Traditional Pop Music

CD was in better condition than described online. Transaction was very smooth. Will do business again......

This CD is a great compilation of more songs that Ms. Gorme made with Trio Los Panchos. The combination of Ms. Gorme's voice and the strings of the guitars make for a terrific listening experience. The songs speak directly to the heart. An exquisit collection of boleros from years that live in memories of romance and love!!

This is a classic album, wonderful to listen to and very romantic. With the back round like Los Pancho's ...you can't go wrong!

Edie silky voice and Los Panchos great guitars. Add some timeless classics you got a recipe for a great CD. Even if you don't understand Spanish you will enjoy this CD.
I highly recommend getting the first one as well.

I BROUGHT THE ALBUM WHEN THIS FIRST CAME OUT, FOLLOWED BY THE CASSETTE.
HAD TO UPDATE MY COLLECTION ON THIS WONDERFUL COLLECTION OF MUSIC WITH A CD. I GREW UP WITH THE LATIN GROUP TRIO LOS PONCHOS. FOR NOT BEING LATIN
EDIE GORME NAILED THE SOUND. WHAT A VOICE. THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME SHARE AND I TOTALLY RECOMMEND THIS ALBUM TO EVERYONE.

CARMELA HOBLEY

The title track ,Chiseled In Stone, is worth the price of admission alone for this 1988 Vern Gosdin recording , also known as "the voice" Vern Gosdin makes this fine comeback album, and you'll hear country the way it's meant to be featuring,Tight As Twin Fiddles,Set'em Up Joe,Is It Raining At Your House,Do You Believe Me Now,are a few of the tunes that stand out loaded with steel,fiddle, and "the voice" - who's biggest influence was none other than of course, George Jones,although Vern Gosdin stands tall on his own,Gosdin also stands as one of the most underrated, listen to ,Chiseled In Stone,and you'll be a believer.

I recently lost my husband and the song Chisled in Stone really touched me.

Enjoy all of his songs.

Both of these cd.s were ordered from a private seller thru amazon. Both already recieved and just as I expected are great Vern Gosdin recordings. I will order again, also Country Classics Vol.5,Chiseled In Stone,Super Hits Of The 70,s Have A Nice Day,Ten Years of Hits all by vern gosdin, some of the most wonderful music I have heard, and the excellant people who sent to me, because amazon , did not have were the most talented of all. They were sent in greatest condition,fast service, packing so nothing would break, these people are the greatest, thank you and amazon.Gayle Monett Chico, Texas

WOW. Can't wait to order the rest of his great albums. Have reccommended his CDs to friends and now they're hooked on The Voice just like me.

Like George, Vern sometimes sings more upbeat material (Tight as twin fiddles, on this album, being a prime example), but both singers have a particular way with the kind of very sad songs that dominate this album, especially the title track.

For those who are unfamiliar with it, the title refers to the inscription on a gravestone and the song points out that don't understand loneliness until somebody you love has died. It is the kind of song that you expect to hear George Jones sing, but I doubt if George could improve on Vern's version of this song.

Tight as twin fiddles, the one upbeat track here, is a slice of western swing in the tradition of Bob Wills. Of the other songs, all of which are excellent, my favorites are Do you believe me now and Set em up Joe.

If you enjoy traditional country with absolutely no frills, this is for you. Just be sure to have those tissues ready.

This album isn't for everyone. It's not for those who only appreciate the Johnny Cash of radio. It's not for those who only like the staples of Cash's music career (Walk the Line, Folsom Prison Blues, Ring of Fire, etc.) It's an album for those who are fascinated by the distinctive truthfulness of Johnny Cash's voice. There is no other album in which his purity comes through more clearly. The album's honesty comes from the fact that Johnny wasn't recording these songs for others; he was recording them for himself. We have the privilege of evesdropping on these personal moments. We are not the audience. We are the fly on the wall, and we get to listen to Johnny at his best, as just a man and his guitar playing simply for the reason that he loved music. Cash's love of music is such a refreshing discovery in the midst of today's music industry.

