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Buck Owens ruled country music in the 60s – especially on the west coast – and these seminal singles for Capitol Records are a great demonstration of his talent at its height! Buck was a hell of a talent right from the start – sharp, soulful, and graced with a good sense of wit and strong intelligence – all of which ably guided both his performance and choice of material – which is especially perfect when it comes to his 45s! And while most of Owens' albums from this time have been reissued on CD, this is the first set to really look at the special world of his singles – which includes a lot of numbers that never made the full-length sets. The package features a whopping 56 tracks on 2CDs, complete with a and b-sides of all the singles – including a few duets with Rose Maddox. Titles include "I Know What It Means", "Over & Over Again", "Sweethearts In Heaven", "Cryin Time", "Waitin In Your Welfare Line", "Heart Of Glass", "No More Me & You", "The Way That I Love You", "House Down The Block", "King OF Fools", "I Can't Stop My Lovin You", "Second Fiddle", "Walk The Floor", "We're The Talk Of The Town", "My Heart Skips A Beat", "Together Again", "Don't Let Her Know", "No One But You", "Til These Dreams Come True", "High As The Mountains", and "Loose Talk". CD

Two full albums from the many who was an important influence on California country giants Merle Haggard and Buck Owens! The first album is pure genius from the young Tommy Collins – an early figure on the Bakersfield scene, and an artist who almost single-handedly shaped the sound of the west coast scene with his Capitol Records material included here! Collins had a wonderful way of updating older hillbilly modes – traces of Texas and Arkansas, moved over to postwar Cali – where things got tightened up, became a bit more confident, and were given a razor-sharp sound by the excellent Capitol production. Every tune here is a classic – and many have a sense of double-entendre that rivals the hippest R&B work of the period, but with a very different sound overall – on titles that include "You Better Not Do That", "How Do I Say Goodbye", "It Tickles", "You Gotta Have A License", "Smooth Sailin", and "Whatcha Gonna Do Now". Words & Music Country Style features the wit, wisdom, and wild twang of the great Tommy Collins – brought together in a killer collection of early work for Capitol! The music here is the ultimate peak of the hillbilly generation – not the codified country of the Nashville scene to come, but much more rough-edged and wooley – with more than a few elements that could influence the sound of rock and roll as well! Titles include "The Feet Of The Traveler", "How Do I Say Goodbye", "Think It Over Boys", "Are You Ready To Go", and "All Of The Monkeys Ain't In The Zoo". CD

(Blues, Folk/Country) CD

A pair of obscure albums by Wanda Jackson – back to back on a single CD! Wonderful Wanda is a great little country album from Wanda Jackson – not the raw rockabilly of her first years at Capitol Records, but a more mature mode that has the singer taking on some material that really points the way towards the direction she'd take in the 60s! Wanda's surprisingly heartbreaking here at times – almost in a Patsy Cline mode – which is a great use of her wonderfully expressive voice. Backings are a mix of gentler country modes and some occasional fuller strings – and titles include "If I Cried Every Time You Hurt Me", "In The Middle Of A Heartache", "I'd Be Ashamed", "I Need You Now", "A Little Bitty Tear", and "Let My Love Walk In". Lovin Country Style is fantastic – and a rare early chapter of Wanda Jackson's career – featuring early singles she recorded for the Decca label before rising to later fame at Capitol! The style is great – in that best Decca hillbilly mode of the time – with uncluttered arrangements that really have the youthful voice of Wanda bursting out beautifully – really hitting some raw moments, even on the mellower or sadder tunes. Titles include "Tears At The Grand Ole Opry", "Lovin Country Style", "Wasted", "The Right To Love", "It's The Same World", and "I Cried Again". CD

Sublime sounds from the legendary Louvin Brothers – heard here on a collection of tracks recorded before their more famous years at Capitol Records – for labels that include Decca, Apollo, and MGM! Yet even at this early point, the brothers are fantastic – graced with a harmony sound that was both rooted in the hills, and which would become a huge influence on rock and folk generations to come – often just backed by simple guitar and mandolin backings, which usually don't offer the pyrotechnics of contemporaries like Bill Monroe – lest they get in the way of the vocals – yet still have a way of ringing out with a fantastic sort of depth. Titles include "Weapon Of Prayer", "Alabama", "Seven Year Blues", "The Get Acquainted Waltz", "You'll Be Rewarded Over There", "Robe Of White", "The Sons & Daughters Of God", "Childish Love", and "The Great Atomic Power". CD