Various Artists - Classic Country Gold

Mostly Good Songs

This is a 2-CD set, and is an assortment of various singers. Some of my favorite songs are "Hey Good Lookin'" by Hank Williams, "Sixteen Tons" by Tennessee Ernie Ford, "Rhinestone Cowboy" by Glen Campbell, "Fourteen Carat Mind" by Gene Watson, just to name a few. August 13, 2008

Great Start to a Collection

This CD set is a great way to share some of the best classic country hits with someone or even to start your own collection. I have almost if not all of these songs on other CDs, but having so many on two CDs is amazing. For those looking to get into or back into this type of music, this CD set is a great way to sample some of the best songs. It only causes me to think that there are no new greats like the ones we had in the past. "Who's going to fill their shoes?" June 24, 2008

Country gold standard

Mainstream, popular Country music is what you get on this double CD album. From the dawn of the 1950s, when commercial recording interests took a firm hold on this particular strand of America's musical tradition, to the end of the 1980s, when other styles started to squeeze Country out of the charts.

In the late 60s and early 70s, it was widely acknowledged that the two gods of Country were Johnny Cash and Jim Reeves (selling better than ever after his untimely death). So it is strange that Reeves's star has waned so quickly, and he is excluded from a compilation like this. That would have been unthinkable thirty years ago; now it is unremarkable.

On the other hand, Jerry Lee Lewis definitely does not belong here. When Tennessee Ernie Ford says "If you see me coming, better stand aside. A lot of men didn't, a lot of men died", you don't really take him seriously. When Lewis introduces himself as "The Killer", you get the uneasy feeling he really means it. His music is on the fringes of country and his attitude is on the edge of sanity.

Still, this is a good, representative collection and is available at bargain prices, so has to be recommended. I always take it when I drive through the Mojave or the Sierras. For me, this is music for the open road.
January 29, 2006

Four decades of country number ones

Only one of the thirty-six tracks here didn't make it to number one in the American country singles charts, that being God bless the USA, which the compilers understandably selected to represent Lee Greenwood here in preference to any of his country number one hits. In its way, that selection shows that number one is not the only thing that matters in the music business - some of the most famous songs in popular music never made it to number one in any chart. Nevertheless, the number one position does indicate a certain measure of popularity and this collection contains many great country classics.

This compilation, being by Hip-O, has easy access to the vaults of the record labels that are now part of the Universal group, so those labels dominate - however, Hip-O have licensed some tracks from the Sony / BMG group, so Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Charley Pride and Eddy Arnold are included. The real surprise is that Reba McEntire and George Strait, two artists who each had several number one hits for Universal labels in the eighties, are omitted. You'd think it was easier for Hip-O to include them than to worry about Dolly and the others.

The tracks are in chronological sequence, beginning with Hank Williams in 1951 and ending with Patty Loveless in 1989. 1989 is an interesting and appropriate end-point, as that was the year when a new generation of singers changed everything in country music, or so it seemed. Of course, the new generation has recorded a lot of great music (though how much of it can truly be described as country is a matter for debate) but I know that many country fans regard 1989 as the beginning of the end of their kind of country music.

The compiler clearly likes the seventies best as there are fifteen tracks from that decade with seven tracks each from the fifties, sixties and eighties. I can well understand the compiler's preference, as it was a very good decade for country music, both at home in America and internationally.

With a compilation like this, it is always possible to argue about track selection - whether the song selected for the chosen artist is the best, whether some omitted artists should have been included and so on - but when you look at it overall, this is a brilliant compilation that provides a great introduction to four decades of country music - and it comes with liner notes by Rich Kienzle. July 29, 2005

+ 1/2 stars...Nearly Forty Years of Classic Country

This 36-track collection chronologically covers nearly four decades of country music beginning with Hank Williams 1951 hit "Hey, Good Lookin'" and ending with Patty Loveless's 1989 hit "Timber, I'm Falling in Love." For any 2-CD set to adequately cover four decades is a nearly impossible task--especially when both discs run under sixty minutes.

This collection could easily have been expanded by an additional dozen or more tracks, allowing the compilers to focus more attention on country's golden era, namely the fifties and the sixties. There are only five tracks from the fifties and eight from the sixties, while the seventies--an era marked by crossover artists like Glen Campbell and Kenny Rogers--is represented by fifteen tracks (nearly half of the total).

In fact, the compilers of this anthology placed a lot of emphasis on crossover hits. Twenty of these No. 1 country hits also hit the top 40 on the pop charts, with "Sixteen Tons," "All I Have To Do Is Dream," "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" and "Rhinestone Cowboy" placing No. 1 on both charts.

There's only one serious misstep in the song selection. While it DID reach the top of the country charts in 1972, Jerry Lee Lewis's versions of the Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace" simply is out of place. And personally, I could have done without Lee Greenwood's maudlin "God Bless the U.S.A." [Besides, it's the only song that didn't reach No. 1.] The only other flaw in this collection is that even though it runs through 1989, there are no artists from country's new traditionalism movement. Where's George Strait or Randy Travis?

With that said, this is an overall satisfying--albeit brief--look at four decades of country music. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED



July 26, 2005

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