CMA Awards’ Greatest Moments Immortalized on New 10-Disc Set

Fans have a unique opportunity to view a piece of country music history with the release of CMA Awards Live: Greatest Moments 1968-2015, a lavish 10-disc set that has just been released through Time Life. The package celebrates the rich musical legacy of the format through musical performances on the annual telecast – ranging from the very first televised CMA Awards show in 1968 (featuring performances from Glen Campbell and Tammy Wynette) all the way to the 2015 telecast – which featured the jaw-dropping collaboration of “Tennessee Whiskey” from Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake.

According to Damon Whiteside, Chief Marketing Officer of the CMA, the set is a labor of love for both companies. “Time Life really put a lot into making this collection happen,” Whiteside told Sounds Like Nashville. “It started out about two years ago that the conversation started. We had the fiftieth anniversary coming up and there was a lot of nostalgia surrounding the show. Once we were able to determine the scope of the collection and what it would encompass, at that point, we decided to move forward on it.”

Whiteside added that the release comes at a great time for the CMA. “We are on the brink of celebrating our sixtieth anniversary of the CMA in 2018, so this was a good way to kick that off and pay homage to the CMA Awards. It was a team effort between Time Life and our team here, which involved everyone from our creative resources team to our business affairs team to go back and find that content, and then to clear everything with all of the artists. There was a lot of leg work, so it was about two years in the making. There was so much to put into it. I feel like any country music fan needs to own this. It’s more than just a look back at an awards show. It’s really a snapshot of country music history over the past fifty years.”

The 10-disc set contains performances from iconic artists as Charley Pride, Barbara Mandrell, Kenny Rogers, Reba McEntire, Randy Travis, and Alan Jackson – all of whom would later be enshrined into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Among the clips, many of which haven’t been seen since their original telecast, include a beautiful performance of “Don’t Cry Joni” from Conway Twitty and his daughter Joni, Crystal Gayle’s award-winning smash “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue,” and Taylor Swift’s acoustic take on “Red,” featuring Alison Krauss and Vince Gill.

Whiteside says that for him, it’s interesting to see how much the production elements have changed. “Everything is different, even down to the way artists accepted their awards, and how they were given out. It was so basic at that time. They didn’t have all the technology. Now, we have two different stages, and sets are loading in and out. Back then, you had one stage – and things were very simple in terms of the sets. It was very different from what you see now.”

Time Life VP/Executive Producer Mitch Peyser said that the CMA opportunity was something that he felt could be very special. “Time Life does a lot of CD and DVD collections, so we have a lot of history with country music. We had never done anything with the CMA Awards, which is such an incredible history of award shows and performances going back to the 60s. It seemed like it would be something that would be perfect for us to get into. I knew Damon Whiteside from the CMA, whom I had worked with when he was at Disney. We connected, and started talking about doing something on DVD with the CMA Awards. It just took off from there. There was a lot of work to be done on both sides, but both the CMA and Time Life saw the value of sharing these incredible performances with folks publicly for the first time.”

For Peyser, he thinks that the set acts as a living museum of just how important the format is. “One thing that the set shows is the continuity of country music. You see artists in the 60s and 70s reappearing later on – like Loretta Lynn coming back to perform with Miranda Lambert and Sheryl Crow all of those years later. But, if you go all the way back to see Tennessee Ernie Ford, Merle Haggard, and Marty Robbins all performing at the Ryman, it really is a time capsule. It’s been a privilege to go back through and see the scope of the CMA Awards all the way through.”

Peyser adds that his team went through each and every performance – on every CMA Awards show. “We literally went through everything to make sure we didn’t miss any hidden gems. We selected what we thought would be the most interesting and the most valuable for our customers. Unfortunately, due to a licensing impossibility, we couldn’t put them all out. So, we had to choose and try to showcase some of the most memorable performances, top artists, and big hits. We also tried to find those really special one-time collaborations that you can only see on the CMA Awards,” he said of such multi-genre performances as Jason Aldean & Kelly Clarkson, Willie Nelson & Julio Iglesias, and Kris Kristofferson & (then-wife) Rita Coolidge.

For more information on CMA Awards Live: Greatest Moments 1968-2015, visit Timelife.com/products/cma-awards-live.