Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Ray Price
Last of the breed, indeed mdash;there aren rsquo;t many singers around anymore like these three purebred Country Music Hall of Famers, who hitch together as a trio for the first time to dust off some of their all-time favorites from the classic country songbook. In addition to such jukebox gems as ldquo;Pick Me Up on Your Way Down, rdquo; ldquo;Why Me Lord, rdquo; ldquo;That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine, rdquo; ldquo;Heartaches by the Number rdquo; and ldquo;Lost Highway, rdquo; a couple of newer tunes by Haggard and Nelson also snuggle comfortably into the honky-tonk saddlebag.
Bluegrass titan Skaggs and piano-pounding power balladeer Hornsby bring out the best of each other on this creative, collaborative cross-pollination that finds them merrily re-tooling Hornsby rsquo;s 1987 hit ldquo;Mandolin Rain, rdquo; hard-charging into several new tunes each wrote for the project, getting into the gospel groove of ldquo;Come On Out, rdquo; spinning through the old-time reel ldquo;Sheep Sell Corn rdquo; and even turning lsquo;80s funkmeister Rick James rsquo; classic ldquo;Super Freak rdquo; into a high-spirited hoedown.
If you think you can name a bluegrass song that rsquo;s not in this sweeping, 120-song collection, knock yourself out mdash;while the rest of us happily tap our feet to ldquo;Foggy Mountain Breakdown, rdquo; ldquo;Uncle Pen, rdquo; ldquo;Mountain Dew, rdquo; ldquo;Dueling Banjos rdquo; and a bountiful barn full of other classic tunes by the titans of the genre, including Bill Monroe, Flatt Scruggs and Ralph Stanley, plus stars of today such as Vince Gill, Rhonda Vincent and Alison Krauss
Movie fans will love this ear-pleasing roundup of seven decades rsquo; worth of classic big-screen themes, Oscar-winning soundtrack numbers and other songs that have become part of our collective cultural scrapbook. Fifty-seven tracks rewind your memories to unforgettable scenes and other golden moments from more than 50 all-American film treasures, including Gone With the Wind, The Pink Panther, Midnight Cowboy, M*A*S*H, Rocky, The Wizard of Oz, Fame, Arthur, Show Boat, West Side Story, Carousel and Camelot.
On his 12th solo album since the pop duo of Simon and Garfunkel went their separate ways in 1970, Garfunkel drapes his delicate tenor over these American-songbook standards, casting an easy-listening glow on ldquo;Someone to Watch Over Me, rdquo; ldquo;I rsquo;ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face, rdquo; ldquo;Some Enchanted Evening, rdquo; ldquo;It Could Happen to You rdquo; and nine other classics from the likes of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin and George Gershwin.
Gospel artists and country stars join forces for this stirring collection of old-time hymnbook standards themed around the new movie Amazing Grace, the story of William Wilberforce, a British Parliamentarian who dedicated his life to the abolition of slavery in the early 1800s. Highlights include Martina McBride rsquo;s stirring rendition of ldquo;How Great Thou Art, rdquo; Stephen Curtis Chapman rsquo;s powerful ldquo;Holy, Holy, Holy, rdquo; Grammy-winning Jars of Clay rsquo;s ldquo;I Need Thee Every Hour rdquo; and last year rsquo;s Gospel Music Association Artist of the Year, Chris Tomlin, resurrecting a long-lost verse of ldquo;Amazing Grace, rdquo; the classic hymn that anchors the CD and film.
- Neil Pond, American Profile The heartland rocker rsquo;s first new CD in five years finds him on a social, cultural and political road trip across the red and blue states of a jagged American landscape, plowing through the mud, slamming over the potholes and pressing for the hope just over the horizon.
These 10 new songs mdash;including ldquo;Our Country, rdquo; which takes on a new meaning apart from its commercial use in a current automotive ad campaign mdash;balance outrage and optimism from a singer-songwriter who rsquo;s never been shy about expressing his views.
A relaxing slide to the mellow side of 1970s and lsquo;80s pop, the 150 tracks on this easy-listening hit parade include 38 No.1 hits and 80 others that bubbled into the Top 10, including the cream of the AM-radio crop from Bread, Dr.
Hook, Air Supply, Ambrosia, America, Elton John, Seals Croft and dozens of others who valiantly held to the middle of the road while the rest of rock world was swerving all over the place.
Even if you rsquo;re not a fisherman trying to while away the long months until the ice thaws and it rsquo;s finally time to dust off the trusty tacklebox, you rsquo;ll still be hooked by these 14 fishin rsquo; songs by George Jones, Jerry Reed, Merle Haggard, Mel Tillis, Porter Wagoner, Tanya Tucker, Little Jimmy Dickens, Brad Paisley and others. All Gone Fishin rsquo; will help you beat the wintertime blahs, forget your troubles and dream about dropping a line and waiting for that wonderful, warm-weather tug on the other end.
Groban, the 25-year-old pop-classical phenom, stepped onto a fast-moving train to fame on TV rsquo;sAlly McBeal , became a fan favorite on the daytime talk-show circuit, blew the doors off several network specials, toured to sell-out crowds across the country and sold an incredible 14 million CDs. Now he plays Cupid with this eight-song collection of love songs and operatic ballads culled from previous CDs, plus two all-new tracks and two live cuts. (Available only at Hallmark Gold Crown stores through February.
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