The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Country Music was a multi-volume set of recordings released by the Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

. Released in 1981, the collection contains 143 tracks deemed to be significantly important to the history of country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

.

Classic Country Music was issued in eight volumes — either vinyl albums, cassette tapes or 8-track cartridges. It also contained an illustrated 56-page book by Bill C. Malone, a country music historian and professor of history at Tulane University

Tulane University

Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...

. Malone's extensively annotated essay details country music's history era by era, from its beginnings in the 1920s and commercialization during the 1930s, and its evolution from the 1940s through the 1970s. Included are many songs from the 1920s and 1930s, as well as bluegrass

Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

 and other related genres to country music.

Significant artists whose works were included were Vernon Dalhart

Vernon Dalhart

Vernon Dalhart , born Marion Try Slaughter, was a popular American singer and songwriter of the early decades of the 20th century. He is a major influence in the field of country music.-Early life:...

, Jimmie Rodgers

Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)

James Charles Rodgers , known as Jimmie Rodgers, was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling...

, the Carter Family

Carter Family

The Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. They were the first vocal group to become country...

, Sons of the Pioneers

Sons of the Pioneers

The Sons of the Pioneers are one of America's earliest Western singing groups whose classic recordings set a new standard for performers of Western music. Known for the high quality of their vocal performances, musicianship, and songwriting, they produced finely-crafted and innovative recordings...

, Bob Wills

Bob Wills

James Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...

, Roy Acuff

Roy Acuff

Roy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...

, Ernest Tubb

Ernest Tubb

Ernest Dale Tubb , nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" , marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music...

, Eddy Arnold

Eddy Arnold

Richard Edward Arnold , known professionally as Eddy Arnold, was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a so-called Nashville sound innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more...

, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash

John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...

, Kitty Wells

Kitty Wells

Ellen Muriel Deason , known professionally as Kitty Wells, is an American country music singer. Her 1952 hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts, and turned her into the first female country star...

, Loretta Lynn

Loretta Lynn

Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...

, Merle Haggard

Merle Haggard

Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...

, Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson

Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...

 and George Jones

George Jones

George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....

.

Everything was contained within a denim-covered box, with the name emblazoned on the front.

This collection would be replaced by Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection

Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection

Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection was a multi-volume set of recordings released by the Smithsonian Institution. Released in 1990, the collection contains 100 tracks deemed to be significantly important to the history of country music....

, a 100-track collection issued in 1990 (and whose liner notes were also written by Malone), and includes songs released through 1987.

Vol. 1 – The 1920s

• "Sallie Gooden" — A.C. "Eck" Robertson
  Eck Robertson
  Alexander "Eck" Robertson was an American fiddle player, mostly known for commercially recording the first country music songs in 1922 with Henry Gilliland.-Early life:...
  
  
• "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane
  The Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane
  "The Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane" is a popular song written by Will S. Hays in 1871 for the minstrel trade. Written in dialect, the song tells of an elderly man, presumably a slave or former slave, passing his latter years in a broken-down old log cabin...
  
  " – Fiddlin' John Carson
  Fiddlin' John Carson
  Fiddlin' John Carson was an American old time fiddler and an early-recorded country musician.-Early life:...
  
  
• "Going Down the Lee Highway" – Grayson and Whitter
  Henry Whitter
  Henry Whitter was an early country musician.-Biography:...
  
  
• "Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel" – Uncle Dave Macon
  Uncle Dave Macon
  Uncle Dave Macon , born David Harrison Macon—also known as "The Dixie Dewdrop"—was an American banjo player, singer, songwriter, and comedian...
  
   and his Fruit Jar Drinkers
• "The Prisoner’s Song" – Vernon Dalhart
  Vernon Dalhart
  Vernon Dalhart , born Marion Try Slaughter, was a popular American singer and songwriter of the early decades of the 20th century. He is a major influence in the field of country music.-Early life:...
  
  
• "Goodbye Sweet Liza Jane" – Charlie Poole
  Charlie Poole
  Charlie Poole was an American old time banjo player and country musician and the leader of the North Carolina Ramblers, an American old-time string band that recorded many popular songs between 1925 to 1930.-Biography:...
  
   with the North Carolina Ramblers
• "Wreck of the Old 97
  Wreck of the Old 97
  Old 97 was a Southern Railway train officially known as the Fast Mail. It ran from Washington DC to Atlanta, Georgia. On September 27, 1903 while en route from Monroe, Virginia, to Spencer, North Carolina, the train derailed at Stillhouse Trestle near Danville, Virginia...
  
