Gentleman Jim Reeves was perhaps the biggest male star to emerge from the Nashville sound. His mellow baritone voice and muted velvet orchestration combined to create a sound that echoed around his world and has lasted to this day. Detractors will call the sound country-pop (or plain pop), but none can argue against the large audience that loves... [+] Read More

Gentleman Jim Reeves was perhaps the biggest male star to emerge from the Nashville sound. His mellow baritone voice and muted velvet orchestration combined to create a sound that echoed around his world and has lasted to this day. Detractors will call the sound country-pop (or plain pop), but none can argue against the large audience that loves this music. Reeves was capable of singing hard country ("Mexican Joe" went to number one in 1953), but he made his greatest impact as a country-pop crooner. From 1955 through 1969, Reeves was consistently in the country and pop charts -- an amazing fact in light of his untimely death in an airplane accident in 1964. Not only was he a presence in the American charts, but he became country music's foremost international ambassador and, if anything, was even more popular in Europe and Britain than in his native America. After his death, his fan base didn't diminish at all, and several of his posthumous hits actually outsold his earlier singles; no less than six number one singles arrived in the three years following his burial. In fact, during the '70s and '80s, he continued to have hits with both unreleased material and electronic duets like "Take Me in Your Arms and Hold Me" with Deborah Allen and "Have You Ever Been Lonely?" with his smooth-singing female counterpart of the plush Nashville sound, Patsy Cline, who also perished in an airplane crash, in 1963. But Reeves' legacy remains with lush country-pop singles like "Four Walls" (1957) and "He'll Have to Go" (1959), which defined both his style and an entire era of country music.

Reeves was born and raised in Galloway, TX, where he was one of nine children. Tragically, his father died when Jim was only ten months old, forcing his mother to farm and raise her family. At the age of five, he was given an old guitar, and shortly afterward, he heard a Jimmie Rodgers record through his older brother. From that moment on, Reeves was entranced by country music and Rodgers in particular. By the time he was 12 years old, he had already appeared on a radio show in Shreveport, LA. Though he was fascinated with music, Reeves also was a talented athlete and during his teens he decided he was going to pursue a career as a baseball player. Winning an athletic scholarship to the University of Texas, Reeves enrolled at the school to study speech and drama, but he dropped out after six weeks to work at the shipyards in Houston. Soon, he had returned to baseball, playing in the semiprofessional leagues before signing with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1944. He stayed with the team for three years before seriously injuring his ankle and thereby ruining his chances of a prolonged athletic career.

For the next few years, Reeves went through a number of blue-collar jobs while trying to decide on a profession. During this time he began singing as an amateur, appearing both as a solo artist and as the frontman for Moon Mullican's band. In 1949, Reeves cut a number of songs for the small independent Macy label, none of which were particularly successful. In the early '50s, Reeves decided that he would make broadcasting his vocation, initially working for KSIG in Gladewater, TX, before establishing himself at KGRI in Henderson. Over the next few years, Reeves was a disc jockey and newscaster at KGRI, moving to KWKH in Shreveport, LA, in November of 1952, becoming host of the popular Louisiana Hayride. Late in 1952, Hank Williams failed to make an appearance on the show, and Reeves sang in his place. His performance was enthusiastically received, and Abbott Records immediately signed him to a record contract. "Mexican Joe" was Reeves' debut single for Abbott, and it quickly climbed to number one in the spring of 1953, spending nine weeks at the top of the charts. It was followed by another number one hit, "Bimbo," later in 1953, establishing that Reeves was not a one-hit wonder; later that same year, he was made a full-time member of the Louisiana Hayride. During 1954 and 1955, he had four other hit singles for Abbott and its parent company, Fabor, before RCA signed him to a long-term deal in 1955; that same year, he joined the Grand Ole Opry. At RCA, Reeves began to develop the distinctively smooth, lush, and pop-oriented style of country that made him a superstar and earned him the nickname Gentleman Jim. Peaking at number four, "Yonder Comes a Sucker" was his first Top Ten hit for RCA in the summer of 1955. It kicked off a remarkable streak of 40 hit singles, most of which charted in the Top Ten. Many of his singles also became pop crossovers, which indicates exactly how much of a pop influence there was on his music. Indeed, Reeves' vocal style derived from the crooning of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, and early in his career he abandoned cowboy outfits for upscale suits. In the process, he brought country music to a new, urban audience.

Throughout the '50s and early '60s, Reeves racked up a number of major hits and country classics like "Four Walls" (number one for eight weeks, 1957), "Anna Marie" (1958), "Blue Boy" (number two, 1958), "Billy Bayou" (number one for five weeks, 1959), "He'll Have to Go" (number one for 14 weeks, 1960), "Adios Amigo" (number two, 1962), "Welcome to My World" (number two, 1964), and "I Guess I'm Crazy" (number one for seven weeks, 1964). "Four Walls" was the turning point in his career, proving to both Reeves himself and his producer, Chet Atkins, that his main source of success would come from ballads. As a result, Reeves became an even bigger star, not only in America but throughout the world. Reeves toured Europe and South Africa, building a strong following in countries that rarely had been open to country music in the past.

