1. John Henry - Merle Travis, Traditional
2. Start Even
3. Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)
4. Lazy River - Merle Travis, Carmichael, Hoagy
5. So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed - Merle Travis, Kirk, Eddie
6. Sweet Temptation
7. Divorce Me C.O.D. - Merle Travis, Stone, Cliffie
8. I Am a Pilgrim - Merle Travis, Traditional
9. Cincinnati Lou
10. Dance of the Golden Rod
11. Fat Gal
12. Re-Enlistment Blues - Merle Travis, Karger, F.M.
13. Nine Pound Hammer
14. Kentucky Means Paradise
15. Sixteen Tons
16. Steel Guitar Rag - Merle Travis, McAuliffe, Leon
17. Goodbye My Bluebelle - Merle Travis, Christian, Martin [
18. I Like My Chicken Fryin' Size
19. When My Baby Double Talks to Me
20. Dark as a Dungeon
21. I'm a Natural Born Gamblin' Man
22. Bayou Baby
23. I'll See You in My Dreams - Merle Travis, Jones, Isham
24. That's All
Amazon.com
From the track listing, CMH's 1979 collection would appear to be the definitive, single-disc Travis set. Virtually all the major compositions and hits are here, and at 24 cuts, the offering is generous. But these are late-period recordings, tracked over two days in New Mexico, just four years before Travis's death. Travis coproduced the sessions, and the results, if never equal to his classic Capitol sides from the '40s and '50s, are still well worth hearing. At 62 years old, Travis could still pick with agility and grace, and his electric and acoustic runs show the joy he must have felt revisiting his classics with friends Herb Remington, Johnny Gimble, and Curly Hollingsworth (among others) along for the ride. No fancy overdubs, no overproduction, just stone country music. Absenting any other overview of the Kentuckian's best songs, this set suffices and charms in its own right. --Roy Kasten
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The Merle Travis Story: 24 Greatest Hits
- Audio CD: 0 pages (1994-05-02)
- Publisher: Cmh Records
- Label: Cmh Records
- Studio: Cmh Records
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 6 reviews
- Sales Rank in Music: #170290
Avg. Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Useful collection but not the best production of them 2008-09-07
Comment: The songs here are useful as a perspective on Merle Travis's contributions to bluegrass and country music ("Nine Pound Hammer" may be one of the most heavily played songs in all of bluegrass). But the production leaves a bit to be desired. Merle's voice sounds tired and a bit flat, and the breaks are average, which had the effect of making the collection sound like Merle was covering his own songs. The initial recordings are better but a listener would have to find them all.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Merle Travis Story 2008-04-29
Comment: Before Chet there was Merle. Great pickin' and some great songs. Some written or co-written Travis. Not a great vocalist, but a superb story teller.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Pleasant Surprise 2005-09-26
Comment: I picked up this CD on a whim. All I knew of Merle Travis was "Nine-Pound Hammer" and his excellent picking and pleasant voice. I didn't realize until reading the reviews here that these songs were re-recorded later in his career. It makes me want to pick up the originals, but I think he sounds great here. I never knew what a sense of humor he had. It would be fun to see him in concert.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the best 2002-10-27
Comment: This appears to be manna sent from heaven on the surface. But when you delve a little deeper into this cd, you discover it isn't manna, but more like a great big stack of juicy pancakes. These are not the original versions of the songs. These however, are fantastic re-recordings done in the late 1970's. Merle isn't in his finest voice here, but the vocals were never the best part of his songs. His guitar playing is top of the line here. The sound is crisp. Don't think to yourself that you don't need this because you have the original recordings of these songs, you need this too to get a rightful glimpse of what Merle Travis was all about.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: just a heads-up 2001-07-20
Comment: anyone seeking out early merle travis should note that these recordings, although fine in their own right, are later recordings and may want to check out "The Best of Merle Travis: Sweet Temptation 1946-53" instead.
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The Merle Travis Story: 24 Greatest Hits
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