  " – Vernon Dalhart
  Vernon Dalhart
  Vernon Dalhart , born Marion Try Slaughter, was a popular American singer and songwriter of the early decades of the 20th century. He is a major influence in the field of country music.-Early life:...
  
  
• "Soldier’s Joy" – Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers
  Gid Tanner
  James Gideon Tanner was an American old time fiddler and one of the earliest stars of what would come to be known as country music. His band, the Skillet Lickers, was one of the most innovative and influential string bands of the 1920s and 1930s...
  
  
• "Where We'll Never Grow Old" – Smith's Sacred Singers
• "Shannon Waltz" – East Texas Serenaders
• "Birmingham Jail" – Darby and Tarlton
• "Lady Gay" – Buell Kazee
  Buell Kazee
  Buell Kazee was an American country and folk singer. He is considered one of the most successful folk musicians of the 1920s and experienced a career comeback during the American folk music revival of the 1960s due in part to his inclusion on the Anthology of American Folk Music.- Early life...
  
  
• "The Fatal Wedding" – Bradley Kincaid
  Bradley Kincaid
  William Bradley Kincaid was an American folk singer and radio entertainer.He was born in Point Level, Garrard County, Kentucky but built a music career in the northern states. His first radio appearance came in 1926 when he performed on the National Barn Dance show on WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois...
  
  
• "When the Work's All Done This Fall" – Carl T. Sprague
  Carl T. Sprague
  Carl T. "Doc" Sprague was an American country musician. He was often dubbed "The Original Singing Cowboy". Sprague was one of the first country musicians on record, recording in the early 1920s.-Biography:...
  
  
• "The Titanic" – Ernest Stoneman
  Ernest Stoneman
  Ernest Van "Pop" Stoneman ranked among the prominent recording artists of country music's first commercial decade.-Biography:...
  
  
• "Wildwood Flower" – Carter Family
  Carter Family
  The Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. They were the first vocal group to become country...
  
  
• "Daddy and Home" – Jimmie Rodgers
  Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)
  James Charles Rodgers , known as Jimmie Rodgers, was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling...
  
  
• "Waiting For a Train" – Jimmie Rodgers
  Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)
  James Charles Rodgers , known as Jimmie Rodgers, was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling...
  
  

Vol. 2 – The 1930s Southeast

• "Mocking Bird" – Arthur Smith
• "Ragged But Right – Riley Puckett
  Riley Puckett
  George Riley Puckett was an American country music pioneer mostly known for being a member of Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers.-Biography:...
  
  
• "Black Jack David" – Cliff Carlisle and His Buckle Busters
• "Pretty Polly" – Coon Creek Girls"
• "Twenty One Years" – Mac and Bob"
• "She's My Curley Headed Baby" – Callahan Brothers
• "The East Bound Train" – Blue Sky Boys
• "Brown's Ferry Blues" – Delmore Brothers
• "What Would You Give In Exchange For Your Soul" – Monroe Brothers
  Bill Monroe
  William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
  
  
• "Orange Blossom Special
  Orange Blossom Special (song)
  The fiddle tune "Orange Blossom Special", about the passenger train of the same name, was written by Ervin T. Rouse in 1938. The original recording was created by Ervin and Gordon Rouse in 1939. It is considered the best known fiddle tune of the twentieth century and is often called simply The...
  
  " – Rouse Brothers
• "Old Shep" – Red Foley
  Red Foley
  Clyde Julian Foley , better known as Red Foley, was an American singer, musician, and radio and TV personality who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II....
  
  
• "I'm Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail" – Karl and Harty
• "Remember Me (When the Candle Lights Are Gleaming)" – Lulu Belle and Scotty
  Lulu Belle and Scotty
  Myrtle Eleanor Cooper and Scott Greene Wiseman , known professionally as Lulu Belle and Scotty, were one of the major country music acts of the 1930s and 1940s, dubbed The Sweethearts of Country Music.-Career:Cooper was born in Boone, North Carolina; Wiseman was from Spruce Pine, North...
  