Reeves was at the height of his career when his private plane crashed outside of Nashville on July 31, 1964. The bodies of Reeves and his manager, Dean Manuel, were found two days later and were buried in his homestate of Texas. Though Reeves had died, his popularity did not vanish -- in fact, his sales increased following his death. Throughout the late '60s, RCA released a series of posthumous singles, many of which -- including "This Is It" (1965), "Is It Really Over?" (1965), "Distant Drums" (1966), and "I Won't Come in While He's There" (1967) -- hit number one. The previously unissued songs were frequently mixed in with previously released material on album releases, making his catalog confusing but profitable for RCA. The flow of unreleased Reeves material did not cease during the '70s or '80s -- in fact, there wasn't a year between 1970 and 1984 when there wasn't a Reeves single in the charts, either at the top or in the lower regions. Reeves was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1967, and two years later, the Academy of Country Music instituted the Jim Reeves Memorial Award. Though the flood of unreleased material ceased in the mid-'80s, the cult surrounding Reeves never declined, and in the '90s, Bear Family released Welcome to My World, a 16-disc box set containing his entire recorded works. ~ David Vinopal, All Music Guide [-] Hide

In many ways, Tammy Wynette deserves the title of "the First Lady of Country Music." During the late '60s and early '70s, she dominated the country charts, scoring 17 number one hits. Along with Loretta Lynn, she defined the role of female country vocalists in the '70s.

After her father, who was a musician, died when she was just... [+] Read More

In many ways, Tammy Wynette deserves the title of "the First Lady of Country Music." During the late '60s and early '70s, she dominated the country charts, scoring 17 number one hits. Along with Loretta Lynn, she defined the role of female country vocalists in the '70s.

After her father, who was a musician, died when she was just eight months old, Wynette was raised on her grandparents' home in Mississippi; her mother moved to Birmingham, AL, to do military work. As a child, Wynette taught herself to play a variety of instruments left behind by her father. When she was a teenager, she moved to Birmingham to be with her mother. At 17, she married her first husband, Euple Byrd, and set to work as a hairdresser and beautician. The marriage was short-lived, but it produced three children within three years. By the time her third child was born, the couple were divorced.

Wynette's third child had spinal meningitis, which meant she had several expensive medical bills to pay. In order to gain some extra money, she began performing in clubs at night. In 1965, she landed a regular spot on the television program The Country Boy Eddie Show, which led to appearances on Porter Wagoner's syndicated show. The following year, she moved to Nashville, where she auditioned for several labels before producer Billy Sherrill signed her to Epic Records.

"Apartment #9," Wynette's first single, was released late in 1966 and almost broke the country Top 40 early in 1967. It was followed by "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad," which became a big hit, peaking at number three. The song launched a string of Top Ten hits that ran until the end of the '70s, interrupted by three singles that didn't crack the Top Ten. After "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad" was a success, "My Elusive Dreams" became her first number one in the summer of 1967, followed by "I Don't Wanna Play House" later that year.

During 1968 and 1969, Wynette had five number one hits -- "Take Me to Your World," "D-I-V-O-R-C-E," "Stand by Your Man" (all 1968), "Singing My Song," and "The Ways to Love a Man" (both 1969). In 1968, she started a relationship with George Jones which would prove to be extremely stormy. Beginning in 1971, Wynette and Jones recorded a series of duets -- the first was the Top Ten "Take Me" -- which were as popular as their solo hits. However, the marriage was difficult and the couple divorced in 1975; they continued to record sporadically over the next two decades.

Throughout the '70s, Wynette racked up number one hits. In the early '80s, her career began to slow down. Although she still had hit singles, she didn't reach the Top Ten as easily as she did in the previous decade. That trend continued throughout the rest of the decade and into the '90s. Even though she didn't have as many hits as she had in the past, Wynette remained a respected star and a popular concert attraction.

In the '80s, Wynette began suffering a variety of health problems, including inflammations of her bile duct. She was hospitalized several times during the mid-'90s before her death on April 6, 1998. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

No artist in the history of country music has had a more stylistically diverse career than Marty Robbins. Never content to remain just a country singer, Robbins performed successfully in a dazzling array of styles during more than 30 years in the business. To his credit, Robbins rarely followed trends but often took off in directions that... [+] Read More

No artist in the history of country music has had a more stylistically diverse career than Marty Robbins. Never content to remain just a country singer, Robbins performed successfully in a dazzling array of styles during more than 30 years in the business. To his credit, Robbins rarely followed trends but often took off in directions that stunned both his peers and fans. Plainly Robbins was not hemmed in by anyone's definition of country music. Although his earliest recordings were unremarkable weepers, by the mid-'50s Robbins was making forays into rock music, adding fiddles to the works of Chuck Berry and Little Richard. By the late '50s, Robbins had pop hits of his own with teen fare like "A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)." Almost simultaneously, he completed work on his Song of the Islands album. In 1959, Robbins stretched even further with the hit single "El Paso," thus heralding a pattern of "gunfighter ballads" that lasted the balance of his career. Robbins also enjoyed bluesy hits like "Don't Worry," which introduced a pop audience to fuzz-tone guitar in 1961. Barely a year later, Robbins scored a calypso hit with "Devil Woman." Robbins also left a legacy of gospel music and a string of sentimental ballads, showing that he would croon with nary a touch of hillbilly twang.

