Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Stewart Family

Artist: The Stewart Family
LP: Days of Sand & Shovels, You Gave Me a Mountain, Stand By Your Man and
Other Country Favorites

Song: "I Wanta Make Sweet Love to You"
[ listen ]

Design Records released this terrific compilation of old country hits that includes "I Wanta Make Sweet Love to You" by The Stewart Family, which I'm pretty sure is from 1960. The record features lots of other great tunes, including "Pretty Rainbow of Love" by the Tillman Franks Singers, which you can listen to [ here ] and there's also a nice version of "Days of Sand and Shovels" that you can listen to [ here ]. Unfortunately, the singer for that one isn't listed anywhere on the record. I did a little hunting on the web and I'm pretty sure it's Faron Young, but can anyone tell me for sure? Though they may have forgotten to list artist credits for three of their country compilation's primary tracks, Design Records' notes on the back of the LP do at least shed some light on the puzzling enigma of country music:

Design has created a library of country and western music which
includes some of the greatest hits of recent years sung by artists
who made them hits. Among these albums, you'll find Johnny
Cash, Patsy Cline, Hank Locklin, Carl Belew, T. Texas Tyler
.

What is country music, anyway? And just why is it becoming so
increasingly popular—not only in the small towns, but in the major
cities from Chicago to Miami, from Boston to Los Angeles?


There are those who say that country & western music has
its roots in folk music—the songs the original settlers of the
Southern mountains brought over from England with them
and passed down from generation to generation; the songs
the original cowboys sang to pass away the lonesome
hours on the range
.

Others point to the effect of New Orleans jazz and the blues
on today's country & western music. Certainly some of the
greatest country tuns are based on the blues, and jazz harmonies
have found their way into much of this music
.

Still others point out the emergence of rock and roll from country
& western music. It's perfectly true that the early rock and roll
stars came from country backgrounds, that some of the biggest
R & R hits deal with themes familiar to C & W fans—themes like
love, loneliness, hard luck, religion or country humor
.

When you come right down to it, country and western music
is none of these—and all of them. Country and western music
is America singing—songs of love, songs of hope, songs of
neighborliness, songs of grief and suffering. Perhaps the
reason for its rapid spread in popularity in recent years is
that it strikes a responsive chord in each of us.
It's music with something to say
.

Here's your opportunity to build your country & western music
library at a fraction of the price you'd expect to pay, made
to standards as critical as any in the industry,
consisting of pure vinyl
.

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