Burl Ives was a 20th Century Renaissance man. A seminal figure in the history of American folk music, he was also an accomplished author, award-winning actor on both stage and screen, and Grammy Award-winning country singer. His distinctive voice became a national treasure in the course of a remarkable career that spanned more than six decades. The 12 digitally remastered selections on The Best Of Burl Ives edition of 20th Century Masters/The Millennium Collection (MCA/Decca/UME), released September 25, 2001, span three of those decades and a handful of genres, hits, and best-loved tracks, to provide a musical inkling of Ives tremendous influence on music from folk to country to pop.