose, Big Ball's in Cowtown, and Cotton-Eyed Joe are not here, Steel Guitar Rag, Can't Get Enough of Texas, and Tulsa Stomp are. This is a nice little taste of Wills -- especially for the money -- but hardly a definitive introduction. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi