VA - The Golden Age Of American Rock & Roll: Special Country Edition
Release Date:May 6, 2002
Label: Ace Records
As the fine series The Golden Age of American Rock 'N' Roll focused on rock & roll hits of all kinds from the mid-'50s to the mid-'60s, the title of this offshoot might be confusing. How can you have a country edition of a rock & roll anthology series? It might be better to think of this as a compilation of 30 country hits from 1956 to 1965 that crossed over, usually in a big way, to the pop charts: every one of the tracks made the country Top Ten and the pop Top 100, sometimes getting into the Top Ten of the pop listings as well. As such, a lot of rock & roll fans, and fans of just plain popular music, would be about as familiar with these as they were with rock smashes of the era. Not many anthologies focus on this notable subsection of country and pop, and as expected Ace does a fine job in mixing big and small hits by superstars, one-shots, and country stars who only occasionally crossed over in a big way. Several undisputed classics are here: Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," Marty Robbins' "El Paso," Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces," Don Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me," Bobby Bare's "Detroit City," and Dave Dudley's "Six Days on the Road," for instance. The more experienced collector might get more of a turn-on from the numerous additional items that have never really become staples of pop oldies radio, like Leroy Van Dyke's "Walk on By," George Hamilton IV's "Abilene," Wanda Jackson's "Right or Wrong," and George Jones' "White Lightning." If there's any slight drawback to this compilation, it's that though some of the songs were inarguably quite successful, there are some not-so-hot novelties, saga songs, and hits à la Jim Reeves' "He'll Have to Go" that were indicative of Nashville's drift toward stultifying mainstream pop coated with country frosting. But there's more good than bad here, and the 24-page liner notes are excellent, filling in a lot of career details for those who might not be country specialists. --Richie Unterberger, AllMusicGuide
Track Listing:
1. White Lightning - George Jones
2. You're The Reason - Bobby Edwards
3. Detroit City - Bobby Bare
4. Abilene - George Hamilton IV
5. El Paso - Marty Robbins
6. Please Help Me I'm Falling - Hank Locklin
7. Ring Of Fire - Johnny Cash
8. Big Bad John - Jimmy Dean
9. Walk On By - Leroy Van Dyke
10. Let's Think About Livin' - Bob Luman
11. I Fall To Pieces - Patsy Cline
12. Crazy Arms - Ray Price
13. Don't Let Me Cross Over - Carl Butler
14. Still - Bill Anderson
15. Oh Lonesome Me - Don Gibson
16. Wolverton Mountain - Claude King
17. Right Or Wrong - Wanda Jackson
18. He'll Have To Go - Jim Reeves
19. I Ain't Never - Webb Price
20. The Battle Of New Orleans - Johnny Horton
21. Waterloo - Sonewall Jackson
22. Hello Walls - Faron Young
23. From A Jack To A King - Ned Miller
24. A Little Bitty Tear - Burl Ives
25. Flowers On The Wall - The Statler Brothers
26. Alabam - Cowboy Copas
27. Gone - Ferlin Husky
28. Gonna Find Me A Bluebird - Marvin Rainwater
29. Six Days On The Road - Dave Dudley
30. King Of The Road - Roger Miller
This is the last of my uploads from the "Golden Age of American Rock 'N' Roll" series, if you want the Novelty Edition you'll have to buy it.
Personal picks: "Abilene" - George Hamilton IV, "Wolverton Mountain" - Claude King and "Crazy Arms" - Ray Price.
Enjoy!