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This release continues the series of 4-CD sets which comprises selected collections of the biggest US country hits of each year, and this expanded edition provides a fuller picture of 1954 than our existing 2-CD set devoted to that year (ADDCD3025) This 90-track collection covers the year of 1954, during which time Billboard published three charts devoted to Country & Western Records – Best Sellers In Stores, Most Played in Juke Boxes and Most Played by Disc Jockeys - and it comprises every record which peaked in the Top 15 of those charts during the year, apart from one we are unable to include. The pop landscape was still only feeling the first stirrings of rock ‘n’ roll, and on the country scene, the familiar names still dominated the scene, some of them having long-running No. 1s during the year, notably Hank Snow and Webb Pierce, with those two, along with Carl Smith, Kitty Wells, Eddy Arnold. Slim Whitman, Ray Price and Jim Reeves all having several big hits. Some of those were introducing new strands to the music with the development of the smoother “new Nashville” sound around this time, with vocal choruses instead of fiddles and steel guitars. Needless to say there are also one or two collectable obscurities. It’s a fascinating and entertaining musical snapshot of the country scene as the music industry entered a dynamic new musical era, and with an in-depth 12,000+ word booklet with background notes on every record as well as full discographical and chart information, it gives a solid overview of the most popular country music of the year.
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