Great country recording


Hi all, I am looking for some great country recording albums by various artists. Really like the sound of steel guitar, acoustic guitar, fiddle, and of course vocals. Any recommendations? Thanks
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Two legends and top-notch remastering:

- Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys: Legends of Country Music compilation 2006; Columbia/Legacy (Sony/BMG); magnificent 4 CD box or single disc The Best Of; Country Music AND Rock and Roll hall of fame inductee.

- Hank Williams: The Ultimate Collection 2002; Mercury Records, division of UMG; 2 CD compilation has all a casual listener would ever want. It's Hank....nuff said.

I've listened to a few releases by those artists and have yet to hear anything rivaling their sound quality.
Porter Wagner
Nancy sinatra "country my way"
Earl Scruggs
Conway twitty ( if not already mentioned, especially duets with Loretta Lynn)
Webb pierce
Stonewall jackson
Hank snow
Don gibson
Little Jimmy Dickens
Bill monroe
Jim reeves
Tanya Tucker
Jessie colter
Jodie Miller
Roy acuff
Dottie west
So many of the artists mentioned are ones I enjoy listening to.  I am impressed that two people mentioned Kasey Chambers.  I enjoy her music, though anyone I have talked to about her said they can’t stand her child-like voice.  That, to me, is part of her charm.  And Emmylou Harris is great to listen to anytime.  
  Pony by Kasey Chambers is one of my fav guilty pleasures... and it sounds damn good too !

Plus Kasey to SO easy on the eyes, like a young Jessie Colter. Waylon Jennings was one lucky guy. Roy Orbison had a real good lookin’ wife too, Barbara. I saw her at the tribute show to Roy held at The Wiltern Theater shortly after his death, and she was stunningly beautiful.

I hear why some find Kasey’s voice child-like, and I agree @bob540, I like that. Julie Miller (Buddy’s wife and collaborator) has a similar quality (she’s a great songwriter, and her albums with Buddy are fantastic), as did Victoria Williams. Some also have a "problem" with Iris Dement’s voice, but she’s my absolute favorite living musical artist. I learned of her in an interview with Merle Haggard in the early-90’s, who was raving about her. His recording of her heartbreaking "No Time To Cry" (the best song I’ve heard in a long, long time) is good, but hers is imo much better. You have GOT to get her My Life album.

For a stand-out recent-ish recording of an old Country song, listen to Buddy Miller’s absolutely superb version of Tom T. Hall’s great "That’s How I Got To Memphis". Classic is an understatement! Buddy sings it SO good, and the musicians on the recording are as good as they come.

Speaking of good musicians: Emmylou Harris for years had had one of the best bands in the world, commonly known as The Hot Band. Here are some of the players who have been members: Vince Gill, Tony Brown, Rodney Crowell, guitar greats Albert Lee and James Burton (he was in Ricky Nelson’s band in the late-50’s/early-60’s, and later played for Elvis), pianist Glen Hardin, drummer John Ware (who studied with The Band’s Levon Helm in ’67), pedal steel guitarist Hank DeVito (writer of ""Queen Of Hearts", a hit for Juice Newton but done better imo by Dave Edmunds), and bassist Emory Gordy Jr. (who was also in Dylan’s band for quite a while). Buddy Miller has served as Emmylou's bandleader/guitarist/harmony singer for a number of years now.