The Blue Sky Boys – Bill Bolick – Earl Bolick – The Very Best Of Classic Country Remastered – 5 CD

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SKU: JSP 7782 - 5CD Categories: , Tag:

Description

“Possibly the prettiest country music ever performed” and “Quite likely the finest harmonising duo ever recorded”. That's what two commentators thought of Bill and Earl Bolick – The Blue Sky Boys. Bill and Earl’s forbears were Germans who originally settled in Pennsylvania, and later moved to the Piedmont region of North Carolina - an area that produced many fine country and blues artists. The brothers first recorded in 1936 until 1940 when they were both drafted into distinguished war service (Earl was awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star). They successfully recorded again from 1946 to 1950, when they decided to retire from music to raise their families. During those two relatively short periods of recording they became one of the most popular and influencial country duos, up there with The Monroe Brothers, The Callahan Brothers and The Delmore Brothers. This 5CD, 121 track set features all of their important recordings from the two periods.

Track Listing:

CD1:
1. I'm Just Here to Get My Baby out of Jail - 3:02   2. Sunny Side of Life - 2:40   3. There'll Come a Time - 3:06   4. Where the Soul Never Dies - 3:07   5. Midnight on the Stormy Sea - 2:52   6. Take Up Thy Cross - 2:51   7. Row Us Over the Tide - 2:57   8. Down on the Banks of the Ohio - 3:20   9. I'm Troubled, I'm Troubled - 2:35   10. The Dying Boy's Prayer - 2:30   11. No One to Welcome Me Home - 3:26   12. Didn't They Crucify My Lord - 2:39   13. Only Let Me Walk with Thee - 2:40   14. Can't You Hear That Night Bird Crying - 2:37   15. An Old Account Was Settled - 2:51   16. Sweet Allalee - 2:29   17. You Give Me Your Love - 2:47   18. I Believe It - 3:00   19. When the Ransomed Get Home - 3:05   20. Fair Eyed Ellen - 2:53   21. Somebody Makes Me Think of You - 2:39   22. Sweet Evalina - 3:22   23. No Home - 3:17   24. What Have You Done - 2:58

CD2:
1. Sing a Song for the Blind - 3:13   2. Within the Circle - 3:14   3. They're All Home But One - 3:02   4. Hymns My Mother Sang - 2:56   5. Have No Desire to Roam - 2:49   6. No Disappointment in Heaven - 3:16   7. Story of the Knoxville Girl - 3:42   8. On the Old Plantation - 2:52   9. In My Little Home in Tennessee - 2:57   10. Beautiful, Beautiful Brown Eyes - 2:54   11. The Prisoner's Dream - 3:08   12. The Answer to the Prisoner's Dream - 3:09   13. When the Stars Begin to Fall - 2:43   14. We Buried Her - 3:06   15. Heaven Holds All for Me - 2:48   16. Little Bessie - 3:10   17. I Need the Prayers - 3:10   18. Old Fashioned Meeting - 2:10   19. Katie Dear - 3:02   20. Who Wouldn't Be Lonely - 2:35   21. Life Line - 3:03   22. When the Valley Moon Was Low - 2:26   23. My Last Letter - 2:30   24. Mother Went Her Holiness Way - 2:23

CD3:
1. Hang Out the Front Door Key - 2:45   2. This Is Like Heaven to Me - 2:39   3. I've Found a Friend - 2:46   4. Asleep in the Briny Deep - 2:59   5. Last Night While Standing by My Window - 2:51   6. There Was a Time - 3:05   7. Bring Back My Wandering Boy - 2:15   8. When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland - 2:40   9. Are You from Dixie - 2:43   10. Give Me My Roses Now - 2:31   11. The House Where We Were Wed - 2:39   12. There's No Other Love for Me - 2:36   13. God Sent My Little Girl - 2:34  14. Someone's Last Day - 2:52   15. She'll Be There - 2:52   16. The Lightning Express - 2:58   17. The Royal Telephone - 2:58   18. The Convict and the Rose - 2:38   19. Father, Dear Father, Come Home - 2:36   20. We Parted by the Riverside - 3:02   21. Only One Step More - 2:39   22. The East Bound Train - 2:48   23. The Last Mile of the Way - 2:38   24. She's Somebody's Darling Once More - 2:29

CD4:
1. I'm S-A-V-E-D - 2:57   2. Whispering Hope - 2:42   3. The Butcher's Boy - 3:14   4. This Evening Light - 2:29   5. Mary of the Wild Moor - 2:58   6. Why Not Confess - 3:00   7. Turn Your Radio On - 2:58   8. Since the Angels Took My Mother Far Away - 3:12   9. In the Hills of Roane County - 3:23   10. Kneel at the Cross - 2:46   11. Brown Eyes - 2:48   12. Short Life of Trouble - 3:09   13. A Picture on the Wall - 2:40   14. Pictures from Life's Other Side - 3:26   15. Don't Say Goodbye If You Love Me - 2:59   16. Speak to Me Little Darling - 2:52   17. Have You Seen My Daddy Here? - 3:03   18. I Love Her More Now Mother's Old - 2:48   19. Dust on the Bible - 2:57   20. Kentucky - 2:53   21. I'm Glad (I'm Glad He's Gone and Left You) - 2:38   22. The Chapel in the Hills - 2:50   23. Sold Down the River - 2:44   24. I'm Going to Write to Heaven (For I Know My Daddy's There) - 2:42

CD5:
1. Come to the Saviour - 2:55   2. Garden in the Sky - 2:47   3. There's Been a Change - 2:39   4. Romans - 2:50   5. I'll Take My Saviour by the Hand - 2:33   6. I Cannot Take You Back Now - 2:53   7. Behind These Prison Walls of Love - 2:56   8. Angel Mother - 3:01   9. Let's Not Sleep Again - 2:28   10. Don't Take the Light (From My Dark Cell) - 2:55   11. The Cross on the Hill - 2:31   12. The Sweetest Gift, A Mother's Smile - 3:05   13. You've Branded Your Name on My Heart - 2:49   14. Little Mother of the Hills - 2:36   15. Alabama - 3:07   16. One Cold Winter's Eve - 2:53   17. Paper Boy - 2:56   18. Shake Hands with Your Mother Today - 2:57   19. When Heaven Comes Down - 2:54   20. The Unfinished Rug - 2:47   21. Tears on Her Bridal Bouquet - 2:39   22. The Lord Be with Us, Amen - 2:38   23. Drop Your Net - 2:49  24. The New Golden Rule - 2:41   25. Sunny Side of Life - 2:13

Reviews:

1. AllMusic - Stewart Mason
A typically excellent budget-line reissue from the box set specialists at JSP, The Blue Sky Boys is a 121-track set on four discs for anyone who values the music itself over fancy packaging or extensive liner notes. Bill and Earl Bolick were part of the second wave of country music stars, the groups who appeared in the mid-'30s as the country was struggling to right itself under the weight of the depression. From 1936 to 1950, the Bolicks were one of country's most beloved acts, with their strictly acoustic sound and devotion to gospel tunes. All of the Blue Sky Boys' key records from this 14-year period are included here, including hits like "Kentucky" and "The Sunny Side of Life," alongside fan favorites "I'm Just Here to Get My Baby out of Jail" and their take on the Elizabethan murder ballad "The Butcher's Boy." So deeply earnest that they would seem ripe for mockery by modern alt-country hipsters -- see "I Love Her More Now Mother's Old" and "I'm Going to Write to Heaven (For I Know My Daddy's There)" -- the Blue Sky Boys are so angelic of voice that it's impossible for even the most churlish to giggle at this blend of country and traditional gospel.

 

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