9CD reconfiguration of original Atlantic box set, featuring every A-side the label released during those nine years, as well as several B-sides. The set is a definitive portrait of gritty, deep Southern soul. For any serious soul or rock collector, it's an essential set, since Stax-Volt was not only a musically revolutionary label, its roster was deep with talent, which means much of the music on this collection is first-rate. 11 of these singles charted on Billboard.
Harry Nilsson spent almost all of his rich, idiosyncratic, sometimes maddening career at RCA Records, releasing his bravura debut, Pandemonium Shadow Show, in 1967 and fading into the sunset with 1977's Knnillssonn. During those ten years, he released 14 albums and left behind a bunch of stray tracks, almost all of which are gathered on Legacy's massive and wonderful 2013 box The RCA Albums Collection…
Country music is all about characters and the stories they tell. That, prior to the advent of the phonograph and, later, radio, was exactly how the songs were passed down through the generations. And the good news is we not only have some great songs here but we also have some very memorable characters telling them. Some of those characters enjoyed long careers, like Tennessee Ernie Ford who began performing at the age four in 1923 and was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1990, the year before his death. Others like Patsy Cline were taken from us all too soon, in her case in a 1963 plane crash. Cline came to overright fame on a TV talent contest and went on to become a classic country balladeer with some glossy, string-laden productions. 'Crazy', from 1961, was her greatest hit and has been covered in subsequent years by kd lang among others.
With 158 hits on 10 CDs, the 'Golden Age of Country' is the most comprehensive collection ever devoted to country music of the 1950s and '60s. We've brought together all the major C&W stars and their hits from the two most important decades in the genre's history. It's a dream collection for any fan of classic country music.
“In the whole of pop, he’s the only man I can think of that has unnatural powers, who really knows what will hit and what won’t. He hardly misses. Under pressure, he wins out every time.” Nick Cohn