Music » Country Box Set Music

With 41 tracks drawn from nine record labels, the two-disc Essential Willie Nelson is impressive in its breadth. Disc one is simply superb; it begins with 1961's "Night Life," recorded for the obscure Bellaire label, and moves on to several of Nelson's early 1960s Liberty recordings, an overlooked gem recorded for Monument in 1964 ("I Never Cared for You"), a cherry-picked selection of his RCA and Atlantic sides, and finally his mid-1970s hits for Columbia (where he found his greatest chart success, beginning, in 1975, with the No. 1 single "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain"). Disc two, however, is hit-or-miss. Classics like "On the Road Again," "Pancho & Lefty," and "Nothing I Can Do About It Now" are offset by such lesser material as "To All The Girls I've Loved Before" (recorded with Latin pop star Julio Iglesias), the phoned-in "City of New Orleans," and the sounds-better-on-paper "Highwayman" collaboration with Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings. (Just because they all made it to No. 1 doesn't make them "essential.") Nelson's two best albums of the 1990s, Across the Borderline and Teatro, are represented by a paltry two songs. The disc ends with collaborations with U2, Lee Ann Womack, and Steven Tyler and Aerosmith (the previously unreleased "One Time Too Many"). None is particularly worthy of a best-of collection. Still, while it doesn't quite live up to its billing, the Essential Willie Nelson offers an excellent career overview of one of country music's true legends. --David Hill

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: TWITTY,CONWAY
Title: COLLECTION
Street Release Date: 09/27/1994
Domestic
Genre: COUNTRY

Award-winning country superstar George Strait personally selected the 72 cuts on this epic boxed set. Spanning 1981-1995, this set includes 30 No. 1 singles, 11 rarities and three new tracks, including a never-before-released duet with Frank Sinatra.No Track Information AvailableMedia Type: CDArtist: STRAIT,GEORGETitle: STRAIT OUT OF THE BOXStreet Release Date: 09/12/1995

Release Date: 2000-08-29, Audio CD, Curb Records

UK budget-price box-set featuring the pioneer of western swing, he played blues, rags, stomps, ballads and jazz in a style that became much imitated. 119 tracks and including a 52 page illustrated booklet. Four standard jewel cases housed in a slipcase. 2001.

100 tracks are included in the budget priced 4 CD box, which comes with a 48-page illustrated booklet bearing all the proper hallmarks. Four standard jewel cases housed in cardboard slipbox. Proper. 2003.

With his Musical Brownies, Milton Brown was one of the first musicians to combine jazz, blues, & country music to come up with the exciting musical hybrid that was western swing. Milton Brown & his Musical Brownies will always remain the original source that informed this music, he was the true daddy of the genre. 106 slices of the man's art are on four CDs. Includes 60-page booklet. Proper. Standard jewel cases housed in a box. 2003.

Hank Jr.'s career stands as the most frustrating of all modern honky-tonkers', as much for the way the industry has managed his immense catalogue as for the way he has managed his undeniable gifts as a songwriter and singer. At three CDs, Curb's overview is a far cry from "complete": his best work, especially the tough, bluesy songs of Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound, is slighted in favor of a play-the-hits approach, even though Williams's singles haven't always been his best work. Likewise, the collection includes nary a cut from the sadly out-of-print Hank Williams Jr. & Friends, though the liner notes recognize that 1975 album as a landmark. Instead Curb has cobbled material readily available elsewhere on existing hits packages and complete albums. That said, Jr.'s country-fried rock--newcomers may be shocked at how hard he rocks--and his unreconstructed hillbilly ideology can be bracing on "Come On Over to the Country," on the foreboding "A Country Boy Can Survive," and on his best '80s performance, a scorching duet with Johnny Cash on "That Old Wheel" (from Cash's classic Water from the Wells of Home). But instead of focusing on similarly strong tunes, this box includes the tasteless beyond-the-crypt duets with Hank Sr., the silly, unblushing prejudice of "Young Country," and the war-mongering diatribe "Don't Give Us a Reason"--as if the listener needed reminders of just how bad Bocephus can be. What Hank Jr.'s legacy needs is a thorough, critical, and eclectic compilation of his finest performances. This set isn't it. --Roy Kasten

From his '86 multiplatinum debut Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. through '01s South Of Heaven, West Of Hell, this expansive 4-CD boxed set culls material from Yoakam's entire Warner Bros. career. Presents 87 tracks circa 1981-2002, encompassing singles, album, cuts, previously unissued material, rarities, and soundtrack selections. Contains 3 brand new recordings (exclusively available to this set): "Sittin' Pretty," "Louisville," and "Mercury Blues." Includes a full disc comprised of nothing but previously unreleased material, including rare early demos from 1981, and live gems from various venues spanning nearly a decade, including renditions of "Truckin'," and "Mystery Train." Also features Yoakam's contributions to tribute albums honoring Kinky Friedman, Merle Haggard, Bob Willis & The Texas Playboys, and ZZ Top. Includes guest appearances by Buck Owens, Kelly Willis, Asleep At The Wheel, Patty Loveless, Bekka Bramlett, Flaco Jimenez, and Sheryl Crow. Deluxe booklet features rare photos and tributes from Yoakam devotees including Dennis Hopper, Billy Gibbons, Dave Alvin, and Buck Owens.

Release Date: 2000-06-20, Audio CD, Madacy Records