Search - Shenandoah :: Super Hits

Original recordings of early hits

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 01/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Shenandoah were originally called Diamond Rio but their manager didn't like that name and suggested either Shenandoah or The rhythm rangers. Columbia (their record label) opted for Shenandoah but this name caused a lot of legal trouble because others had already copyrighted the name.



Their first album, simply titled Shenandoah, made limited impact but their second, Road not taken, included the major country hits Two dozen roses, Mama knows, Sunday in the south, Church on Cumberland road. Their third, Extra mile, included more major country hits including Next to you next to me, Moon over Georgia, Ghost in this house and I got you, but they never again matched these two fine efforts. It really looked as if they were set for a long period at the top, possibly replacing Alabama as the premier country group but the legal wrangle over their choice of name had taken its toll, even though they won their case. Columbia, having chosen the name Shenandoah, refused to support the legal case and dropped them.



Despite their legal troubles, they recovered sufficiently to have further big country hits with RCA and Capitol, most notably Somewhere in the vicinity of your heart (with Alison Krauss).



When a new group emerged calling themselves Diamond Rio, Shenandoah did not fight over it even though they retained the rights to the name, choosing instead to sign over the rights freely.



This compilation contains the original recordings of their big Columbia hits, which means nearly all their big hits. Note that Now and then, a Capitol compilation, contains re-recordings of these hits although it does include original hits from the mid-nineties."