Back in 1998, The Country Music Foundation teamed with Warner Bros. Records to release From Where I Stand: The Black Experience in Country Music.  The 3-CD box set was divided into three thematic discs - The Stringband Era, The Soul Country Years, and Forward with Pride - which reflected on the immense contributions of African-Americans to country music in 60 songs.  Today, the spotlight shines even more brightly on the black experience in the genre, in no small part due to the release earlier this year of Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter.  The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with over 400,000 equivalent album units; it also topped the Americana/Folk Albums, Top Album Sales, and Top Country Album charts.  Beyoncé became the first black female artist to top the Country survey.  Now, From Where I Stand has returned from The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in conjunction with Warner Music Nashville.  The new edition adds a fourth disc, Reclaiming the Heritage, which brings the box set up to date through 2020.

The first disc of the box, The Stringband Era, reflects on the intersection of country, folk, and blues, with such artists as DeFord Bailey (the first African-American to appear on the Grand Ole Opry), the 1930s' guitar and fiddle group Mississippi Sheiks (and the related Mississippi Mud Steppers), and folk hero Lead Belly.  The second disc (Soul Country) explores the deep relationship between the genres of soul and country; without the artists represented on this CD, Cowboy Carter would not have been possible.  Ray Charles is heard on "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "I'm Moving On," joining a host of soulful vocalists also including the legendary likes of Solomon Burke ("Just Out of Reach"), Esther Phillips ("Release Me"), Arthur Alexander ("Detroit City"), and Bobby Hebb ("Night Train to Memphis," "A Satisfied Mind").  The Staple Singers infused gospel with deep soul as heard on the hymn "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," while The Supremes brought their velvet blend to Floyd Tillman's oft-recorded 1938 classic "It Makes No Difference Now" from their 1965 album Sing Country Western and Pop.

The third CD, Forward with Pride, shows the depth and breadth of country music through the African-American lens, highlighted by three tracks from the late, great Charley Pride ("The Snakes Crawl at Night," "Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone," and his eighth Country No. 1 and only Pop top 40 hit "Kiss an Angel Good Mornin'"), another three from the influential Stoney Edwards ("She's My Rock," "Hank and Lefty Raised My Country Soul," "Pickin' Wildflowers"), and eclectic tunes from New Orleans' Professor Longhair (Hank Williams' "Jambalaya (On the Bayou))," Dobie Gray (title track "From Where I Stand"), Aaron Neville ("The Grand Tour"), and even The Pointer Sisters (Blue Thumb single "Fairytale").  Linda Martell, who is featured on Cowboy Carter, is heard with "Color Him Father" from her lone LP, Color Me Country.

Disc Four, Reclaiming the Heritage, showcases the recent and current artists who are reshaping the country landscape including the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Yola, Rhiannon Giddens, Hootie and the Blowfish's Darius Rucker, Kane Brown, and Mickey Guyton - along with some country-soul survivors such as Keb' Mo' and Mavis Staples.  The disc concludes with two live performances from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum: Keb' Mo's 2020 "Loving Arms" and The War and Treaty's 2018 "A Lesson in Leavin'."  With elements of folk, Americana, Appalachian, hip-hop, gospel, soul, jazz, and R&B, all of these artists have challenged the notion of so-called "traditional" country music while embracing many of the tenets of the genre that make it so enduring today.

All of the music in the new box set can be heard on the museum's website via From Where I Stand: The Online Experience. This free online exhibit includes videos and photographs as well as the box set's essays and track annotations, and resources from the CMF's collection.  The museum's June 18 concert to celebrate the box set's release, featuring many of the artists on this collection, will begin streaming on September 12.

Rissi Palmer and Rhiannon Giddens have contributed new liner notes to From Where I Stand.  The 4CD, 82-song box set is now available to purchase through the museum's website or in the museum's Nashville retail store. Proceeds from the sale of the box set will benefit the nonprofit museum's educational programs.  You'll find the track listing for this newly expanded, landmark collection below.