Born and raised in Glendale, AZ, Robbins (born Martin David Robertson, September 26, 1925; died December 8, 1982) was exposed to music at an early age. His mother's father was "Texas" Bob Heckle, a former medicine show man who told his grandson cowboy stories and tales of the traveling show. Robbins became enraptured by the cowboy tales and, once he became a teenager, worked on his older brother's ranch outside of Phoenix, concentrating more on his cowboy duties than his studies. Indeed, he never graduated from high school, and by his late teens, he started turning petty crimes while living as a hobo. In 1943, he joined the U.S. Navy to fight in World War II, and while he was in the service, he learned how to play guitar and developed a taste for Hawaiian music. Robbins left the Navy in 1947, returning to Glendale, where he began to sing in local clubs and radio stations. Often, he performed under the name "Jack Robinson" in an attempt to disguise his endeavors from his disapproving mother. Within three years, he had developed a strong reputation throughout Arizona and was appearing regularly on a Mesa radio station and had his own television show, Western Caravan, in Phoenix. By that time, he had settled on the stage name of Marty Robbins.

Robbins landed a recording contract with Columbia in 1951 with the assistance of Little Jimmy Dickens, who had been a fan ever since appearing on Western Caravan. Early in 1952, Robbins released his first single, "Love Me or Leave Me Alone." It wasn't a success and neither was its follow-up, "Crying 'Cause I Love You," but "I'll Go On Alone" soared to number one in January 1953. Following its blockbuster success, Robbins signed a publishing deal with Acuff-Rose and joined the Grand Ole Opry. "I Couldn't Keep From Crying" kept him in the Top Ten in spring 1953, but his two 1954 singles -- "Pretty Words" and "Call Me Up (And I'll Come Calling on You)" -- stalled on the charts. A couple of rock & roll covers, "That's All Right" and "Maybellene," returned him to the country Top Ten in 1955, but it wasn't until "Singing the Blues" shot to number one in fall 1956 that Robbins' career was truly launched. Staying at number one for a remarkable 13 weeks, "Singing the Blues" established Robbins as a star, but its progress on the pop charts was impeded by Guy Mitchell's cover, which was released shortly after Robbins' original and quickly leapfrogged to number one. The process repeated itself on "Knee Deep in the Blues," which went to number three on the country charts but didn't even appear on the pop charts due to Mitchell's hastily released cover. To head off such competition, Robbins decided to record with easy listening conductor Ray Conniff for his next singles. It was a crafty move and one that kept him commercially viable during the peak of rock & roll. The first of these collaborations, "A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)," became a huge hit, spending five weeks at the top of the country charts in spring 1957 and peaking at number two on the pop charts, giving him his long-awaited breakthrough record.

After "A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)," Robbins was a regular fixation on both the pop and country charts until the mid-'60s. The Burt Bacharach and Hal David composition "The Story of My Life" returned Robbins to the number one country slot in early 1957 (number 15 pop), while "Just Married," "Stairway of Love," and "She Was Only Seventeen (He Was One Year More)" kept him in teen-pop territory, as well as the upper reaches of the charts, throughout 1958. In addition to his pop records, Robbins recorded rockabilly singles and Hawaiian albums that earned their own audience. During that time, he began a couple of business ventures of his own, including a booking agency and a record label called Robbins. He also ventured into movies, appearing in the Westerns Raiders of Old California (1957) and Badge of Marshal Brennan (1958), where he played a Mexican named Felipe. The films not only demonstrated Robbins' love for Western myths and legends, but they signalled the shift in musical direction he was about to take. Over the course of 1958 and 1959, he recorded a number of cowboy and western songs, and the first of these -- "The Hanging Tree," the theme to the Gary Cooper film of the same name -- became a hit in spring 1959. However, the song just set the stage for Robbins' signature song and biggest western hit, "El Paso." Released in the summer, the single spent six months on the country charts, including seven weeks at number one, while hitting the top of the pop charts. A full album of western songs, Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, became equally successful, reaching number six on the pop charts, and by the mid-'60s, it had gone platinum.

