The Country Numero . 1s of The 40'

Time traveler Alvin Youngblood Hart's albums have darted from crusty Delta fingerpicking and hollering to Hendrixian hellfire to crunchy, primal rockin' blues, all with the ring of authority that comes from complete commitment to the music. This time, he's set the wayback machine to the early '30s, using guitars, mandolin, banjo, and a lot of heart to interpret tunes by Son House, Charley Patton, Skip James, Leadbelly, and others. Somehow, the dust of old Mississippi, the state where the Oakland-born musician now resides, seems to have gotten into his blood. Hart sounds like Parchman Farm's newest inmate as he wails and moans through "How Long Before I Can Change My Clothes," plucking notes from a National resonator guitar. Chiming out chords and quick runs on banjo, he makes Odetta's "Chilly Winds" seem like they're carrying the voices of lost ghosts, recounting their lives of misery under Jim Crow's wing. Hart tends to take many of these classics, like Patton's "Tom Rushen Blues" and Leadbelly's "Alberta," at slightly slower tempos, which gives him more time to squeeze gut emotions from his lightly graveled phrases and lets his pluck-and-drone playing work its hypnotic effect. Stark and impressive for the power Hart generates alone, this may be the acoustic blues album of the year.

There is no shortage of good (and even great) Hank Williams collections out there on CD, not only from Polygram and Universal (the successors to MGM Records, to which Williams was signed), but also from their licensees. Such is the case with this 1994 CD collection, a joint production of Time-Life and the Country Music Hall of Fame, containing 25 songs in a very handsome and well-put-together package.

This eight-CD collection contains all of Wanda Jackson's Capitol recordings from 1963 to 1973, including nine Top 30 country hits, The Box It Came In, Because It's You, Tears Will Be The Chaser For The Wine, Both Sides Of The Line, A Girl Don't Have To Drink To Have Fun, My Big Iron Skillet, A Woman Lives For Love, Fancy Satin Pillows and Back Then, plus ten unissued recordings and several songs that only appeared on singles.

Merle Haggard - Legendary Country Singers one of the most important and respected of all country legends, Merle Haggard (along with Buck Owens) was the chief practitioner of the "Bakersfield Sound", a hard core honky tonk/western swing alternative to sixties Nashville's safer, more commercial side. Hag's self-penned, thought provoking arsenal included blue collar sagas (Ramblin' Fever, Workin' Man Blues), prison laments (Sing Me Back Home, Mama Tried), saloon songs (The Bottle Let Me Down, Swinging Doors), and thought provoking anthems (Fightin' Side Of Me, Okie From Muskogee), most of which topped the charts.

The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971 by Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner. With five number-one singles, six Grammy Awards, five American Music Awards, and six number one albums, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s…