Time-Life Country Music Series
Brian Rathjen
A few years ago, I saw this advertisement on both TV and in magazines,
advertising Time-Life Music's series of country music. This series
was--I believe--a 15-album series of music arranged by year (1957-1971,
I think), and each compliation was comprised of various artists.
Now, the questions I have are these: is this series still available (and
if so, what are the prices per CD), and if not, does anyone have a set
(of CDs, not albums or cassettes) which they are planning on selling?
Also, before I make a decision to buy (if anything is for sale), I want
to know (if anyone has a set of this series) who is part of each album
(e.g., for 1958, I'd imagine some of the songs include "Ballad of a
Teenage Queen" by Johnny Cash, "Oh Lonesome Me" by Don Gibson, and "City
Lights" by Ray Price; and for 1971, I would guess some of those songs
include "Joshua" by Dolly Parton, "The Year Clayton Delaney Died" by Tom
T. Hall, and "A Good Year for the Roses" by George Jones).
All inquiries are welcome to be posted on the newsgroup!!! Thank you.
Lester W. Turner Jr.
Hello!
I'm not sure if the Time-Life series is still available, but I would
venture a guess that they probably are through Time-Life. I want to say
that I remember them selling for $17.95 per year in a magazine about a
year and a half ago. I have the years 1957, 1958, 1961, 1969, and 1970
on albums and 1968 on CD. I have listed the tracks for everyone's
convenience. I would like to note that each year offers an excellent
sampling of the year's music and draws from a variety of the major labels
issuing c/w music at that time (RCA, Columbia, Capitol, Decca, Mercury).
If you want to spend the money, the whole set is definitely recommended.
1968 Time-Life Country USA
Waylon- Only Daddy that'll Walk The Line
Jerry Lee- What's Made Milwaukee Famous
Conway- The Image Of Me
George Jones- When The Grass Grows Over Me
Osborne Bros- Rocky Top
Tammy- Stand By Your Man
Merle- Mama Tried
Buck Owens- How Long Will My Baby Be Gone
Porter & Dolly- Last Thing On My Mind
Charley Pride- Day WHole World Stood Still
Jeannie C Riley- Harper Valley PTA
Glen Campbell- Wichita Lineman
Johnny Cash- Folsom Prison Blues
Loretta- Fist City
Jerry Lee- She Still Comes Around (To Love What's Left Of Me)
Porter- Carroll County Accident
Tammy- DIVORCE
Merle- I Take A Lot Of Pride In What I Am
Flatt & Scruggs- Foggy Mountain Breakdown
Del Reeves- Looking At The World Through A Windshield
Porter & Dolly- Holdin On To Nothin
Conway- Next In Line
Jerry Lee- Another Place, Another Time
Henson Cargill- Skip A Rope
LT
Brian Rathjen
What was the address which one may contact Time-Life Music to inquire
about the availablity of their Country Music USA series? I am certainly
interested in the set (and I'm sure many others looking for great
country music from the 50s, 60s, and 70s are, too).
Also, you list other years that is part of your collection. What songs
are part of THOSE collections?
I can't wait for you to post your reply on the Newsgroup!!!
Thanks in advance!!!
Todd A. Gracyk
Brian Rathjen <bdra...@demian.sau.edu> wrote:
>A few years ago, I saw this advertisement on both TV and in magazines,
>advertising Time-Life Music's series of country music. This series
>was--I believe--a 15-album series of music arranged by year (1957-1971,
>I think), and each compliation was comprised of various artists.
I cannot answer all of Brian's questions, but I will offer my
impressions of the "Country USA" series. I own the first 7 volumes,
which are 1950 through 1956. I consider these 7 CD's essential to my
country music collection. I stopped at 1956 because I am a big fan of
honky-tonk music but cannot tolerate the Nashville Sound. I sometimes
contemplate purchasing more discs just because the series is so good.
I do not know how many CD's are in the series. It is possible that
1971 is the last year. The CD's contain nice booklets (not so much a
booklet but heavy stock paper folded over twice) with photos and liner
notes by the outstanding historian Charles K. Wolfe. I believe that
each disc contains the top 24 hits of the given year. So you don't
get Hank Williams' most critically acclaimed recordings, you get his
singles that were most popular in the given year.
I don't care for about half of each disc, because all styles of
country music are represented, but some of the best material recorded
by Webb Pierce, Lefty Frizzell, Kitty Wells, Carl Smith, Faron Young,
and Ray Price can be heard in this series. All six artists now have
excellent single disc anthologies available, but how about one hit
wonders like the Davis Sisters or Johnnie and Jack? They are here
too. For historical collecting, this series just can't be beat!
The discs sell for $17 and be obtained by calling 1-800-621-7026. I
once had a catalog for the series mailed to me, but I misplaced it.
Time-Life has is a web site and the "Country USA" series is listed in
the music category, but further information is not provided. Titles
available from the Time-Life "Contemporary Country" series are shown
with links providing details on each. The Time-Life site is:
http://www.timelifecs.com
Todd A. Gracyk
Petaluma, CA
ta...@pge.com
Jon Weisberger
>...one hit wonders like...Johnnie and Jack?
Ouch!
tah...@azstarnet.com
This is a wonderful series that has 24 songs from each year 1950
through 1972. If you're at all interested in country music you can't
be without it. I was originally paying about $17 per CD, then saw an
advertisement in a country music magazine offering them for a couple
of dollars less. I wrote to complain, and they may have refunded me a
little money on what I had already paid (I forget), but they
definitely only made me pay the lower price for each succeeding CD.
It took about 2 or 2-1/2 years to get the entire collection, as they
were shipping about once every 4 or 5 weeks. You can, I suppose, buy
the whole collection at once.
I did a database of all the songs and, if I recall, George Jones had
about 20 over the years, 1 more than Johnny Cash. Merle and Buck were
right up there too, along with Loretta. Funny, though, with all the
Jones songs, they never did put him on a cover of one of the CDs.
Run, don't walk, start getting them immediately!!!!
Hayford
Brian Rathjen
Hayford:
You did a database of all the songs? Wow!!!
Is there any way you could list at least bits and pieces on the
newsgroup--and I'm not asking you to go to any trouble to do this, just
to satisfy little-ol' me.
Thanks in advance.
tah...@azstarnet.com
On 26 Jan 1997 22:22:08 GMT, Brian Rathjen <bdra...@demian.sau.edu>
wrote:
>I did it in an old DOS database program called Rapidfile
that was easy to use and filled my needs. Now I can do almost any of
my modest database stuff in spreadsheets, so I haven't used Rapidfile
for a while. Let me talk to my computer guru who gave me the program
years ago and see if he thinks it's readily feasible. I'll be happy
to do it if A.) it can be done, and B.) it isn't too much trouble.
I'll let you know within the week whether I can do it or not.
Hayford
(incidentally, your email address doesn't seem to work....)