"El Paso" began a very successful decade for Robbins. "Big Iron," another western song, followed its predecessor to the Top Ten of the country charts in 1960, but it wasn't until 1961 that he had another huge hit in the form of "Don't Worry." Fueled by a fuzz-toned guitar (the first country record to feature such an effect), "Don't Worry" spent ten weeks at number one and crossed over to number three on the pop charts. The following year, "Devil Woman" became nearly as successful, spending eight weeks at number one; it was followed by another number one, "Ruby Ann." Between "Don't Worry" and "Devil Woman," he had a number of smaller hits, most notably the Top Ten "It's Your World," and for the rest of the decade, his biggest hits alternated with more moderate successes. With his career sailing along, Robbins began exploring racecar driving in 1962, initially driving in dirt-track racing competitions before competing in the famous NASCAR race. However, car racing was just a hobby, and he continued to have hits in 1963, including the number one "Begging to You." The following year, he starred in the film Ballad of a Gunfighter, which was based on songs from his classic album.

Robbins' chart success continued throughout 1964, before suddenly dipping after he took Gordon Lightfoot's "Ribbon of Darkness" to number one in spring 1965. For the remainder of the year and much of the next, his singles failed to crack the Top Ten, and he concentrated on filming a television series called The Drifter, which was based on a character he had created. He also acted frequently, including the Nashville exploitation films Country Music Caravan, The Nashville Story, and Tennessee Jamboree and the stock-car drama Hell on Wheels. Though "The Shoe Goes on the Other Foot Tonight" reached number three in 1966, it wasn't until "Tonight Carmen" reached number one on the country charts in 1967 that his career picked up considerably. During the next two years, he regularly hit the Top Ten with country-pop songs like "I Walk Alone" and "It's a Sin." Robbins suffered from a heart attack while on tour in August 1969, which led to a bypass operation in 1970. Despite his brush with death, he continued to record, tour, and act. Early in 1970, "My Woman My Woman My Wife" became his last major crossover hit, reaching number one on the country charts and 42 on the pop charts and eventually earning a Grammy award.

Robbins left Columbia Records in 1972, spending the next three years at Decca/MCA. Though "Walking Piece of Heaven," "Love Me," and "Twentieth Century Drifter" all reached the Top Ten, most of his singles were unenthusiastically received. Nevertheless, he sustained his popularity through concerts and film appearances, including the Lee Marvin movie A Man and a Train and Guns of a Stranger. In March 1974, Robbins became the last performer to play at the Ryman Auditorium, the original location of the Grand Ole Opry; a week later, he was the first to play at the new Grand Ole Opry House. The honors and tributes to Robbins continued to roll out during the mid-'70s, as he was inducted into Nashville Songwriters International Hall of Fame in 1975. That same year, he returned to Columbia Records, and over 1976 and 1977 he had his last sustained string of Top Ten hits, with "El Paso City" and "Among My Souvenirs" reaching number one. Following this two-year burst of success, Robbins settled into a series of minor hits for the next four years. In October 1982, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Two months later, he suffered his third major heart attack (his second arrived in early 1981), and although he had surgery, he died on December 8. In the wake of his death, his theme song to Clint Eastwood's movie Honky Tonk Man was released and climbed to number ten. Robbins left behind an immense legacy, including no less than 94 charting country hits and a body of recorded worked that proved how eclectic country music could be. ~ Hank Davis, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Ray Price has covered -- and kicked up -- as much musical turf as any country singer of the postwar era. He's been lionized as the man who saved hard country when Nashville went pop, and vilified as the man who went pop when hard country was starting to call its own name with pride. Actually, he was -- and still is -- no more than a musically... [+] Read More

Ray Price has covered -- and kicked up -- as much musical turf as any country singer of the postwar era. He's been lionized as the man who saved hard country when Nashville went pop, and vilified as the man who went pop when hard country was starting to call its own name with pride. Actually, he was -- and still is -- no more than a musically ambitious singer, always looking for the next challenge for a voice that could bring down roadhouse walls. Circa 1949, Price cut his first record for Bullet at the Famous Jim Beck in Dallas. In 1951, he was picked up by Columbia, the label for which he would record for more than twenty years. After knocking around in Lefty Frizzell's camp for six months or so (his first Columbia single was a Frizzell composition) Price befriended Hank Williams. The connection brought him to the Opry and profoundly effected his singing style. After Hank died, Price starting stretching out more as a singer and arranger. His experimentation culminated in the 4/4-bass driven "Crazy Arms," the country song of the year for 1956. The intensely rhythmic sound he discovered with "Crazy Arms" would dominate his -- and much of country in general's -- music for the next six years. To this day, people in Nashville refer to a 4/4 country shuffle as the "Ray Price beat." Heavy on fiddle, steel, and high tenor harmony, his country work from the late '50s is as lively as the rock & roll of the same era. Price tired of that sound, however, and started messing around with strings. His lush 1967 version of "Danny Boy," and his 1970 take on Kris Kristofferson's "For the Good Times," were, in their crossover way, landmark records. But few of his old fans appreciated the fact. In the three decades following "For the Good Times," Price's career was often an awkward balancing act in which twin Texas fiddles are weighed against orchestras.

