Glass Tiger 33 (2019)

Various Artists - The Bakersfield Sound - Country Music Capital Of The West 1940-1974 (2019) {10CD Set Bear Family BCD16036}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 3.90 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.68 Gb
Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 83 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1940-74, 2019 Bear Family Records | BCD 16036
Country / Traditional Country / Bakersfield Sound / Honky Tonk

Buck Owens turned Bakersfield, California into the epicenter of hip country music in the mid-'60s. All it took was a remarkable streak of number one singles that steam rolled right through Nashville with their electrified twang, forever changing the notion of what constituted country music and codifying the Bakersfield sound as hard-driving rhythms, trebly Telecasters, and lean arrangements suited for honky tonks, beer joints, and jukeboxes all across America. Half-a-century later, these remain sonic signifiers of Bakersfield, so the term no longer conveys a specific sound, place, and era, a situation the weighty Bear Family box The Bakersfield Sound: Country Music Capital of the West 1940-1974 intends to rectify.

EMI-Capitol Special Markets' Lost Hits series is unusual, as far as budget-line series go. Usually, budget-line collections have a few hits and a lot of filler, topping out at ten or 12 tracks. Lost Hits contains no less than 20 tracks, and instead of relying on predictable material, the compilers have balanced underappreciated hits, cult favorites and forgotten singles from the EMI vaults, resulting in a thoroughly entertaining disc. Lost Hits of the '80s sticks to mainstream pop for most of its 20 tracks, but there are jangle-pop singles (the Grapes of Wrath's "Oh Lucky Man"), new wave (Total Coelo's "I Eat Cannibals"), prog- rock (Marillion's "Kayleigh"), rockabilly revival (Phantom, Rocker & Slick's "Men Without Shame") and lots of pop-rock, hard rock and arena rock from the likes of John Taylor, the Pursuit of Happiness, Martha Davis, the Jon Butcher Axis, the Tubes, Rob Jungklas, Vixen, Red Rider, Industry, Amy Holland and Glass Tiger. There might not be many songs that are instantly recognizable, but that's the very reason why it's worth a gamble at this bargain price.