The Spectacular Johnny Horton

The Spectacular Johnny Horton is spectacular indeed, a state-of-the-art survey of the many sides of the Nashville Sound circa 1960. It includes the warm, swooning ballads that are synonymous with the style (a cover of "Lost Highway" is particularly impressive), but it also features prototype folk-rock saga songs (including "The Battle of New Orleans" and "When It's Springtime in Alaska," each a chart-topping country hit), studio-amped rockabilly (Horton's own "The First Train Headin' South"), and even post-Elvis teen pop (a bonus cut of another Top 10 hit, "All Grown Up"). There are love songs and cheatin' songs here, ramblin' blues and murder ballads, all of it via an A-team studio lineup and Horton's versatile, energetic vocals. Those who think the Nashville Sound was merely Jim Reeves crooning to his horse in "The Blizzard" are about to get bucked from the saddle. --David Cantwell