Various Artists, From Where I Stand: The Black Experience in Country Music (Warner Bros. 9 46428-2, 1998 - reissued Warner Music Nashville/Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, 2024)

Disc 1 - The Stringband Era

1. DeFord Bailey - "Pan American Blues"
2. DeFord Bailey - "Muscle Shoals Blues"
3. Taylor's Kentucky Boys - "Gray Eagle"
4. Georgia Yellow Hammers - "G Rag"
5. Andrew & Jim Baxter - "K. C. Railroad Blues"
6. The Dallas String Band - "Dallas Rag"
7. James Cole String Band - "Bill Cheatem"
8. Peg Leg Howell & Eddie Anthony - "Turkey Buzzard Blues"
9. Charlie McCoy & Bo Chatmon - "Corrine Corrina"
10. Mississippi Sheiks - "Sitting on Top of the World"
11. Mississippi Sheiks - "Yodeling Fiddling Blues"
12. Memphis Sheiks - "He's in the Jailhouse Now"
13. Mississippi Mud Steppers - "Morning Glory Waltz"
14. Lead Belly - "The Midnight Special"
15. Lead Belly - "Rock Island Line"
16. Nathan Frazier & Frank Patterson - "Eighth of January"
17. Murph Gribble, John Lusk & Albert York - "Apple Blossom"
18. DeFord Bailey - "Fox Chase"

Disc 2 - Soul Country

1. Wynonie Harris - "Bloodshot Eyes"
2. The Orioles - "Crying in the Chapel"
3. Big Al Downing - "Down on the Farm"
4. Ivory Joe Hunter - "City Lights"
5. Ray Charles - "I'm Movin' On"
6. Ray Charles - "I Can't Stop Loving You"
7. Bobby Hebb - "Night Train to Memphis"
8. Solomon Burke - "Just Out of Reach"
9. Fats Domino - "You Win Again"
10. Esther Phillips - "Release Me"
11. Joe Hinton - "Funny How Time Slips Away"
12. Arthur Alexander - "Detroit City"
13. The Supremes - "It Makes No Difference Now"
14. Bobby Hebb - "A Satisfied Mind"
15. The Staple Singers - "Will the Circle Be Unbroken"
16. Joe Tex - "Half a Mind"
17. Etta James - "Almost Persuaded"
18. Joe Simon - "The Chokin' Kind"
19. Ivory Joe Hunter - "He'll Never Love You"
20. Dorothy Moore - "Misty Blue"

Disc 3 - Forward with Pride

1. Charley Pride - "The Snakes Crawl at Night"
2. Charley Pride - "Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone"
3. Charley Pride - "Kiss an Angel Good Mornin'"
4. Linda Martell - "Color Him Father"
5. Otis Williams & the Midnight Cowboys - "How I Got to Memphis"
6. La Melle Prince - "The Man That Made a Woman Out of Me"
7. Stoney Edwards - "She's My Rock"
8. Stoney Edwards - "Hank and Lefty Raised My Country Soul"
9. Stoney Edwards - "Pickin' Wildflowers"
10. B. McClinton - "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You"
11. Jo Ann Sweeney - "I'll Take It"
12. The Pointer Sisters - "Fairytale"
13. Ruby Falls - "Show Me Where"
14. Lenora Ross - "Lonely Together"
15. Big Al Downing - "Touch Me (I'll Be Your Fool Once More)"
16. Professor Longhair - "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)"
17. Dobie Gray - "From Where I Stand"
18. Cleve Francis - "Love Light"
19. Aaron Neville - "The Grand Tour"
20. Barrence Whitfield - "Irma Jackson"
21. Ted Hawkins - "There Stands the Glass"
22. Herb Jeffries - "I'm a Happy Cowboy"

Disc 4 - Reclaiming the Heritage

1. Carolina Chocolate Drops - "Ruby, Are You Mad at Your Man?"
2. Rhiannon Giddens - "At the Purchaser's Option"
3. Darius Rucker - "Wagon Wheel"
4. Darius Rucker - "Don't Think I Don't Think About It"
5. Valerie June - "Workin' Woman Blues"
6. Our Native Daughters - "Black Myself"
7. Mavis Staples - "Touch My Heart"
8. Tony Jackson - "I Didn't Wake Up This Morning"
9. Rissi Palmer - "Country Girl"
10. Miko Marks - "It Feels Good"
11. Kane Brown - "Heaven"
12. Kane Brown - "Worldwide Beautiful"
13. Yola - "Ride Out in the Country"
14. Allison Russell - "Nightflyer"
15. Wendy Moten - "'Til I Get It Right"
16. Cowboy Troy - "I Play Chicken with the Train"
17. Blanco Brown - "The Git Up"
18. BRELAND - "Cross Country"
19. Brittney Spencer - "Bigger Than the Song"
20. Mickey Guyton - "Black Like Me"
21. Keb' Mo' - "Loving Arms" (performed for the museum's 2020 online concert fundraiser, BIG NIGHT at the Museum)
22. The War And Treaty - "A Lesson in Leavin'" (performed live at the Museum's 2018 Medallion Ceremony)​