Various Choctaw Ridge - New Fables Of The American South 1968-1973 (2-LP)

(Ace Records) 24 tracks, gatefold cover.
This 24-track sampler, again famously assembled, explores a new country sound that emerged in the late '60s in the wake of Bobbie Gentry's 'Ode To Billie Joe,' a shocking 1967 number-one hit that, with its suicide theme, didn't fit at all with the country sound of the past.

Singers like Gentry or Jimmy Webb, Michael Nesmith and Lee Hazlewood moved from the South to Los Angeles and were not part of the Nashville in-crowd with their sounds but pursued a new musical direction.
'Ode To Billie Joe' was just the tip of the iceberg.
The track listing and extensive liner notes were compiled by Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne) and Martin Green (Smashing, The Sound Gallery), who have been collecting these records for decades.

The songs selected are the best that country-pop had to offer in the late '60s and early '70s - a golden era for atmospheric, inclusive and progressive country music.

Featuring Lee Hazlewood, Dolly Parton, Billie Joe Spears, Bonny Gentry, Charlie Rich, Waylon Jennings & The Kimberlys, Jim Ford, Tony Joe White and many more, available as a 2LP set (black vinyl).