Big Top was set up in 1958 in New York City by Julian and Jean Aberbach as a subsidiary of music publishing firm Hill and Range, which had struck gold publishing country music and at one point, represented 75 percent of the country music coming out of Nashville. It's been argued that, because the label was run as a sideline to its heavyweight parent publishing company, Big Top never established a proper artistic identity. But listening to the great 45s compiled on this set suggests that, in its heyday, Big Top could lay claim to being the greatest show on Earth!