Various Artists: Night Train To Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues: 1945-1970

One of the biggest pop hits of the '40s, "Near You," was written and recorded by Nashville big-band leader Francis Craig, and throughout the early rock 'n' roll era, Nashville R&B station WLAC rivaled country giant WSM for the hearts and attention of young people throughout the southeast. Even though the new compilation Night Train To Nashville is sponsored by The Country Music Hall Of Fame & Museum, the purpose of the two-disc set is to make the case for the city as more than a country industry town, and to show that plenty of substantial soul records were recorded in Nashville, often by local artists.

Night Train To Nashville's first disc sports gems like Christine Kittrell's shady blue "Sittin' Here Drinking," Audrey Bryant's peppy "Let's Trade A Little," and The Prisonaires' standard "Just Walkin' In The Rain" (often used in movies to create an instant "It's the early '50s and we're on the black side of town" atmosphere). But the compilation's second disc sounds downright thrilling, as Nashville R&B follows nationwide trends and becomes darker, rougher, and funkier, while simultaneously nodding to mainstream pop. The highlights pile up on the back half: the twang-heavy instrumental "Really (Part 1)" from Johnny Jones & The Imperial 7, Arthur Alexander's snappy post-Motown classic "Anna (Go To Him)," Bobby Hebb's spry pop smash "Sunny," The Hytones' craftily uplifting kiss-off record "Bigger And Better," the sitar-funk of Peggy Scott & Jo Jo Benson's "Soul Shake," the sunshiny "Since I Met You Baby" by The Avons, and so on.

Some of those tracks are well-known, but most aren't, which if nothing else will make Night Train To Nashville an invaluable source of new samples for breakbeat DJs. For other listeners, the collection offers the thrill of hearing the pop styles of decades past interpreted by musicians with smaller budgets and regional quirks. The set closes with Robert Knight's original recording of "Everlasting Love," a timeless, soaring song with pounding piano, subtle horns and strings, and backup vocals that act like a scaled-back variation on Phil Spector's wall of sound. Like most of the songs on Night Train To Nashville, it's all the more powerful and expressive for its limitations.