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Top Selling Honkytonk Music CD's at CD Universe
Note: At EvO:R, we don't actually stock or sell the CDs you are looking at.
We simply list each CD by genre and link you to the CD Universe website for the sale.
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 Links to all the Country Music CD's. Linked by Style.
[Country-Top Sellers]
[Country-Blues]
[Country-Honky Tonk]
[Country-Greatest Hits]
[Country-Outlaw]
[Country-Contemporary]
[Country-Early Years]
[Country-Rock]
Listings of all the Honkytonk Music on CD Universe.
Ultimate Collection CD
by Gene Watson
Our Price: $11.99 CD / $10.89 MP3
Usually ships in 1-2 days
Producers: Russ Reeder, Bob Webster, Gene Watson.
Compilation producer: Mike Ragogna.
Recorded between 1975 and 1989. Includes liner notes by Robyn Flans.
This is an enjoyable budget sampler featuring 23 of Gene Watson's Capitol and MCA honky tonk hits. These original recordings
include his first hit from 1975, "Love in the Late Afternoon," "Got No Reason for Goin' Home," and "Memories to Burn." Besides
the omission of the classic "Farewell Party," Ultimate Collection is recommended for those just getting familiar with Watson's
mellow and soulful take on traditional country music. ~ Al Campbell
50 Years Of Hits CD
by George Jones
Our Price: $19.05 CD
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The idea sounds good, and it may even make sense: collect one song from each of the 50 years that George
Jones has been recording, and present them in one exhaustive triple-disc set, appropriately titled 50 Years of Hits. Seems simple
enough, but in practice, the set doesn't quite work, either as an overview of Jones' career or as an enjoyable listening experience.
Although Bandit has done an impressive job with cross-licensing between labels, the compilers acknowledge that they weren't able to
work out a deal with Musicor to feature Jones' late-'60s hits, so they were forced to substitute re-recordings of "Walk Through
This World With Me," "She's Mine," "I'll Share My World With You," and "A Good Year for the Roses" for the originals here.
For the Possum, this was a long time indeed -- nearly 25 years, which is an extraordinary run by any measure, but it's only
half of 50, which means that half of this 50-track collection represents music he recorded after his peak. There is still
good stuff here, particularly in the '80s when he was slowly descending from his peak and settling into veteranship, but
these highlights are few -- duets with Merle Haggard ("Yesterdays Wine," 1981) and Garth Brooks ("Beer Run," 2001), "Same
Ole Me" from 1982, and "I'm a One Woman Man" from 1989. Outside of that, pretty much everything after "He Stopped Loving
Her Today," which arrives at the midpoint of the collection, isn't essential, and when that counts for half a collection,
that's a pretty big handicap to surmount. That's what keeps 50 Years of Hits from being either a good summation of Jones'
career, an encapsulation of his greatness, or even a fun listen, particularly when compared to 1994's Essential George Jones:
The Spirit of Country, which may stop at the end of the '80s but covers George's important music much better. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
While it's regrettable that the originals aren't here, their absence is understandable and the remakes are professional
and rather strong. The bigger problem with the collection is its very construction: Jones has a rich, long legacy, but it's
not best represented by sampling every year equally. Like most veteran artists, George Jones' commercial and creative peak
came early and, like most country artists, that peak extended over several years where he hit the Top Ten on a regular basis.
16 Biggest Hits CD
by Mickey Gilley
Our Price: $6.69 CD / $9.99 MP3
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The title of Epic/Legacy's 16 Biggest Hits is slightly misleading -- not because the collection doesn't contain big hits,
but because there's really 17 songs on this collection, with the last cut a bonus track on the CD only. This doesn't really
matter, since it doesn't really effect the tenor and purpose of the collection, which is to serve up 16/17 of Mickey Gilley's
biggest hits for Playboy/Epic from the '70s and early '80s. Of course, this was done very effectively with the definitive Ten
Years of Hits in 1984, and this collection cribs heavily from that two-LP/single-disc set, sharing no less than 15 songs with
that previous collection.
This does have the advantage of chronological sequencing -- something that helps Gilley more than
some other artists, since he shifted toward slicker material as his career rolled on and it's nice to hear the purer stuff
grouped together -- along with better sound. However, as a representation of his best, Ten Years of Hits edges out this set
because it captures his prime better; the two songs on 16 Biggest Hits not on Ten Years -- "Fool for Your Love" and
"Paradise Tonight" -- are from 1983 and aren't among his best, while everything, even the sappy stuff, on Ten Years
of Hits showcases Gilley at his best.
This CD has more than enough of his best to make it worthwhile,
especially if it's found at a reasonable price. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Hard To Find 45'S On CD: Pop & Country Classics CD
by Pop & Country Classics
Our Price: $13.69 CD
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Here's another high quality collection in the best-selling "Hard-To-Find" series, this time covering pop and
country crossover hits (file under "oldies"!). 13 of the 21 tracks made the Pop Top 20 and 12 of them hit #1
on country charts.
