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Arhoolie Label Classics (Series)

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 20, 1998)
• Original Release Date: January 20, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Arhoolie Records
• ASIN: B0000001ES
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #479,906 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Really Worthwhile Country/Bluegrass Compilation, January 2, 1999

By A Customer

I always approach compilations with reservations for three reasons: they reprise various artists' top hits which have been reissued to death elsewhere; they include lesser known tunes that deserved to be treated that way; or are selections by lesser known artists doing songs only real fans of the genre may know and the buyer is reluctant to purchase something unfamiliar.

But sometimes the positive side of each of the above happens. This 16-song CD clearly a wonderful example, combining material by several stars along with regional artists who didn't get the acclaim they deserved. All the selections are samples from different Arhoolie releases and the end result is some of the best Bluegrass and traditional country to be heard.

The first family of Country Music, The Carter Family, do their classic "Hello Stranger;" Bluegrass great Del McCoury sours above the rooftops singing "Hey Bartender;" The Maddox Brothers and Rose show why they were the king of the hill on the West Coast in the last 1940's with Rose belting out "George's Playhouse Boogie;" and Sam McGee (one half of the famed McGee Brothers of Grand Ole Opry fame) picking guitar on "The Sam McGee Stomp."

Several examples of the little gems are a live cut of Kenny Baker (of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys fame) fiddling "John Barleycorn;" Banjo legend Snuffy Jenkins (to whom Earl Scruggs and Don Reno pay homage) doing "The Spanish Fandango;" and Suzy & Eric Thompson trading fiddle and guitar licks on a really nice rendition of "The Carroll County Blues."

Highly recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Most exempllary collection of REAL country music, July 18, 1998

By A Customer

Although listeners under the age of 35 are convinced that today's Nashville overproduced and hypermarketed product is genuine country, this cd is a nifty little collection of the hard-core, no-frills, roots that country grew from. While some names are more known in the Tennessee, Kentucky, cradle-of-the-sound area, the country enthusiast can get a glimpse of the sounds that germinated on the tube-radios of the foot-hills and culminated on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry.