- Sunbonnet Sue - Fort Worth Doughboys 3:06
- Taking Off - Milton Brown & His Brownies 2:46
- Everybody's Truckin' - Modern Mountaineers 2:28
- Pussy, Pussy, Pussy - Light Crust Doughboys 2:24
- When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You) - Cliff Bruner's Texas Wanderers 2:43
- Won't You Ride In My Little Red Wagon - Hank Penny & His Radio Cowboys 2:48
- Milk Cow Blues - Johnnie Lee Wills & His Boys 2:51
- Tulsa Twist - Dickie McBride & The Village Boys 2:30
- Southern Belle (From Nashville, Tennessee) - Curly Williams & His Georgia Peach Pickers 2:54
- Faded Love - Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys 3:05
- Boggs Boogie - Spade Cooley & His Band 2:46
- Artistry In Western Swing - Tex Williams & His Western Caravan 2:55
- My Bank Account Is Gone - Jesse Ashlock 2:52
- Pan Handle Rag - Leon McAuliffe & His Western Swing Band 2:47
- It's All Your Fault - Wade Ray With Noel Boggs 2:34
- Steelin' Home - Noel Boggs & His Day Sleepers 2:22
- Troubles (Those Lonesome Kind) - Billy Jack Wills & His Western Swing Band 2:36
- Woodchopper's Ball - Hank Thompson With The Brazos Valley Boys 2:31
Notes
The first volume in Rhino's excellent Heroes of Country Music takes on the original purveyors of Western swing with 18 tasty tracks. Cut during the prime years of the '30s and '40s, the material features both stars (Bob Wills, Hank Penny, Leon McAuliffe, Light Crust Doughboys) and the relatively obscure (Jesse Ashlock, Dickie McBride, the Fort Worth Doughboys?). The music and lyrics run the gamut, too, covering classics (Modern Mountaineers' "Everybody's Truckin'"), boogie woogie (Spade Cooley's "Bogg's Boogie"), the depression (McAuliffe's "Panhandle Rag"), and even the raunchy side of the bedroom (Lightcrust's "Pussy, Pussy, Pussy"). Topped off with Hank Thompson's go at Woody Herman's "Woodchopper's Ball" and Tex Williams' aesthetes nod "Artistry in Western Swing," this Western swing sampler should work mighty fine for all those little doggies lookin' to break in to the big time.