Flowers in the Wildwood: Women in Early Country Music, 1923-1939
Women in America began staking a claim in country music long before recording equipment existed. The women country singers are the ones known as the Flowers in the Wildwood and on this disc they sing their old time country music in high sweet voices with only the sparsest of instrumental accompaniment. Though edging out from folk tradition, this music is made by women who were for the most part commercial country singers, because that's who typically made it onto records and the radio, after all. This collection dates from the decade before World War II, with a few precious offerings reaching back as far as the 1920s. These 25 rare recordings, released by Germany's quirky Trikont label, seem untouched by modern technology. 2005.