circle of talented friends & family. Sentimental love songs, early gospel hymns, fiddle-breakdowns, and disaster songs are included in this set with over 20 never before reissued. Stoneman was inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame in early 2008. Deluxe package also contains a 44 page booklet with an introduction by Patsy Stoneman, which contains many rare & haunting images.  (less)

Home A Drinkin'" "I'm A Honky Tonk Girl," "Fist City," and "You're Looking at Country" show a vibrant, independent woman with her own strong beliefs and keen observations. In her songs, she (literally) fights for her man's loyalty, stands up to his abuse, and moves on when he leaves. Among these 16 cuts are duets with Ernest Tubb and Conway Twitty, the controversial "The Pill" (yes, that pill), and her autobiographical trademark, "Coal Miner's Daughter." Lynn's defiant outlook picks up where Kitty Wells left off. --Marc Greilsamer  (less)

song "Soft Lights and Hard Country Music," sums up his aesthetic quite nicely, but what it doesn't tell you is that Bandy seemed to be the only country singer who had that aesthetic in the 1970s and early 1980s. The Mississippi-born Bandy was raised in Texas and on the music of fellow Meridian native Jimmie Rodgers, honky-tonk master Hank Williams, and eventually his idol George Jones--hear how Bandy pronounces "woman" in "I Just Started Hatin' Cheatin' Songs Today" for proof of his reverence for Possum. Despite the country-pop trends of the day, he saw no reason to ever stray far from the hardcore honky-tonk that's as natural in Texas as cowboy hats. You might say he presaged the neotraditionalism of the late 1980s, except that he really wasn't "reviving" anything. He was mer...  (less)

crossed-over to the pop charts, but was also nominated for a Grammy.  (less)

country music's grand tradition & has the skill to give powerful vocal performances and draw all the emotion from his selected material effortlessly. In 1976, Watson released his second LP on the Capitol label, Because You Believed In Me, the title track of which was a Top 20 hit single. Beautiful Country, released the following year, included the hit singles 'The Old Man & His Horn', 'I Don't Need A Thing At All', and 'Cowboys Don't Get Lucky All The Time', which was a hit in 1978. This latter song also appeared on the soundtrack of the Sam Peckinpah movie 'Convoy’. The two albums on this CD are drawn from the most commercially successful period of his career and capture Watson in his prime. Both released here on CD for the first time. Hux. 2005.  (less)

artist for kids who have grown up in the past 25 years. So it should be no surprise that when 13 of country's coolest singers and groups, from Asleep at the Wheel to Kathy Mattea, salute him, the result is an unbridled success. Whether it's the very young country star Billy Gilman serenading with "Baby Beluga," Marty Stuart celebrating organic farmers in "Naturally," or Rhonda Vincent's sweet version of "Bananaphone," your smile just grows as the CD spins. Alison's Krauss's "Blessed Be" ought be playing in every home and on every station these days. But it's "Blue White Planet," Raffi's new song, which he sings, that joyfully transcends all the happy moments and wonderfully frames our blue orb in the proper poetic context that the cosmos intended for it. --Martin ...  (less)