  
• "Maple on the Hill" – J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers
• "The Last Letter" – Rex Griffin
• "Great Speckled Bird" – Roy Acuff
  Roy Acuff
  Roy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...
  
   and His Crazy Tennesseans
• "The Precious Jewel" - Roy Acuff
  Roy Acuff
  Roy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...
  
   and His Smokey Mountain Boys
• "Can the Circle Be Unbroken" – Carter Family
  Carter Family
  The Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. They were the first vocal group to become country...
  
  

Vol. 3 – The 1930s Southwest

• "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine – Gene Autry
  Gene Autry
  Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
  
   and Jimmy Long
• "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" – Sons of the Pioneers
  Sons of the Pioneers
  The Sons of the Pioneers are one of America's earliest Western singing groups whose classic recordings set a new standard for performers of Western music. Known for the high quality of their vocal performances, musicianship, and songwriting, they produced finely-crafted and innovative recordings...
  
  
• "Cool Water" – Sons of the Pioneers
  Sons of the Pioneers
  The Sons of the Pioneers are one of America's earliest Western singing groups whose classic recordings set a new standard for performers of Western music. Known for the high quality of their vocal performances, musicianship, and songwriting, they produced finely-crafted and innovative recordings...
  
  
• "I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart" – Patsy Montana
  Patsy Montana
  Ruby Rose Blevins , known professionally as Patsy Montana, was an American country music singer-songwriter and the first female country performer to have a million-selling single...
  
   and the Prairie Ramblers
• "My Swiss Moonlight Lullaby" – Montana Slim
• "Texas Plains" – Stuart Hamblen and His Covered Wagon Jubilee
• "My Mary" – W. Lee O’Daniel and his Light Crust Doughboys with Leon Huff
• "Deep Elem Blues" – Shelton Brothers
• "Nobody's Darlin' But Mine" – Jimmie Davis
  Jimmie Davis
  James Houston Davis , better known as Jimmie Davis, was a noted singer of both sacred and popular songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as the 47th Governor of Louisiana...
  
  
• "Under the Double Eagle" – Bill 'Cowboy Rambler' Boyd
  Bill 'Cowboy Rambler' Boyd
  William Lemuel Boyd was an American Western style singer and guitarist.-Biography:...
  
   and his Cowboy Ramblers
• "St. Louis Blues" – Milton Brown
  Milton Brown
  Milton Brown was an American band leader and vocalist who co-founded the genre of Western swing. His band was the first to fuse hillbilly hokum, jazz, and pop together into a unique, distinctly American hybrid, thus giving him the nickname, "Father of Western Swing"...
  
   and his Brownies
• "Steel Guitar Rag
  Steel Guitar Rag
  "Steel Guitar Rag" is the seminal Western swing instrumental credited with popularizing the steel guitar as an integral instrument in a Western band....
  
  " – Bob Wills
  Bob Wills
  James Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...
  
   and His Texas Playboys
• "Le Valse De Gueydan" – Leo Soileau and His Three Aces
• "Do Re Mi" – Woody Guthrie
  Woody Guthrie
  Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
  
  
• "Jesus Hold My Hand" – The Chuck Wagon Gang
• "It Makes No Difference Now" – Cliff Bruner's Texas Wanderers
  Cliff Bruner
  Cliff Bruner was a fiddler and bandleader of the western swing era of the 1930s. Bruner's music combined elements of traditional string band music, improvisation, blues, folk, and popular melodies of the times....
  
  
• "New San Antonio Rose
  New San Antonio Rose
  "San Antonio Rose"/"New San Antonio Rose" was the signature song of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. "San Antonio Rose" was an instrumental song written by Bob Wills, who first recorded it with the Playboys in 1938. Band members added lyrics and it was retitled "New San Antonio Rose"...
  
  " – Bob Wills
  Bob Wills
  James Robert Wills , better known as Bob Wills, was an American Western Swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader, considered by music authorities as the co-founder of Western Swing and universally known as the pioneering King of Western Swing.Bob Wills' name will forever be associated with...
  
   and His Texas Playboys
• "You are My Sunshine" – Gene Autry
  Gene Autry
  Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
  
  

Vol. 4 – 1941-1953 (Part 1)

• "Walking the Floor Over You" – Ernest Tubb
  Ernest Tubb
  Ernest Dale Tubb , nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" , marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music...
  
  
• "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again" – Wiley and Gene
• "Born to Lose" – Ted Daffan
  Ted Daffan
  Theron Eugene "Ted" Daffan was an American country musician noted for composing the seminal Truck Driver's Blues and the much covered Country anthem Born to Lose.-Early years:...
  
