Various Artists - Columbia Country Classics, Vol. 4: The Nashville Sound

Artist:

Various Artists

UPC:

886972299020

Description:

The Nashville Sound picks things up in the mid-`50s, and chronicles the rise of country-pop (aka the Nashville sound). In 1955 Marty Robbins made number one on the country charts with a mixture of pristine honky tonk and smooth vocals in "Singing the Blues." This and many of the early tracks on this collection were produced by Columbia`s own Nashville sound architect Don Law, who would bring honky tonk to its logical and streamlined extreme; Ray Price still sounds polished even without strings ("Night Life") and Hawkshaw Hawkins jumps into the fray with an appealing choral and country mixture ("I Can`t Seem to Say Goodbye"). Law would reach his peak with Billy Walker`s seamless, easy listening rendition of the Willie Nelson perennial "Funny How Time Slips Away." Producer Billy Sherrill took the reigns in 1965, and pushed the Nashville sound to its peak, with up-in-the-mix strings and choir, plenty of echo and reverb, and rhythm sections that sounded unobtrusively compact. Sherrill found quick success with David Houston`s "Almost Persuaded," Tammy Wynette`s career-defining hit "Stand By Your Man," and later with luxuriously arranged hits for George Jones. Charlie Rich`s hugely successful crossover hits "Behind Close Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World," though, would be Sherrill`s watermark and come to represent the apex of the Nashville sound. Along with Rich`s hits, Lynn Anderson`s "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden," Barbara Mandrell`s "The Midnight Oil," and Tanya Tucker`s "Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)" would set the stage for country`s transformation into the ultra-polished music it became during the `80s and `90s. ~ Stephen Cook

Track Listing:

DISC 1

1. I Still Miss Someone - Johnny Cash
2. Singing the Blues - Marty Robbins
3. Charlie`s Shoes - Billy Walker
4. Devil Woman - Marty Robbins
5. Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash
6. Jackson - Johnny Cash/June Carter Cash
7. Wound Time Can`t Erase, A - Stonewall Jackson
8. I Can`t Seem to Say Goodbye - Hawkshaw Hawkins
9. I Think I Know - Marion Worth
10. Funny How Time Slips Away - Billy Walker
11. Night Life - Ray Price
12. Almost Persuaded - David Houston
13. My Elusive Dreams - D. Houston/Tammy Wynette
14. Stand by Your Man - Tammy Wynette
15. Bring Him Safely Home to Me - Sandy Posey
16. I Take It on Home - Charlie Rich
17. Take Me - George Jones/Tammy Wynette
18. Behind Closed Doors - Charlie Rich
19. Most Beautiful Girl, The - Charlie Rich
20. She`s All I Got - Johnny Paycheck
21. Picture of Me, A (Without You) - George Jones
22. Midnight Oil, The - Barbara Mandrell
23. Grand Tour, The - George Jones
24. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden - Lynn Anderson
25. For the Good Times - Ray Price
26. Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone) - Tanya Tucker

Album Information

Type:

Collection

Genre:

Oldies

Subgenre:

Rockabilly

Label:

Columbia (USA)

Catalog Number:

46032

Original Release Year:

1991

# of Discs:

1

SPARS Coding:

AAD

Studio/Live:

Studio

Mono/Stereo:

Stereo

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