Roy Acuff - King Of the Hillbillies: The First 100 Commercial Sides [4xCD]

King of the Hillbillies is subtitled The First 100 Commercial Sides, and this four-disc box set delivers precisely that: the first hundred songs Roy Acuff cut, starting with 1936's Singing My Way to Glory.

Part of what's remarkable about this collection is how quickly Acuff found his musical voice: the third song here is Great Speckle Bird, which, along with Wabash Cannonball, became Acuff's signature tune.

The songs are carefully remastered and sound excellent, and the liner notes are brief but packed with information.

Disc 1

• Singing My Way To Glory  
• Charmin' Betsy   
• Great Speckle Bird  
• My Mountain Home Sweet Home  
• Gonna Raise A Ruckus Tonight
• Wabash Cannonball 
• Freight Train Clues 
• You've Got To See Mama Every Night (Or You Can't See Mama At All)
• Gonna Have A Big Time Tonight 
• Yes Sir That's My Baby   
• You're The Only Star (In My Blue Heaven) 
• All Night Long  
• New Greenback Dollar 
• Steamboat Whistle Blues
• She No Longer Belongs To Me
• When Lulu's Gone 
• Doin' It The Old Fashioned Way
• Old Three Room Shack
• Red Lips (Kiss My Blues Away)
• Trouble Trouble 
• Sailing Along
• Steel Guitar Chimes
• Lonesome Valley
• Sad Memories
• Steel Guitar Blues

Disc 2

• Old Fashioned Love
• My Gal Sal
• Great Speckle Bird No 2 
• Tell Mother I'll Be There 
• Rising Sun
• What Would You Do With Gabriel's Trumpet
• Shout Oh Lulu
• Good Bye Brownie 
• Blue Ridge Sweetheart
• One Old Shirt 
• Bonnie Blue Eyes
• Automobile Of Life
• Smoky Mountain Rag
• That Beautiful Picture
• Great Shining Light
• Honky Tonk Mammas
• Haven Of Dreams
• Answer To Sparkling Blue Eyes
• Smoky Mountain Moon
• Fly Birdie Fly
• Ida Red
• Beautiful Brown Eyes
• Mother's Prayers Guide Me
• Living On The Mountain Baby Mine

Disc 3

• Vagabond's Dream
• Old Age Pension Check 
• Eyes Are Watching You
• I'm Building A Home 
• Walkin' In My Sleep
• Drifting Too Far From The Shore
• Come Back Little Pal
• Will The Circle Be Unbroken
• When I Lay My Burden Down 
• Beneath That Lonely Mound Of Clay
• Streamlined Cannonball
• Weary Rive
• Just To Ease My Worried Mind
• Farther Along 
• Blue Eyed Darling  
• Precious Jewel
• Broken Heart 
• Would You Care 
• Lonesome Old River Blues
• What Good Will It Do
• Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel #8)
• Be Honest With Me
• Worried Mind 
• Things That Might Have Been 
• You're My Darling

Disc 4    

• It Won't Be Long (Till I'll Be Leaving) 
• Just Inside The Pearly Gates   
• I Know We're Saying Goodbye 
• Brother Take Warning  
• Great Judgement Morning 
• Stuck Up Blues  
• Lying Woman Blues 
• You Are My Love  
• Branded Wherever I Go  
• No Letter In The Mail 
• Are You Thinking Of Me Darling  
• I Called And Nobody Answered 
• Wreck On The Highway  
• Fire Ball Mail  
• I'll Reap My Harvest In Heaven   
• Night Train To Memphis 
• Prodigal Son 
• Low And Lonely  
• Write Me Sweetheart  
• They Can Only Fill One Grave   
• Don't Make Me Go To Bed And I'll Be Good 
• Not A Word From Home 
• Do You Wonder Why  
• I'll Forgive You But I Can't Forget   
• Blues In My Mind