  ’s Texans
• "There’s a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere – Elton Britt
  Elton Britt
  Elton Britt , born James Elton Baker, was a country music guitarist and singer-songwriter.-Biography:Elton Britt was born in Searcy County, Arkansas...
  
  
• "Pistol Packin’ Mama" – Al Dexter
  Al Dexter
  Al Dexter was an American country musician and songwriter. He is best known for "Pistol Packin' Mama," a 1944 hit that was one of the most popular recordings of the World War II years and later became a hit again with a cover by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters.-Biography:Born Clarence Albert...
  
   and His Troopers
• "Have I Stayed Away Too Long?" – Tex Ritter
  Tex Ritter
  Woodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
  
   and His Texans
• "Teardrops Falling in the Snow" – Molly O'Day
  Molly O'Day
  Molly O'Day was an American film actress and the younger sister of Sally O'Neil.Born as Suzanne Dobson Noonan in Bayonne, New Jersey, she was the youngest of 11 children of Metropolitan Opera singer Hannah Kelly and Judge Thomas Francis Patrick Noonan. After their father's death, O'Day and her two...
  
   and the Cumberland Mountain Folks
• "Oklahoma Hills" – Jack Guthrie
  Jack Guthrie
  Jack Guthrie was a songwriter and performer whose rewritten version of the Woody Guthrie song "Oklahoma Hills" was a hit in 1945. The two musicians were cousins.-Early life:...
  
   and His Oklahomans
• "Dust on the Bible" – Bailes Brothers
• "Wabash Cannonball" – Roy Acuff
  Roy Acuff
  Roy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...
  
   and His Smoky Mountain Boys
• "I am a Pilgrim" – Merle Travis
  Merle Travis
  Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and musician born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His lyrics often discussed the life and exploitation of coal miners. Among his many well-known songs are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues" and "Dark as a Dungeon"...
  
  
• "Rye Whiskey" – Tex Ritter
  Tex Ritter
  Woodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
  
  
• "The Cattle Call" – Eddy Arnold
  Eddy Arnold
  Richard Edward Arnold , known professionally as Eddy Arnold, was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a so-called Nashville sound innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more...
  
  
• "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" – Tex Williams
  Tex Williams
  Sollie Paul Williams , known professionally as Tex Williams, was an American Western swing musician from Ramsey, Illinois....
  
   and His Western Caravan
• "What About You?" – Johnny
  Johnnie Wright
  Johnnie Robert Wright, Jr. , known professionally as Johnnie Wright, was an American country music singer-songwriter who spent much of his career working with Jack Anglin as the popular duo Johnnie & Jack, and was also the husband of Kitty Wells.-Early life and career:Born in Mount Juliet,...
  
   and Jack and Their Tennessee Mountain Boys
• "Take an Ol' Cold Tater (and Wait)" – Little Jimmy Dickens
  Little Jimmy Dickens
  James Cecil Dickens , better known as Little Jimmy Dickens, is an American country music singer famous for his humorous novelty songs, his small size, 4'11" , and his rhinestone-studded outfits...
  
  
• "Philadelphia Lawyer
  Philadelphia Lawyer (song)
  Philadelphia Lawyer is a Woody Guthrie song about a divorce lawyer from Philadelphia who is shot by a jealous husband. It is a folksong version of a lawyer joke. It is also known by the title Reno Blues.-Recordings:...
  
  " – Maddox Brothers and Rose
  Rose Maddox
  Roselea Maddox , better known as Rose Maddox, was an American country singer-songwriter and fiddle player.Born in Boaz, Alabama, Maddox was the singer in the Maddox Brothers and Rose....
  
  
• "Peace in the Valley" – Red Foley
  Red Foley
  Clyde Julian Foley , better known as Red Foley, was an American singer, musician, and radio and TV personality who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II....
  
  

Vol. 5 – 1941-1953 (Part 2)

• "Eight More Miles to Louisville" – Grandpa Jones
  Grandpa Jones
  Louis Marshall Jones , known professionally as Grandpa Jones, was an American banjo player and "old time" country and gospel music singer...
  
  
• "Filipino Baby" – Cowboy Copas
  Cowboy Copas
  Lloyd Estel Copas , known by his stage name Cowboy Copas, was an American country music singer popular from the 1940s until his death in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars Patsy Cline and Hawkshaw Hawkins. He was a member of the Grand Ole Opry.-Biography:Copas was born in 1913 in...
  
