doesn't necessarily represent the early years of itself, which had probably been around in several variations for decades prior to these tracks, most of which were recorded in the early '60s. This was still years before had reached anything close to the level of international esteem it now enjoys, and , who made most of the recordings, was among the first to recognize the form's importance. In comparison to the boisterous full sounds of stars of the '80s and '90s, this is fairly primitive-sounding; usually there's nothing more than accordion, vocals, and washboard, although drums are sometimes present. It could use more variety, frankly, but these are significant documents of how sounded when it was music for friends and house parties rather than records or clubs, and the music -- by artists including , , and -- does have a rough, unforced, upbeat charm. As a nice bonus, both sides of 's 1954 debut single are included (they're far more -influenced than the here), and there's a 1949 - hybrid by ~ Richie Unterberger