One of the greatest live albums ever, and probably THE best album Johnny Cash ever recorded! In 1969 Cash had more angst than you could shake a stick at – he just kicked drugs, and he hadn't had a big hit in years, so his respectful and thoughtful empathy for the audience of inmates not only cemented his persona as the real deal, but carries an air of dizzying emotion throughout the set. Appropriately filled with his darkest tunes, Folsom is one of the few cases in which a live recording of a hitmakers catalog is stronger and more vital than the studio versions. Includes "Folsom Prison Blues", "Dark As A Dungeon", "Cocaine Blues", "25 Minutes To Go", "Orange Blossom Special", "The Long Black Veil", "Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Dog", plus "Jackson" and "Give My Love To Rose" featuring June Carter. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest live albums ever, and probably THE best album Johnny Cash ever recorded, properly reissued with the original sequence restored and uncensored! In 1969 Cash had more angst than you could shake a stick at – he just kicked drugs, and he hadn't had a big hit in years, so his respectful and thoughtful empathy for the audience of inmates not only cemented his persona as the real deal, but carries an air of dizzying emotion throughout the set. Appropriately filled with his darkest tunes, Folsom is one of the few cases in which a live recording of a hitmakers catalog is stronger and more vital than the studio versions. Includes "Folsom Prison Blues", "Dark As A Dungeon", "Cocaine Blues", "25 Minutes To Go", "Orange Blossom Special", "The Long Black Veil", "Dirty Old Egg-Suckin' Dog", "Joe Bean", plus "Jackson" and "Give My Love To Rose" featuring June Carter. 2 previously unissued songs – "Joe Bean" and "The Legend Of John Henry's Hammer". CD

A legendary album from the great Gene Clark – a key part of that scattered legacy that really helped cement his individual genius after leaving The Byrds! Much of the record is a spare and intimate affair – with Gene's warm vocals accompanied by his own gently picked acoustic guitar, along with producer Jesse Ed Davis (who does a masterful job in the booth on this one) also on guitar. The tunes are also sweetened by waltzy basslines, and Byrds-y keyboard riffs by Ben Sidran, but Gene's wonderful vocals and his amazingly strong songwriting are obviously the biggest draws – not standard country or roots rock, and instead delivered with a sense of sophistication that's almost a genre unto itself. Titles include the amazing "For A Spanish Guitar" – plus "The Virgin", "With Tomorrow", "White Light", "Where My Love Lies Asleep", "1975", and a great reading of The Band & Bob Dylan's "Tears Of Rage". (Rock, Folk/Country) LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet UK compilation of some of Nick's best work – and covering the stylistic breadth of it – from the somewhat underappreciated studio band backed gems, to the stripped down and rawly intimate songcraft that cemented his incredible legacy. With the exception of a couple tracks from the posthumous Made To Love Magic collection, Treasury draws pretty equally from each of this iconic Island LPs – so nearly every track is purely classic – so the biggest and only flaw here is that it has 15 incredible tracks, rather than all of them! "River Man", "Cello Song", "Poor Boy", "Hazey Jane II", "Magic", "Place To Be", "From The Morning", "Fruit Tree", "Road", and "Way To Blue". (Rock, Folk/Country) LP, Vinyl record album

Some great later Capitol work from Merle Haggard – titles that include "It's Not Love But It's Not Bad", "If We Make It Through December", "Always Wanting You", "You'll Always Be Special", "Movin On", "Holding Things Together", and "I've Got A Yearning". LP, Vinyl record album

A groundbreaking album from the young John Hartford – not really folk, not really country – but a unique hybrid of both, and done with a good ear for unique sounds as well! Hartford's a really unique artist, especially at this key point in his career – and he's working here with producer David Bromberg, who himself was also helping to reinvent acoustic music at the time. The Warner Brothers placement of the record is key – as Hartford's got this sense of the past, mixed with the irony of the present – one which strongly echoes some of the hip rock contemporaries on the label, particularly the up and coming brand of post-Sunset LA talents. Titles include "Turn Your Radio On", "Up On The Hill Where They Do The Boogie", "First Girl I Loved", "With A Vamp In The Middle", and "Tear Down The Grand Ole Opry". CD

