If Apples or Books Were Country Songs

[Leones]

Junior Brown's got a new album out. Just sayin' :)

[Coqui]

Pandora giveth. . .

You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive

OK, this has been covered more famously by artists as accomplished as Brad Paisley, Patty Loveless, and Kathy Mattea, but I'm still partial to the version first linked above, sung by its writer, Darrell Scott.

Enjoy this haunting ballad of life and death in a coal mine town written and performed by a very talented musician and country music lifer.

[James Bowman]

I'll definitely be interested in giving the blog a look-see.

Reading your post inspired me to find a collection of albums I listened to at college sometime in the mid-80s, and I found it. It was called "The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Country Music".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smiths ... ntry_Music

The collection had 143 songs on it, and covered the entirety of country music - at the time, from the 1920s to 1981.

There are some great songs on it:

"Waiting For a Train" – Jimmie Rodgers
"Pretty Polly" – Coon Creek Girls"
"Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" – Tex Williams and His Western Caravan
"Eight More Miles to Louisville" – Grandpa Jones
"Sin City" – Flying Burrito Brothers

(The collection was updated in 1990 with "Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection), but the update reduced the total to 100 tracks.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Co ... Collection

And now, I'm inspired to see if I can purchase The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Country Music.

Growing up in Kentucky, I was exposed to country music - but rock grabbed my attention instead of country in the late 1970s, and the only country music I really heard were the albums my parents occasionally purchased - Charley Pride, the Stoneman Family, Grandpa Jones, and Tom T. Hall. I still have a soft spot for Tom T. Hall; out of the gazillion rock CDs I listen to there's Tom T. Hall, the storyteller himself.

I'll be interested in your reviews of the post-1980s country music. I think there's a trend among the literati to glamorize pre-1980s country music as "real country" - either the older stars like Dolly Parton or anyone singing bluegrass today - and to stigmatize the music (and the listeners of that music) written after 1980s as inferior/lacking taste.

[Paul Moots]

I'll be interested in your reviews of the post-1980s country music. I think there's a trend among the literati to glamorize pre-1980s country music as "real country" - either the older stars like Dolly Parton or anyone singing bluegrass today - and to stigmatize the music (and the listeners of that music) written after 1980s as inferior/lacking taste.

I am one who prefers - for the most part - pre-80s and 80s country (check out Merle's 80s albums, for instance). It isn't so much that I think 90s through present is inferior, so much as it is a different genre: 70s rock/pop with steel guitars and fiddles would be my definition, but I can understand why others call it "Nash Vegas." The trend began in that godawful year that John Denver and Olivia Newton-John won CMA's male and female Country (!!!???!!!) performers of the year and Charlie Rich essentially terminated his career by setting fire to the card that named Denver.

The fault is not that of the performers - they are just playing their music where it will get played. And I do find a number of really good country performers still around, just usually not played by contemporary country stations. The fact is pop music has been dominated by rap and hip hop on the one hand and female performers of the waif-y or diva varieties on the other, or (to imagine a third hand) the Train/Maroon 5 pop groove bands. Everything else is either alt-rock or new country. The 70s sound w/country instruments is, unfortunately, a much more profitable sound than traditional or alt-country. And Big and Rich - to take one example - are now Nashville artists rather than opening for the Foreigner reunion tour or Maroon 5; Taylor Swift is a Nashville artist rather than filling air time on the stations that used to play Carole King or Laura Nyro.

Is this a terrible thing? Well, I still don't think of most current Nashville artists when I want to listen to country, George Strait excepted, any more than I think of smooth jazz artists when I want to listen to jazz. If my wife wants to listen to contemporary Nashville as we drive, I don't feel the need to clasp my temples, or switch the station (not often, anyway), or lecture her on the purity of country music. I just kind of check out and hum something else to myself. To quote a terribly overused phrase: it is what it is.

