Way more than just another box set by a well-established act – as this collection moves way past their hits, and pulls together a huge amount of unreleased material that really testifies to the long-running genius of one of the most unique British groups to emerge in the late 60s! The set does feature key album highlights, but also includes 55 previously-unissued tracks, and lots of rare material too – as well as a fair bit of live recordings that really show the role that improvisation played in the group's performance – that odd current of jazz that could sometimes show up and color the way that the group presented its influences from more ancient forms of music. The group also shifted members with ease, and really moved their sound around over the years – in a way that many fans would say was only a continued refinement of their aims. The huge set documents this change, and also includes the unreleased Manor album – and comes in a special box with 48-page book, and a total of 121 tracks on 7 CDs, nearly half of which (55 tracks) are previously unreleased. CD

A stunning tribute to the wonderful Bobbie Gentry – and maybe the first package to really show the world how much she has to offer past her one classic crossover hit! Bobbie started out like a rocket with the country gem "Ode To Billie Joe" – a tune she wrote herself, and followed with lots of other great music on the original debut album here – which then set the scene for a great expansion into other modes, as Capitol Records really opened up their resources for Gentry to record in the late 60s! This huge package features everything that Bobbie ever recorded for the label – not just some great full albums, but also some rare singles, demos, and alternate takes – plus 75 unreleased tracks (!) – and then a full incredible album Live At The BBC – which features 26 tracks of Gentry really knocking it out of the park. The BBC material has these really dark, brooding orchestrations – almost like Bobbie's getting some Scott Walker late 60s backings – and the whole box set might be worth it alone for that double-length album! The package is a very cool 10" slipcover – with a huge booklet of notes, postcards, lyric inserts, and more – 177 tracks in all, with albums that include Ode To Billie Joe, The Delta Sweete, Local Gentry, Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell, Touch Em With Love, Fancy, Patchwork, and Live At The BBC. CD

The shadow of Hank Williams still looms large in country music well into the 21st Century – but it had an especially strong force in the years after his too-early death – as you'll hear here in a great selection of covers, tributes, and other songs that continue the short-but-strong legacy of revolution that Hank brought to country music! Some of the cuts here are pop numbers, and show the way that Williams' original tunes found many different audiences in the 50s – yet most are pure country, and are way more than straight remakes of originals by the legend. As always with Bear Family, the package is great – filled with images and detailed notes on all the tracks and artists – served up on 33 tracks that include "Kaw-Liga" by Rusty & Doug Kershaw, "Calling You" by Hank Williams Jr, "I'm A Long Gone Daddy" by Bobby Helms, "Move It On Over" by Richard Hayes, "I Saw The Light" by Rose Maddox, "Honky Tonkin" by Audrey Williams, "I Just Don't Like This Kind Of Livin" by Johnny Horton, "Mind Your Own Business" by Ted Daigle, "Lost Highway" by Skeets McDonald, "Cold Cold Heart" by Louis Armstrong, "Lovesick Blues" by Rex Griffin, "Baby We're Really In Love" by Don Gibson, and "Half As Much" by Tennessee Ernie Ford. CD

Stunning early sounds from the legendary George Jones – material recorded in the years before his bigger fame on the Musicor and Epic labels – and tracks that show that Jones was already a hell of a well-developed talent right from the start! The cuts here sparkle with that trademark George Jones vocal sound – but also have a nice sort of an edge, as George hasn't settled down into that totally smooth approach of later years – and instead here moves between rocking moments and more twang-heavy tunes – served up on an assortment of singles and rare tracks recorded for the Mercury, Starday, and Dixie labels. Titles include "Too Much Water", "Seasons Of My Heart", "Gonna Come Get You", "I'm Ragged But I'm Right", "Eskimo Pie", "No No Never", "Play It Cool", "Take The Devil Out Of Me", "Just One More", and "No Money In This Deal". A hell of a collection – 29 tracks in all! CD

