Prism Leisure is one of the many British reissue labels that take advantage of the 50-year limit on copyrights for recordings in Europe to put out its own albums of music by vintage artists without bothering to seek permission or pay licensing fees. In the U.S., where copyrights last longer, such albums are not supposed to be for sale, but they are in fact readily available. And so here is a compilation of 24 of
Jimmie Rodgers'
RCA Victor recordings transferred from records (or from other CD reissues), with a brief biographical essay and a picture slapped on the front. Is it really
The Ultimate Collection of
Jimmie Rodgers? Of course not. But it does contain some of
Rodgers' better-known songs, and if you just want to have some
Rodgers album in your collection to see what he sounds like, this is a cheap way to accomplish that. Of course, there are many other
Rodgers collections that would serve the same purpose. ~ William Ruhlmann
