King of The Cowboys, Queen of The West

For more than sixty years, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans personified the romantic, mythic West that America cherished well into the modern age. Blazing a trail through every branch of the entertainment industry—radio, film, recordings, television, and even comic books—the couple capitalized on their attractive personas and appealed to the nation's belief in family values, an independent spirit, community.

Rhino's five-disc box set Respect: A Century of Women in Music was surely assembled with the best of intentions, but it doesn't quite work. First of all, any collection that focuses solely on "the female contribution" comes off as a little condescending, no matter how good the intentions are. Still, the concept has enough weight to make for at least an interesting listen. However, any compilation that spans nearly 100 years and every conceivable popular musical genre is bound not only to be incomplete, but too sweeping to be totally effective. The scope is impressive, as are the featured artists – think of any major female musician and they're likely to be here, unless it's Joni Mitchell (Kim Gordon and Kim Deal are also missing, as are several other similarly minded post-punk rockers and various pop and folk singer/songwriters, but no omission is as shocking as Mitchell's) – but the overall effect is somewhat bewildering.

Celebrate the American Western with these fabulous tracks!The Sons of the Pioneers with eight rare takes including themes from the classic Wagon Train, The Restless Gun, River of No Return, Cheyenne, & The Last Frontier.The Andrews Sisters' My Love Went Without Water, issued ONLY in India, now available again! Also, Mule Train (with Dick Haymes) and Quicksilver (with Bing Crosby).Tex Ritter: the dramatic The Wayward Wind, The Searchers, The Last Wagon.Roy Rogers & Dale Evans: five tracks of The Old West by The King of the Cowboys and The Queen of the West!More drama from Gordon MacRae, Patti Page, Peggy Lee!