 | Classic Sides 1924-1938 by Uncle Dave Macon
Buy new: $28.98 / Used from: $51.00 Uncle Dave Macon is one of the original Opry greats who inspired many later musicians, singers, and songwriters.
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 | The Skillet-Lickers, Vol. 3: 1928-1929 by The Skillet Lickers
Buy new: $16.98 / Used from: $12.36 Perhaps the best of the string bands that entertained with comedy as well as picking.
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 | The Carter Family: 1927-1934 by The Carter Family
Buy new: $25.99 / Used from: $20.99 It is impossible to over estimate the influence of Maybelle's guitar picking and AP's folksong collecting/editing. Sara is a unique, stark vocalist.
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 | Recordings 1927-1933 by Jimmie Rodgers
Buy new: $25.99 / Used from: $24.78 The only yodeler you really need.
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 | Columbia Country Classics, Vol. 1: The Golden Age by Various Artists
Buy used from: $2.75 A great collection, including essential cuts by Roy Acuff, Gene Autry, and Bob Wills.
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 | Just a Song of Old Kentucky, Vol. 2 by The Monroe Brothers
Buy used from: $7.99 Before The Bluegrass Boys, Bill and brother Charley were a duet who set standards emulated by later groups, the influence stretching through the Everlys to most rock 'n' roll worth having.
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 | Columbia Country Classics, Vol. 2: Honky Tonk Heroes by Various Artists
Buy used from: $4.98 The best 1 disc overview of classic honky-tonk.
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 | Columbia Country Classics, Vol. 3: Americana by Various Artists
Buy used from: $1.95 Some of the recordings do not qualify as 'early,' but no Country music collection is complete without 'Davy Crockett,' 'Big Iron,' and 'El Paso.'
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 | King of Country Music by Roy Acuff
Buy new: $25.98 / Used from: $15.74 Acuff dominated Nashville and the commerical expansion of Country music for some two decades, and then reigned as a legend, eventually welcoming the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
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 | America's Most Colorful Hillbilly Band by The Maddox Brothers & Rose
Buy new: $16.98 / Used from: $6.38 The California sound of early Country, which grew from the massive influx of Depression era Southerners, clearly prefigures rock 'n' roll with its fast paced honky-tonk mixed with Western Swing.
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 | Country Music Hall of Fame by Red Foley
Buy new: $7.98 / Used from: $1.25 Foley was the second most popular Country singer of the 1940s and a huge influence on the more sedate, polished Nashville Sound, but he also moved Elvis and other original rock 'n' rollers.
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 | The Essential Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys by Bill Monroe
Buy used from: $9.49 The alternate takes of several classic songs do not mar this set in the least.
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 | 16 Gems by Bill Monroe
Buy used from: $1.18 The originally released takes of the most famous songs from the 1940s.
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 | The Country Music Hall Of Fame by Bill Monroe
Buy used from: $1.08 The best of Monroe after leaving Columbia includes essentials such as 'Uncle Pen' and 'Scotland.'
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 | Freight Train Boogie by The Delmore Brothers
Buy new: $19.99 / Used from: $7.47 The Delmore Brothers were major influences on the Louvins and largely set the stage for Sun Records and rockabilly.
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 | The Ultimate Collection (Dlx Package) by Hank Williams
Buy used from: $4.79 Indispensable to all subsequent Country music as well as to all rock 'n' roll that maintains any of its Country genesis; add Hank to bluegrass energy, TV, and a dab of rhythm/blues: you get Elvis.
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 | The Complete Mercury Recordings by Flatt & Scruggs
Buy new: $18.98 / Used from: $9.50 Flatt and Scruggs build upon what they had done with Monroe.
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 | The Essential Flatt & Scruggs: 'Tis Sweet to Be Remembered by Flatt & Scruggs
Buy new: $15.93 / Used from: $7.64 The best of the Columbia years, when they achieved iconic status.
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 | The Complete Columbia Stanley Brothers by The Stanley Brothers
Buy used from: $19.05 The early Stanleys, who equal Monroe and Flatt/Scruggs in my estimation.
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 | The Stanley Brothers and The Clinch Mountain Boys: The Complete Mercury Recordings by The Stanley Brothers
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $18.99 Carter and Ralph set standards that will influence the best of Country music forever.
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 | 20 Bluegrass Originals by The Stanley Brothers
Buy used from: $3.98 Perhaps the best of the later Stanley Brothers recordings.
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 | Appalachian Stomp: Bluegrass Classics by Various Artists
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $7.29 Most of these are second generation bluegrass recordings, but the Stanley Brothers' live version of 'Orange Blossom Special' is a gem, as is the overview.
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 | When I Stop Dreaming: The Best of the Louvin Brothers by The Louvin Brothers
Buy new: $17.98 / Used from: $11.68 Thanks to Gram Parsons and EmmyLou Harris, the Louvins have been much more influential the past 30 years than during their career.
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 | Country Music Hall of Fame Series by Kitty Wells
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $1.50 Kitty Wells set the standards for all subsequent female Country music stars.
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 | The Essential Johnny Cash 1955-1983 by Johnny Cash
Buy used from: $14.86 Save for bluegrass, Cash took the older forms of Country and made them his and gave them to the next three generations.
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