As a founder of Acuff-Rose, the first (and still dominant) Country music publishing house, Roy Acuff knew the value of a song, both figuratively and literally. So it's no surprise that in a fifty-year recording career he'd take the opportunity to revisit some of the chestnuts he'd collected. On this collection, Varese's put together twenty tracks Acuff cut for his own Hickory label from the late-50s, through the mid-70s, including valuable re-recordings of his legendary late-30s and early-40s sides, new hits, and several essential B-sides.In spotlighting these latter-day Hickory recordings, "20 Greatest Songs" (note that it's not titled "20 Greatest Hits") serves as a well-rounded introduction to Acuff's career. By collecting tracks from his post-40s surges of popularity, the disc illuminates Acuff's essential characteristics: a finely tuned ear for great songs, and an unswerving devotion to the Country style he helped popularize in the 30s and 40s.
Chronologically, the disc picks up with Acuff's second flush of chart success in 1958. Having left Columbia, and subsequently Capitol, Decca and MGM, he finally settled at his own Hickory label. There he waxed the double-sided hit single "Once More" b/w "So Many Time," (both included here), and began recording albums and singles that simultaneously forged ahead and reconsidered his earlier successes.
Though the liner notes describe the re-recordings of his earliest hits as materially similar to the originals, they're often a hint slower, and a bit more refined in their production. And while the originals are essential, these re-recordings of chestnuts like "The Great Speckled Bird," "Wabash Cannonball" and "The Precious Jewel" serve as historical exclamation points in their own right. When Acuff first delivered these songs, he helped to establish Country music as a commercial concern. When he redelivered them, it not only validated his earlier work, but illuminated the roots of a music whose then-contemporary forms had greatly evolved.
The other Hickory recordings included here are equally impressive, from the 1965 hit revival of "Freight Train Blues" to the 1974 chart success with the Eddy Raven penned "Back in the Country." The magnificent flip side of the latter, "(Our Own) Jole Blon," opens the disc with a terrific Cajun beat. The twenty-track selection is a step up from previously available Hickory collections, such as Curb's "Best of Roy Acuff," and an excellent companion to 30s/40s compilations, such as Columbia's "Greatest Hits" or Columbia Legacy's "The Essential Roy Acuff (1936-1949)."
It was A GIFT MY FRIEND WAS VERY HAPPY
Expanded collection of Acuff?s latter-day Hickory recordings