I've always wanted to sit down with Johnny Cash and have him sing some of his favorite songs for me in a private one on one concert. This is it. I've seen John many times in my life and I've had the pleasure to meet him personally as well, shook his hand, got the autograghs, and pictures. I've held a conversation with him on more than one occassion, but never had the courage to ask him to sing for me, nor would I have. But it was always a dream that it might could happen ... this is as close as it comes. Turn the music up and the lights down and enjoy a one on one private concert with John and his guitar.

The PURE talent of Johnny Cash never ceases to amaze. How many songs did this guy know? For this one , it is best to listen alone , with a fine beer or wine.You will savor every moment , and when it's over you'll feel as if Johnny put on a show just for you. This "Personal File" was probably never supposed to be released ; thanks to the powers that be that saw to it's issuing. "Personal" indeed----from Johnny to you.

El producto esta en perfectas condiciones y a llegado en buen estado, además, lo pedí por correo ordinario y no ha tardado tanto en llegar.

This 2 CD set features songs Johnny Cash recorded at his home recording studio. They are from tapes marked "personal file". The tapes feature Johnny Cash alone with his guitar and were recorded for Cash's personal use and were never intended to be released. About half the songs were recorded in July of 1973. The rest of the songs were recorded between October, 1973 and December, 1982. The first disc features secular material and the second disc features religious songs. There are a lot of good songs here, but the similarity in the arrangements gets a bit repetive after a while. This is a real treasure trove for serious Johnny Cash fans, but I suspect that casual fans may not enjoy it as much.

Probably some of the best known of Marty Robbins' works, this is a great album combining his two best known western albums. From El Paso to San Angelo, true Texas traditional story telling at its best! A must for all Marty Robbins fans!

As you're listening to Marty Robbins sing these Gunfighter Ballads, you can't help but think Marty was there at one time in his life, as you hear Marty's self-penned ,El Paso,and the glorious, Masters Call, and the movie script song you've seen on many of westerns, there's always the man with the, Big Iron, on his hip. The first gunfighter album was actually recorded in one day and Marty had the help of the tight, haunting, harmonies from the Glaser brothers in which added the western touch and sound to this "old west" album. This German import continues with the second installment of the gunfighter ballads for which has always been out of print until now, the songs on here are not as strong as the first, yet, still are just as listenable, as you hear ,Five Brothers,or, San Angelo, in which continues the Fleena-El Paso saga, and Marty gives us his version of,Streets Of Laredo,-a great double album compilation from the great,true voice of the west,Marty Robbins.

Marty Robbins covers a range of timeless classics. As good today as it was when first released 40+ years ago. Hard to beat Big Iron, The Master's Call, Strawberry Roan.

Product is all that I expected. If anyone loves to hear Marty Robins, I'm sure they will enjoy this product.

I had all 3 albums that make up most of this CD...in the late 1950's /early 1960's. Marty was in great voice; the arrangments are superb...and, if you can listen to these bittersweet, haunting ballads without having your heartstrings plucked...and, eyes misting up..you are stone dead. These are about another time and another place...and,one where Life was often harsh, often all-too-short, but, it was lived full-up, not talked about and analyzed ad nauseum. This time may have not have existed as Marty sings about it, but the strength and purity of the messages are timeless. Oh, yes...for the secularists out there: there are some religious aspects in some of the songs. But, having been in Montana and the Dakotas, you can almost feel a Presence there.

I found this CD to be of good quality. It is one of my old favorities, as I have owned it on 33 rpm, cassette, and now CD.

Any fans of Doris Day old and new will love this CD. A must have for any long term fan.