The Hard to Find 45s on CD series is a very subjective -- and some would say guaranteed to start an argument or fight
at your next party with loudmouth music freaks -- batch of compilation recordings that focuses on various aspects of
genre-specific music and time periods. This set centers itself on country tunes that became crossover successes from
the 1950s through the urban(e) cowboy era in 1982 and pop music that charted by country artists. Some tracks would have
been impossible to exclude, such as Lefty Frizzell's number one country chart smash "Saginaw, Michigan," even if it
scored a lowly number 85 on the pop chart. Same goes for Leroy Van Dyke's reading of Isaac Hayes' "Walk on By,"
which scored a number five in pop and didn't chart in the country Top 40, and Ferlin Husky's "Gone," which went to
the top of the country list and scored a number four in pop. They are included as evidence of "marginal" crossovers
and provided the template by which other recordings would be measured, recorded, and released -- at least in the
singles and jukebox markets. But there are some forgotten gems here as well, including the Marvin Rainwater nugget
"Gonna Find Me a Bluebird," Ned Miller's awesome floor-burner "From a Jack to a King," and the Bellamy Brothers'
deeply philosophical and sensitive ballad "If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me?" Some
of the choices here are pure pop schmaltz done by supposedly genre-specific artists, such as Sylvia's schlocky
piece of radio trash "Nobody" and Tom Jones trying to cash in on the cowboy mug-shot parade (so did Engelbert
Humperdinck but he didn't chart) with his read of Greenaway and Mason's "Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow."
Ultimately, it is in two unlikely candidates that the zenith of this pop culture truth is realized: B.J. Thomas'
"(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" and Roy Clark's magnificent and tender
"Yesterday When I Was Young." The Thomas track topped both charts. There must be some other kind of logic
at work here given the inclusion of Lefty's brother David's 1982 country hit "I'm Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate
Our Home," which topped the country chart and didn't place in pop.
There are plenty of those. Plenty! Why is this
one here? Perhaps it's the compiler's perverse sense of humor -- or that he just liked the song a hell of a lot
and felt it should have been a chartbuster on both lists. Ah, the beauty of independent labels. ~ Thom Jurek
40 Greatest Hits CD
by Hank Williams
Our Price: $18.09 CD
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Hank Williams' body of work is so large and has been repackaged so many times in so many forms that the notion of creating a
definitive compilation almost seems like an impossible goal. However, as a one-stop shopping place for Hank's basic repertoire,
40 Greatest Hits is as good as it gets. While it doesn't include everything, practically every memorable hit is here, and
thankfully every cut appears in its original form (that means in mono, with no string overdubs or artificial duets with his
family members). The track sequence subtly reflects the arc of Williams' short but vitally important career, and there's
enough good music and great songs here to make a fan of anyone with even a passing interest in American music.
If you care about country music, you need some Hank Williams in your collection, and there isn't a better introduction
to his rich body of work on the market than 40 Greatest Hits; begin here, then start exploring. ~ Mark Deming
Unlike many Williams retrospectives, 40 GREATEST HITS abstains from efforts to "improve" Hank's music with such
abominations as "enhanced stereo" (a cheesy reprocessing trick that transforms monophonic recordings into poor,
echo-laden approximations of stereo) and posthumously added string sections. Instead, the set presents Williams'
music in its original monophonic setting. 40 GREATEST HITS is arranged chronologically, allowing listeners to better
appreciate the rapid rise and development of country's greatest singer and songwriter.
Personnel includes: Hank Williams (vocals, acoustic guitar); Zeke Turner (guitar); Jerry Byrd (steel guitar).
Recorded at Castle Recording Co. and Castle Studios, Nashville, Tennessee between April 21, 1947 and September 23, 1952; Herzog
Studios, Cincinnati, Ohio on December 22, 1948 and August 30, 1949.
Mastered from the original mono tapes and 78-rpm discs.
Mickey Gilley 10 Years Of Hits CD
by Mickey Gilley Discography of CDs
Our Price: $8.29 CD / $9.99 MP3
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Liner Note Author: Léon Beck.
Mickey Gilley may have been indebted to Jerry Lee Lewis, or it could be that the two cousins shared the same influences
as well as bloodline, so they came out as near mirror images, right down to the way Gilley delivers a lascivious chuckle
at the end of a verse in "Don't the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time." Mickey followed in Jerry Lee's country footsteps,
never rocking as hard as the Killer did at Sun, but playing a blend of rock, gospel, pop, and country that strongly recalled
Lewis' hits on Smash and Mercury. He finally had his breakthrough in 1974, after Playboy/Epic signed him and brought his Texas
hit cover of George Morgan's "Room Full of Roses" to a national audience that sent it to number one.
For the next ten years,
he was a constant presence at the top of the country charts, scoring 17 number ones and becoming a pop culture
touchstone when his bar, Gilley's, was used as a key location in the era-defining John Travolta film Urban Cowboy.
Released in 1984, the two-LP (now one-CD), 20-track Ten Years of Hits chronicles this time expertly, containing
all those number one hits along with three other Top Ten hits. The biggest flaw in the collection is that it isn't
sequenced chronologically, which is only a problem because as the years wore on, Gilley turned increasingly to
slick, sentimental ballads and oldies covers designed for the pop crossover audience that he stumbled upon.
A few of these go a long way and, fortunately, only a few of them are here, with the great majority of this
collection devoted to tear-in-your-beer ballads like "Room Full of Roses" and "I Overlooked an Orchid" or
juke-joint ravers like "Don't the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time" and "The Power of Positive Drinkin'.
" These do recall Lewis -- one that still delivers the musical goods, but isn't as fiery or wild, even on the
slower numbers. But, if you want that crazed excitement, you go to the Killer.
If you want to hear good, pure
country music, Gilley (usually) served it up straight during his ten years on Playboy/Epic and the music still
sounds just as good years later. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Links to all the Country Music CD's. Linked by Style.
[Country-Top Sellers]
[Country-Blues]
[Country-Honky Tonk]
[Country-Greatest Hits]
[Country-Contemporary]
[Country-Early Years]
[Country-Outlaw]
[Country-Rock]
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