A set that's way more than just a "best of" sort of anthology – as the package features three full albums by the group, plus other material too! The set begins with the classic debut, Gilded Palace Of Sin – a true late 60s rock masterpiece – and like albums by Love and The Velvet Underground, a set that barely made a mainstream impact at the time – but which has gone on to be the stuff of influence and legend over the decades! The album's the first from Gram Parsons and the group – one of only two they would cut together – and the whole thing is a perfect blend of rough-edged rock and country influences rising up from the LA scene – all those glimmers of brilliance that Parsons had brought to the Byrds and other projects, maybe given their full flowering here in a mode that's unabashed about its country music influences – maybe even more so than some of Gram's later solo work. Sneeky Pete Kleinow's steel guitar really adds a lot – but so does the presence of Chris Hillman on guitar and mandolin, and Chris Ethridge on bass and piano. Titles include the brilliant "Sin City" – a track we'll love until we die – plus "Christine's Tune", "Do Right Woman", "Dark End Of The Street", "My Uncle", "Wheels", "Juanita", "Hot Burrito No 1", "Hot Burrito No 2", "Do You Know How It Feels", and "Hippy Boy". Burrito Deluxe is the second of only two albums recorded by Gram Parsons with the Flying Burrito Brothers – and a masterpiece that pushes the group's sound even farther than their debut! The set is filled with special moments – songs that show just why these guys were such a special bridge between late 60s country and rock music – and why all of the other groups they inspired just never came close to serving things up this well! Gram Parsons is fantastic on vocals, of course – but the whole group is great, especially Sneaky Pete on steel guitar. Titles include the fantastic romper "Man In The Fog", the very groovy "Lazy Days", the haunting "God's Own Singer", and the group's Jagger/Richards' approved take on "Wild Horses – plus other cuts that include "High Fashion Queen", "Image Of Me", "Older Guys", and "If You Gotta Go". Flying Burrito Brothers is The Burritos first LP, post-Parsons – and a pretty strong statement for the merits of the now unquestioned leader, Rick Roberts, and multi-instrumentalist new guy Bernie Leadon, who would later turn to the dark side and join the Eagles! Roberts penned or co-penned seven of the album's ten tunes, including "Colorado", "Hand To Mouth", "Just Can't Be", and "Four Days Of Rain". His contributions are for the most part nicely fragile, with just the right doses of sweetness and sadness. The group also covers Merle Haggard's "White Line Fever", Gene Clark's "Tried So Hard", and Dylan's "To Ramona". This is one of the band's rarer LPs, probably because of the absence of hipster hero Gram Parsons – truly a worthy piece of work! CD also features some other tracks recorded by Parsons with the group – including "Six Days On The Road", "Break My Mind", "Sing Me Back Home", and "Close Up The Honky Tonks" – and live tracks "Ain't That A Lot Of Love" and "Losing Game" – plus Gene Clark singing on "Here Tonight". (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

A set that's way more than just a "best of" sort of anthology – as the package features three full albums by the group, plus other material too! The set begins with the classic debut, Gilded Palace Of Sin – a true late 60s rock masterpiece – and like albums by Love and The Velvet Underground, a set that barely made a mainstream impact at the time – but which has gone on to be the stuff of influence and legend over the decades! The album's the first from Gram Parsons and the group – one of only two they would cut together – and the whole thing is a perfect blend of rough-edged rock and country influences rising up from the LA scene – all those glimmers of brilliance that Parsons had brought to the Byrds and other projects, maybe given their full flowering here in a mode that's unabashed about its country music influences – maybe even more so than some of Gram's later solo work. Sneeky Pete Kleinow's steel guitar really adds a lot – but so does the presence of Chris Hillman on guitar and mandolin, and Chris Ethridge on bass and piano. Titles include the brilliant "Sin City" – a track we'll love until we die – plus "Christine's Tune", "Do Right Woman", "Dark End Of The Street", "My Uncle", "Wheels", "Juanita", "Hot Burrito No 1", "Hot Burrito No 2", "Do You Know How It Feels", and "Hippy Boy". Burrito Deluxe is the second of only two albums recorded by Gram Parsons with the Flying Burrito Brothers – and a masterpiece that pushes the group's sound even farther than their debut! The set is filled with special moments – songs that show just why these guys were such a special bridge between late 60s country and rock music – and why all of the other groups they inspired just never came close to serving things up this well! Gram Parsons is fantastic on vocals, of course – but the whole group is great, especially Sneaky Pete on steel guitar. Titles include the fantastic romper "Man In The Fog", the very groovy "Lazy Days", the haunting "God's Own Singer", and the group's Jagger/Richards' approved take on "Wild Horses – plus other cuts that include "High Fashion Queen", "Image Of Me", "Older Guys", and "If You Gotta Go". Flying Burrito Brothers is The Burritos first LP, post-Parsons – and a pretty strong statement for the merits of the now unquestioned leader, Rick Roberts, and multi-instrumentalist new guy Bernie Leadon, who would later turn to the dark side and join the Eagles! Roberts penned or co-penned seven of the album's ten tunes, including "Colorado", "Hand To Mouth", "Just Can't Be", and "Four Days Of Rain". His contributions are for the most part nicely fragile, with just the right doses of sweetness and sadness. The group also covers Merle Haggard's "White Line Fever", Gene Clark's "Tried So Hard", and Dylan's "To Ramona". This is one of the band's rarer LPs, probably because of the absence of hipster hero Gram Parsons – truly a worthy piece of work! CD also features some other tracks recorded by Parsons with the group – including "Six Days On The Road", "Break My Mind", "Sing Me Back Home", and "Close Up The Honky Tonks" – and live tracks "Ain't That A Lot Of Love" and "Losing Game" – plus Gene Clark singing on "Here Tonight". (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

