Carter Family Favorites

Jasmine is one of the U.K.'s seemingly countless reissue labels, due in no small part to different -- read: lenient -- copyright laws than North America's, making compilations like this a dime a dozen. The Carter Family, however, were America's first family of country music, and this 27-track collection centers on their later years with RCA Victor between 1935-1941. All but one of these songs were written by A.P. Carter (most of his songs were based on the vast number of folk songs he'd collected anyway), the exception being the traditional "Wildwood Flower" that the Family had recorded numerous times before. In any case, there are solid performances of Carter classics such as "Hello Stranger," "My Clinch Mountain Home," "Walking the King's Highway," "You Are My Flower," "No Depression," and "Dixie Darling," among others. This is by no means a definitive collection, but it is a very representative one of the period. The sound quality is the equal of the Rounder reissues and the price point is attractive. ~ Thom Jurek