The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Country Music

The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Country Music was a multi-volume set of recordings released by the Smithsonian Institution. Released in 1981, the collection contains 143 tracks deemed to be significantly important to the history of country music.

The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Country Music
Compilation album by various artists
Released	1981
Recorded	(all selections previously released)
Genre	Country
Label	Smithsonian Collection of Recordings
Producer	Bill Bennett
Smithsonian Classic Country Music chronology
The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Country Music (1981) Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection (1990)

Classic Country Music was issued in eight volumes — either vinyl albums, cassette tapes or 8-track cartridges. It also contained an illustrated 56-page book by Bill C. Malone, a country music historian and professor of history at Tulane University. Malone's extensively annotated essay details country music's history era by era, from its beginnings in the 1920s and commercialization during the 1930s, and its evolution from the 1940s through the 1970s. Included are many songs from the 1920s and 1930s, as well as bluegrass and other related genres to country music.

Significant artists whose works were included were Vernon Dalhart, Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, Sons of the Pioneers, Bob Wills, Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Eddy Arnold, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Kitty Wells, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and George Jones.

Everything was contained within a denim-covered box, with the name emblazoned on the front.

This collection would be replaced by Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection, a 100-track collection issued in 1990 (and whose liner notes were also written by Malone), and includes songs released through 1987.