Born in tiny Perryville, Texas, Price spent most of his youth in Dallas. It was there where he learned how to play guitar and sing. Following his high-school graduation, he studied veterinary medicine at North Texas Agricultural College in Abilene before he left school to join the Marines in 1942. Price stayed in the service throughout World War II, returing to Texas in 1946. After leaving the Marines, he initially returned to college, yet he began to perform at local clubs and honky tonks, as well as on the local radio station KRBC, where he was dubbed the Cherokee Cowboy. Three years later, he was invited to join the Dallas-based The Big D Jamboree, which convinced him to make music his full-time career. Shortly after joining The Big D Jamboree, the show began to be televised by CBS, which helped him release a single, "Your Wedding Corsage" / "Jealous Lies," on the independent Dallas label Bullet.

Price moved to Nashville to pursue a major-label record contract in 1951. After auditioning and failing several time, Ray finally signed to Columbia Records, after A&R representative Troy Martin convinced the label's chief executive Don Law that Decca was prepared to give the singer a contract. Previously, Law was uninterested in Price -- he turned him down 20 times and threatened Martin never to mention his name again -- but he was unprepared to give a rival company a chance at the vocalist. Just before "Talk to Your Heart" became a number three hit for Price in the spring of 1952, Ray met his idol, Hank Williams, who immediately became a close friend. Over the next year, Hank performed a number of favors for Price, including giving him "Weary Blues" to record and helping him join the Grand Ole Opry. Ray also became the permanent substitute for Hank whenever he was missing or too drunk to perform. Following Williams' death in 1953, Price inherited the Drifting Cowboys.

Following the success of "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" in the fall of 1952, Price was quiet for much of 1953. It wasn't until 1954 that he returned to the charts with "I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)," a number two hit which kicked off a successful year for Price that also included the Top Ten singles "Release Me" and "If You Don't, Somebody Else Will." Instead of capitalzing on that success, he disappeared from the charts during 1955, as he spent the year forming the Cherokee Cowboys. Over the course of the past two years, he had realized that performing with the Drifting Cowboys had made him sound too similar to Hank Williams, so he decided to form his own group. Originally, most of the members were lifted from Lefty Frizzell's Western Cherokees, but over the years a number of gifted musicians began their careers in this band, including Roger Miller, Johnny Paycheck, Buddy Emmons, Johnny Bush and Willie Nelson.

Ray returned to the charts in 1956, first with "Run Boy" and then with "Crazy Arms," a driving honky tonk number that immediately became a country classics. The song was one of the first country records to be recorded with a drum kit, which gave it a relentless, pulsating rhythm. Until Price, most country artists were reluctant to use drums and the instrument was even banned from the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. The blockbuster status of the single helped change that situation. Spending an astonishing 20 weeks at the top of the country charts, "Crazy Arms" not only crossed over into the lower reaches of the pop charts, but it also established Price as a star. After the success of the single, he remained at or near the top of the charts for the next ten years, racking up 23 Top Ten singles between the 1956 and 1966. During this time, he recorded a remarkable number of country classics, including "I've Got a New Heartache" (#2, 1956), "My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You" (#1, 1957), "Make the World Go Away" (#2, 1963) and "City Lights," which spent 13 weeks at the top of the charts in 1958.

The momentum of Price's career had slowed somewhat by the mid-'60s; though he was still having hits, they weren't as frequent nor as big. His musical inclinations were also shifting, bringing him closer to the crooning styles of traditional pop singers. Ray abandoned the cowboy suits and brought in strings to accompany him, making him one of the first to explore the smooth, orchestrated sounds of late '60s and early '70s country-pop. While it alienated some hardcore honky tonk fans, the change in approach resulted in another round of Top Ten hits. However, it took a little while for the country audience to warm to this new sound -- it wasn't until 1970, when his cover of Kris Kristofferson's "For the Good Times" hit number one, that he returned to the top of the charts. Over the next three years, he scored an additional three number one singles ("I Won't Mention It Again," "She's Got to Be a Saint," "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me").

By the mid-'70s, the appeal of his string-laden country-pop hits had diminished, and he spent the rest of the decade struggling to get into the charts. In 1974, he left his long-time home of Columbia Records to sign to Myrrh, where he had two Top Ten hits over the next year. By the end of 1975, he had left the label, signing to ABC/Dot. Though he hadn't changed his style, his records became less popular around the same time he signed to ABC/Dot; only 1977's "Mansion on the Hill" gained much attention. In 1978, he switched labels again, signing with Monument, which proved to be another unsuccessful venture. In 1980, Price reunited with his old bassist Willie Nelson, recording the duet album San Antonio Rose, which was a major success, spawning the number three hit "Faded Love." San Antonio Rose reignited Ray's career, and in 1981 he had two Top Ten singles -- "It Don't Hurt Me Half as Bad," "Diamonds in the Stars" -- for his new label, Dimension. Price left Dimension in 1983, signing with Warner Records. He remained at the label for one year, and by that time, his new spell of popularity had cooled down considerably; now, he was having trouble reaching the Top 40. That situation didn't remedy itself for the remainder of the decade, even though he signed with two new labels: Viva (1983-1984) and Step One (1985-1989).

