Following the success of 2003's inaugural compilation, the follow-up sways to the same delicious white-boy groove. The cream of '60s/'70s southern country is here—from Tony Joe White to Dan Penn—torn between smalltown escape and pining for home. White's "High Sheriff Of Calhoun Parish" drifts in on a haze of woodsmoke; Bobby Gentry's "Fancy" is stifling humidity personified; Townes Van Zandt gets alarmingly funky on the early "Black Widow Blues" (1966); Shirl Milete's "Big Country Blues" is a lyrical feast.
No lip-syncing, backing tracks or gimmicks—only consummate talent on these 'live' late-'50s clips from Canadian TV. Cab Calloway ("Minnie The Moocher") is at his most bizarre, Nat King Cole ("Stay With Love") is finger-poppin' smooth and Sammy Davis Jr ("Gypsy In My Soul/Perdido") is a human dynamo, while the gem in this collection is Duke Ellington working in a quintet setting.
