The Golden Age of American Rock 'N' Roll: Special Country Edition

by N/A

Overview

As the fine series The Golden Age of American Rock 'N' Roll focused on rock & roll hits of all kinds from the mid-'50s to the mid-'60s, the title of this offshoot might be confusing. How can you have a country edition of a rock & roll anthology series? It might be better to think of this as a compilation of 30 country hits from 1956 to 1965 that crossed over, usually in a big way, to the pop charts: every one of the tracks made the country Top Ten and the pop Top 100, sometimes getting into the Top Ten of the pop listings as well. As such, a lot of rock & roll fans, and fans of just plain popular music, would be about as familiar with these as they were with rock smashes of the era. Not many anthologies focus on this notable subsection of country and pop, and as expected Ace does a fine job in mixing big and small hits by superstars, one-shots, and country stars who only occasionally crossed over in a big way. Several undisputed classics are here: Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," Marty Robbins' "El Paso," Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces," Don Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me," Bobby Bare's "Detroit City," and Dave Dudley's "Six Days on the Road," for instance. The more experienced collector might get more of a turn-on from the numerous additional items that have never really become staples of pop oldies radio, like Leroy Van Dyke's "Walk on By," George Hamilton IV's "Abilene," Wanda Jackson's "Right or Wrong," and George Jones' "White Lightning." If there's any slight drawback to this compilation, it's that though some of the songs were inarguably quite successful, there are some not-so-hot novelties, saga songs, and hits a la Jim Reeves' "He'll Have to Go" that were indicative of Nashville's drift toward stultifying mainstream pop coated with country frosting. But there's more good than bad here, and the 24-page liner notes are excellent, filling in a lot of career details for those who might not be country specialists. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	05/07/2002
Label:	Ace
UPC:	0029667184526
Rank:	7366

Tracks

1. White Lightning  - George Jones  - J.P. Richardson
2. You're the Reason  - Bobby Edwards  - Terry Fell  - James F. Hanley  - Mildred Imes
3. Detroit City  - Bobby Bare  - Danny Dill  - Mel Tillis
4. Abilene  - Les Brown  - Bob Gibson  - George IV Hamilton  - John D. Loudermilk
5. El Paso  - Marty Robbins
6. Please Help Me, I'm Falling  - Hal Blair  - Hank Locklin  - Don Robertson
7. Ring of Fire  - Johnny Cash  - June Carter Cash  - Merle Kilgore
8. Big Bad John  - Roy Acuff  - Jimmy Dean
9. Walk on By  - Kendall Hayes  - Leroy VanDyke
10. Let's Think About Living  - Boudleaux Bryant  - Bob Luman
11. I Fall to Pieces  - Patsy Cline  - Hank Cochran  - Harlan Howard
12. Crazy Arms  - Ralph Mooney  - Ray Price  - Chuck Seals
13. Don't Let Me Cross Over  - Carl Butler  - Penny Jay
14. Still  - Bill Anderson
15. Oh, Lonesome Me  - Don Gibson
16. Wolverton Mountain  - Merle Kilgore  - Claude King
17. Right or Wrong  - Wanda Jackson
18. He'll Have to Go  - Audrey Allison  - Joe Allison  - Jim Reeves
19. I Ain't Never  - Webb Pierce  - Mel Tillis
20. The Battle of New Orleans  - Jimmie Driftwood  - Johnny Horton
21. Waterloo  - Stonewall Jackson  - John D. Loudermilk  - Marijohn Wilkin
22. Hello Walls  - Willie Nelson  - Faron Young
23. From a Jack to a King  - Ned Miller
24. A Little Bitty Tear  - Hank Cochran  - Burl Ives
25. Flowers on the Wall  - Lew DeWitt  -  Statler Brothers
26. Alabam  - Cowboy Copas  - Lloyd Copas
27. Gone  - Ferlin Husky  - Smokey Rogers
28. Gonna Find Me a Bluebird  - Marvin Rainwater
29. Six Days on the Road  - Dave Dudley  - Earl Green  - Carl Montgomery
30. King of the Road  - Roger Miller

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Claude King   Primary Artist
Cowboy Copas   Primary Artist
Roger Miller   Primary Artist
Ferlin Husky   Primary Artist
Carl Butler   Primary Artist
Don Gibson   Primary Artist
Johnny Horton   Primary Artist
Webb Pierce   Primary Artist
Leroy Van Dyke   Primary Artist
Ned Miller   Primary Artist
Jimmy Dean   Primary Artist
Marvin Rainwater   Primary Artist
Ray Price   Primary Artist
Stonewall Jackson   Primary Artist
Burl Ives   Primary Artist
The Statler Brothers   Primary Artist
Hank Locklin   Primary Artist
Bob Luman   Primary Artist
Wanda Jackson   Primary Artist
Johnny Cash   Primary Artist
Marty Robbins   Primary Artist
Jim Reeves   Primary Artist
George Hamilton IV   Primary Artist
George Jones   Primary Artist
Dave Dudley   Primary Artist
Bobby Edwards   Primary Artist
Patsy Cline   Primary Artist
Bill Anderson   Primary Artist
Bobby Bare   Primary Artist
Faron Young   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Joe Allison   Composer
Faron Young   Performer
Roger Miller   Composer
Tony Rounce   Illustrations
Ferlin Husky   Performer
Carl Butler   Performer
Don Gibson   Composer,Performer
Don Robertson   Composer
Johnny Horton   Performer
Webb Pierce   Composer,Performer
Lew DeWitt   Composer
John D. Loudermilk   Composer
Leroy Van Dyke   Performer
Rob Finnis   Annotation,Liner Notes,Illustrations
Jimmie Driftwood   Arranger,Composer
Penny Jay   Composer
Ned Miller   Composer,Performer
Ralph Mooney   Composer
Jimmy Dean   Composer,Performer
Marvin Rainwater   Composer,Performer
Mel Tillis   Composer
Merle Kilgore   Composer
Mildred Imes   Composer
Les Brown   Composer
James F. Hanley   Composer
Stonewall Jackson   Performer
Burl Ives   Performer
Duncan Cowell   Mastering
The Statler Brothers   Performer
Willie Nelson   Composer
Hal Blair   Composer
Harlan Howard   Composer
Hank Locklin   Performer
Marijohn Wilkin   Composer
Danny Dill   Composer
Terry Fell   Composer
Bob Gibson   Composer
Bob Luman   Performer
Kendall Hayes   Composer
Wanda Jackson   Composer,Performer
Johnny Cash   Performer
Lloyd Copas   Composer
June Carter Cash   Composer
Roy Acuff   Composer
Marty Robbins   Composer,Performer
George Hamilton IV   Performer
Hank Cochran   Composer
Dave Dudley   Performer
Chris Popham   Package Design
Bobby Edwards   Composer
Patsy Cline   Performer
Smokey Rogers   Composer
Audrey Allison   Composer
Bill Anderson   Composer,Performer
Bobby Bare   Performer
Boudleaux Bryant   Composer
Jiles Perry Richardson   Composer
Chuck Seals   Composer
Earl Green   Composer
Carl Montgomery   Composer
Claude King   Composer,Performer