Tracklist:
CD 1 (The Hits):
01. Steel Guitar Rag - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys
02. Shame On You - Spade Cooley And His Orchestra
03. Pistol-Packin' Mama - Al Dexter And His Troopers
04. Take Me Back To Tulsa - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys
05. Big Beaver - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys
06. Drivin' Nails In My Coffin - Floyd Tillman
07. Stay A Little Longer - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys
08. Never Trust A Woman - Tex Williams And His Western Caravan
09. Tennessee Waltz - Pee Wee King And His golden West Cowboys
10. Roly Poly - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys
11. Faded Love - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys
12. Panhandle Rag - Leon McAuliffe And His Western Swing Band
13. Crazy 'Cause I Love You - Spade Cooley And His Orchestra
14. Taking Off - Milton Brown And His Brownies
15. Rag Mop - Johnnie Lee Wills And His Boys
16. Sugar Moon - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys
17. New Spanish Two-Step - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys
18. The Lonesome Hearted Blues - Moon Mullican And The Showboys
19. Get Along, Cindy - Milton Brown And His Brownies
20. Divorce Me C.O.D. - Merle Travis
21. Steel Guitar Stomp - Hank Penny
22. New San Antonio Rose - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys
23. Detour - Spade Cooley And His Orchestra
24. Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! - Tex Williams And His Western Caravan
25. Cherokee Maiden - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys
26. A Big Ball's In Cowtown - Hoyle Nix
27. Rootie Tootie - Pee Wee King And His Golden West Cowboys
28. Take It Away, Leon - Leon McAuliffe
CD 2 (The Jazz):
01. St. Louis Blues - Milton Brown And His Musical Brownies
02. There'll Be Some Changes Made - W. Lee O'Daniel
03. White Heat - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys
04. Sugar - Cliff Bruner
05. She's Sweet (Ain't She Sweet) - The Tune Wranglers
06. Everybody's Truckin' - Modern Mountaineers
07. Sally's Got A Wooden Leg - Sons Of The West
08. Rubber Dolly - Bob Skyles
09. Jeep's Blues - Port Arthur
10. The Hesitation Blues - Milton Brown And His Musical Brownies
11. You Gotta Ho-De-Ho (To Get Along With Me) - Swift Jewels Cowboys
12. Rosetta - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys
13. Too Long - Johnnie Lee Wills
14. Watcha Gonna Do - The High-Flyers
15. It's A Long, Long Way To Tipperary - Jimmie Revard
16. Down By The O-H-I-O - Milton Brown And His Musical Brownies
17. One Sweet Letter From You - Cliff Bruner
18. Bass Man Jive - Ocie Stockard
19. Pussy, Pussy, Pussy - The Light Crust Dough Boys
20. Some Of These Days - Milton Brown And His Musical Brownies
21. It's All Your Fault - Wade Ray & Noel Boggs
22. Slow Poke - Pee Wee King
23. Twin Guitar Special - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys
24. I've Found A New Baby - Bill Mounce
25. Stompin' At The Honky Tonk - Bob Dunn
26. Keep On Truckin' - Smoky Wood
27. In The Mood - Ole Rasmussen
28. Watcha Know, Joe? - Johnnie Lee Wills
29. Artistry In Western Swing - Tex Williams
CD 3 (The Blues):
01. Louise, Louise Blues - Brown's Musical Brownies
02. Corrina Corrina - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys
03. Feels Good - Hartman's Heart Breakers
04. My Bucket's Got A Hole In It - T. Texas Tyler And His Oklahoma Melody Boys
05. Never No Mo' Blues - Tommy Duncan And His Western All Stars
06. Sittin' On Top Of The World - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys
07. She's A Hum-Dum Dinger - Buddy Jones
08. Milk Cow Blues - Johnnie Lee Wills And His Blues
09. Fan It! - Swift Jewel Cowboys
10. Let Me Play With Your Poodle - Hank Penny
11. Joe Turner Blues - Adolph Hofner And His Texans
12. Kangaroo Blues - Cliff Bruner's Texas Wanderers
13. Woodchip Blues - Smokey Wood And His Woodchips
14. Cocaine Blues - Roy Hogsed And His Rainbow Riders
15. Pipe Liner's Blues - Modern Mountaineers
16. Mama Don't Like No Music - Bill Boyd And His Cowboy Ramblers
17. The Right String On The Wrong Yo-Yo - The Jubileers
18. Mean Mistreater Blues - Bob Dunn's Vagabonds
19. Brain Cloudy Blues - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys
20. My Band Account Is Gone - Jesse Ashlock
21. You Played On My Piano - Hank Penny And Jaye P. Morgan
22. I Don't Know - Billy Jack Wills And His Western Swing Band
23. Knockin' Blues - Ann Jones And Her Western Sweethearts
24. Good Rockin' Tonight - Hank Thompson And His Brazos Valley Boys
25. And I Shook - Les "Carrot Top" Anderson And Redd Harper
26. Hound Dog - Tommy Duncan And His Western All Stars
27. Hey, Miss Fannie - Bennie Leaders
28. Rock And Roll Fever - Cecil Campbell And His Tennessee Ramblers

This is a nice compilation of classic western swing music on a couple of counts. First, as a genre of music, western swing is really an amalgamation of several other forms, and two of those styles are directly reflected in the last two discs, "The Jazz," and "The Blues." For those familiar with the genre, the highlight will almost certainly be the obscurities. For example, one does not see Swift Jewels Cowboys, Port Arthur or Roy Hogsed very frequently. For those not familiar with the genre, this is a fine introduction to a style of music that was really all about dancing. These are real toe-tappers, so if you don't like upbeat old-school dance music, this may not be for you. The popularity of western swing spread throughout the south-western states and on to the fertile music scene in California, encouraging bands to expand their line-ups, some reaching the proportions of a small orchestra. Among the most successful outfits were those led by Spade Cooley, T Texas Tyler, Tex Williams and Hank Thompson. All these artists, and many more are represented across the generous 85 tracks, which include the seminal western swing instrumental, "Taking Off" (Milton Brown's band, featuring the lap-steel guitar of Bob Dunn), and Bob Wills evergreens like "Steel Guitar Rag", "San Antonio Rose", "Take Me Back To Tulsa" and "Faded Love". The set is divided into three themes, disc one covering the aforementioned hits and evergreens, disc two exploring jazz-derived repertoire, and disc three doing the same for the blues, a genre which increasingly attracted the western swing bands.

The compilation spans the years 1934 to 1957, and 44 of the 85 tracks come from the forties. Sound quality is excellent, and the liner note by Dave Penny (any relation to Hank Penny?) illuminates the origins and development of this lively art. I'm unconvinced by his argument that jazz-influenced Westen Swing was a temporary aberration, which somehow looked back to the past, and that the switch to blues and r&b inspirations marked a shift to looking forward to the present (sic). But buy this great set, and you can decide for yourself.