This Cd is a reissue of the 1958 Columbia album DORIS DAY'S GREATEST HITS. Released just before her major surge as the almost unrivaled queen of the American screen via PILLOW TALK, LOVER COME BACK, MIDNIGHT LACE, and other blockbuster films, this is a well chosen collection mixing Doris' most popular movie songs ("Love Me or Leave Me", "Teacher's Pet"), best-selling radio hits ("Everybody Loves a Lover", "A Guy is a Guy"), to legendary songs that qualify as both ("Secret Love", "Que Sera Sera"), and a couple of noteworthy covers of popular songs of the day. My favorite track here is Doris' breathtaking take on "Bewitched" from the musical PAL JOEY. You will never hear a better performance of this song - Doris is downright bewitching herself with this extraordinarily lovely vocal. She breathes new life into pop standards "When I Fall in Love" and "Lullaby of Broadway". There's also her very first hit as a solo star, the beautiful "It's Magic". All 12 songs are wonderful with wonderful performances.

The original vinyl album DORIS DAY'S GREATEST HITS enjoyed a long run in print and, incredibly, was Doris' only Columbia album still in print in the 1970's and 1980's. Today of course we have much more to choose from with dozens of Doris Day cds on the market but if you want the very cream of the crop you could hardly go wrong with this chestnut collection and it's very low price makes it ideal for giving as gift copies to turn friends into new fans of the greatest pop female vocalist of them all, Miss Doris Day.

most songs were distinctly the same as original with older ones a little more scratchy.

I have to say this about all Laura Nyro and her albums, especially the early ones with which I am most familiar. Laura is one of the most overlooked and greatest of the female "confessional, "poetic" and hit making songwriter/singers of that generation. She belongs up there among the best, with Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Judy Collins, Phoebe Snow, Janis Ian, Roberta Flack and Rickie Lee Jones. I was shocked that Sheila Weller's book "Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--and the Journey of a Generation" included Carly Simon and not Laura Nyro. No offense to Carly Simon, but Simon didn't come anywhere close to the talent of Laura Nyro in songwriting ability, or in Laura's searing, idiocratic, distinct, unique and heartbraking, haunting and unforgettable singing voice. As Nick Drake rightfully has been, Laura should be rediscovered and listened to intently for anyone who likes these other singers. She'll have you listening intently with your eyes closed, or about to get up sing, shout and dance along with her.

The only cut on this CD that works as a vocal is the haunting "Billy's Blues." Otherwise Ms. Nyro's singing voice is this incredibly unattractive soprano wailing all over the place; just like Sandra Bernhard when she tries to sing 'seriously'.

I've been a fan of Laura Nyro since the late 60's and was fortunate enough to have seen her perform in person from that time until the early 90's.
Ms. Nyro's talent as a songwriter is well documented, as are the depth and sensitivity of her lyrics.
Her talent as a singer is less celebrated depite her tremendous ability to put a song "over" and make the listeners think she is singing just to them.
This is a great CD to introduce newcomers to a fabulous talent cut down far too soon in life.
God bless Laura Nyro.

Hearing Laura Nyro sing her own songs is something special. You could feel the emotion unlike when you listen to the other artists who have performed her songs.

My only regret is that my favorite, "Sweet Blindness", is a live recording from 1976. I would rather have the studio version, which is how most of the recordings on both discs are presented. It's still a winner in my book.

Unfortunately, none of the previous reviewers thought to mention that however good the music may be, a significant portion of this collection is hard to listen to because of poor engineering. Old recordings are simply thrown onto CD without any modifications/improvements. Hence, you get lots of splatter on higher notes (think tinny record player from the 60's). Classics like Stoney End, Billy's Song and Blowin' Away are the worst of the lot. If you don't mind skipping over the bad cuts, there will be something here for you. Consider buying this one second hand at a deep discount.

Bluegrass and 70's Country Rock intersect perfectly on "Dirt, Sliver and Gold," a compilation of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's earliest greatest hits and favorite tracks. These guys can play music together and sound like they're having fun doing it. I love how the Uncle Charlie Interview leads into "Mr. Bojangles." Earl Scrugg's "Randy Lynn Rag" never sounded better. "Sixteen Tracks," "Jamiaca Lady," and "Bowlegs" don't seem to get mentioned in reviews but they are great tunes. "Ripplin' Waters," my personal favorite, evokes the Colorado high country and a slower pace of life. And nobody does "Battle of New Orleans" like the NGDB. This is the Dirt Band at their finest.

