A surprisingly strong collection of country cuts from a very unusual scene – material recorded for the tiny Cuca Records label in Wisconsin – a company who was more likely to open their doors to just about anyone, than they were to carefully pick who got to record in their studio! Yet because of that approach, Cuca was able to capture some fantastic sounds that would have otherwise been lost to more commercial concerns – music that here represents an underground of country singers and late rockabilly acts from the scene in southern Wisconsin – all artists with the kind of twang and subject matter you'd be much more likely to discover down in Tennessee! As usual with Numero Group, the record is as musically great as it is culturally compelling – put together with plenty of care, and a stunning set list that includes "Happy Don't Last Forever" by Nancy Lee Jordan, "Little Hero" by Dixie Drifter, "Cardinal" by John D Curnow, "Six Foot Down" by Gene Ski & The Troubadours, "There's A River" by Sam Podnay, "Hello Houston" by Johnny Madrid, "Wanderer" by The Lavenders, "Challenge" by Larry Phillipson, "Run Little Girl" by Harrison Two, "Heaven Help The Working Girl" by Janet Kaye, "Trouble Sweet Trouble" by Curley Fields & The Kentuckians, and "When I See You" by Rog Winters & The Plainsmen. LP, Vinyl record album

A mid-career gem from Tammy Wynette – and a set that's very different than some of the more biting material of her early days! Tammy here is singing of life's trials and challenges, from a perspective that was documented famously in her own semi-public life – and served up here with some delightfully easygoing production from Chips Moman, who also co-wrote some of the best songs on the record too. Despite her polished look on the cover, Wynette brings some very down to earth energy to the songs – a set list that includes "He's Rolling Over & Over", "Cowboy's Don't Shoot Straight", "Crying In The Rain", "Easy Street", "Goodnight Cowboy Goodnight", "You Brought Me Back", "I Don't Think I See Me In Your Eyes Anymore", and "The Best There Is". CD features five bonus tracks – including "There Goes That Old Steel Guitar", "The Wonders You Perform", "The Only Time I'm Really Me", "A Candle In The Wind", and "You Make Me Want To Be A Mother". CD

That's a mighty classy truck stop on the cover of this album – and the set's a mighty classy batch of trucker-themed tunes from the catalog of Starday Records! These aren't the shlocky truck country tunes of the 70s, but instead some great material from the postwar years – a time when the interstates were really opening up, and the role of the truck was about to surpass the role of the train. The tunes here all mark the new challenges of the time, sometimes with a good deal of humor – and titles include "Gears" by Johnny Bond, "Man Behind The Wheel" by George Morgan, "Long Haul Weekend" by The Willis Brothers, "Big Footed Dan" by Benny Martin, "Big Rig Guitar" by Joe Maphis, "Truck Driving Buddy" by Frankie Miller, "Sleeper Cab Blues" by Tom O'Neal, and "Pinball Machine" by Lonnie Irving. 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