Country Classics, Vol. 4: The Nashville Sound is a superb, 26-track collection that functions as a showcase for
Billy Sherrill's lush, sweeping production. Few single discs capture the sound of '60s and early-'70s country-pop as well as this, and that's even more remarkable when you consider it's culled solely from the vaults of Columbia and Epic Records. Among the artists showcased are
Johnny Cash ("I Still Miss Someone," "Ring of Fire"),
Marty Robbins ("Singing the Blues," "Devil Woman"),
June Carter ("Jackson"),
Hawkshaw Hawkins ("I Can't Seem to Say Goodbye"),
David Houston ("Almost Persuaded," "My Elusive Dreams"),
Sandy Posey ("Bring Him Safely Home to Me"),
Johnny Paycheck ("She's All I Got"),
Stonewall Jackson ("A Wound Time Can't Erase"),
George Jones ("A Picture of Me (Without You)," "The Grand Tour"),
Ray Price ("For the Good Times"),
Lynn Anderson ("I Never Promised You a Rose Garden"),
Barbara Mandrell ("The Midnight Oil"),
Tanya Tucker ("Would You Lay with Me in a Field of Stone") and
Charlie Rich ("I Take It On Home," "Behind Closed Doors," "The Most Beautiful Girl"). ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine