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This music has made a really deep impression on me; it's pure, simple, honest and...historic---it preserves a sound, a vocal and instrumental style and a world view which I'm afraid is just about dead in 2004. A real pity. In fact, it's tragic.So get this set and experience it! It's vintage PIONEERS, at the height of their fabulous art. The bare essentials---vocal trio, bass, 2 guitars and the astounding fiddling of Hugh Farr (who famous conductor Leopold Stokowski called one of the 2 greatest living violinists during the 1940's!)Bob Nolan's "Song of the Bandit" is a mythical American ballad--its third verse describes how the bandit appears to a girl in a dream, complete with angels and a winged horse gliding down the moonbeams---whoa!! And yet, the tune is upbeat and energetic--not at all what you would expect from the lyrics."So Long to the Red River Valley" is another beauty---the haunting yodeling (in three-part harmony, something that Pioneers created and perfected) in the final verse, with Hugh's fiddle gently wailing away---it's true ART!"Trail Herdin' Cowboy" is another rare gem---with more amazing fiddlin' from Mr. Farr, paricularly at the very end, when the voices go into what sounds like an extended "Amen" cadence."Whispherin' Wind" resembles a 19th-Century "parlor" Waltz tune--rather simplistic--yet the Pioneers arrangement and performance transform it into something remarkably elegant and touching.This performance of Bob Nolan's iconic "Cool Water" is MUCH better than the later ones I've heard; the RCA version included on the "Cigareets & Whusky" cd is rushed and almost sounds like they were bored with it; this version, even though it ends a bit abruptly, really captures that mythical quality which we associate with the Old West, as man interacts with nature.Then there's A COWBOY HAS TO SING, another robust tune which is remarkable in that it features all six guys singing, with only a single guitar accompanying. But the voices are divided into two groups of three, singing back-and-forth in dialogue (or "antiphonally", to use one of them-thar' fancy Renaissance terms). Both groups sing in 3-part harmony---the first trio sings the actual lyrics of the song, while the other trio answers with "yipee-ay" and yodeling. Interwoven into the texture is the solo voice of Tim Spencer. All of this is masterfully designed and performed; my description may sound complex and sophisticated (which it IS), but the effect is totally enchanting.AND FINALLY----"Ridin' Home"---for me, the ultimate in the Pioneer's art---profoundly beautiful, the essence of the romantic spirit of the Old West (unfortunately THIS TRACK is marred by some pretty harsh crackling from the old acetate master recording---but GOD, it's still so lovely!)Wonderful music, beautifully preserved and re-mastered.Incidentally, I am a "classical" (symphonic) conductor by profession, but this 2-cd set has given me some of the most satisfying musical enjoyment of the past 10 years.A FINAL COMMENT (added August, 2013)-- Even though this set, billed as "The Essential Collection" does NOT include Bob Nolan's iconic "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds", it includes something far more impressive (IMHO) and rare: Nolan's "Tumbleweed Trail".Sadly, "Tumblin'" has been somewhat corrupted by pop culture, becoming something of a Western musical postcard for the urban cowboy set. Nolan's "Tumbleweed Trail" will never suffer the same fate, due to its rather brooding, sombre nature, a meditation in which Nolan's nature imagery blends with a fatalistic, spiritual stream-of-consciousness that is astounding in its musical sophistication and mesmerizing beauty.In fact, "Trail" is written in the same gently undulating style as "Tumblin'", so it will strike you as quite familiar. But this is something far more profound, which you must experience for yourself---the music's dark, unusual harmonic progressions, the lyrics that clearly suggest that the titular "Trail" symbolizes something not quite earthbound--all combined with the allure of the Son's warm, comforting blend of voices (led by Lloyd Perryman) and Hugh Farr's fleeting, whispery fiddle-- this is Bob Nolan's own uniquely mystical American West flawlessly captured in song."Tumbleweed Trail" is, in my opinion, Bob Nolan's masterpiece.LR