By the late '80s, Ray Price had stopped concentrating on recording and had turned his efforts toward a theater he owned in Branson, Missouri. For most of the '90s, he sang and performed at his theater in Branson, occasionally stopping to record. Of all of his '90s records, the most notable was the 1992 album Sometimes a Rose, which was produced by Norro Wilson. ~ Dan Cooper, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Originally known as "the Hillbilly Heartthrob" and "the Singing Sheriff," Faron Young had one of the longest-running and most popular careers in country music history. Emerging in the early '50s, Young was one of the most popular honky tonkers to appear in the wake of Hank Williams' death, partially because he was able to smooth out some of the... [+] Read More

Originally known as "the Hillbilly Heartthrob" and "the Singing Sheriff," Faron Young had one of the longest-running and most popular careers in country music history. Emerging in the early '50s, Young was one of the most popular honky tonkers to appear in the wake of Hank Williams' death, partially because he was able to smooth out some of the grittiest elements of his music. At first, he balanced honky tonk with pop vocal phrasing and flourishes. This combination of grit and polish resulted in a streak of Top Ten hits -- including "If You Ain't Lovin'," "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young," "Sweet Dreams," "Alone With You," and "Country Girl" -- that ran throughout the '50s. During the '60s, Young gave himself over to country-pop, and while the hits weren't quite as big, they didn't stop coming until the early '80s. Through that time, he was a staple at the Grand Ole Opry and various television shows, including Nashville Now, and he also founded the major country music magazine, Music City News. Most importantly, he continued to seek out new songwriters -- including Don Gibson, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson -- thereby cultivating a new generation of talent.

Faron Young was born and raised outside of Shreveport, LA. While he was growing up on his father's dairy farm, he was given a guitar, and by the time he entered high school, he had begun singing in a country band. Following high school, he briefly attended college, before he left school to join the Louisiana Hayride as a regular performer. While on the Hayride, he met Webb Pierce and in a short time, the pair were touring throughout the South, singing as a duo in various nightclubs and honky tonks. In 1951, he recorded "Have I Waited Too Long" and "Tattle Tale Tears" for the independent label Gotham. After hearing the singles, Capitol Records decided to buy Young's contract away from Gotham in 1952. That same year, he was invited to perform regularly on the Grand Ole Opry.

Just as his career was taking off, Young was drafted into the Army to serve in the Korean War. Assigned to the Special Service division, he sang for the troops in Asia and appeared on recruitment shows; while on leave, he recorded his debut on Capitol, "Goin' Steady." Upon its early 1953 release, it climbed to number two on the country charts and it was followed in the summer by "I Can't Wait (For the Sun to Go Down)," which hit number five. Young was discharged from the Army in November of 1954, releasing "If You Ain't Lovin," his biggest hit, shortly after he returned. The single was quickly followed in the spring of 1955 by "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young," which became his first number one hit, and the number two single, "All Right."

As soon as he returned to the States, Faron Young began turning out singles at a very rapid pace, and most of them charted in the Top Ten. In addition to recording, he began appearing in films, starting with 1955's Hidden Guns. Over the next few years, he was in no less than ten films -- including Daniel Boone, Road to Nashville, Stampede, A Gun and a Gavel, That's Country, and Raiders of Old California -- and was featured in many television shows. Upon his first film appearance, Faron earned the nickname "the Young Sheriff," which eventually metamorphasized into "the Singing Sheriff." Young's career truly began to hit its stride in 1956, as "I've Got Five Dollars and It's Saturday Night" and "You're Still Mine" reached number four and three, respectively, during the spring, followed by the number two "Sweet Dreams" later that summer. "Sweet Dreams" was not only his biggest hit since "All Right," but it gave songwriter Don Gibson his first significant exposure. Soon, Young developed a reputation for finding promising new songwriters, bringing Roy Drusky's "Alone With You" to the top of the charts in the summer of 1958 and taking Willie Nelson's "Hello Walls" to number one in 1961; Young was one of the first artists to record a Nelson song.

Young continued to record for Capitol through 1962, when he switched labels and signed with Mercury. In general, Young's Mercury recordings were more pop-oriented than his Capitol work, possibly because "Hello Walls," his last number one for Capitol, reached number 12 on the pop charts. Throughout the early and mid-'60s, Young's music became more polished and produced, yet his audience didn't decline dramatically; he may not have been hitting every top of the charts with the same frequency as he was during the '50s, but he was still a consistent hitmaker, and singles like "You'll Drive Me Back (Into Her Arms Again)," "Keeping Up With the Joneses," and "Walk Tall" climbed into the Top Ten.

