1.Riders In the Sky - Vaughn Monroe & His Orchestra
2.Room Full of Roses - Sons of the Pioneers
3.I Wish I Had a Nickel - Jimmy Wakely
4.Lovesick Blues - Hank Williams & the Drifting Cowboys
5.Then I Turned and Walked Slowly Away - Eddy Arnold & His Tennessee Plowboys
6.Take an Old Cold Tater (and Wait) - Little Jimmy Dickens
7.Blues Stay Away From Me - The Delmore Brothers
8.Don't Be Ashamed of Your Age - Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
9.Candy Kisses - George Morgan
10.Panhandle Rag - Leon Mcauliffe & His Western Swing Band
11.Slippin' Around - Floyd Tillman
12.Bonaparte's Retreat - Pee Wee King & His Golden West Cowboys
13.Hadacol Boogie - Bill Nettles & His Dixie Blue Boys
14.I Love You Because - Leon Payne
15.Whoa Sailor - Hank Thompson & His Brazos Valley Boys
16.Let's Say Goodbye Like We Said Hello - Ernest Tubb
17.Why Don't You Haul Off and Love Me - Wayne Raney
18.Will You Be Satisfied That Way - Jimmie Skinner
19.Old Cross Road, The - Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys
20.What About You - Johnnie & Jack and the Tennessee Mountain Boys
21.White Dove, The - Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys
22.Philadelphia Lawyer - The Maddox Brothers & Rose
23.This Cold War With You - Floyd Tillman
24.My Bucket's Got a Hole In It - T. Texas Tyler
25.I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Hank Williams & the Drifting Cowboys
26.Warm Red Wine - Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
27.I'm Throwing Rice - Eddy Arnold & His Tennessee Plowboys
28.Mule Train - Tennessee Ernie Ford
Product Description:
Germany's Bear Family is well known for its stellar box set reissues of country, rock, and rhythm & blues recordings, as well as for single titles by deserving if not necessarily remembered American artists. Their mastering, production, and packaging set the industry standard for excellence. The six-volume Dim Lights, Thick Smoke series was released on CD in December of 2008 and covered the years 1945-1950, a strange and wonderful time in country music history born from of the end of the War Department's restrictions on shellac and the end of the recording ban, all near the end of the second world war. These discs all contain either 27 or 28 tracks, and are lavishly annotated with historical essays and track by track annotation by the esteemed Colin Escott, and contain with photographs of performers and record sleeves where available. The 1949 volume in the Bear Family's Dim Lights, Thick Smoke series is one of the strongest. Country music became a true hotbed of activity as the '40s ended, with labels both major and independent recording and manufacturing titles in record numbers. The music on this 28-track set offers a small example of the wealth that was flooding jukeboxes, small independent radio stations, and even ending up in record shops across the nation. Some of the selections here, such as "Ghost Riders in the Sky" by Vaughn Monroe, and Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues" are equaled by those of Leon McAuliffe's "Panhandle Rag," Bill Nettles' "Hadacol Boogie," and Johnnie & Jack's "What About You." Leon Payne's brilliant,. "I Love You Because," and Tennessee Ernie Ford's "Mule Train" are here as well. None of these cuts are necessarily rare, but placed in sequence like this makes for an amazing mix reproduced in almost uniformly excellent sound quality. Highly recommended. ~ Thom Jurek
![Surfin' With / Competition Coupe [import]](http://d3dvedx3sqrauf.cloudfront.net/i/boxart/mid/71/4000127154422.jpg "Surfin' With / Competition Coupe [import]")
