Customer Reviews

Now & Then

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If you're expecting the master recordings that you fell in love with, you'll be disappointed. The 5 new songs are good--they're solid Shenandoah work--but 9 of the 10 "hits" are remakes, and the only one that truly comes close to its original version is "Mama Knows." If you're a Shenandoah completist, you might want to buy this CD for the new songs and the nice liner notes; if you just want the true versions of their classics, you should go with Super Hits.

Shenandoah were originally called Diamond Rio but their manager didn't like that name and suggested either Shenandoah or The rhythm rangers. Columbia (their record label) opted for Shenandoah but this name caused a lot of legal trouble because others had already copyrighted the name.

Their first album, simply titled Shenandoah, made limited impact but their second, Road not taken, included the major country hits Two dozen roses, Mama knows, Sunday in the south, Church on Cumberland road. Their third, Extra mile, included more major country hits including Next to you next to me, Moon over Georgia, Ghost in this house and I got you, but they never again matched these two fine efforts. It really looked as if they were set for a long period at the top, possibly replacing Alabama as the premier country group but the legal wrangle over their choice of name had taken its toll, even though they won their case. Columbia, having chosen the name Shenandoah, refused to support the legal case and dropped them.

Despite their legal troubles, they recovered sufficiently to have further big country hits with RCA and Capitol, most notably Somewhere in the vicinity of your heart (with Alison Krauss). None of their RCA music is represented here but some of their Capitol hits are here, together with re-recordings of their big Columbia hits. The re-recordings are good but the original versions of their Columbia hits can be found on a budget compilation, Super hits.

When a new group emerged calling themselves Diamond Rio, Shenandoah did not fight over it even though they retained the rights to the name, choosing instead to sign over the rights freely.

If you haven't got Somewhere in the vicinity of your heart (the best of their Capitol hits) and can't find it elsewhere, buy this for that song alone. For their early stuff, I recommend Super hits.

The case and CD were like brand new. The product was delivered timely, and the price could not be beat...especially for the quality of the product received!