The Nashville Sound - Country Music's Golden Era

A terrific collection of some of the Nashville Sound era's greatest tracks. There are some weak choices and the absence of Ferlin Huskey's 'Gone' and Connie Smith's 'Once a Day' to name but two is a mystery. Using a weak version of Willie Nelson's 'Funny How Time Slips Away' instead of the great version by Jimmy Elledge is an oversight too, but if you buy this well-priced collection you won't regret it

I love country music and the Nashville Sound in particular. This album contains so many of my favourite tracks - each one is a gem!!

great cross section of counrty music at a good price love it

Very good.

another crimbo present sorted

The advent of rock'n'roll presented a challenge to the very survival of country as a mainstream music form (or so it is claimed) so the country divisions of the major labels decided to fight back, initially by going for a more easy listening style. This style dominated for the duration of this compilation, although Buck Owens led the fight back in 1963 with a more rootsy form of country music, albeit taking ideas from rock'n'roll. That fight back is beyond the scope of this compilation - and don't expect a compilation exploring it from the Proper label, because they focus on music recorded before 1963 for copyright reasons.Some of the music here was very controversial at the time, as some singers were accused of going pop - and as some of the music they made was more like the easy listening music of the era than (for example) Hank Williams or Roy Acuff, it's easy to understand those feelings. Yet country music has never really stood still. It only broke away from folk music in the early twentieth century and has continuously changed ever since. So here is a very strong collection of a particular period in country music, which despite the controversy at the time, sounds far more country than a lot of music recorded in the 21st century that is marketed as country.Here there are many big hits of the era, some by artists almost forgotten now, some by artists who remain popular, some in between. I don't think the two Dolly Parton tracks really belong here, but I understand the record label's desire to include them. Dolly was still some way from being more than just a promising name to watch at this point. Her presence here does not do her justice.With the size of country music collection I have, you might think I have all the songs here elsewhere. Not so, although I do have a lot of them, albeit some on other multi-artist compilations. I don't remember hearing Connie Hall before, but there is a CD of her music available and I have ordered it. I have heard Carl and Pearl Butler before but I'm still waiting for a CD to be released that includes a decent number of songs. They are represented here by Don't let me cross over, and they also did the original version of If teardrops were pennies. Both songs have also been covered by other artists. Charlie Walker is represented by three tracks including Pick me up on your way down, Again, I hope to buy some of his music, but choice is limited.For those whose collections are less extensive than mine, the presence of so many big names of the era is what matters - Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, Don Gibson, Webb Pierce, George Jones, Marty Robbins, etc., etc. This box therefore contains something for everybody who has any interest in country music of this period.This is a great collection of country music recorded between 1955 and 1962.

The Link To The MP3 is to another Album Not This One.