The America's Most Colorful Hillbilly Band: Their Original Recordings 1946-1951, Vol. 2
Artist: The Maddox Brothers & Rose

Like Maddox Brothers & Rose, 1946-1951, Vol. 1, this has a wealth of material -- 30 cuts in all -- from their early four-star era. The quality is on the same level as the first volume, and it's difficult to imagine that anyone who enjoyed the previous installment will be dissatisfied with this collection. The recording quality has the odd effect... Read More

The Complete Hank Williams
Artist: Hank Williams
Community Score: 6.67

Between 1986 and 1987, Mercury launched its first effort to chronicle Hank Williams' complete recorded works, releasing a series of eight double albums/single CDs which were later collected as a box set. Both the individual compilations and the box set were pulled from the market in the '90s, clearing the way for The Complete Hank Williams, a... Read More

The RCA Years
Artist: Elton Britt

Country singer Elton Britt may have been somewhat of a conundrum (an intensely private man, he made a try for the most public position in the world when he ran for President of the United States in 1960), but he sure could yodel, and his smooth, unassuming professionalism means his work still holds up in a contemporary context. This set makes a... Read More

Talk to My Heart
Artist: Johnny Bush

Johnny Bush's second album after a 1994 comeback from an obscure neurological disorder that affected his voice finds the honky-tonk singer challenging his voice with a set of uptempo, tenor-led songs. In the opener, a Ray Price nugget named "Please Talk to My Heart," Bush places his voice front-and-center, proving it's just as expressive as it... Read More

Radio Broadcasts (1952)
Artist: Hank Thompson

From one standpoint, a disc of single-take radio performances from Hank Thompson is superfluous, because Thompson recorded three official live albums for Capitol Records. On the other hand, this stuff -- cut for the U.S. government's Office of Price Stabilization in 1952 -- is a good deal earlier than any of Thompson's official live LPs, and so... Read More

Amazing Steel Guitar: The Buddy Emmons Collection
Artist: Buddy Emmons

Amazing Steel Guitar: The Collection is a terrific 16-track collection that covers Buddy Emmons' entire career. A couple of strong songs might be missing, but all the necessary items -- including "Raisin' the Dickens," "Country Boy Bounce," "Four Wheel Drive," "Where or When," "Cherokee (Indian Love Song)," "Witchcraft," "There Will Never Be... Read More

The Essential Hank Snow
Artist: Hank Snow
Community Score: 9.00

In 1997, The Essential Hank Snow replaced I'm Movin' On & Other Country Hits as the one essential, single-disc retrospective of Snow's classic hits currently on the market. While it isn't quite as listenable as its direct predecessor, The Essential still captures all of Snow's styles, from Hawaiian music and country boogie to his famous... Read More

Send Me the Pillow You Dream On - BOX
Artist: Hank Locklin

This triple-CD set is fascinating as well as priceless -- 66 sides cut by Hank Locklin between 1948 and 1954 for Gold Star, Four Star, and Decca. The majority of the tracks here will be new to most listeners, never having been reissued in any form (or in redubbed form) from their original 78 rpm appearances. They present Locklin doing a rougher,... Read More

Real McCall
Artist: Darrell McCall

Darrell McCall was a hardcore traditional country singer, keeping the flame of pure, gritty honky tonk alive during the country-pop crazes of the '60s and '70s. Though he never had many hits -- only his debut single, "A Stranger Was Here," broke the Top 20 -- he gained a dedicated cult following among fans of traditional country, which... Read More

Old Dogs
Artist: The Old Dogs

Old Dogs, indeed: At the time of this album's release, the combined ages of its principals -- Waylon Jennings, Mel Tillis, Bobby Bare, and Jerry Reed -- exceeded 250 years, and to these sixtysomethings really should have been added the disc's true auteur, Shel Silverstein, who wrote all the songs.

Beginning with the title track,... Read More