Bandleader and fiddle player Spade Cooley, the self-styled King Of Western Swing, was a notoriously colourful character who worked in western movies with Roy Rogers before leading one of the biggest country orchestras of its kind, attracting massive audiences to his shows in Los Angeles. He became popular on radio television and racked up a string of hits in the mid-40s until popular tastes changed and his career declined in the early 50s. This great-value 54-track 2-CD set comprises selected A and B sides from his releases on the Okeh, Columbia, RCA and Decca labels during this period, representing about half of his entire recorded output in this time.

It includes his most famous recording, the No. 1 country hit Shame On You along with his other Top 10 country hits A Pair of Broken Hearts, I've Taken All I'm Gonna Take From You, Detour, You Cant Break My Heart and Crazy Cause I Love You, many of them featuring his long-time star vocalist Tex Williams and including one notable recording with Dinah Shore. Along with Bob Wills, Spade Cooley was among the best-known and most popular exponents of Western Swing, and this highly entertaining anthology will underline exactly why.

REVIEWS

“This collection is an excellent insight into a style of music that enjoyed a fairly brief spell of popularity, but this well documented set is a fitting reminder of Cooley and his music before it all went horribly wrong.” – Gerry Stonestreet (In Tune Issue 331)

“Acrobat has assembled 54 recordings covering the period 1945 through to 1952 on a 2CD set. In fairness, western swing is an acquired taste when you have the full band which may well include accordions, harps and trumpets! This could be overpowering for man and, honestly, it is for me after you get past one or two classic titles like Shame On You, Detour and Spadella...” – Howard Cockburn (Now Dig This Issue 438)

“This whopping two-CD 54-tracker covers his whole recording career, and is the authentic sound of pre- Nashville country.”  – John Howard (Vintage Rock Issue 44)