It would be hard to imagine American music, particularly country music, if it weren’t for Roy Claxton Acuff (1903-1992), as he was called both “The King” and “The Godfather” of country music. Playing fiddle and singing, Acuff took the homespun music of his native Tennessee and transformed it into a popular genre, all on the strength of his talents as a vocalist and fiddler. This two disc, 54 song collection puts together his biggest hits, many of them becoming standards of the Great American Songbook.
He had a bunch of hits like “The Prodigal Son”, “I’ll Forgive You But I Can’t Forget”, “Write Me Sweetheart” and “Waltz O The Wind” while his renditions of “Tennessee Waltz” “Muleskinner Blues”, “Crying In The Rain” and “Wabash Cannonball” are embedded in American culture. And, as with all country artists, Acuff had his share of songs for Sunday morning, such as “That Glory Bound Train”, “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” and “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again”. And if you want to know what western swing feels like, get up on the floor and stomp your feet to “Ida Red”. Acuff casts a long shadow on this collection, showing why today’s artists all sound like the were recorded by AI.