Dylan's wonderful foray into country rock – the great Nashville Skyline! He takes his voice into a strangely crooning arena that we hadn't heard from him before or since, kinda adding a mysterious vibe of the whole thing. Titles include a duet with Johnny Cash on "Girl From The North Country", plus "Lay Lady Lay", "Country Pie", "To Be Alone With You", and "One More Night". LP, Vinyl record album

A pivotal album for Bob Dylan – a record that continues the Nashville experiment of Blonde On Blonde, but which compresses it a bit more – almost like he's re-folding the electric energy back into the darkness of the spare sound of Times They Are A-Changin! Bob plays guitar, harmonica, and piano – in a core trio that just features Charlie McCoy on bass and Kenny Buttrey on drums – plus a bit of added steel guitar from Pete Drake. The album's filled with complicated dark little numbers like "All Along The Watchtower", "The Ballad Of Frankie Lee & Judas Priest", "I Am A Lonesome Hobo", "I Pity The Poor Immigrant", "The Wicked Messenger", "As I Went Out One Morning", and "Down Along The Cove". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album – not only for Esther Phillips, who's emerging here as a gifted young lady, very different from her R&B years, but also for the genre of country soul, which was emerging to be one of the most important strands in the new music during the 60s! Esther's not fooling around here – as she's working with Nashville arranger Cliff Parman, and getting backup from the Anita Kerr singers for that true Music City sound. Sounds hokey, sounds like it shouldn't work – but the setting is perfect for Esther's raspy rich tone, and in a way, it forces her to break out even more vocally than she does on other 60s recordings. Titles include "Release Me", "I'd Fight The World", "Am I That Easy To Forget", "I Really Don't Want To Know", "Just Out Of Reach", and "Be Honest With Me". A wonderful album – one that sits perfectly next to work by Solomon Burke, Ray Charles, and Brook Benton. Also includes the bonus track "Don't Feel Rained On". LP, Vinyl record album

The most stylistically sprawling record yet from Jack White! White's trajectory from Detroit garage-blues-punk wunderkind to Nashville record biz provocateur/label magnate is pretty damn impressive – and he really lets his far-reaching impulses fly on Lazzaretto. Unpredictable twists and turns abound, bu t it's all held together by an undercurrent of pummeling, unpretentious rock and roll, with a rootsy swagger. Ever upping the ante on hella cool vinyl releases, Lazarretto is a 3-speed "Ultra LP" – with a 33 1/3 main track list, and 2 hidden tracks beneath the center labels, one that plays at 45 and one that plays at 78. Oh, and also a hologram visual effect. We're thinking that maybe his next record will summon a genie that grants you 3 wishes. Titles include "Three Women", "Lazaretto", "Temoprary Ground", "Would You Fight For My Love?", "High Ball Stepper", "Just One Drink", "Alone In My Home", That Black Bat Licorice", "Entitlement", "I Think I Found The Culprit" and "Want And Able". LP, Vinyl record album

Elvis Costello's early 80s foray into 60s Nashville and otherwise country-indebted songbooks – and it's a nice one! Even on his tighter, blistering punk era records, Elvis demonstrated not only the voice, but a great ear for the roots and soul that came before him. He showed some soul love quite profoundly a year-or-so earlier on the Get Happy album, and here he works in a similarly respectful mode for classic country, countrypolitan and even a little bit of honky tonk. Produced by Billy Sherrill – who was absolutely essential in the country crossover sound of the 60s and 70s. It's a bit overlooked, but we love this record! Includes "Why Don't You Love Me (Lie You Used To Do)", "I'm Your Toy", "Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down", "Sittin' And Thinkin'", "Honey Hush", "How Much I Lied" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album from the mighty Bob Dylan – a 2LP set of studio work, which was quite rare at the time – and a set that has Dylan stretching out all his creative powers in newly different directions! The album had a long genesis in the studio – some early work with The Band, then Dylan breaking off with Al Kooper and Robbie Robertson to head down to Nashville – where they interacted with key country session musicians to make this masterful blend of music – work that's not country at all, but which is also moving past Dylan's folk roots too – with a blend of music that still as mindblowing today as it was back in the mid 60s! This is definitely one of those double-length sets that makes fantastic use of all the extra space – overflowing with gems that include "Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35", "Visions Of Johanna", "Pledging My Time", "Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again", "Leopard-Skin Pill Box Hat", and "Just Like A Woman". LP, Vinyl record album

A late 60s studio folk gem from John Stewart – best known as a writer, having penned material for the Kingston Trio and "Daydream Believer" for the Monkees – stepping forward really well with this unfussy, but fairly impeccable set for Capitol! It was recorded in Nashville with some of the musicians who sat behind Dylan on Nashville Skyline – the Kenneth Buttrey drums and the Lloyd Green steel are always welcome to these ears – and John's voice and songs share a folksy, but down-to-earth sensibility that's exudes warmth from every pore. Hardly as well remembered as many of the folk-country-rock albums of the era, but it should be! Titles include "California Bloodlines", "Razorback Woman", "She Believes In Me", "Omaha Rainbow", "The Pirates Of Stone County Road", "Mother County", "Some Lonesome Picker", "Missouri Birds", "July You're A Woman", "Never Goin Back Down" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Happy and Artie Traum are part of the farther-flung universe around Bob Dylan and The Band at the end of the 60s – musicians who worked with Bob in New York, and who were living upstate at the time they cut this wonderful debut album – even though the whole thing was actually all recorded down in Tennessee! But maybe that factor is what makes the whole thing sound special – not just some guys trying to fake roots, but actually finding them in a way that's really unique. There's an easygoing flow to their work together – an effortless embrace of country currents and more personal folksy strains – all given a nice focus in the Nashville recording studio, as bits of dobro, fiddle, and steel guitar are used sparingly, but in just the right ways – almost making the record feel like an even more subtle version of The Burrito Brothers. Titles include "Golden Bird", "Uncle Jedd Say", "The Hungry Dogs Of New Mexico", "Rabbit's Luck", "Farmers Almanac", and "State Line". LP, Vinyl record album