Search - Various Artists :: Classic Country

18 original country hits spanning 1956-1970

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 11/02/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Varese pulls together eighteen original recordings by the original artists for a decade-spanning collection of country and country-pop crossover hits that range from Johnny Cash's 1956 Sun recording of "I Walk the Line" to Lynn Anderson's 1970 "Rose Garden." There doesn't seem to be any particular theme here -- some of these tracks have been anthologized frequently, while others have made more sporadic appearances. Most of these tracks found crossover success on both the country and pop charts, but a few hit only for country. Mostly, Varese seems to have picked eighteen excellent tracks, sequenced them more for listenability than strict chronological order, and added informative notes about each song.Eighteen tracks isn't a comprehensive survey of the fifteen years covered here, but these selections do provide good coverage of the wide array of styles that came to be known as "classic country." Cash's opener, rendered with the Tennessee Two, is a spare arrangement of drums, bass, guitar and The Man in Black's unmistakable voice. At the other end of the spectrum, "Rose Garden" has a full arrangement that includes drums, guitars, backing singers and a string section. Listening through this compilation shows some of the steps that drew the path from one to the other.Among the less anthologized tracks are Bobby Edwards' original hit of "You're the Reason." Numerous covers are easy to find, but Edwards' original hasn't been reissued as freely. Similarly, Wynn Stewart's "Wishful Thinking," much like the rest of Stewart's catalog, is woefully under-represented on U.S. issues. Cowboy Copas' "Alabam" and Ned Miller's "From a Jack to a King" (a flop in '57, a hit reissue in '62) have turned up on several anthologies, many of which are now out-of-print. Similarly, Nat Stuckey's "Sweet Thang" (which is remindful of his hit-write for Buck Owens, "Waiting in Your Welfare Line"), isn't impossible to find on CD, but it's not widely circulated.Even the easy-to-find hits, like Bobby Bare's signature "Detroit City," Sammi Smith's original hit of Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make it Through the Night," and the well-anthologized "Six Days on the Road" make a nice fit for this collection. Hearing these songs in this context sounds like the sort of set a non-commercial radio DJ would throw together, or the sort of mix-tape you'd make for a friend. Rather than attempting to make a disc for collectors (who should note that tracks #1-3, 5-6, 8-11 and 15 are in mono, and that the full-length, rather than single, version of "El Paso" is included here), Varese's made a disc for listeners and lovers of this classic period of country music."