Genius early work from Kris Kristofferson – four great albums in a single package, with SACD mastering too! First up is The Silver Tongued Devil & I – a masterful tribute to the genius of Kris Kristofferson, and a record that perfectly illustrates that unique place he held in music at the start of the 70s! The album's Kris' second, and has maybe a more unified vibe than his debut – filled with original material that has that open, honest quality that Kristofferson brought to country music – and which also had a surprisingly strong impact on mainstream rock and singer/songwriter material too! There's both a frankness of feeling and sharpness of wit that make the whole thing wonderful – and the album's overflowing with original gems that include "Jody & The Kid", "Billy Dee", "Loving Her Was Easier", "The Taker", "When I Loved Her", "The Pilgrim Chapter 33" and "Epitaph" – plus a great reading of the Bobby Bare/Billy Joe Shaver tune "Good Christian Soldier". Border Lord is a wonderful album, and one that's full of lesser-known gems from Kris Kristofferson – from a time when he'd started sharing his songs with other singers first, and started to hold back all the good stuff for himself! The album's got help from some country music studio greats, but it's clearly Kristofferson's show, right from the start – overflowing with tunes that get delivery from Kris that nobody else can match – with a special understanding of the choice of words, balance of wit, and depth of feeling that makes him so great on record. Titles include "Burden Of Freedom", "Border Lord", "When She's Wrong", "Kiss The World Goodbye", "Getting By High & Strange", "Somebody Nobody Knows", and "Josie". Jesus Was A Capricorn is one of those records in which Kris Kristofferson takes on the 70s, and comes up with a sound and style that's completely his own – even when working within the mainstream of the time! His label, Monument, could do plenty of hokey stuff – and even arranger Bill Justis wasn't always the hippest of cats – nor producer Fred Foster. Yet working here, they all rise to the occasion under the majesty of the man's music – a soaring batch of original tunes, of that special sort that Kris was always keeping to himself after his early years writing hits for others. Titles include "Why Me", "Give It Time To Be Tender", "It Sure Was Love", "Nobody Wins", "Enough For You", and the title cut "Jesus Was A Capricorn", owed to John Prine! Spooky Lady's Sideshow is a record that has Kris Kristofferson loosening up his mix of styles slightly, almost a nod back to his debut – but all in a way that only seems to bring an even greater range of feeling to his songwriting! Kristofferson maybe looks a bit more casual and laidback on the cover than some previous sets, but he's still got all the sharpness of delivery that makes him so great, and which really matches his magical words – on titles that include "Broken Freedom Song", "Star Spangled Bummer", "Smile At Me Again", "I May Smoke Too Much", "Stairway To The Bottom", and "Rescue Mission". CD

A great little set that really lives up to the promise of its title – and it's claim to offer up "commercial recordings of Anglo-European American vernacular music that challenges the stereotypes"! The set's a wealth of obscure 78rpm recordings that really defy genre convention – and which show that the 20s was easily one of the most experimental times in American music – a point when later common styles were really quite new, and still very fluid – bits of later blues, folk, or country intermingling equally – often from sources that you wouldn't expect a decade or two later. These tracks are all acoustic, but feature really inventive instrumentation – especially when modes of a generation or two before are pushed into new phrasings with decidedly (then) modern flavors. As usual with these Tompkins Square reissues, the sound quality is great – and the package offers up some good notes to help situate the music too. Titles include "Caliope" by Lewis Brothers, "Bacon & Cabbage" by Blind Joe Mangrum & Fred Shriver, "Don't Get One Woman On Your Mind" by Willard Hodgin, "The Whale Did I Know He Did" by Mustard & Gravy, "Ladies Quadrille" by The Happy Hayseeds, "Dill Pickles Rag" by McLaughlin's Old Time Melody Makers, and "Down In Tennessee Blues" by Homer Davenport. CD

A heavy dose of rare TV performances – pulled from a Cali program that focused strongly on hillbilly sounds of the 50s, but also took time to feature some up-and-coming rockabilly acts too! The quality's about what you'd expect from 1950s TV, but the performances are great – and there's not much footage out there from some of these giant acts at the time! The DVD features 42 performances in all – great work from The Collins Kids, who were on the show all the time – plus more from Skeets McDonald, Jim Reeves, Merle Travis, Joe Maphis, Wanda Jackson, Johnny Bond, Mac Wiseman, Tex Carman, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Patsy Cline, and others! (DVDs & Videos, Folk/Country) DVD