Contemporary Country (Time-Life Music) - History

History

"Contemporary Country" was first issued during the summer of 1991, and essentially picked up where Time-Life Music left off with its Country USA series; the earlier series covered country music from the 1950s through early 1970s. This series continued Time-Life's attempt at chronicling country music's post-1950 history.

During its peak, the "Contemporary Country" series was advertised in television and magazine advertisements. The series was available by subscription (by calling a 1-800 number); those who purchased the series in that fashion received a new volume roughly every other month (on the format of their choice), and had the option of keeping the volumes they wanted. Each volume was also offered for individual sale.

New volumes continued to be issued through 1993, the final one being a volume covering country music from the early 1990s. Another volume – "The Mid-1990s," with 20 tracks from 1991-1998 – was released as part of the series in 1999, six years after the last disc was issued.

Time-Life continued to offer "Contemporary Country" through the early 2000s (decade). The series has essentially been replaced four series:

• "Classic Country," a series cataloging the music from the 1940s through mid-1980s (with some additional volumes containing post-1984 music).
• "Country Gold," covering the 1980s through mid-1990s. Three volumes of "Contemporary Country" have been repackaged as part of this series. Also part of this series is "Country's Got Heart," providing post-1990 country music highlights.
• "Superstars of Country," containing highlights from the mid-1960s through mid-1980s.
• "Lifetime of Country Romance," similar to "Superstars of Country" but focusing on moreso on ballads and love-themed songs.