Classic Sides 1937-41

• Track Listing

This, our second collection of the works of J.E. and Wade Mainer and their associates, features another 100 sides of the spellbinding music that is regarded by many as the link between the first generation of early old time music and that of the bluegrass groups of the 1940s onwards. Many sides here are impossibly rare - fortunately the well-known collector Chris King has been able to fill in many gaps. A bonus is that their sound quality is excellent as he's located originals in fine condition. We open from where we left off on the earlier collection (JSP77118), with more from Mainer's Mountaineers. Also featured are Wade Mainer, The Sons of the Mountaineers, The Happy-Go-Lucky Boys and The Morris Brothers. They are united by a unique zest, musicianship and an understanding of real life born of hard-won experience. Originally stigmatized under the dismissive 'Hillbilly' heading, this music is now recognised as both an archetypal American form and as one of the major pillars of modern popular music.