I don't remember if I suggested these before and I'm not checking, but if you want to hear a couple of tremendous country songs by traditional performers, it is hard to top "Misery and Gin" (which contains the absolutely perfect line "Sittin' with all my friends and talkin' to myself") or "Night Life" (written by Willie Nelson among others - this version with Waylon Jennings and George Jones is hot.) Something more current? Try some George S or Dwight Yoakum (for the singing, not the dancing)?

[Coqui]

One of country music's living legends passed away earlier this morning in Nashville. George Jones has been a vocalist on more country charting tunes (168 during his 55 year recording career) than any other artist in history, and to celebrate his career and mourn his passing, there is no more appropriate song to play than his iconic, soulful, mournful ballad, He Stopped Loving Her Today.

Here are two other songs that I personally consider to be The Possum's best:

She Thinks I Still Care
The Race Is On

And no discography of Jones' career would be complete without a shout out to his duet career with wife/ex-wife Tammy Wynette:

We're Gonna Hold On
Golden Rings

Jones and Wynette were one of two long-standing iconic duet teams in country music's annals, with only Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn competing for the title of best country duet team.

Jones' appearance on this "blog" is long overdue. RIP, Possum.

[John]

I have to confess not knowing about Mr. Jones, but I got an education today when not one but two clients brought him up after the news of his death broke. Listening to the songs you linked to, James, I can see why. He's got a hell of a voice.

[Coqui]

Alright, here's the post in which I start fulfilling promises that I made up thread. This promise involves answering the mailbag (or at least part of it):

I'll be interested in your reviews of the post-1980s country music. I think there's a trend among the literati to glamorize pre-1980s country music as "real country" - either the older stars like Dolly Parton or anyone singing bluegrass today - and to stigmatize the music (and the listeners of that music) written after 1980s as inferior/lacking taste.

I am one who prefers - for the most part - pre-80s and 80s country (check out Merle's 80s albums, for instance). It isn't so much that I think 90s through present is inferior, so much as it is a different genre: 70s rock/pop with steel guitars and fiddles would be my definition, but I can understand why others call it "Nash Vegas." The trend began in that godawful year that John Denver and Olivia Newton-John won CMA's male and female Country (!!!???!!!) performers of the year and Charlie Rich essentially terminated his career by setting fire to the card that named Denver.

The fault is not that of the performers - they are just playing their music where it will get played. And I do find a number of really good country performers still around, just usually not played by contemporary country stations. The fact is pop music has been dominated by rap and hip hop on the one hand and female performers of the waif-y or diva varieties on the other, or (to imagine a third hand) the Train/Maroon 5 pop groove bands. Everything else is either alt-rock or new country. The 70s sound w/country instruments is, unfortunately, a much more profitable sound than traditional or alt-country. And Big and Rich - to take one example - are now Nashville artists rather than opening for the Foreigner reunion tour or Maroon 5; Taylor Swift is a Nashville artist rather than filling air time on the stations that used to play Carole King or Laura Nyro.

Is this a terrible thing? Well, I still don't think of most current Nashville artists when I want to listen to country, George Strait excepted, any more than I think of smooth jazz artists when I want to listen to jazz. If my wife wants to listen to contemporary Nashville as we drive, I don't feel the need to clasp my temples, or switch the station (not often, anyway), or lecture her on the purity of country music. I just kind of check out and hum something else to myself. To quote a terribly overused phrase: it is what it is.

I don't remember if I suggested these before and I'm not checking, but if you want to hear a couple of tremendous country songs by traditional performers, it is hard to top "Misery and Gin" (which contains the absolutely perfect line "Sittin' with all my friends and talkin' to myself") or "Night Life" (written by Willie Nelson among others - this version with Waylon Jennings and George Jones is hot.) Something more current? Try some George S or Dwight Yoakum (for the singing, not the dancing)?

I don't know that categorizing country music by decades is the most precise way of categorizing it. Certainly, country music has both shaped and been shaped by the ebbs and flows of culture, society, and politics, and as such it can seem like there are distinct time trends making 70s country and 80s country seem like distinct creatures. Country music has never been that homogenous, however, at any one time. As I have touched upon before, country music is a big tent and that's pretty much as true over the course of time as it is at any one snapshot in time.

