New releases

Country Johnny Mathis 472

COUNTRY JOHNNY MATHIS - Come On In. B.A.C.M. 472 

Our first collection from this gifted singer-songwriter (NOT the pop c... more info
Excellent Vol 2 473

EXCELLENT LABEL Vol. 2 - Various Artists. B.A.C.M. 473 

Second compilation culled from records issued on the Excellent label i... more info
Marion Worth 474

MARION WORTH - Tennessee Teardrops. B.A.C.M. 474 

A multi talented singer/instrumentalist who made a successful 1950s tr... more info

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  • Look through our extensive catalogue of 474 CDs, covering all genres of country music from the 1920s to the early '60s. We hope you will find some gems to add to your collection.

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    Our founder Dave's monthly newsletter

    January 1st 2015. WELCOME TO THE NEW YEAR -2015 is here so we can at last close the door on 2014 and start again!  That’s the idea anyway, not so eas...

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    Genres

  • 50s Country-style
  • Bluegrass
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  • Early String Bands
  • Girl Singers
  • Gospel
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  • Hillbilly
  • Honky Tonk
  • Instrumentals
  • International
  • Label Compilations
  • Mixed Genres
  • Novelty
  • Western Swing
  • Yodeling

    • Eras

  • 1920s
  • 1930s
  • 1940s
  • 1950s
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    • Country Anniversaries and News

    Al dexter 322
    January 28, 2015

    Jan 28th.  Remembering Al Dexter (May 4, 1905 – January 28, 1984), country singer and songwriter, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame nominee. The f... See more »

    T Texas Tyler-Country Boy-182
    January 28, 2015

    January 28th. Remembering T. Texas Tyler (June 20, 1916 - January 28, 1972), regular performer on the Grand Ole Opry and Louisiana Hayride, composer o... See more »

    Claude-Gray
    January 26, 2015

    26 January – birthday of Claude Gray (born January 26, 1932... See more »

    James O'Gwynn 318
    January 26, 2015

    January 26.  Birthday of James O'Gwynn (January 26, 1928 -January 19, 2011), Mississippi born singer/ songwriter known as ‘The Smiling Irishman of ... See more »



    See all Country Anniversaries and News

    Welcome to the Country Music Archive

    • A treasure trove for Country Music collectors!

      The Country Music Archive (incorporating the British Archive of Country Music, BACM) is believed to be the largest facility in the world outside Nashville dedicated to the preservation of traditional country music.

      The Archive began with the David Barnes collection, but over the years has been added to by contributions from country collectors from all over the world.

      This library of over 540,000 recordings includes tracks on a wide range of media including 78rpm, 45rpm and 33rpm discs/transcriptions, video, audio cassette (normal and 8 track) and reel to reel. Over the past 11 plus years we have been digging into the vaults and releasing material, focusing on Country’s "Golden Era", from the 1920s to the early ‘60s. Our CDs are aimed at core collectors and many feature historic early recordings from before an artist became famous. As far as possible we try to avoid overlapping with "popular" tracks available from other labels so when you buy one of our CDs you are unlikely to receive mere duplicates of recordings already in your collection.

      A big welcome to our website and please do take a look around – we hope you find something of interest.

      Dave, on behalf of the Archive team

    • Look through our extensive catalogue of 474 CDs, covering all genres of country music from the 1920s to the early '60s. We hope you will find some gems to add to your collection.