's approach to country and his rich, expressive baritone voice always seemed closer to pop singers like and than it did to more rustic country stars like , and he worked with pop songwriters out of New York as much or more than he used Nashville ones. His approach reaped dividends, certainly, and he charted countless hits in a truly astounding seven-decade career, and if he was never fully embraced by the public as a pop singer, he brought a kind of urbane dignity and grace to country music in the bargain, prefiguring the so-called Nashville countrypolitan sound as early as 1955. This three-disc, 77-track set collects all of his charting singles, both the A- and B-sides, released between 1945 and 1962, all on , and it reveals a fascinating transformation from 's early tenure as a hillbilly singer to his later stance as the man who melded country and pop together into what was essentially a whole new musical form. ~ Steve Leggett