  
• "Kentucky" – Blue Sky Boys
• "New Pretty Blonde (Jole Blonde)" – Moon Mullican
  Moon Mullican
  Aubrey Wilson Mullican , known as Moon Mullican, was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and pianist. However, he also sang and played jazz, rock 'n' roll and the blues...
  
   and His Showboys
• "Bandera Waltz" – Slim Whitman
  Slim Whitman
  Ottis Dewey Whitman, Jr. , known professionally as Slim Whitman, is an American country music singer and songwriter, known for his yodelling abilities. He has sold in excess of 120 million albums in unit sales and has had numerous successful recordings...
  
  
• "I'm Moving On" – Hank Snow
  Hank Snow
  Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was a Canadian-American country music artist. He charted more than 70 singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980...
  
   and His Rainbow Ranch Boys
• "I Love You Because" – Leon Payne
  Leon Payne
  Leon Payne , "the Blind Balladeer", was a country music singer and songwriter.-Life:Leon Roger Payne was born in Alba, Texas on June 15, 1917. He was blind in one eye at birth, and lost the sight of the other eye in early childhood. He attended the Texas School for the Blind from 1924 to 1935,...
  
  
• "Tennessee Waltz" – Pee Wee King
  Pee Wee King
  Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski , known professionally as Pee Wee King, was an American country music songwriter and recording artist best known for co-writing "The Tennessee Waltz"....
  
   and His Golden West Cowboys (featuring Redd Stewart
  Redd Stewart
  Henry Ellis Stewart , better known as Redd Stewart, was an American country music songwriter and recording artist who co-wrote "The Tennessee Waltz" with Pee Wee King in 1948.-Biography:...
  
  )
• "The Tramp on the Street" – Molly O'Day
  Molly O'Day
  Molly O'Day was an American film actress and the younger sister of Sally O'Neil.Born as Suzanne Dobson Noonan in Bayonne, New Jersey, she was the youngest of 11 children of Metropolitan Opera singer Hannah Kelly and Judge Thomas Francis Patrick Noonan. After their father's death, O'Day and her two...
  
   with the Cumberland Mountain Folks
• "Satisfied" – Martha Carson
  Martha Carson
  Martha Carson , born Irene Amburgey, was an American gospel-country music singer most popular during the 1950s.-Early life and rise to fame:Ambergay was born in Neon, Kentucky...
  
  
• "Slipping Around" – Floyd Tillman
  Floyd Tillman
  Floyd Tillman was an American country musician who, in the 1930s and 1940s, helped create the Western swing and honky tonk genres. Tillman was inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1984.-Early life:Tillman grew up in the cotton-mill town of Post,...
  
  
• "I Love You a Thousand Ways" – Lefty Frizzell
  Lefty Frizzell
  Lefty Frizzell , born William Orville Frizzell, was an American country music singer and songwriter of the 1950s, and a proponent of honky tonk music. His relaxed style of singing was an influence on later stars Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, George Jones and John Fogerty...
  
  
• "Darlin' Am I the One?" – Carl Smith
  Carl Smith (country musician)
  Carl Milton Smith was an American country music singer. Known as "Mister Country," Smith was the husband of June Carter and Goldie Hill, the drinking companion of Johnny Cash, and the father of Carlene Carter...
  
  
• "The Wild Side of Life
  The Wild Side of Life
  "The Wild Side of Life" is a song made famous by country music singer Hank Thompson. Originally released in 1952, the song became one of the most popular recordings in the genre's history, spending 15 weeks at No...
  
  " – Hank Thompson
  Hank Thompson (music)
  Henry William Thompson , known professionally as Hank Thompson, was an American country music entertainer whose career spanned seven decades...
  
   and His Brazos Valley Boys
• "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels
  It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels
  "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" is a 1952 country song written by J. D. "Jay" Miller, and originally recorded by Kitty Wells. It was an answer song to the Hank Thompson hit "The Wild Side of Life."...
  
  " – Kitty Wells
  Kitty Wells
  Ellen Muriel Deason , known professionally as Kitty Wells, is an American country music singer. Her 1952 hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts, and turned her into the first female country star...
  
