• Track Listing

For almost half a century, Ernest Tubb was never far from the top of any list of country's most popular artists. Known throughout his career as The Texas Troubadour, ET's warm, laconic style made him a juke box favourite before Country charts even existed, and he racked up a total of almost 100 chart hits between January 1944 and December 1979 - including some where both sides of the same record charted. 28 of those hits came in the 1950s - probably ET's most commercially successful decade overall. This new Jasmine package concentrates specifically on the period from January 1955 to December 1958, bringing you the A and B sides - in chronological order - of all 15 of the man's 45s from those years. Of those 15, eight reached the Country Top 20 and of those 8, five reached the Top 10 - a measure of how popular ET still was, more than 20 years after he cut his first recordings. ET had the biggest country hit with the much-recorded 'The Yellow Rose Of Texas', took on rhythm & blues and rock 'n' roll with covers of Chuck Berry's 'Thirty Days' and Chuck Willis' 'What Am I Living For', helped the up and coming Wilburn Brothers kick-start their chart career with duets on 'Mister Love' and 'Hey, Mr. Bluebird' and brought a young, struggling songwriter called Roger Miller his first big chart hit with the title track of our collection 'Half A Mind'. These are just some of the many highlights on display here. ET was greatly beloved by peers and fans alike, and will always be remembered as one of modern day country music's founding fathers. This superb collection - remastered, as always, from the finest available sources - gives real perspective on why, despite country's plethora of troubadours from Texas, there will only ever be one Texas Troubadour.