Customer Reviews

King of Country Music

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Considering his importance in the history of Country Music it is rather surprising that this is the first significant box set dedicated to Roy Acuff. These are original recordings (1930s-1950) of his hits including "Wabash Cannonball," "Precious Jewel," and "Great Speckled Bird." Also included are some hot string band recordings, which might surprise fans who only remember the older Acuff singing ballads. Acuff's band included some excellent players instrumental in moving Country music from an old time sound (like Charlie Poole) to the style now considered "classic." Other listeners will be surprised by the inclusion of one cut from the "Bang Boys," Acuff's nom de disc for recording risque titles (included here is "Doin It the Old Fashioned Way"). A nice box, good sound, and a needed reissue. Hopefully Bear Family is already preparing a systematic reissue of Acuff, if anyone deserves it, he does.

This 2 cd set covers the years of 1954 to 1958. Although this is past his glory years of WWII, there is still enough to attract the ardent fan. Many of the songs on this set are rerecordings of his Columbia classics. The tempo's are a little slower on most and the band is more relaxed. These recordings are probably in the style that most fans would remember from his 50 + years on the Grand Ole Opry

This is awesome. Pure mountain music in huge amounts.

But, don't look at the track listing and think you are getting a sampling of his greatest hits. Well you are...sorta.

These are his recordings from the 1950's when he was on Decca and Capitol. Fantastic recordings, but the big songs, like "Wabash Cannonball" and "Great Speckle Bird" are all remakes. Fantastic remakes, but remakes.

The sound is crystal clear. And the notes are worth the price alone (maybe not that good!).

Now not all of these songs are remakes. For example, there are two songs with Kitty Wells that for some reason never hit the charts, and plenty of singles for Acuff in the 50's that never charted.

This looks to be out of print now, so if you see this, grab it.

For a long time, Roy Acuff was poorly represented on CD but this box released in 2004 finally provided us with what his fans wanted - the complete recordings from his early years. Everything here is presented in nearly chronological order beginning with Great speckled bird from 1937 and ending with It's all right now in 1950. Two 1936 tracks appear as tracks 3 and 4 on CD 1 to disturb the chronological sequence slightly. Within this box, you can find all of Roy's famous tracks from the years when he was at the peak of his popularity. The box includes an extensive booklet that tells you, among other things, how Bashful Brother Oswold got his name; his real name is Beecher Kirby, though he prefers to be known as Pete.

Of course, Roy maintained a successful career for the rest of his life and even wrote a few great songs in later years, most notably Blue eyes crying in the rain, the song with which Willie Nelson revitalized his career in the late seventies. Following the success of that song, interest in Roy's own music increased for a while and he had some success with his own music on the country charts. Aside from Blue eyes crying in the rain and the hits that followed, every Roy Acuff song that really matters can be found here, and then some.

Roy recorded several train songs during this period. It is particularly interesting to note that the original 1936 versions of two of them (Wabash cannonball, Freight train blues) featured band member Sam Hatcher as the singer. Roy re-recorded them with his own vocals in 1947. You'll find both versions in this box. Other train songs to be found here are Streamlined cannonball, Fireball mail, Night train to Memphis, Tennessee central #9 and Midnight train. Roy also sang about other forms of transport as you can hear on Steamboat whistle blues, Autombile of life and Wreck on the highway.

Roy sang plenty of songs about love and heartache including Blue ridge sweetheart, Broken heart, Be honest with me, I know you're saying goodbye, Lying woman blues and You are my love, but he seemed to have a fascination with eyes, writing and singing Bonnie blue eyes, Answer to sparkling eyes, Beautiful brown eyes and Eyes watching you. Roy alkso recorded several gospel songs. Apart from Great speckled bird, they include Will the circle be unbroken, Drifting too far from the shore, When I lay my burden down, Waiting for the call to glory and Jesus died for me. Roy was not afraid to comment on social issues when he felt strongly, as in Old age pension cheque.

Among the classic songs that I haven't mentioned so far are Precious jewel, Prodigal son, Pins and needles, Our own Jole Blon and I'll forgive but I can't forget. If you like country music at its most traditional, you'll love Roy Acuff - and this is by far the best compilation out there.

When I bought this many years ago, Roy Acuff was very poorly represented on CD, especially his original hits on from the thirties and forties. Roy is much better represented now but this set is still worth a listen providing you don't mind re-recordings. With the improved recording technology available in the fifties, Roy and his musicians were able to make recordings that were crisper and cleaner than the originals. Of course, some people will never accept anything but the originals and if you are such a person, don't buy this.

Many of Roy's old classics are here in re-recorded form, though Blue eyes crying in the rain (later revived by Willie \Nelson) is among those missing but those present include The great speckled bird, Pins and needles, Wabash Cannonball, Wreck on the highway, Precious jewel, Night train to Memphis and Fireball mail.

Roy recorded new material in the fifties as well as his old hits but none of his new songs captured the public imagination. Nevertheless, Roy recorded two duets with Kitty Wells (Goodbye Mr Brown, Mother hold me tight) while with Decca and he also recorded a gospel album for MGM. These may be the best of his new material during this period.

Now that Roy's original material is available on CD in various combinations from single CD's to boxed sets, this collection is likely to be mainly of interest to committed Roy Acuff fans who want the original songs here. If you enjoy Roy's earlier music, you will probably enjoy this too providing you can tolerate those re-recordings.

Four CDs each with 25 tracks covering 1936 to 1950 for under $25 by one of the greatest musicians we had. Unless you do not like Country Music, it is hard to find fault with this set. These are the original recordings when CW had a twang, years before the Nashville Sound repackaging occurred. This will produce a somewhat different sound than some of the American CDs contain but one that is closer to what this music sounded like while Roy climbed to the top of his profession.

I like the original CW sound from this era and understand how it sounds transferred for current audio systems. The audio quality is good throughout, keeping the true sound of the old records without the problems associated with that media. The booklet is will done with a complete Discography and many photographs.

The tracks on the four CDs are in sequence allowing us to follow the development and changes in his music. All the standards are here in their original form Great Speckle Bird. Wreck on the Highway, Waiting for the Call to Glory and both versions of Wabash Cannonball. Come along on the Night to Memphis, this CD will not give you the Freight Train Blues!

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Track Listings:
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1. I Talk To Myself About You

2. Freight Train Blues

3. Wabash Cannonball

4. Our Own Jole Blon

5. Waltz On The Wind

6. A Sinner's Death (I'm Dying)

7. Tennessee Central

8. There's A Big Rock In The Road

9. Po' Folks All The Time

10. When They Take The Last Look At You

11. Heartaches And Flowers

12. You'll Reap The Tears

13. It's Just About Time

14. I'll Always Care

15. It's So Hard To Smile

16. The Midnight Train

17. Tennesse Waltz

18. Dance Around Molly

19. Black Mountain Rag

20. Smoky Mountain Rag

21. Lonesome Indian

22. Polk Country Breakdown

23. Jesus Died For Me

24. The Day They Laid Mary Away

25. It's All Right Now

I ordered a cd by Roy Acuff and received it very soon after I ordered it...it didn't have the song on it that I thought I was ordering and I contacted them and all was made right and then I ordered another one where I was sure the song was on it and it came and was perfect...wouldn't hesitate to order from Amazon again...thanks

Teriffic record! The Bear family comes up with the best recordings. I especially like the rare "Along The China Coast". There is no need to get any other Acuff album. It's all here.