20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: Best of Bluegrass

One of the first Millennium Collections to tackle a genre instead of an artist's work, 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: Bluegrass does a respectable job of covering the style within a dozen songs. The collection ranges from bluegrass pioneers Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys' "In the Pines" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky" to contemporary bluegrass sounds like Ricky Skaggs' "Hallelujah I'm Ready" and Vince Gill's "High Lonesome Sound." Lester Flatt's "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," Jimmy Martin's "Widow Maker," and the Osborne Brothers' "Ruby Are You Mad" are some of the collection's other highlights. While it would take a box set of Bear Family proportions to give a truly detailed bluegrass history, this collection is a good introduction to the style and how it's changed over the years.