This great album presents 31 tracks of his classic period (1949 ' 1955), all taken from the original sources. It contains four previously unissued recordings, incl. a take of Panhandle Rag.

Steel guitarist Leon McAuliffe will forever be associated with the King of Western Swing Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, with whom he recorded the all-time classic Steel Guitar Rag. McAuliffe recorded for various labels over the years, but his classic period was the six years he spent with Columbia. From his first release on the label, the all-time instrumental classic Panhandle Rag, he waxed some of the best, tightest, most swinging and assured western swing ever recorded.

These recordings highly sought after not only by western swing fans but by fans of early rock 'n' roll and rockabilly for the many jump and boogie tracks that anticipated the coming of those styles a few years later. Bear Family has here collected the cream of Leon McAuliffe's six year tenure with Columbia, including a never-issued alternate take of Panhandle Rag, and several other unissued tracks. Highlights include the unissued first - and considerably hotter - version of the hard-swinging blues Hard-Hearted Girl. There are steel guitar classics like Mr. Steel Guitar and Cimarron Rag. A fantastic take on the early rock 'n' roll classic Sh-Boom, as well as what was arguably the best among the twenty-odd versions of the 1950 smash Rag Mop.