The variety of music on the CD was great. We were a little concerned about the quality as there seemed to be a residue on the CD right out of the package and it hung up on the second song. However, once we cleaned the CD, it played without a problem. We heard many songs that were new to us. Much more instrumental tunes than we were expecting.

This is NOT a review of the music. We all know this band was great and they created memorable songs. What prevents this Cd to reach perfection is the lousy booklet included. No song lyrics, scarce info about the band. A fairly good product altogether, but no pluses.

I had this 3 record album back in college in the early 80's. This was one of the standards for our dorm parties. I lost the third record. I have been searching for the CD for years. I love Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's music and this one is classic.

Awesome album and a must for anyone into the bluegrass/country genre but likes a little rock and creative orchestration thrown in. Great covers and signs of better times--who would dare cover "House at Pooh Corner" these days? Tons of great music in this double album. Put it on, kick back and you'll be hummin' and singin' along before you know it.

I like this CD because it takes me back to a place in my childhood. Lots of good memories of growing up, especially in church. The words of every song on here is very clear an uplifting. There is one song on there that makes me cry everytime I here it. That song is "No Charge". Shirley Caesar got the gift of story telling in the beginning of her songs like "Hold My Mule". If you're a fan of hers, this is the CD to get no question about it.

Love it, love it, love it!

Shirley Caesar is one of my all-time favorites. I am thoroughly enjoying this CD. I listen to it while I'm traveling to and from work. I'm surprised my CD player doesn't have smoke coming from it.

Each song is AMAZING-perfect 10!

I am enjoying the CD; however, the case was broken when I received it. The packaging was not appropriate for mailing a CD. Even though the case was broken, the CD was not damaged.

Great down home excellence is found on this CD. The way only Shirle Caesart can deliver it. No Club Gospel found here. Pure spirit led and filled music. Great words and work.

EXPECT NOTHING BUT THE FINEST ON THIS REMARKABLE COLLECTION ON CLASSIC SISTER SHIRLEY CAESAR HITS!!

I didn't know that Patsy Cline recorded before Decca, so this was a pleasant surprise for me, to hear the original version of "walking after midnight". Nice selection.

If you love Patsy, this CD has songs seldom on the radio. You have to be in an older generation to enjoy.

This album is pretty good and easy to listen to, but if you're looking for Patsy Cline's greatest hits, this is NOT it. Not sure what "Greatest Recordings" is supposed to mean, but I'd never heard of most of these songs, but they're still good Patsy Cline tunes.

Though it's a bit of a stretch to call these early recordings Cline's all time greatest, it's no stretch to call them essential. True, only one of these tracks actually charted (1957's "Walkin' After Midnight," included here in its original hit form, rather than the re-recording featured on many other compilations), but the 25 hand-picked titles (representing half of Cline's output for 4-Star) are filled with gems, and Varese's mastering from the original tapes sounds wonderful.

What really makes Cline's 4-Star catalog special is the arc that it traces from her earliest straight-Country recordings through sides on which producer Owen Bradley begins to find the Nashville Sound. Cline's first single, recorded in 1955, includes plenty of fiddle, steel, tears and heartache. "A Church, A Courtroom, and Then Goodbye," taped perhaps not coincidentally around the time of her divorce from Gerald Cline, shows her voice in astoundingly full bloom. At a time when female stars were a scarce commodity on the Country scene, Cline had honed her performances in endless radio and honky-tonk gigs.

By 1956 Bradley was already making records without the overt twang. "Walkin' After Midnight," has a smoky late-night resonance that allowed it to cross over to #12 on the pop chart. 1957's "Three Cigarettes and an Ashtray" pushes even further in this direction, courtesy of Cline's sophisticated, torchy lead and atmospheric background vocals courtesy of the Anita Kerr singers.