The top Fisherman listed Dolly Parton above, and rightly so - she is one of the most talented songwriters/performers in the history of country music, who also happens to be a gifted musician and singer. She's all that and a bag of chips, some might say. She grew up heavily influenced by bluegrass and southern Gospel. She wrote two of the most versatile and beautiful songs ever written in I Will Always Love You and Jolene. True classics, both of which have been covered in different genres (Jolene more and more versatilely than I Will Always Love You, but I Will Always Love You more famously by the late Whitney Houston). Yet as great a country music icon as Dolly is and was, even she put out some schlocky fare like 9 to 5 and the execrable Islands In The Stream. And the 80s brought us George Straight and Randy Travis, two of the more traditional country singers of the past half-century.

In fact, one of my favorite all time songs is Randy Travis' Storms of Life. I would go so far as to say that the lyrics of Storms of Life may be the best country song lyrics ever written. There aren't many better.

As far as decades go, one of the decades identified with one of the genres that is in my opinion country music's worst is the 1950s. Don't get me wrong, I like Jim Reeves' Am I Losing You and Patsy Cline's Crazy, but they aren't country songs. They were mass-marketed, slick, and city - great adult contemporary of easy listening songs, but not really recognizable today as country. (Ironically, Crazy was written by Wilie Nelson.) Heck, Jim Reeves wore a tie. A tie!! And not a bolo, I might add. Never trust anyone to sing county music who doesn't wear a cowboy hat or overalls, I say. Anyway, "Countrypolitan" or "The Nashville Sound" were the derogatory names given to the genre by those in the industry but outside the genre. For heavens' sake, even Burl Ives was considered "country" during this horrifyingly saccharine era of country music history that featured more violins than fiddles and more coiffed and combed male heads than mullets. Millions went through steel guitar withdrawal, I'm told.

Misery and Gin is one of my all-time favorites, by the way, even though the song could legitimately be described as suffering from heavy Countrypolitan influences (instrumentally, not lyrically). Within the last couple of years, I actually saw Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson in concert together. Merle can still sing - Kris not so much, but he never really could anyway. Night Life is great, too, and a whole differently bluesy genre inspired by Ray Charles and the like. The version linked above is probably the best, but this one featuring Eric Clapton ain't bad either.

[John]

I just have to say that I'm really happy whenever you update this blog, James. I would never otherwise be exposed to these songs you link to, and some of them are quite nice.

[roncollins]

Great discussion. It cost me a whole morning of writing, but was worth it. :)

[Coqui]

In honor of Paul Moots, may his soul repose in peace, I offer the following that based on Paul's thoughts above I believe that he might like:

First, Three Wooden Crosses, a religious song, of sorts, that fits into the fine country music tradition of storytelling that has been mentioned by others here. As a bonus, it is sung by a traditional country music artist who I am sure that Paul would have liked. (If you like George Strait, you like Randy Travis.)

Second, even though it's from Paul's least favorite era of country music, Garth Brooks' The Dance is practically an anthem in tribute of those whose time ended far too soon.

Third, although it's a modern song, Vince Gill's Go Rest High On That Mountain fits nicely in the country tradition of gospel music, particularly southern gospel music. This rendition is beautifully sung by the writer, Alison Krauss, and Ricky Skaggs.

Requiescat in pace, Paul.

[John]

I'm playing catch-up after a night out yesterday. James, your last post was pretty much the definition of class, and you once again introduced me to good music that I would not otherwise have been exposed to. Thank you.

[Coqui]

Thanks, John, for the kind words. Today's offering is straight from my Pandora station, and highlights my current favorite under the radar country recording artist, Blackberry Smoke.

Blackberry Smoke is solidly in the Southern Rock sub-genre of country music previously populated by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Lynrd Skynrd, The Marshall Tucker Band, and others. What Blackberry Smoke adds, IMHO, is a neat blues twist to the genre. If you want to know what I'm listening to, chances are typing Blackberry Smoke into Pandora will give you a reasonable approximation.

