Ultimate Classics Country [Import]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 14, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Wea Int'l
• ASIN: B00004Y830
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,285 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. On the Road Again

2. Flowers on the Wall

3. Forever and Ever, Amen

4. I Fall to Pieces

5. Rhinestone Cowboy

6. El Paso

7. Hello Darlin'

8. Act Naturally

9. The Gambler

10. Okie from Muskogee

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)

2. King of the Road

3. He Stopped Loving Her Today

4. Hello Walls

5. I Walk the Line

6. For the Good Times

7. I Love a Rainy Night

8. Make the World Go Away

9. I Will Always Love You

10. Walk on By

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Double CD Set of the Most Comprehensive Collection of Charted No.1 Country Hits Ever.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice Compilation - But The Price Is Outlandish, July 8, 2008

By 

AvidOldiesCollector (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ultimate Classics Country (Audio CD)

When I attempted to do a review of this, and Volume 2, a year or so back, I simply could not locate either one at Amazon.com by searching in Album Titles under "The Ultimate Classic Country Collection" or even Classic Country (although that did turn up several others with that title). I eventually found them by searching first at Amazon.UK and then searching here in "Music" using the ASIN number.

Now that I've found them I can see why, perhaps, they are not among the top sellers as the price of each is just short of ridiculous, even for a 2-CD set (which each is). Particularly when you consider that most, if not every song in each, are readily available on any number of other compilations with just as good (or better) sound quality and detailed liner notes/discographies, neither of which is included in this brief Warner/Wea series, and at much more reasonable prices.

As for the selections, all are original renditions and, with just two exceptions, every one was a # 1 Country hit, most of which were so good at the time that they crossed over to the more lucrative Billboard Pop Top/Hot 100 charts, several to the Adult Contemporary (AC) charts, introduced in late 1961 for the "Easy Listening" audience and, in three cases, even to the R&B charts.

The earliest presented here is I'm Movin' On by Hank Snow, The Singing Ranger and His Rainbow Ranch Boys, and it also happens to be the biggest Country smash of them all. To this day! Withheld from distribution by the suits at RCA Victor because they weren't sure audiences wanted yet another train-themed tune, it finally came out in early summer 1950 and shot to # 1 where it would remain for TWENTY-ONE weeks and a total of 44 weeks in all on the Country charts. It even crossed over to the Pop charts at # 27 and has since been covered by many artists, including the great Ray Charles who would have a # 15 R&B/# 40 Hot 100 with it in 1959.

Of the two here that didn't make # 1 Country, Flowers On The Wall, the debut hit for The Statler Brothers in late summer 1965, finished at # 2 Country and also made it to # 4 Hot 100 later that year and early 1966 when it began to be played on mainstream radio. The other is Buck Owens' The Streets Of Bakersfield, which he recorded in 1972. However, in 1988 he did it again, this time with Dwight Yoakam, and it peaked at # 1 Country, Buck's first # 1 in 16 years.

Pure Country # 1 hits here (i.e., those that never crossed to other charts) are" Forever And Ever, Amen by Randy Travis (1987); Act Naturally by Buck Owens (1963 - it would be a # 47 Hot 100 cover for the Beatles in 1965, and in 1989 Buck and Ringo Starr's new version would reach # 27 Country); He Stopped Loving Her Today by George Jones (1980); I Will Always Love You by Dolly Parton (1974 - a new version done in 1982 for the film The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas would again reach # 1 Country as well as # 17 AC and # 53 Hot 100, and in 1995 yet another version, this time with Vince Gill, would finish at # 15 Country); and Sweet Dreams by Emmylou Harris (1976).

These # 1 Country hits also made impacts on other charts: On The Road Again (1980 # 7 AC/# 20 H100); I Fall To Pieces (1961 # 6 AC/# 12 H100); Rhinestone Cowboy (1975 # 1 Hot 100 and AC); El Paso (1960 # 1 H100); Hello Darlin' (1970 # 60 H100); The Gambler (1978/79 # 3 AC/# 16 H100); Okie From Muskogee (1969/70 # 41 H100); Young Love (1957 # 1 Top 100/# 3 R&B); Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue (1977 # 2 H100/# 4 AC); Wings Of A Dove (1960 # 17 H100); Heaven's Just A Sin Away (1977 # 69 H100); He'll Have To Go (1960 # 2 H100/# 13 R&B); Before The Next Teardrop Falls (1975 # 1 H100/# 19 AC); Luckenbach, Texas (Back To The Basics Of Love) (1977 # 16 AC/# 25 H100); King Of The Road (1965 # 1 AC/# 4 H100); Hello Walls (1961 # 12 H100/# 13 AC); I Walk The Line (1956 # 17 T100); For The Good Times (1970 # 9 AC/# 11 H100); I Love A Rainy Night (1980/81 # 1 H100 and AC); Make The World Go Away (1965 # 1 AC/# 6 H100); Walk On By (# 5 H100); Behind Closed Doors (1973 # 8 AC/# 15 H100); Rose Garden (1970 # 3 H100/# 5 AC); The Three Bells (1959 # 1 H100/# 10 R&B).