Johnny Bush - 14 Greatest Hits (2004)

Honky-tonk crooner Johnny Bush is a country music icon in his home state of Texas; to the rest of the world, he is a minor figure with a couple of charting singles in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As evidenced by the 14 treasures included here, the Lone Star folks know exactly what they're talking about when it comes to Texas honky-tonk. Bush's spectacular, almost operatic voice tears into these tunes as if his life depended on it, imparting them each with a palpable sense of pain and longing. Most of these cuts are from Bush's successful late-1960s tenure with little-known Stop Records, and the arrangements stick mostly to whining fiddles and steel guitar. Bush deserves wider recognition from country music aficionados in general, but if you're going to be a local country legend, Texas is certainly the place to do so.