Editoral Review

The song that rings most true on this salute to the Mississippian generally considered the father of country music is also the most fatigued tune on the collection--Jerry Garcia and David Grisman's "Blue Yodel #9 (Standin' on the Corner)." Garcia died two weeks after rush-recording the track before entering a substance recovery clinic. You get the sense the fading Garcia understood what drove Rodgers to make music till nearly his dying breath. A few other Rodgers proselytizers make creditable connections with the pioneering recording star, including Willie Nelson, Steve Earle, and Iris DeMent. For an undistilled sense of the great man, check out Rounder Records' eight volume Complete Recordings, 1927-1933. There could be no finer tribute. --Steven Stolder