  
• "Thirty Pieces of Silver" – Wilma Lee
  Wilma Lee Cooper
  Wilma Lee Leary , known professionally as Wilma Lee Cooper, was an American bluegrass-based country music entertainer.-Biography:...
  
   and Stoney Cooper
  Stoney Cooper
  Dale Troy Cooper , known professionally as Stoney Cooper, was an American country star and member of the Grand Ole Opry. He was a master of the fiddle and the guitar.-Biography:...
  
  
• "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" – Hank Williams and His Drifting Cowboys
• "Lovesick Blues" – Hank Williams and His Drifting Cowboys

Vol. 6 – 1953-1963

• "There Stands the Glass" – Webb Pierce
  Webb Pierce
  Webb Michael Pierce was one of the most popular American honky tonk vocalists of the 1950s, charting more number one hits than any other country artist during the decade. His biggest hit was "In The Jailhouse Now," which charted for 37 weeks in 1955, 21 of them at number one...
  
  
• "I Walk the Line" – Johnny Cash
  Johnny Cash
  John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
  
  
• "Sixteen Tons" – Tennessee Ernie Ford
  Tennessee Ernie Ford
  Ernest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres...
  
  
• "Down in the Willow Garden
  Down in the Willow Garden
  "Down in the Willow Garden", also known as "Rose Connelly" is a traditional Appalachian murder ballad about a man facing the gallows for the murder of his lover: he gave her poisoned wine, stabbed her, and threw her in a river. It originated in the 19th century, probably in Ireland, before becoming...
  
  " – Everly Brothers
• "Country Gentleman" – Chet Atkins
  Chet Atkins
  Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
  
  
• "He’ll Have to Go" – Jim Reeves
  Jim Reeves
  James Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...
  
  
• "Crazy Arms
  Crazy Arms
  "Crazy Arms" is an American country song recorded by Ray Price. The song, released in May 1956, went on to become a hit that year and a honky-tonk standard. It was Price's first number one hit. The song was written by Ralph Mooney and Charles Seals...
  
  " – Ray Price
  Ray Price (musician)
  Ray Price is an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone has often been praised as among the best male voices of country music...
  
  
• "Fraulein" – Bobby Helms
  Bobby Helms
  Robert Lee Helms , better known as Bobby Helms, was an American country music singer who enjoyed his peak success in 1957 with his hit, "Jingle Bell Rock". He was mostly known for the Christmas song...
  
  
• "City Lights
  City Lights (Bill Anderson song)
  "City Lights" is an American country music song written by Bill Anderson. It twice became a No. 1 hit — in 1958 and again in 1975.Ray Price recorded the original version in 1958, with his version becoming a long-running No. 1 hit. Mickey Gilley recorded a cover version in 1974, and his version also...
  
  " – Ray Price
  Ray Price (musician)
  Ray Price is an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone has often been praised as among the best male voices of country music...
  
  
• "When I Stop Dreaming" – Louvin Brothers
  Louvin Brothers
  The Louvin Brothers were an American country music duo composed of brothers Ira Lonnie Loudermilk and Charlie Elzer Loudermilk , better known as Ira and Charlie Louvin. They helped popularize close harmony, a genre of country music.-History:The brothers adopted the name Louvin Brothers in the...
  
  
• "The Battle of New Orleans" – Johnny Horton
  Johnny Horton
  John Gale "Johnny" Horton was an American country music and rockabilly singer most famous for his semi-folk, so-called "saga songs" which began the "historical ballad" craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s...
  
  
• "Long Black Veil" – Lefty Frizzell
  Lefty Frizzell
  Lefty Frizzell , born William Orville Frizzell, was an American country music singer and songwriter of the 1950s, and a proponent of honky tonk music. His relaxed style of singing was an influence on later stars Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, George Jones and John Fogerty...
  
  
• "El Paso" – Marty Robbins
  Marty Robbins
  Martin David Robinson , known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...
  
  
• "Knoxville Girl" – Louvin Brothers
  Louvin Brothers
  The Louvin Brothers were an American country music duo composed of brothers Ira Lonnie Loudermilk and Charlie Elzer Loudermilk , better known as Ira and Charlie Louvin. They helped popularize close harmony, a genre of country music.-History:The brothers adopted the name Louvin Brothers in the...
  