Faron left the Grand Ole Opry in 1965, deciding that it was more profitable for him to tour as a solo artist instead of being restricted to the Opry. Following his departure, Young began to explore a number of different business ventures, including a Nashville-based racetrack and helping to run the country music publication Music City News, which he co-founded with Preston Temple in 1963. By the end of the decade, he began to return to honky tonk, most notably with the hit "Wine Me Up," which reached number two upon its summer 1969 release. For nearly five years, Young continued to reach the Top Ten with regularity, including such hits as "Your Time's Comin'," "If I Ever Fall in Love (With a Honky Tonk Girl)," "Step Aside," and "It's Four in the Morning." During this time, Young continued to appear on television shows and he made the occasional appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. During the late '70s, his hits gradually began to fade away. In 1979, he left Mercury for MCA, but none of his singles for the new label reached the Top 40.

For most of the '80s, Young performed concerts, maintained his business interests, and appeared on television; in short, he was acting like the country music statesman he was. In 1988, he briefly returned to recording, signing with the small label Step One, and had two minor hits on the label. After that brief burst of activity, he retreated to semi-retirement, occasionally making concert appearances.

During the '90s, Young was stricken with a debilitating emphysema. Depressed by his poor health, he shot himself on December 9, 1996, and passed away the next day. Though he was underappreciated toward the end of his career, Faron Young was a groundbreaking vocalist during the '50s, and he remains one of the finest honky tonkers of his time. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Given that the Country Music Foundation assembled this collection rather than Capitol Records, it's a far more representative example of Faron Young's understated honky tonk genius than anything else compiled on a single disc. For hardcore fans and collectors, there are the Bear Family sets. These 24 tracks represent all of the major moments in... [+] Read More

Given that the Country Music Foundation assembled this collection rather than Capitol Records, it's a far more representative example of Faron Young's understated honky tonk genius than anything else compiled on a single disc. For hardcore fans and collectors, there are the Bear Family sets. These 24 tracks represent all of the major moments in Young's career, from his early, raw, hard-driving barroom singles ("Tattle Tale Tears," "If That's the Fashion," and "I Got Five Dollars and It's Saturday Night") to the evolution of his singing style to a singing example of the pure countrybilly hedonist (the title track) to a pseudo-country crooner who still delivered in the pure Hank Williams style (unlike, say, Jim Reeves) in the late '50s ("I Miss You Already") to a near rockabilly ("That's The Way I Feel") to his late-period full-throated yet reedy baritone ("Hello Walls" and a live "Three Days" that rocks as hard as Elvis did in the '50s). In addition, the listener can also judge the quality of the material Young had to work with. Not a prolific songwriter, he utilized the likes of Tommy Collins (in the early '50s), Marvin Rainwater, Roger Miller, and Willie Nelson in addition to partnering with Bill Anderson, George Jones, and Roy Drusky for most of his own material -- though Young did write "Tattle Tale Tears" and "Goin' Steady" by himself. This material also provides a snapshot of a different Nashville, the one that Hank Williams left and was quickly being fazed from existence. These recordings, even the latest of them, are raw, lean, tough; they swing hard, out of the Jimmie Rodgers blues tradition into honky tonk. By the '60s, only Merle Haggard and Hank Thompson were still doing this. The package is deluxe for a single disc, with killer, not often seen photographs and a fine historical and biographical essay by the CMF's Daniel Cooper. If having one great Faron Young collection is your goal, let this one be it. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Rhino's 1991 collection The Best of George Jones (1955-1967) covers his recordings for Starday, Mercury, United Artists, and Musicor -- in other words, it's the Pappy Daily years, featuring every label Pappy and the Possum recorded for before Jones severed ties with his producer/manager/mentor and moved to Epic and Billy Sherrill's luxurious... [+] Read More

Rhino's 1991 collection The Best of George Jones (1955-1967) covers his recordings for Starday, Mercury, United Artists, and Musicor -- in other words, it's the Pappy Daily years, featuring every label Pappy and the Possum recorded for before Jones severed ties with his producer/manager/mentor and moved to Epic and Billy Sherrill's luxurious productions in 1971. This is the foundation of George Jones' career, with his wildest honky tonk and sweetest ballads, and many of his most iconic songs -- "Why Baby Why," "White Lightning," "The Window Up Above," "Tender Years," "She Thinks I Still Care," "The Race Is On," "Walk Through This World With Me" -- among them. This is when Jones perfected his heart-wrenching ballad style -- still the standard all country singers are measured by -- and when he sang the purest hardcore honky tonk, dabbled in bluegrass with duet partner Melba Montgomery, dipped his toes into pop crossover with Gene Pitney (on the delirious "I've Got Five Dollars and It's Saturday Night"), and revelled in his love for novelties and silly songs, a taste he never lost in his entire career.

