The Thin Man from the West Plains

From a cover of "Settin' the Woods on Fire" in September 1952 to "Blue House Painted White" in August of 1962, this four-CD set is a priceless overview of the best part of Porter Wagoner's career. Disc one features his earliest stuff, most of which is solid honky tonk material sung in Hank Williams' style. Most of it disappeared without a trace at the time, but it's all extremely enjoyable and shows some of Wagoner's versatility. His own sound, as it developed on the later songs on disc one and all of disc two, is more backwoods, with a strong folk component, but also beautifully harmonized. Wagoner's most striking attribute was the sheer joy evident in his singing and playing, whether he was doing a deeply religious number ("What Would You Do") or a loving tribute to Bill Monroe ("Uncle Pen"). He was equally comfortable with bluegrass and also country-blues, as is clear from the previously unissued "My Brand of Blues," where he sounds a lot like Johnny Cash. Disc three shows Wagoner working in a smoother, more sentimental and commercial country-pop-oriented vein, but as late as 1959, he was still doing wonderfully exuberant numbers. Disc four covers the early '60s, the period during which Wagoner continued to merge the stripped-down country of his roots and the smooth Nashville sound. Among the outtakes released for the first time is "Private Little World," featuring a killer guitar solo totally unexpected in a romantic number like this. The accompanying book is informative, though not as well organized as the usual Bear Family notes.