Ken Burns’ ‘Country Music’ Series to Release Massive Soundtrack

Just ahead of the September 15th premiere of the eight-part PBS documentary Country Music – A Film By Ken Burns, Legacy Recordings will unveil musical highlights from the 16-and-a-half-hour series with a deluxe five-CD set spanning the history of the genre.

The impressive track list represents artists featured in each of the series’ episodes, from the first stars of the genre, such as the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, to influential acts from the latter half of the 20th century, including Randy Travis and the Judds. The set will be released Friday, August 30th.

Exploring the music of the Appalachians, rural honky-tonks, cowboy performers, bluegrass bands, rockabilly acts and more, the set also includes rare archival photos, posters, documents and memorabilia related to the artists and recordings featured in the film. Also featured are in-depth essays by country music historian Bill Malone and Grammy-winning authors-producers Colin Escott and Tamara Saviano, as well as exclusive quotes from those appearing in the series including Country Music Hall of Fame members Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard and Vince Gill.

In addition to the deluxe set, two-CD, two-LP and digital configurations of the collection will be available Friday, September 13th. Walmart will offer an exclusive single-CD configuration of the soundtrack, while Barnes & Noble will issue an exclusive, limited edition red, white & blue vinyl LP with a signed certification of authenticity from Emmy-winning filmmaker Ken Burns. Pre-orders for all configurations are available now.

Country Music – A Film By Ken Burns premieres Sunday, September 15th on PBS

Disc One

1. “Can the Circle Be Unbroken (Bye and Bye)” – Carter Family
2. “Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)” – Jimmie Rodgers
3. “Barbara Allen” – Bradley Kincaid
4. “I’ll Fly Away” – James and Martha Carson
5. “If the River Was Whiskey” – Charlie Poole with the North Carolina Ramblers
6. “Fox Chase” – DeFord Bailey
7. “Blue Yodel No. 9 (Standin’ on the Corner)” – Jimmie Rodgers
8. “Wildwood Flower” – Carter Family
9. “In the Jailhouse Now” – Jimmie Rodgers
10. “Comin’ Round the Mountain” – Uncle Dave Macon and Sam McGee
11. “Pretty Polly” – Coon Creek Girls
12. “T.B. Blues” – Jimmie Rodgers
13. “Mountain Dew” – Grandpa Jones and His Grandchildren
14. “Home on the Range” – Gene Autry
15. “I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart” – Patsy Montana and the Prairie Ramblers
16. “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” – Sons of the Pioneers
17. “Keep on the Sunny Side”/ “I’m Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes” – Carter Family
18. “The Great Speckled Bird” – Roy Acuff
19. “Whoa Babe” – Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
20. “New San Antonio Rose” – Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
21. “Wabash Cannon Ball” – Roy Acuff and His Smoky Mountain Boys
22. “Mule Skinner Blues” – Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys

Disc Two

1. “Honky Tonkin’” – Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys
2. “It’s Mighty Dark to Travel” – Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys
3. “New Mule Skinner Blues” – Maddox Brothers and Rose
4. “I’ll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)” – Eddy Arnold and His Tennessee Plowboys
5. “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” – Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys
6. “Molly and Tenbrook” – Stanley Brothers
7. “Lovesick Blues” – Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys
8. “I Saw the Light” – Hank Williams
9. “Hey, Good Lookin’” – Hank Williams
10. “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” – Kitty Wells
11. “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” – Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys
12. “Jambalaya” – Little Brenda Lee
13. “New Step It Up and Go” – Maddox Brothers and Rose
14. “I Walk the Line” – Johnny Cash & the Tennessee Two
15. “Crazy Arms” – Ray Price
16. “Bye, Bye Love” – Everly Brothers
17. “The Long Black Veil” – Lefty Frizzell
18. “El Paso” – Marty Robbins
19. “Night Life” – Ray Price
20. “Hello Walls” – Faron Young
21. “I Fall to Pieces” – Patsy Cline
22. “Ring of Fire” – Johnny Cash
23. “Crazy” – Patsy Cline
24. “I Can’t Stop Loving You” – Ray Charles

Disc Three

1. “Dang Me” – Roger Miller
2. “I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail” – Buck Owens
3. “Don’t Come Home a-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind)” – Loretta Lynn
4. “Coal Miner’s Daughter” – Loretta Lynn
5. “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’” – Charley Pride
6. “Hungry Eyes” – Merle Haggard and the Strangers
7. “Mama Tried” – Merle Haggard and the Strangers
8. “Harper Valley P.T.A.” – Jeannie C. Riley
9. “Don’t Touch Me” – Jeannie Seely
10. “Folsom Prison Blues” – Johnny Cash
11. “Stand by Your Man” – Tammy Wynette
12. “She Thinks I Still Care” – George Jones
13. “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” – The Byrds
14. “Me and Bobby McGee” – Kris Kristofferson
15. “Help Me Make It Through the Night” – Sammi Smith
16. “Sunday Morning Coming Down” – Kris Kristofferson
17. “Okie From Muskogee” – Merle Haggard and the Strangers
18. “Man in Black” – Johnny Cash
19. “Girl From the North Country” – Bob Dylan with Johnny Cash
20. “Grand Ole Opry Song” – Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
21. “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” – Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Disc Four

1. “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” – Waylon Jennings
2. “Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)” – Dolly Parton
3. “Jolene” – Dolly Parton
4. “I Will Always Love You” – Dolly Parton
5. “We’re Gonna Hold On – George Jones and Tammy Wynette
6. “Texas Cookin’” – Guy Clark
7. “If I Needed You” – Townes Van Zandt
8. “I Can’t Stop Loving You” – Johnny Rodriguez
9. “I’ve Been a Long Time Leaving (But I’ll Be a Long Time Gone)” – Waylon Jennings
10. “Love Hurts (Live)” – Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels
11. “Boulder to Birmingham” – Emmylou Harris
12. “Bluebird Wine” – Emmylou Harris
13. “Whiskey River” – Willie Nelson
14. “Miles and Miles of Texas” – Asleep at the Wheel
15. “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” – Willie Nelson
16. “Good Hearted Woman” – Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson
17. “Family Tradition” – Hank Williams Jr.
18. “Seven Year Ache” – Rosanne Cash
19. “Pancho and Lefty” – Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard
20. “He Stopped Loving Her Today” – George Jones

Disc Five

1. “Don’t Get Above Your Raisin’” – Ricky Skaggs
2. “On the Road Again” – Willie Nelson
3. “Amarillo by Morning” – George Strait
4. “Somebody Should Leave” – Reba McEntire
5. “Diggin’ Up Bones” – Randy Travis
6. “Why Not Me” – The Judds
7. “Honky Tonk Man” – Dwight Yoakam
8. “Streets of Bakersfield” – Dwight Yoakam with Buck Owens
9. “Where’ve You Been” – Kathy Mattea
10. “I’m No Stranger to the Rain” – Keith Whitley
11. “Go Rest High on That Mountain” – Vince Gill
12. “Guitar Town” – Steve Earle
13. “She’s in Love With the Boy” – Trisha Yearwood
14. “Tennessee Flat Top Box” – Rosanne Cash
15. “Get Up John” – Emmylou Harris & the Nash Ramblers
16. “Uncle Pen” – Ricky Skaggs
17. “I Still Miss Someone” – Rosanne Cash
18. “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” – Nitty Gritty Dirt Band