  
• "Louisiana Man" – Rusty and Doug
  Doug Kershaw
  Doug Kershaw, born January 24, 1936, is an American fiddle player, singer and songwriter from Louisiana. Active since 1949, Kershaw has recorded fifteen albums and charted on the Hot Country Songs charts.- Early life :...
  
  
• "Faded Love" – Patsy Cline
  Patsy Cline
  Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
  
  
• "Excuse Me (I Think I've Got a Heartache)" – Buck Owens
  Buck Owens
  Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. , better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos...
  
  
• "We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds
  We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds
  "We Must Have Been Out Of Our Minds" is a song made famous as a duet by country music singers George Jones and Melba Montgomery. Originally released in 1963, the song became a Top 5 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and a country music standard....
  
  " – George Jones
  George Jones
  George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
  
   and Melba Montgomery
  Melba Montgomery
  Melba Montgomery is an American country music singer. She is best known for duet hit recordings in the 1960s with country music singer George Jones....
  
  

Vol. 7 – Bluegrass

• "Muleskinner Blues" – Bill Monroe
  Bill Monroe
  William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
  
   and His Blue Grass Boys
• "It’s Mighty Dark to Travel" – Bill Monroe
  Bill Monroe
  William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
  
   and His Blue Grass Boys
• "Earl's Breakdown" – Flatt and Scruggs
  Foggy Mountain Boys
  The Foggy Mountain Boys were an influential bluegrass band founded by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs in 1948, shortly after leaving Bill Monroe’s band. They recorded and performed together up until 1969.-Biography:...
  
  
• "The Lonesome River" – The Stanley Brothers
  The Stanley Brothers
  The Stanley Brothers were an American bluegrass duo made up of brothers Carter and Ralph Stanley.-Biography:Carter and Ralph Stanley hailed originally from Dickenson County, Virginia. The family soon moved to McClure, Virginia where their parents worked a small farm in the Clinch Mountains...
  
  
• "Dreaming of a Little Cabin" – Mac Wiseman
  Mac Wiseman
  Malcolm B. Wiseman , better known as Mac Wiseman, is an American bluegrass singer, nicknamed The Voice with a Heart. The bearded singer is one of the cult figures of bluegrass....
  
  
• "Are You Missing Me" – Jim & Jesse
  Jim & Jesse
  Jim & Jesse were an American bluegrass music duo composed of brothers Jim McReynolds and Jesse McReynolds...
  
   and The Virginia Boys
• "Rocky Top" – Osborne Brothers
  Osborne Brothers
  The Osborne Brothers, Sonny Osborne and Bobby Osborne , were an influential and popular bluegrass act during the 1960s and 1970s...
  
  
• "Mary Dear" – Bill Clifton
  Bill Clifton
  Bill Clifton is an American bluegrass musician and singer who is credited with having organized the very first bluegrass festival in the United States in 1961.-Biography:...
  
   and His Dixie Mountain Boys
• "I'm Using My Bible for a Roadmap" - Reno and Smiley
  Reno and Smiley
  Reno and Smiley were a musical duo composed of Don Reno and Red Smiley. They were one of the most acclaimed duos in country music of the 1950s and early '60s.-How They Met:...
  
  
• "John Henry" – Lilly Brothers
• "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" – Hylo Brown
  Hylo Brown
  Hylo Brown was a bluegrass and country music singer, guitarist and bass player.-Biography:Frank "Hylo" Brown was born in River, Kentucky and began his career as a performer on radio station WCMI in Ashland, Kentucky in 1939. Soon, he moved to WLOG in Logan, West Virginia and their "Saturday...
  
  
• "Sunny Side of the Mountain" – Jimmy Martin
  Jimmy Martin
  Jimmy Martin was an American bluegrass musician, known as the "King of Bluegrass".-Early years:Born James H. Martin in Sneedville, Tennessee. Jimmy Martin was born into the hard farming life of rural East Tennessee. He grew up near Sneedville, singing in church and with friends from surrounding...
  
   and the Sunny Mountain Boys
• "Jerusalem Ridge" – Kenny Baker
• "Black Mountain Rag" – Doc Watson
  Doc Watson
  Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson is an American guitar player, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. He has won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded...
  
  
• "The Legend of the Rebel Soldier" – Charlie Moore and The Dixie Partners
• "Four Strong Winds" – Cliff Waldron and the New Shades of Grass
• "Two Little Boys" – The Country Gentlemen
  The Country Gentlemen
  The Country Gentlemen were a bluegrass band that originated during the 1950s in the area of Washington, DC, United States, and recorded and toured with various members until the death in 2004 of Charlie Waller, one of the group's founders who in its later years served as the group's "focal point...
  
