Idaho Red

Wade Ray, a child prodigy on fiddle at the age of 5, was one of the true greats in country music. In his heyday he played with many great names such as Tennesse Ernie Ford, Noel Boggs, Joaquin Murphey, Chet Atkins, Curly Chalker, Willie Nelson and Ernest Tubb to name a few. He stood second to no one with his blazing fiddle and his vocals were mentioned as a major influence by Willie Nelson. I loved almost every song. His version of Rosetta has to be the best ever. Also included is a booklet with great notes by Rich KienzleThis is the ultimate collection of Wade Ray. Buy it, you won't be disappointed.

Wade Ray flies under the radar of most country fans. He shouldn't. Wade was a great singer in the smooth western swing style pioneered by Tommy Duncan. He also was a fantastic fiddler player, a prodigy from his youth, and played with Willie Nelson in his later years. This collection is the first major compilation of Wade's work to appear (there were earlier, harder to find cds) and Bear Family presents this music with that label's usual high quality. The highlight track here for me is "Its All Your Fault," maybe obvious but still a great choice. The backing musicians included Noel Boggs, Speedy West, and JimmyBryant--killer post war Western Swing with some hot fiddling by Wade. I really enjoy his vocals, great country swing here and highly recommended if you like folks like Tommy Duncan. I imagine this collection has the bulk of his work from the 1950s and 1960s. Great notes by Rich Kienzle.

Wade Ray was a new name to me, so it's thanks to Amazon for adding this CD to my 'Recommended for you' listings!This is an excellent 30 track collection of solo tracks recorded between 1951 and 1957. Prior to these recordings Ray, a superb fiddle player, had been part of a number of groups, before joining the Prairie Ramblers at the end of WW2. And after this period he subsequently worked first as part of Willie Nelson's touring band and then with Ray Price.His fiddle playing is often to the fore in these tracks and is also featured in a couple of instrumentals, "Down Home Rag" being the best of these, and all also featuring excellent guitar picking. Alongside lots of lesser known songs there are a number of versions of famous western swing songs of the period, the standout of these is probably "It's All Your Fault", but it's such a great song it always sounds great!!Bear Family offer their usual quality product, with an extensive booklet featuring lots of pictures and recording details for all the tracks. This is the standard all re-issues labels should aim for!So, though possibly not the strongest vocalist in the world, if you're looking for some slightly more obscure 50s country, you really can't go wrong with this one. Highly recommended!

ピュアなロカビリーが好きで、ウエスタンスイングとかもお好きなら、馴染みやすいサウンドです。ロックンロール好きの私には、大御所ボブウィルスよりも、馴染みやすい。メーカーもBear Familyだけあって、音が良い。パッケージもブックレット付きで、豪華な作りです。買って良かった。