Through it's expertly chosen 18 tracks, this Best of George Jones touches on all these sounds, as it offers an abundance of country Top Ten hits, along with a couple other songs that might not have climbed as far on the charts but help fill out Jones' musical portrait. Given the size of the collection, it should be no surprise that it doesn't contain all of his hits from these four labels -- it skews toward the Starday and Mercury sides, with five selections from UA and four from Musicor -- but it is a little surprising that it stops seemingly arbitrarily in 1967,since his first Epic hit arrived in 1972, leaving five years undocumented. Some great songs were recorded during that time -- most notably "A Good Year for the Roses" -- and while it would have been nice to have them here, it's also true that during those five years he began to shift toward the ballad-heavy style that distinguished his Epic records, so they're more of a piece with that era. The 12 years covered here constitute his first golden period, when he could and did sing anything, and they're presented perfectly here. Combine this disc with Epic's Anniversary, and you have the essential George Jones on CD -- and two discs that are just slightly better than Epic/Legacy's very fine 1994 double-disc set, The Spirit of Country. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

The subtitle of Mercury Nashville's three-disc box set King of the Road is "The Genius of Roger Miller," a sentiment that listeners only familiar with his deliberately silly smashes would dispute, but as this three-disc, 70-track set plays out, it becomes clear that this is hardly hyperbole. If genius is a unique voice, either in writing or... [+] Read More

The subtitle of Mercury Nashville's three-disc box set King of the Road is "The Genius of Roger Miller," a sentiment that listeners only familiar with his deliberately silly smashes would dispute, but as this three-disc, 70-track set plays out, it becomes clear that this is hardly hyperbole. If genius is a unique voice, either in writing or delivery, Miller certainly qualifies. If genius is an artist who displays a depth and variety of material, Miller fills the bill. If genius is creating a body of work unlike no other, Miller certainly fits the bill. Miller's genius lay in his command of small details, unassumingly witty wordplay, and seemingly effortless songcraft. Apart from "King of the Road," which developed an iconic status separate from his career, his hits were so funny, so easy, that it seemed his music was too light to withstand such an exhaustive retrospective, but that's hardly the case. Miller's hits were often wonderful, often the pinnacle of his talents, but look closer and it becomes clear that they happened to be the songs that were the singles; he often wrote songs that could have been as big as his hits, but weren't released as singles, or were tucked away on records to be discovered by diligent fans. It's a testament to his talent that not all of these are featured on this otherwise comprehensive box set; the 1991 Country Tunesmith collection alone contains many great songs that could have made the cut. They are missed, as are Miller's brilliant songs from Walt Disney's 1973 animated adaptation Robin Hood ("Not in Nottingham" is as lovely as anything he's done), but that doesn't mean that King of the Road doesn't work as a retrospective -- it just means that, like other great artists, he has more than enough great music to fit onto three CDs. The three CDs are filled with wonderful music -- songs that prove Miller is one of the great country songwriters, capable of songs wrenching in either their humor or pain, and one of the most distinctive voices in the genre. Needless to say, it's essential to any serious country collection. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Although it isn't necessarily a definitive retrospective, Essential is the best CD compilation of Floyd Cramer's solo recordings yet assembled. Containing 20 tracks, including his hits "Last Date," "San Antonio Rose" and "Stood Up," the disc captures Cramer's signature stride piano style in all of its glory on a variety of country, pop and R&B... [+] Read More

Although it isn't necessarily a definitive retrospective, Essential is the best CD compilation of Floyd Cramer's solo recordings yet assembled. Containing 20 tracks, including his hits "Last Date," "San Antonio Rose" and "Stood Up," the disc captures Cramer's signature stride piano style in all of its glory on a variety of country, pop and R&B numbers. Cramer was as well-known as a sideman as he was a solo artist, and even if Essential contains none of his session work, it contains a good portion of his very best recordings, making it a fine introduction to one of the most influential pianists in country and pop history. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Released in 1967, RCA's The Best of Eddy Arnold offers an excellent 12-track overview of his countrypolitain peak for the label in the '60s. Arnold had a tremendous number of hits, charting consistently from 1955-1975, but the early-'60s singles that this record chronicles are at the heart of his legacy -- smooth, lush productions of sweet... [+] Read More

Released in 1967, RCA's The Best of Eddy Arnold offers an excellent 12-track overview of his countrypolitain peak for the label in the '60s. Arnold had a tremendous number of hits, charting consistently from 1955-1975, but the early-'60s singles that this record chronicles are at the heart of his legacy -- smooth, lush productions of sweet ballads and heartache songs, perfectly suited for his easy-rolling voice. Later collections might be more comprehensive, but this The Best of Eddy Arnold contains the essentials -- "Bouquet of Roses," "Make the World Go Away," "Anytime," "I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)," "Last World in Lonesome Is Me," "What's He Doing in My World," a nice re-recording of "Cattle Call" -- that make this record as effective an overview now as it was back then. Other collections may be longer, but this will tell many listeners everything they need to know. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide