Hillbilly Boogie!

The intersection of jazz, blues, and country music that came to be called Western swing was hugely popular in Texas and Oklahoma during the 1930s and 1940s, and spawned scores of bands that are almost entirely forgotten today. If you’ve had about all the Bob Wills and Asleep at the Wheel you need for the moment and are looking for some more obscure examples of Western swing and adjacent styles, look no further than this 20-track compilation that pulls together relatively little-known fare from the likes of Johnny Bond, Curley Williams & His George Peach Pickers, and Paul Howard & His Cotton Pickers. There’s a contribution from Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys as well, and from Spade Cooley, and even tracks from Lefty Frizell and Little Jimmy Dickens, making this a nicely varied grab-bag of classic Western swing.