There Was A Country

Although she became famous for "Queen of the House," her response to Roger Miller's "King of the Road," Jody Miller pioneered a fusion of folk, country, and pop that set the stage for the folky country-pop of the '70s. Raised in Oklahoma, she was born Myrna Joy Miller and, inspired by the music of Joan Baez, learned to play guitar at the age of 14. Soon after, Miller joined a folk trio and began performing at a local coffeehouse. Lou Gottlieb, a member of folk group the Limelighters, heard her sing and was impressed enough to offer to help her get a recording contract, provided she move to Los Angeles. Miller initially declined, as she had recently married, but eventually she and her husband went to California to test the waters. A friend of the family arranged an audition with Capitol Records, which signed Miller while suggesting that she change her name from Myrna to the folkier "Jody."

Veteran folksinger Bob Gibson had been a friend of Shel Silverstein's long before he devoted an album to singing compositions by the country and novelty songwriter. Silverstein, the author of "The Cover of Rolling Stone" and "A Boy Named Sue," supplied Gibson with a characteristic collection of mostly comic story songs for this release. "The Man Who Turns the Damn Thing Off and On" poked fun at automation, for example, while "Golden Kiss" was the tale of a country songwriter who encounters the ultimate country music muse so she says, anyway and "Makin' a Mess of Commercial Success" was a first-person account of a beer drinker's recruitment to make a beer commercial.

101 Lessons to Become a Country Singer-Songwriter

Some of the most popular country/western artists connected with The Grand Ole Opry are featured, performing outstanding Christmas and seasonal material, many tracks debuting on CD. The great George Jones is heard on four rare tracks; Kitty Wells performs eight fine Christmas songs (in stereo); four great early tracks feature mega-star Tennessee Ernie Ford; Western stars - Tex Ritter, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Gene Autry, and Jimmy Wakely - are featured; Jimmy Dean, Molly Bee, Eddy Arnold, The Dinning Sisters, Patti Page and Faron Young are included. There are many well-loved traditional titles featured, and in addition, some great songs that have been brought back: Lonely Christmas, An Old-Fashioned Tree, He's A Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus, He Was A Man, My Friend, Star Of Hope, Little Sandy Sleighfoot, Willy Claus, Blue Snowflakes, Blue December, The Light Of The World, and many more. This will be one of the best Country Christmas sets of the decade!