Legends of Old-Time Music: Fifty Years of County Records

What is currently called “old-time” music most often means music made in the pre-bluegrass era by Appalachian string bands — one or two fiddles, a banjo played in clawhammer style, a rhythm guitar, and maybe one or two other instruments. But as this expansive four-disc collection makes clear, the term embraces other formats and presentations as well, and there’s lots of variety here: from acknowledged master fiddlers like Tommy Jarrell to obscure bands like the Coon Creek Girls.