Decca Hillbilly

Decca was a fairly wide-ranging label whose trademark sound was a strain of commercially palpable hillbilly pop perfected by producer (and, beginning in 1958, label head) Owen Bradley. These three discs offer an assortment of stars (Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, Bill Monroe, Loretta Lynn), subordinates, and the uncelebrated. The latter, in fact, are what makes this box stand out. A great deal of the fun comes from antiquated time pieces like Johnny Wright's "Hello Vietnam" ("I hope theworld will come to learn/That fires we don't put out will bigger burn") or that master of the hayseed soliloquy Red Sovine's "If Jesus Came to Your House" ("Would you have to change your clothes before you let him in?/Or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they'd been?"). Overall, From The Vaults serves as an evocative sampler of what a rural jukebox was playing when Gunsmoke ruled the tube.

Ernest Tubb - Gonna Shake The Shack Tonight - Thirty Days (2007) {Decca–Bear Family BCD16866AH rec 1950'}
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© 1950', 2007 Decca / Bear Family Records | BCD 16866 AH
Country / Honky Tonk / Traditional Country

A fresh slant on the king and originator of honky tonk music, a full CD of his up-tempo recordings, including era-defining hits like Walking The Floor Over You, You Nearly Lose Your Mind, and Drivin' Nails In My Coffin. The next best thing to a night at a Texas honky tonk circa 1950 minus the guns and cigarette smoke. These recordings ooze character and believability. Tubb's voice wavers off-key here and there, but the gritty realism and human warmth more than compensate. Ernest Tubb made records that could only be Ernest Tubb records. The contrast with the cookie-cutter similarity and artificial perfection of today's country music could not be more obvious. Includes a 32-page booklet.

Hank Garland - Hank Garland and His Sugar Footers (1992) {Bear Family BCD15551 rec 1949-1957}
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© 1949-57, 1992 Decca / Chic / Bear Family Records | BCD 15551 AH
Country / Jazz / Nashville Sound / Guitar

The 1961 road accident that left Hank Garland unable to play cut short one of the most promising careers in country music. In 1949, Hank played on Red Foley's Sugarfoot Rag, and suddenly the world took notice of this incredible 18 year-old guitar prodigy. He was signed to Decca, and this set comprises his Decca sides from 1949 to 1951 and his 1957 Chic session.

Charlie Walker - Pick Me Up On Your Way Down (1999) {5CD Set, Bear Family BCD15852EI rec 1952-1971}
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© 1952-71, 1999 Bear Family Records | BCD 15852 EI
Honky-Tonk / Hillbilly /Country / Country-Pop / Nashville Sound

The hillbilly shuffle and the honky tonk song are still the cornerstones of real country music. Some pioneers, like Ray Price, are getting their due these days, but others, like Charlie Walker, tend to be overlooked.
The facts are these: Charlie Walker's early hits, like Who Will Buy The Wine, Pick Me Up On Your Way Down, Wild As A Wildcat, and Little Ol' Winedrinker Me are simply as good as it gets when it comes to heartbreakin', cheatin', beerhall country music and state-of-the-art hillbilly shuffles. The 154 sides represented in this five-CD collection chronicle the development of Charlie Walker's style from his earliest recordings in 1952 for Imperial Records to his classic sides for Columbia and Epic Records.

Johnnie & Jack - Ashes Of Love: Greatest Recordings 1949-1962 (2019) {2CD Set, Jasmine Records JASMCD 3724/5}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 578 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 328 Mb
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© 1949-62, 2019 Jasmine Records | JASMCD 3724/5
Country / Honky Tonk / Hillbilly / Bluegrass / Close Harmony

Aside from the Louvins and the Delmores, few other postwar vocal duos had the power and consistently high quality of the brother-in-law team of Johnny Wright and Jack Anglin. They started working together on various Southern radio stations before World War II. The war split them but they reunited afterward with Johnnie's wife Muriel (future legend Kitty Wells) singing in the band. In 1947 they joined the Opry and made their first records for the R & B-oriented Apollo label. This superb collection starts with the beautiful What About You from their first session for RCA in January 1949 and ends with their last Decca recording You'll Never Get A Better Chance Than This from March 1962 , a year before Anglin's tragic 1963 death in a car crash the same day he was to attend Patsy Cline's funeral.