A groundbreaking album from the young John Hartford – not really folk, not really country – but a unique hybrid of both, and done with a good ear for unique sounds as well! Hartford's a really unique artist, especially at this key point in his career – and he's working here with producer David Bromberg, who himself was also helping to reinvent acoustic music at the time. The Warner Brothers placement of the record is key – as Hartford's got this sense of the past, mixed with the irony of the present – one which strongly echoes some of the hip rock contemporaries on the label, particularly the up and coming brand of post-Sunset LA talents. Titles include "Turn Your Radio On", "Up On The Hill Where They Do The Boogie", "First Girl I Loved", "With A Vamp In The Middle", and "Tear Down The Grand Ole Opry". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Colors Of The Sun", "Crazy Mary", "Children's Blues", "Guilty Of Rock & Roll", "Mother Country", "I Have To Say I Love You In A Song", and "25th Of December". LP, Vinyl record album

Recorded in Austin, with great work by Buddy Cannon – and a great mix of older Willie Nelson songs and standards, redone in a very unique way! CD

Never-issued material from the great John Prine – recorded towards the end of his Atlantic Records years, at a time when the label was clearly going to give the world a demonstration of Prine's many charms in a concert setting! Prine was, above all, the kind of artist who was maybe at his best when able to open up in the warmth of a welcoming audience – the kind that first supported him when he emerged from the Chicago club scene at the start of the 70s – and who are definitely in place here! The album features two full sets, but without any sort of repetition – and Prine delivers these wonderful versions of early Atlantic material, plus other tunes too – sometimes with spoken intros, and with guest help from Steve Goodman on two titles too. Titles include "Great Rain", "Often Is A Word I Seldom Use", "Flashback Blues", "way Down", "Spanish Pipedream", "Middle Man", "Saddle In The Rain", "Everybody", "Hello In There", "The Late John Garfield Blues", "The Accident", "Donald & Lydia", "Sour Grapes", "Common Sense", "The Torch Singer", "Mexican Home", "Illegal Smile", and "Sam Stone". CD

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Features 10 studio tracks, 2 live recordings, 3 undubbed non-session tracks, and 6 Luke the Drifter studio recordings! CD

Original mono recordings, remastered and presented in chronological order, with 21 titles in total – includes "Calling You", "Wealth Won't Save Your Soul", "Cool Water", "Honky Tonkin", "I Saw The Light", "Battle Of Armageddon", "Tennessee Border", and more. CD

Original mono recordings, remastered and presented in chronological order, with 21 titles in total – includes "Calling You", "Wealth Won't Save Your Soul", "Cool Water", "Honky Tonkin", "I Saw The Light", "Battle Of Armageddon", "Tennessee Border", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

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Maybe one of the coolest country Christmas collections we've ever heard – but then again, we'd expect no less from the folks at Bear Family! There's a lot of great original tunes here – which are mixed with country-fied takes on more popular Holiday songs from the midcentury years – often served up here by singers that were the bigger names of their generation, caught in a very special setting for the month of December! As usual with Bear Family, the presentation is great – vivid images inside and out – and notes on every single track – supporting a selection of 27 titles that include "I'll Be Walking The Floor This Christmas" by Ernest Tubb, "Senor Santa Claus" by Jim Reeves, "Christmas Dinner" by Tennessee Ernie Ford, "Snowdeer" by Carl Smith, "They Shined Up Rudolph's Nose" by Johnny Horton, "Santa Claus Jr" by Eddi Cletro, "It's Christmas Every Day In Alaska" by Hank Thompson, "It Was Jesus (undubbed)" by Johnny Cash, "Reindeer Boogie" by Hank Snow, "The Christmas Boogie" by Davis Sisters, "I'm Your Private Santa Claus" by Eddie Arnold, "I'm Gonna Tell Santa Claus On You" by Faron Young, "Captain Santa Claus" by Bobby Helms, "Santa's Big Parade" by The Louvin Brothers, and "Christmas In My Hometown" by Sonny James. (Holiday Music, Folk/Country) CD