Search - Various Artists :: Dim Lights, Thick Smoke & Hillbilly Music: Country & Western Hit Parade 1968

(1 CD mini book (CD-size) with 72 pages, 31 tracks, 85:55 playing time) After the volumes covering 1945-1965 were released, the word was out. This series is definitive, fabulously packaged, and faultlessly remastered! Everything you'd expect from Bear Family...and more! Including the five most recent volumes (1966-1970), we're now up to a quarter-century of the very best of country music.Jack Clement, who produced Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Waylon Jennings, Don Williams, Charley Pride, and many others, said, ''This is the best country series of all time. No doubt. No question.'' Robert Hilburn in the Los Angeles Times said, ''An invaluable album project...enables fans to step back in time and listen to the radio just like Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, and Bob Dylan did.'' Producer Allen Reynolds (Garth Brooks, Emmylou Harris, and many others) stopped Bear Family's Richard Weize at the Country Music Hall of Fame to congratulate him on the series.Now the story ends with the years 1966 to 1970. Every CD is generously full. Every booklet is extensive and chocked full of rare photos and illustrations, as well as complete stories behind the songs! In addition to the hits, the series contains rarities that went on to influence country music...and all music...in the years ahead. This series is designed to introduce new listeners to the very best that country music has to offer...while keeping longtime fans entertained. Every volume is a fabulous time capsule.This is the music that influenced the White Stripes, Gillian Welch, Gram Parsons, Nick Cave, and many, many others. This is the music that gave birth to California country rock. This is the music that influenced the Beatles and many other seminal bands. In other words, this is the true and uncensored history of country music. Everything you need to hear, year-by-year, as it happened!Picking up the story in 1966 and continuing until 1970, this new batch includes original versions of too many classic hits to list (just look at the track-listing). But the series also includes neglected classics and shoulda-been hits like Gram Parson's recordings with the International Submarine Band and the Byrds, George Jones' neglected album track Beneath Still Waters (later a #1 hit for Emmylou Harris), Charlie Louvin's gothic classic Will You Visit Me On Sundays, Roger Miller's original versions of Me And Bobby McGee and Little Green Apples, Jim Alley's ultra-rare original version of Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line, and so many more!There's even more! Incredibly detailed 72-page books go with every CD featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes stories, rare photos, record label shots, and complete discographical information.During the years covered by these volumes, the United States was even more bitterly polarized than today. Vietnam, Civil Rights, and the '60s revolution in culture and style created a volatile political and cultural atmosphere. Some took country music back to its hillbilly roots, some tried to embrace the change with newer country songs like Gentle On My Mind, By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Ode To Billie Joe, etc., and some tried to blend then-current rock and traditional country music. It was an explosive time and the music reflected much of that. Dim Lights, Thick Smoke, And Hillbilly Music goes out on a very high note.