For a lengthy yet incomplete rundown of artists covered in Ken Burns' eight part, 16 hour documentary series Country Music, check out the track list of the five disc, 105 song version of the soundtrack. The series debuts Sept. 15 on PBS.
The deluxe box set arrives Aug. 30 via Legacy, and its track sequence may tease the filmmaker's timeline and featured artists. Selections represent Bristol Sessions discoveries, the Grand Ole Opry's earliest stars, the silver screen's singing cowboys, Texas Swing pioneers, bluegrass' founders, honky-tonk heroes, Nashville Sound practitioners, legendary outlaws and the songwriters and traditionalists now lauded as Americana royalty.
Each song drives home one of the series' main points: country music represents a timeless form of folk storytelling.
"At the heart of every great country music song is a story," said Ken Burns in a press release. "As the songwriter Harlan Howard said, 'It's three chords and the truth.' The common experiences and human emotions speak to each of us about love and loss, about hard times and the chance of redemption. As an art form, country music is also forever revisiting its history, sharing and updating old classics and celebrating its roots, which are, in many ways, foundational to our country itself."
There's several options with much shorter track listings, including one and two-disc CDs and a double vinyl edition. Most of these items — the one-disc version is a Wal-Mart exclusive — are available for pre-order through Shop PBS.
Disc One (From Episodes 1 ("The Rub- Beginnings, 1933") and 2 ("Hard Times, 1933-1945"))
"Can the Circle Be Unbroken (Bye and Bye)" - The Carter Family
"Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)" - Jimmie Rodgers
"Barbara Allen" - Bradley Kincaid
"I'll Fly Away" - James and Martha Carson
"If the River Was Whiskey"- Charlie Poole with the North Carolina Ramblers
"Fox Chase" - DeFord Bailey
"Blue Yodel Number 9 (Standin' On The Corner)" - Jimmie Rodgers
"Wildwood Flower" - The Carter Family
"In the Jailhouse Now" - Jimmie Rodgers
"Comin' Round the Mountain" - Uncle Dave Macon and Sam McGee
"Pretty Polly" - The Coon Creek Girls
"T.B. Blues" - Jimmie Rodgers
"Mountain Dew" - Grandpa Jones and His Granchildren
"Home on the Range" - Gene Autry
"I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" - Patsy Montana and the Prairie Ramblers
"Tumbling Tumbleweeds"- Sons of the Pioneers
"Keep on the Sunny Side /I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" - The Carter Family
"The Great Speckled Bird" - Roy Acuff
"Whoa Babe" - Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
"New San Antonio Rose" - Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
"Wabash Cannon Ball" - Roy Acuff and His Smoky Mountain Boys
"Mule Skinner Blues" - Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys
Disc 2 (From Episodes Three ("The Hillbilly Shakespeare, 1945-1953") and Four ("I Can't Stop Loving You, 1953-1963"))
"Honky Tonkin'" - Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys
"It's Mighty Dark to Travel" - Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys
"New Mule Skinner Blues" - Maddox Brothers and Rose
"I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)" - Eddy Arnold and his Tennessee Playboys
"Foggy Mountain Breakdown" - Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys
"Molly and Tenbrook" - The Stanley Brothers
"Lovesick Blues" - Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys
"I Saw the Light" - Hank Williams
"Hey, Good Lookin'" - Hank Williams
"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" - Kitty Wells
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" - Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys
"Jambalaya" - Little Brenda Lee
"New Step It Up and Go" - Maddox Brothers and Rose
"I Walk the Line" - Johnny Cash & the Tennessee Two
"Crazy Arms" - Ray Price
"Bye, Bye Love" - The Everly Brothers
"The Long Black Veil" - Lefty Frizzell
"El Paso" - Marty Robbins
"Night Life" - Ray Price
"Hello Walls" - Faron Young
"I Fall to Pieces" - Patsy Cline
"Ring of Fire" - Johnny Cash
"Crazy" - Patsy Cline
"I Can't Stop Loving You" - Ray Charles
Disc 3 (From Episodes Five ("The Sons and Daughters of America, 1964-1968") and Six ("Will the Circle Be Unbroken, 1968-1972"))
"Dang Me" - Roger Miller
"I've Got a Tiger by the Tail" - Buck Owens
"Don't Come Home A' Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind)" - Loretta Lynn
"Coal Miner's Daughter" - Loretta Lynn
"Kiss an Angel Good Mornin'" - Charley Pride
"Hungry Eyes" - Merle Haggard and the Strangers
"Mama Tried" - Merle Haggard and the Strangers
"Harper Valley P.T.A." - Jeannie C. Riley
"Don't Touch Me" - Jeannie Seely
"Folsom Prison Blues" - Johnny Cash
"Stand by Your Man" - Tammy Wynette
"She Thinks I Still Care" - George Jones
"You Ain't Going Nowhere" - The Byrds
"Me and Bobby McGee" - Kris Kristofferson
"Help Me Make It Through the Night" - Sammi Smith
"Sunday Morning Coming Down" - Kris Kristofferson
"Okie From Muskogee" - Merle Haggard and the Strangers
"Man in Black" - Johnny Cash
"Girl from the North Country"- Bob Dylan with Johnny Cash
"Grand Ole Opry Song" - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
"Will the Circle Be Unbroken" - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Disc Four (From Episode Seven ("Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?, 1973-1983"))
"Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" - Waylon Jennings
"Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)" - Dolly Parton
"Jolene" - Dolly Parton
"I Will Always Love You" - Dolly Parton
"We're Gonna Hold On" - George Jones and Tammy Wynette
"Texas Cookin'" - Guy Clark
"If I Needed You" - Townes Van Zandt
"I Can't Stop Loving You" - Johnny Rodriguez
"I've Been a Long Time Leaving (But I'll Be A Long Time Gone)" - Waylon Jennings
"Love Hurts (Live)" - Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels
"Boulder to Birmingham" - Emmylou Harris
"Bluebird Wine" - Emmylou Harris
"Whiskey River" - Willie Nelson
"Miles and Miles of Texas" - Asleep at the Wheel
"Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" - Willie Nelson
"Good Hearted Woman" - Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson
"Family Tradition" - Hank Williams, Jr.
"Seven Year Ache" - Rosanne Cash
"Pancho and Lefty" - Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard
"He Stopped Loving Her Today" - George Jones
Disc 5 (from Episode Eight ("Don't Get Above Your Raisin', 1973-1996"))
"Don't Get Above Your Raisin'" - Ricky Skaggs
"On the Road Again" - Willie Nelson
"Amarillo by Morning"- George Strait
"Somebody Should Leave" - Reba McEntire
"Diggin' Up Bones" - Randy Travis
"Why Not Me" - The Judds
"Honky Tonk Man" - Dwight Yoakam
"Streets of Bakersfield" - Dwight Yoakam with Buck Owens
"Where've You Been" - Kathy Mattea
"I'm No Stranger to the Rain" - Keith Whitley
"Go Rest High on That Mountain" - Vince Gill
"Guitar Town" - Steve Earle
"She's In Love With the Boy" - Trisha Yearwood
"Tennessee Flat Top Box" - Rosanne Cash
"Get Up John" - Emmylou Harris & the Nash Ramblers
"Uncle Pen" - Ricky Skaggs
"I Still Miss Someone" - Rosanne Cash
"Will the Circle Be Unbroken" - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
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