Montana Cafe: Original Classic Hits Vol. 21
Hank Williams
Reba McEntire, Tom Petty, Huey Lewis, June Carter Cash, Willie Nelson, Dickey Betts, John Jarvis
Engineer: Scott Henricks, Chris Hammond
Curb Records (USA), 1998
1 CD
Catalogue #: 77915
EAN: 0715187791527
UPC: 715187791527
You save: 20%
Producers: Hank Williams, Jr., Barry Beckett, Jim Ed Norman.
This is part of Curb's Bocephus series.
Tracklist
Hank Williams
The Robert Johnson of country, Hank Williams was a troubled visionary who hung around just long enough to change the face of American music forever. He added electric instruments and touches of Western swing and proto-rockabilly to the post-hillbilly sound of his idol Roy Acuff, writing a wealth of unforgettable tunes along the way. In the late 1940s and early '50s, Williams rose to fame with a series of these chart-topping hits, including "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and "Hey, Good Lookin'." Though Williams' hard living caught up with him in 1953, his legacy lives on in his timeless songs and the legions of musicians he inspired.
Reba McEntire
As one of the best-selling female country artists of the 20th century, Reba McEntire purveyed a pop-flavored brand of country music that--by the mid '90s--propelled the singer out of the world of country and into the mainstream. McEntire has been featured on Broadway, appeared in numerous films, and written two books, and beginning in 2001 she became the star of her own successful sitcom, REBA. As a musical artist, however, it is her unmistakable voice and her talent for choosing just the right material that will always be her greatest assets.
Tom Petty
Tom Petty is part of rock's gentry, and his recordings with the Heartbreakers are placed in the pantheon of "heartland rock" along with Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger et al. However, he was originally regarded as a part of the "new wave" of the late 1970s for his hooky-but-unadorned pop-rock. Though he began as a Bob Dylan/Byrds acolyte, he quickly became his own man. Along with Dylan, Petty went on to perform with George Harrison, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne in the short-lived supergroup, the Traveling Wilburys. Both solo and with his top-flight Heartbreakers, Petty became a standard-bearer for roots rock into the 21st century.
Huey Lewis
MOR kings Huey Lewis & the News hit the jackpot in the 1980s with their slick, inoffensive brand of radio-friendly bar rock. Hints of classic R&B and New Wave helped give the group a distinct identity and broaden its appeal without confounding listeners. The News had an astounding number of hits throughout the decade, including "If This Is It," "I Want a New Drug," and "The Power of Love." Though new recordings were sporadic in the decades that followed, the band continued to tour, never officially calling it quits.
Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson began working in a conventional Nashville style and had great success as the songwriter of Faron Young's hit "Hello Walls" and others, but he was initially unable to make it as a performer. In the 1970s, he and Waylon Jennings made history with their outlaw country sound and image, growing their hair long and utilizing a raw, rock-influenced sound that endeared them to millions of country fans and rockers alike. Subsequently, Nelson ventured into Sinatra territory with STARDUST, an album of standards that became a huge success and established him as a singer who transcended genre boundaries. Throughout the '80s, '90s, and into the 21st century, he crossed over into pop and back again continually, even releasing an album of reggae covers, working with artists as diverse as Julio Iglesias and Ryan Adams.
Dickey Betts
Though he's best known as Duane Allman's guitar sparring partner in the Allman Brothers Band, Dickey Betts also has a number of solo albums to his credit, the first hailing from 1974. Allman got more attention, but Betts was every inch his instrumental equal, not to mention the fact that the latter wrote some of the Allmans' best tunes ("Blue Sky," "Ramblin' Man," "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed") and continued to lead the band's guitar assault through the '80s and '90s after Duane's death. After a bitter split with the band in 2000, Betts focused more closely on his solo career.
