America's Music: The Roots of Country in Bloomington, MN

America's Music: The Roots of Country
is an odd title, since there are only two songs song on the 12-song budget-priced collection --
Eddy Arnold's
"Cattle Call,"
Patsy Cline's
"Lovesick Blues" -- that was recorded before the '80s. In fact, it seems like the title refers to the roots of contemporary country, since the collection contains cuts by
John Anderson
("Just Good Ol' Boys"),
Jeff Carson
("Today I Started Loving You Again"),
Waylon Jennings
("The Pressure Is On"),
Patty Loveless
("Nothin' But Love"),
Kathy Mattea
("Tennessee waltz"),
T.G. Sheppard
("I Can Help"),
Emmylou Harris
("Some Things Are Just Too Good to Last"),
Toby Keith
("Oklahoma Hills") and
Jeffrey Steele's
theme song, "The Roots of Country." When taken as contemporary country collection, it's fairly entertaining, but it should never be seen as "the roots of country." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine