Roy Acuff & Smoky Mountain Boys - King Of Country Music: Foundation Recordings Comp

He's the biggest singer this music ever knew. You booked him and you didn't worry about crowds. For drawing power in the South, it was Roy Acuff, then God.' (Hank Williams)Roy Acuff's recordings for Vocalion/ARC/Columbia Records, 1936-1951, complete for the first time!The records that revolutionized country music from the artist who took the Grand Ole Opry coast-to-coast, and played a major role in launching the Nashville music industry.Many songs that now form part of bedrock American music, including Great Speckle Bird, Wabash Cannon Ball, Freight Train Blues, The (House of the) Rising Sun, Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Beneath That Lonely Mound Of Clay, The Precious Jewel, Wreck On The Highway, Fireball Mail, Night Train To Memphis, The Prodigal Son, Low And Lonely, Pins And Needles In My Heart, I Saw The Light, We Live In Two Diff'rent Worlds, and Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain.Nine CDs plus a DVD!184-page book, including hundreds of photos, many previously unseen!These nine CDs comprise every surviving 'take' of every surviving recording he made for ARC/Columbia. A total of 228 performances. A bonus DVD includes the complete Grand Ole Opry movie from 1940.The recordings feature stellar work from Acuff»s Smoky Mountain Boys, including Clell »Cousin Jody» Summey, Tommy Magness, Tommy Jackson, Benny Martin, and of course Pete 'Bashful Brother Oswald' Kirby. The Smoky Mountain Boys' 1948 instrumental LP, 'Old Time Barn Dance,' is included complete as well.