  
• "Bottom of the Glass" – The Seldom Scene
  The Seldom Scene
  The Seldom Scene is an American bluegrass band formed in 1971 in Bethesda, Maryland.-Early history:The band formed out of the weekly jam sessions in the basement of banjo player Ben Eldridge. These sessions included John Starling on guitar and lead vocals, Mike Auldridge on Dobro and baritone...
  
  

Vol. 8 – 1963-1975 (17 tracks)

• "Six Days on the Road" – Dave Dudley
  Dave Dudley
  Dave Dudley , born David Darwin Pedruska, was an American country music singer best-known for his truck-driving country anthems of the 1960s and 1970s and his semi-slurred baritone. His signature song was "Six Days on the Road," and he is also remembered for "Vietnam Blues," "Truck Drivin'...
  
  
• "Detroit City
  Detroit City
  "Detroit City" is a song made famous by country music singer Bobby Bare. Originally released in 1963, the song — sometimes known as "I Wanna Go Home" — was Bare's first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart that summer, and became a country music standard.-About the song:Prior to...
  
  " – Bobby Bare
  Bobby Bare
  Robert Joseph Bare is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is the father of Bobby Bare, Jr., also a musician.-Early career:...
  
  
• "Green, Green Grass of Home – Porter Wagoner
  Porter Wagoner
  Porter Wayne Wagoner was a popular American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. He introduced the young Dolly Parton near the beginning of her career on his long-running television show, and they were a well-known duet throughout the late 1960s and...
  
  
• "King of the Road" – Roger Miller
  Roger Miller
  Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...
  
  
• "Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone?" – Charley Pride
  Charley Pride
  Charley Frank Pride is an American country music singer. His smooth baritone voice was featured on thirty-nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the early- to mid-1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis...
  
  
• "Homecoming" – Tom T. Hall
  Tom T. Hall
  Thomas "Tom T." Hall is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has written 11 #1 hit songs, with 26 more that reached the Top 10, including the pop crossover hit "I Love", which reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100...
  
  
• "Coat of Many Colors" – Dolly Parton
  Dolly Parton
  Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
  
  
• "Hungry Eyes
  Hungry Eyes (Merle Haggard song)
  "Hungry Eyes" is an American country music song written and recorded by Merle Haggard. Recorded in December 1968, the song became one of the most famous of his career.-Background:...
  
  " – Merle Haggard
  Merle Haggard
  Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
  
   and the Strangers
• "Mama Tried" – Merle Haggard
  Merle Haggard
  Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
  
   and the Strangers
• "Waltz Across Texas" – Ernest Tubb
  Ernest Tubb
  Ernest Dale Tubb , nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" , marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music...
  
  
• "Coal Miner's Daughter" – Loretta Lynn
  Loretta Lynn
  Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
  
  
• "D-I-V-O-R-C-E
  D-I-V-O-R-C-E
  "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" is an American country music song written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman, and made famous by Tammy Wynette. Wynette's version was a number one country hit in 1968.-Background:...
  
  " – Tammy Wynette
  Tammy Wynette
  Virginia Wynette Pugh, known professionally as Tammy Wynette , was an American country music singer-songwriter and one of the genre's best-known artists and biggest-selling female vocalists....
  
  
• "The Grand Tour
  The Grand Tour (song)
  "The Grand Tour" is a song made famous by country music singer George Jones. Originally released in 1974, the song was the title track to his album released that year.The song became Jones' sixth No...
  
  " – George Jones
  George Jones
  George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
  
  
• "It Was Always So Easy (To Find an Unhappy Woman)" – Moe Bandy
  Moe Bandy
  Marion Franklin Bandy, Jr.–better known professionally as Moe Bandy– is a country music singer...
  
  
• "Sin City" – Flying Burrito Brothers
• "Funny How Time Slips Away" – Willie Nelson
  Willie Nelson
  Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
  
  
• "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
  Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
  "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" is a song written by songwriter Fred Rose. Originally performed by Roy Acuff, the song was later recorded by Willie Nelson as part of his 1975 album Red Headed Stranger. Both the song and album would become iconic in country music history, and jump start Nelson's...
  
  " – Willie Nelson
  Willie Nelson
  Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...