Reviewed by Dave Brassington

This superb 6 CD box set from Bear Family is an absolute treasure chest of rare and hard to get tracks by Slim. It starts with his RCA sides which have often been available via various budget re-issues on RCA Camden. Coming from a Brethren background Slim has always been something of a non conformist in music, often bucking current trends in country music. By recording in his own unique style and avoiding the honky tonk style of country lyric. The fascinating booklet accurately chronicles how he came to record with his famous steel guitar sound in the early '50s on Imperial, using a diversity of songs that hit big around the world, ie, "Indian Love Call" and "Rose Marie" from the musical of the same name, to old western and pop songs which he interpreted in his own way, and bucking current trends in Nashville in the mid '50s by touring Britain and becoming very popular overseas when rock 'n' roll had hurt his career in the USA. It comes out in the sleeve notes how Lew Chudd, owner of Imperial Records, was opposed to Slim recording gospel material . Just the one single, the superb "Riding The Range For Jesus" was released until his 1961 LP 'I'll Walk With God' which achieved good album sales even he was no longer a regular hit maker in his home country. This is where this box set just about finishes. This is a really superb re-issue.

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