Though it's often said that Cline's 4-Star recordings were limited by the song catalog from which she was allowed to choose, this collection shows just how much good material she was still able to find. In their entirety the 4-Star titles don't compare to what she subsequently recorded for MCA, but there are plenty of excellent songs here. It's particularly interesting to hear the variations of her approach and the sounds with which she's surrounded. From weepy, steel-and-fiddle ballads to spirituals to bluesy late-night torch songs, Cline's voice stamps each with an amazing authority.

While these recordings may not be the place to begin one's appreciation of Patsy Cline, they do provide an essential tour of her recording roots. Anyone ready to listen more deeply than the well-known hits should start here. Those who want an even larger helping should find the 48-track, two volume "Four Star Recordings" set from the Country Stars label, the 50-track anthology "Crazy Dreams" on Sundown, or the out-of-print three-disc "Her First Recordings" series on Rhino. For all but the completist, however, these expertly picked 25 tracks should suffice.

The first volume of Varese Sarabande's collections of Cline's pre-Decca recordings on the independent 4-Star label. This disc has some of her bluesiest and most "country" performances, including gems such as the raunchy "Hungry For Love," and teen-pop oriented material like "Walking Dream" and a triplet-heavy "Stop The World (And Let Me Off)." Many Cline fans find this era to be her best, or least closest to her country roots. Inching towards her transcendent crossover style, Cline gives a few interesting spins to lots of formulaic material, and even leaves a unique stamp on hard country classics. Patsy plays it slow and mournful on her 1956 version of "Pick Me Up On Your Way Down," later a rollicking, upbeat hit for Charlie Walker, while a similarly slowed down version of "Life Is Like A Mountain Railroad" is given a subdued, barbershoppish arrangement. And then of course, there's Cline's majestic voice, which lifts any song, no matter how formulaic or run-of-the-mill; on some songs she's struggling against the so-so arrangements, but always with great success. This is a really tasty, generously programmed collection... with great sound quality as well. Recommended!

If you like acoustic blues and country, get this CD or something by Jimmy Rogers. He's amazing. His yodeling is great. Really makes you long for simpler days. His songs are fun, and his guitar playing and singing are perfectly matched to make it a wonderful listening experinece. Check out this CD.

I know three Jimmie Rodgers collections well, the five-CD collection RECORDINGS 1927-1933, the Bear box set THE SINGING BRAKEMAN, and the single disc THE ESSENTIAL JIMMIE RODGERS. Each of these collections is flawed in its own way. RECORDINGS 1927-1933 is on the surface of things a great bargain, in that you get very nearly all of Rodgers's recordings in a single inexpensive set. Unfortunately, the sound quality isn't nearly as good as the other two compilations. THE SINGING BRAKEMAN is hands down the finest collection, with all of the extant recordings, a very nice booklet, and great sound, but it is prohibitively expensive, at the moment that I write this review nearly $190. If money is no object, then by all means get this one. The third collection that I know well is this one, THE ESSENTIAL JIMMIE RODGERS. It is very good sonically and features 20 of his best known songs. Its problem is not that it isn't good; but that he has vastly more than 20 very good songs. There are far, far more "essential" recordings than that.

What is not at issue is the quality of the music. Even on the two large collections there is surprisingly little dross in Jimmie Rodgers's recordings. I find that every disc stands up marvelously to relistenings. Even Rodgers's very first cuts were decent. The majority are excellent, and more than a handful were superb. And there is a remarkable diversity. Although a large number of the cuts are solo performances with Rodgers playing only guitar, a large number feature a wide variety of accompaniments. The most famous is, of course, "Standing on the Corner," recorded in Hollywood with Louis Armstrong playing the trumpet as only he could. Many of the other cuts feature weak or average players, but there are the occasional cuts with exceptionally fine players. But in everyone Rodgers dominates.

