The music of the Grand Ole Opry has always encompassed a wide variety of sounds. Today, its members represent veterans and rising stars, bluegrass pickers and country-rockers, and traditionalists as well as contemporary stylists. The following list of recommended CD collections represents a solid sampling of the music that has made the Opry such a valued American institution.
Bill Anderson, Greatest Hits (Varese Sarabande) In the late ’50s and early ’60s, when Nashville was establishing itself as the commercial center of country music, Anderson put a carefully crafted, polished glow on the morals and sentiments that had long been a hallmark of country songs.
Bashful Brother Oswald, Carry Me Back (RME) On this recent record, Beecher Ray ”Pete“ Kirby—known to Opry fans as Roy Acuff’s longtime sidekick Bashful Brother Oswald—is joined by a stellar supporting cast of top string players, who help give the collection a spirited old-time feel. Carry Me Back blends the raucous (a great version of Acuff’s ”Stucked Up Blues“) with the sweetly sentimental (”Carry Me Back to the Mountains“), and it features a must-have version of ”Precious Jewel“ by George Jones fronting a bluegrass band.
Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, Best of the Best (Federal) Wilma Lee Cooper’s back-mountain bellow continues to be one of the best, most unreconstructed sounds in country music. A few of her solo albums remain available, but her best work remains the string-band duets she recorded with her late husband.
Little Jimmy Dickens, I’m Little But I’m Loud: The Little Jimmy Dickens Collection (Razor & Tie) Dickens may be best known today as a singer of colorful novelty songs. Those are represented here, but so are his raucous, rockabilly-flavored boogie tunes as well as his chillingly unrestrained way of delivering a ballad.
Stonewall Jackson, The Dynamic Stonewall Jackson (Sony Special Products) Merging blue-collar grit with a down-home sensitivity, Jackson’s best work combined the instincts of a honky-tonker with the morals of a religious man. This reissue features several of Jackson’s classic stone-country tunes, including such gems as ”Life to Go,“ ”Why I’m Walkin’,“ ”Waterloo,“ and ”Smoke Along the Tracks.“
The Osborne Brothers, The Bluegrass Collection (CMH) A classic 1978 release, this album found the famed bluegrass band welcoming back guitarist Benny Birchfield and returning to its roots after more than a decade of experimentation with drums and electric instrumentation. Backed by the twin fiddles of Kenny Baker and Blaine Sprouse, Bobby Osborne’s high tenor and Sonny Osborne’s banjo-picking sound better than ever.
Jean Shepard, Honky Tonk Heroine (Country Music Foundation) Some of the greatest, most spirited country music ever made. Shepard rarely gets mentioned alongside such female country pioneers as Kitty Wells and Patsy Cline, but this collection of raucous, soulful cuts from the ’50s and ’60s proves she should be.
Connie Smith, Essential Connie Smith (RCA) Smith rates with Patsy Cline as the most expressive female voice country music has produced. These classic cuts from the ’60s and early ’70s compile her best and most successful recordings.
Ralph Stanley, Clinch Mountain Country (Rebel) Featuring a lengthy list of duet partners—including George Jones, Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, and Dwight Yoakam—this album is both a tribute to and a showcase of Stanley’s unparalleled talent. His hard-mountain howl brings out the best in his guests as they tear soulfully into a pile of classic tunes.
Porter Wagoner, Essential Porter Wagoner (RCA) Wagoner’s stature as a colorful Opry host and TV figure sometimes obscures his outstanding recordings of the ’50s and ’60s, when he cut a score of classic honky-tonk tunes, saga songs, and sentimental ballads.
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