Anyway, I could fill the comment box with twenty Blackberry Smoke tunes, but I will resist that temptation:

Angeline - A trashy song about a trashy - erm - acquaintance. I'm more a fan of studio recordings than live recordings. I know that makes me far less cool than the average music lover. For those of you who prefer live, here you go.

Bottom of This - A frequent lyrical device used in country music is wittily turning a double-meaning for a phrase. This is a good example.

This last of the triptych is not Blackberry Smoke, but JB and the Moonshine Band, just because they popped up on my Blackberry Smoke channel with my current favorite guilty pleasure song:

Perfect Girl

I'm a sucker for country music "comedy" songs, and this one is pretty fun. It's another live version, btw, and this is the self-censored one, since this is a family website (I'll leave it to your imagination what might be substituted for the phrase "big old Dooley" in the uncensored version.)

JB and the Moonshine Band, FWIW, is from a different sub-genre of country music, and one that we've touched on here, the Texas honky tonk scene. A few decades ago, that would have been anyone who played at Gilley's (including, probably, Mickey Gilley) and honky tonks like it. Like everything else, in country music, "local" and "big business" have sort of merged, with big business winning the merger (think Wal-Mart versus the neighborhood grocery store). As a case in point, the Texas country music scene at one point had its own Top 40 charts and own radio station playlists that often diverged substantially from the Country Top 40 and what was played on your typical country station elsewhere. The charts still exist, but they aren't as different as they once were, and the same goes for the country station playlists. That being said, there is still a definite Texas country scene, with folks like JB and the Moonshine Band and The Casey Donahew Band (linked song probably NSFW, definitely non-PC, hilariously irreverent and another guilty pleasure song) who haven't gone mainstream (yet, maybe) and some who have gone mainstream, like the Eli Young Band, and some who have slipped in and out of the mainstream, like Steve Earle, with his classic anthem Copperhead Road, and his biggest mainstream hit linked with his name.

[Mike Dunn]

In honor of Paul Moots, may his soul repose in peace,

Requiescat in pace, Paul.

May I be so bold as to add one more. Its been covered many times, but in my view never better than by the Man in Black:



Some glad morning when this life is over,
I'll fly away.
To a home on God's celestial shore,
I'll fly away.

[Coqui]

Echoes

For no particular reason, new songs echoing old songs popped into my head today. One of the old tried and true country song subjects is the travails of alcohol, a nod to country music's rural, southern, generally fundamentalist Protestant origins where alcohol consumption was (and to a degree still is) considered evil. (And for those of us who imbibe from time to time, don't worry, there are plenty of songs that trumpet booze, including, Alcohol by Brad Paisley, a very non-PC selection and marginally NSFW, so please don't click through if you are easily offended).

The two songs that I am thinking of today, one old and one new, are much more serious than the novelty song linked above, and reflect a time-honored Southern Protestant view of alcohol leading only to sin, despair, and in the case of both songs, a sad, sad ending for all involved:

New: Whiskey Lullaby - Brad Paisley is a fine artist, whether singing novelty songs like the one above (a future post will definitely be devoted to this genre, and probably Paisley in particular), and the combination of his guitar pickin' with the haunting voice of Alison Krauss is enough to make you forget some of the (IMO) overwrought lyrics. If videos doubling as short form movies aren't your thing (I run hot and cold, and am not fond of this one), feel free to minimize the video box and listen to the song (FF to about :56 in). And as a bonus for those who want to watch the video: Spanish sub-titles! Sing along in a second language!

Old: I'll Be True To You - The Oak Ridge Boys are a longstanding country music foursome with many reincarnations; they started as a gospel foursome, but the most famous, longstanding, and most recent version of the group had a string of hits from the 70s through the early 90s. Most famous for the song Elvira, and one of the member's beards, they still tour and play Vegas from time to time. This is one of their more haunting songs.

[roncollins]

Interesting links--though one can argue the video story in the case of Whiskey Lullaby is, at the end, a happy one. But of a cheat, of course. :)