Dim Lights, Thick Smoke & Hillbilly Music: Country & Western Hit Parade 1945 [Import]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 9, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Bear Family
• ASIN: B001H7G31K
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #229,471 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. BOB WILLS - Smoke On The Water

2. GENE AUTRY - At Mail Call Today

3. SPADE COOLEY - Shame On You

4. PHIL HARRIS - That's What I Like About The South

5. JENNY LOU CARSON - Jealous Heart

6. DICK THOMAS - Sioux City Sue

7. ERNEST TUBB - Tomorrow Never Comes

8. JIMMIE DAVIS - There's A New Moon Over My Shoulder

9. LULU BELLE & SCOTTY WISEMAN - Have I Told You Lately That I Love You

10. TED DAFFAN - Headin' Down The Wrong Highway

11. JACK GUTHRIE - Oklahoma Hills

12. 'PORKY' FREEMAN TRIO - VOCAL BY MERLE TRAVIS - Boogie Woogie Boy

13. GENE AUTRY - Don't Fence Me In

14. EDDY ARNOLD - The Cattle Call

15. AL DEXTER - I'm Losing My Mind Over You

16. FLOYD TILLMAN - Each Night At Nine

17. RED FOLEY - Hang Your Head In Shame

18. TEX RITTER - You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often

19. MERLE TRAVIS - That's All

20. WESLEY TUTTLE - With Tears In My Eyes

See all 27 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

For many years, we've been getting requests to do a truly definitive country series, but it wasn't until the success of our R&B/Soul series, Blowin' The Fuse (now Sweet Soul Music') that we decided we needed to do something comparable for country music. Now the first six volumes are complete, taking us from 1945-1950. The country series has been compiled with today's fans in mind. Yes, the big hits are there, but so are the classic performances that weren't necessarily big hits at the time, but became influential in the years ahead. Every volume has incredibly detailed behind-the-scenes stories, fabulously rare photos, and an ongoing history of country music set against the backdrop of the broader American music business. Definitive? You bet!

1945 includes Spade Cooley's Shame On You, Dick Thomas' rarely reissued #1 hit Sioux City Sue (written by the guy who wrote Rock Around The Clock), Porky Freeman's Boogie Woogie Boy featuring Merle Travis, the original version of the beer joint classic Drivin' Nails In My Coffin by Jerry Irby, the original Guitar Boogie, as well as classic hits by Gene Autry, Red Foley, Eddy Arnold, Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, and many others.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No One Could Do Better!, October 24, 2011

By 

G. Brickwood (Little Meadows, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dim Lights, Thick Smoke & Hillbilly Music: Country & Western Hit Parade 1945 (Audio CD)

Bear Family outdoes themselves again with this collection. Many country and western "standards", some by artists I'm not familiar with, even though I know the songs well. And some of them are gems like Jenny Lou Carson's "Jealous Heart" or Lulu Belle & Scotty Wiseman's version of "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You".

Not to be forgotten, the history and recording notes provided in the accompanying book is both informative and delightful!

It's going to be a lot of fun collecting the entire series!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bear Family scores a huge win with this series, December 30, 2010

By 

Steven P. Tapia (Redmond, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dim Lights Thick Smoke & Hillbilly: 1945 (Audio CD)

Bear Family Records -- a German product -- are indeed difficult to obtain (especially with some ZShop retailers like CD Wolf no longer able to sell Bear Family product). But, as with all Bear Family releases, if you are an aficionado of the subject matter, then you will quickly fall in love with the quality of the mastering, the thoughtfulness of the notes and the sturdy packaging. This entire series is a very knowledgeable and accurate attempt to put you in back into what country music you would have heard listening to a radio in the particular year of the issue. Bear Family gives you an accurate cross-slice, not just a random set of hits. The entire series is very much worth any wait. Don't let an unfortunate one-star review posted before the reviewer even had the disk scare you away from hours of true pleasure.