While there are very few weak musical cuts, this collection does happily leave off the intensely horrifying "The Pullman Porters," a skit that is included on the Bear THE SINGING BRAKEMAN box set, in which two white men, one of them unfortunately Jimmie Rodgers, parody black Pullman Porters. Even when factoring in that it was humor that was typical of the age, it hardly excuses Rodgers for engaging in painfully racist humor. And "racist" is absolutely the correct word. Most accusations of racism these days involve incidents that can usually be debated. But this comedic skit is vastly more offensive than Michael Richards's celebrated tirade. It isn't just Rodgers mimicking African-Americans or the loose use of the N-word, but the way that the porters, especially the porter that Rodgers is talking to, are presented as complete and abject idiots. The skit is also extremely embarrassing to whites. It pains me that whites might have found this funny. This skit reflects very, very badly on the whites of the period.

Speaking of whites of the period, one thing that I often thing about in listening to Rodgers is my grandfather. After being mustered out of the Army in 1918 at the end of the Great War, my grandfather (who was a photographer for the army) began working for the U.S. Post Office. Specifically, he worked on mail trains. As far as I can tell, he mainly worked runs into Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana from 1919 through the late 1920s. Rodgers finished working on the railroads around 1923 or 1924. There is absolutely no way of telling for sure, but it doesn't seem unlikely that Rodgers and my grandfather might have been on a run together at some point. They certainly inhabited the same worlds. What is more, my grandfather was a fiddle player. It would have been so sweet if my grandfather and Rodgers had had a talk about music. I don't know if they ever met or were even on the same trains, but it certainly isn't impossible.

Of the three Jimmie Rodgers's collections with which I am familiar, I am not sure which I would most recommend. RECORDINGS 1927-33 is nearly as complete as THE SINGING BRAKEMAN and can be had for a sixth of the cost, but it definitely is not of the same quality. On the other hand, THE SINGING BRAKEMAN is so absurdly expensive! There is a significant difference in sound quality, but even more of a difference in price. THE ESSENTIAL JIMMIE RODGERS has exceptionally fine sound quality, but it leaves off way, way too many of Rodgers's most important recordings. It lacks such important gems as "Standing on the Corner" (the collaboration with Louis Armstrong), "Home Call," "Peach Picking Time in Georgia," "Long Tall Mama Blues," and "Jimmie's Mean Mama Blues," along with many others. In short, there is no easy recommendation about which direction to go in getting the right Jimmie Rodgers collection. THE ESSENTIAL is too small, 1927-33 is too inferior, and THE SINGING BRAKEMAN is too expensive. But right now, those are our choices.

Meeting Jimmie Rodgers: How America's Original Roots Music Hero Changed the Pop Sounds of a Century
I am well satisfied with"The essential Jimmie Rodgers" CD. I think it is good to be able to hear music that changed the style so many years ago and hear the original yodeler. His time was before I was born (1931 ). While his music sounds strange for the young today, remember it was made before Hi-FI & long before stereo & was played on mechanical record players. His "blue yodeling" started a style that is used in country music today, such as Lean Rhymes (pardon the spelling)who has perfected it. Like Hank Williams sr., he was quite the song writer. Though I am amused by it , I enjoy it, remembering my grandmother's old 78 records played on a spring loaded portable Victoroler (victroler?).

This CD gathers together some of Jimmie Rodgers most essential recordings in one place. A difficult task given that he recorded dozens, if not hundreds, of songs... mostly material he self-penned. The quality of this re-mastered recording is phenominal, and the playlist is superb. Of course, "In the Jailhouse Now" is here, done in typical JR fashion, emulated so well by "The Foggy Bottom Boys" in the movie "Oh Brother, Wherefore Art Thou?" And, you'll also like hearing "Frankie and Johnny" in it's original version. I was delighted to see "T for Texas" and "Muleskinner Blues" and "Pistol Packin' Papa" included in this collection. All in all, it's a "must-have" for Jimmie Rodgers fans, or for anyone seeking root's music.

My dad learned to play the guitar listening to the great Jimmy Rodgers. The first song...sounded like Dad playing that guitar! Took it over to him and he cried....had to give that one to him and buy me another one! Really a good CD if you love Jimmy Rodgers...or if you really want to know where Country came from!