Search - Various Artists :: From the Vaults: Decca Country Classics

Thank You Amalgamated!

Michael J. Manning | INDIANAPOLIS, IN USA | 02/09/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Is this thing even being produced anymore? From way back in 1994 it is a great concept (obscure Country music), but lousy production. (i.e. short discs, poor packaging, etc.). I'm not sure how much it cost because I got mine from the library (maybe yours has it too!) For whatever reason MCA, which absorved Decca in the early 70's and is now owned by UNI, didn't feel the need to number the tracks in the booklet (doh!). Anyhoo... its interesting to note how previous burners marked up the songlistings on my copy and what songs they selected. Decca was, first and foremost, the home of Bing Crosby and famous for being the brain child of Jack Kapp, who succeeded while others went bankrupt euring the depression by undercutting the competition (he charged 35 cents per single when the going rate was 75 cents). While making big bucks off pop acts of the day (Mills Brothers, Guy Lombardo, that type of thing) early on the label had a keen ear for American Folk Music. Interestingly, in addition to this stuff, the label was also home to blues singles and most of the catalog of Big Joe Turner. Their 5000 (Hillbilly) series had over 1000 releases before World War II !!! This stuff is awesome and hard to find elsewhere (if you like the Anthology of A.F.M. you will need to get ahold of this for the stuff on disc one alone). Recorded in Chicago, New York City, and Texas, most of these acts had been on other labels that didn't survive the depression (See: The Carter Family, as well as ex-Skillett Lickers Puckett and McMichen). They recorded brother duos (Shelton Bros., Carlisle Boys both well represented), cowboy songs, western swing (why it's called Country & Western), and proto-blue grass hillbilly. Decca's biggest new stars developed honky tonk, starting w/ the definitive version of Ted Daffin's Truck Driver's Blues in 1939. Ernest Tubb recorded most of his stuff for the label including "Walking the Floors Over You". After world war II (and the death of Kapp) the label located all of its recording studios in Nashville under the supervision of Paul Cohen and Owen Bradley. These early 50's tunes are scorchers! Hillbilly classics by Cousin Emmy, Goldie Hill and Monroe, share space with Honky Tonk classics by Kitty Wells, Red Sovine and Bobby Helms. Two great "Nashville Jazz" tunes are also on here (Sugar Foot Rag and Pork Chop Stomp) and rock! Too Bad for Country, because around 1956, it got its butt kicked by Rock and Roll and Decca didn't have a clue what to do. Listen to the weak rockabilly presented as well as the failed Buddy Holly session to see what I mean. Owen Bradley responded by developing what is now known as the "Nashville Sound" with Patsy Cline and Brenda Lee. As a result, Owne Bradley single handedly set back the recording industry in Nashville fifteen years (not that it would ever really recover). Don't get me wrong, "I'm Sorry" is one of the greatest pop songs ever and should be covered by Brittney Spears while she is still hot looking. Some of the late 60's stuff (bluegrass, Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, and a cool Marty Robbins song) are good but you can find it packaged better elsewhere. So. For free I'm going to tell this record company how to make a bucket load of cash (do you think these clowns ever read what we have to say?). UNI/MCA: release more of the pre-rock and roll stuff to us on a good fifty song, two disc set. The sucess of Oh Brother... tells us thers is a market. And, yes, I will now thank the all supreme Amalgamated for giving us every one of these tunes in Real Audio format (even though it doesn't loook like this is going to come out in print again anytime soon)."

Good collection just too brief

Larry Davis | Longview, WA United States | 08/24/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It is a shame that this is probably the only serious attempt MCA made to mine the great Decca archives of country music since the introduction of the compact disc. All the really good stuff out there is from smaller independent labels. But there are some fine gems on this collection and they are the originals. I'm actually writing this to make note that the track list here on Amazon has some mistakes. "I Never Had The One I Wanted" is by Claude Gray, not Jack Greene as it says in the list."