VA - Dim Lights, Thick Smoke And Hillbilly Music 1946 (2008)

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. 1946 was a stellar year for all forms of country music as this volume attests. It kicks off with the original version of "Atomic Power" by the Buchanan Brothers that walks a fine line between Western swing, hillbilly boogie, and proto-bluegrass vocal harmonies. Of course, Bob Wills was still at the pinnacle of his mighty run and is represented here by "New Spanish Two Step" and "Stay a Little Longer." Eddy Arnold's classic charting "That's How Much I Love You" is in this mix, as is Bill Monroe's "Kentucky Waltz," with entries by Merle Travis, Gene Autry, the Delmore Brothers, Al Dexter with his groovy "Wine, Women and Song," and Cowboy Copas' "Tragic Romance." Some of the true standouts, though, are reserved for Hank Penny's "Steel Guitar Stomp," Spade Cooley's "Three Way Boogie," and Grandpa Jones' "Eight More Miles to Louisville." The sound quality is not to be beat, making this an essential collection if there ever was one.