Country Music

I know with absolute certainty that there's oodles of good country music out there, but like you, haven't a clue where to start.

All I know is Neko Case, Oh Susanna, Lambchop- all of which aren't really that Country.

Oh, you should get Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits for 50p at your local Salvation Army.

I'm keen to move away from "electronica" and await the flood of great recs...

Gary, you are right, it is utter poo. And that's being nice.


"The universe is change, life is opinion." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Couple years ago I and a she-friend were making up imaginary Country song titles as we were speeding down a highway.

My favorite (and it was her idea) was:

She got the ring and I got the finger.

I still love that one.

Oh, and Country music stinks bad. No two ways about it.

Herman

I picked number 2 (no pun intended) since I like the odd Johnny Cash track.

Dan

You city slickers are hard to please. How can you not love

Garth Brooks' anthemic Friends in Low Places

'Cause I've got friends in low places
Where the whiskey drowns
And the beer chases my blues away
And I'll be okay
I'm not big on social graces
Think I'll slip on down to the oasis
Oh, I've got friends in low places

Or, George Strait's "We Really Shouldn't Be Doin' This" if you're feeling particularly happy-go-lucky.

This kinds situation has to pass
The chance encounter has to be the last
To take it further we would be remiss
We really shouldn't be doin' this

We'd each be hurting somebody else
If we don't say our good-byes real fast
Won't even think about a farewell kiss
We really shouldn't be doing this


Now that's poetry, pardner.

I too chose option #2. The glitzy multi-platinum selling artists give the rest a bad name. I like Johnny Cash. And then there's alt.country, which I like a lot.

Try

Mary Chapin Carpenter
Lyle Lovett
Lucinda Williams

They are usually classified as "new-country" and all exceptional artists esp. MCC - Listen to "Swept away" OR "King of Love" from off Time*Sex*Love.

It depends what you call 'country'.

I hate the spangly stetson variety, but my favourite album this year has to be Lucinda Williams 'World without Tears', and you ought to check out her earlier 'Essence'.

Also for the genuine stripped back to the bone country go for Gillian Welch. 'Time the Revelator' is a good one to start with. She also has a wonderful DVD out.

"Let your life proceed by it's own design. Let the words be yours, I have done with mine"

Must agree with Mike, Sammy Kershaw and his Queen Of My Double Wide Trailer say it all;

Well I met her out at Murphy's restaurant
She said she was fresh from the farm
And I remember thinkin' for a country girl
That she went pretty well armed
We sat there talkin' by the lobster tank
I ordered her a slow gin fizz
And when them chicken fried steaks arrived
She said I like living like this

So I made her the queen of my double wide trailer
With the polyester curtains and the redwood deck
Times she's run off and I've got to trail her
Dang her black heart and her pretty red neck


This was the image I had on arriving in Texas, this to me was country music but now my tastes have changed somewhat. I have moved towards the Gillian Welch end of the spectrum after toying with Iris Dement, Nanci Griffith and others of that ilk. Now back in the UK I get my fix on Radio2 a couple of times a week.

Roy

I like the tortured vowels, the predictably sad stories of grand plans gone wrong eg Tom Crowell's "Highway 17" which is a whole movie in 3 minutes-

often played artists

Tom Crowell
Nanci Griffiths
Reba McEntire

The best introduction to a C&W disc is playing it when driving across the south western states of the US, long persiods of desert and mountains with the odd small town.

Derek

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garyi.

Country used to be about my least favourite music genre. However in recent years I listen to more and more things that at least approach it.

As said it depends what you call country. From a rock background there are lots of artists that mix country with folk and rock i.e alt country.

I guess you should start (if you haven't heard already) with:

Gram Parsons : Grevious Angel
Flying Burrito Brothers: Gilded palace of sin.

Then there's lots of modern albums you could try;
Jonny Cash, Lucinda Williams being a reasonable place to start.


Note - I'm not a coutry music expert, but these are the things I like coming from a Rock direction (but then I don't like Zappa so maybe yoyu should ignore me!)

These are all in my collection

Jimmy Rodgers
Hank Williams
Merle Haggard
Willie Nelson
Johnny Cash
Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys
Lefty Frizzell
Carter Family
Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs
Ray Price
Dolly Parton
Loretta Lynn
George Jones
Tammy Wynette
Louvin Brothers
Kitty Wells
Bill Monroe
Roy Acuff
Patsy Montana
Ernest Tubb
Homer and Jethro
Buck Owens (and his Buckaroos!)
Tex Ritter
Guy Clark
Bobby Gentry


I must say I dont have too much modern country but
Lyle Lovett
Steve Earle
A few Randy Tarvis songs
Dwight Yoakam
Iris Dement (ed)
I like a bit of alt country
kd Lang had her moments

John

For me the Mary Chapin Carpenter song he think's he'll keep her represents the changing point from country music to new country as demonstrated by an influx of modern, young women writers & singers. I listened whenever possible to the music played by KYNG 105.3 FM all those years ago in Dallas and still have fond memories for artist favoured by that station. I must also agree with Dozy about the OST "Oh Brother where art thou" a rather good set of songs.

Roy

O Brother, Where Art Thou, though brilliant is no country album. I would consider it more to be bluegrass/mountain/folk music.
Gari, my vote would have to go to #3, and from my very limited knowledge of country, I can recommend a few artists that might surprise a few as to the very good song writing that can be heard.

Hank Williams, Buck Owens, Patsy Cline are the first artists who come to mind when considering traditional country.
But if you want real "hillbilly deluxe" i.e. more accessable music (coming from a more rock & roll vantage point) IMHO try Dwight Yoakam,Steve Earle, Randy Travis, Emmylou Harris, even (early)KD Lang. And a very strong recommendation for Dwight Yokam's Hillbilly Deluxe album in particular.
Failing that, I would like to second Derek's (tried & true) method of indoctrination into country music.

Regards, Max

" If Garth Brooks is country then I hope to God I'm not"

So sayeth Steve Earle.

Don't dismiss all country because of the stetson wearin, boot scootin, inbred variety.

Alt country is the new punk

Hank Williams and Johnny Cash are the two greatest white blues singers who ever lived, and two of the greatest lyricists popular music has ever produced, which should be obvious to everyone. Everybody should own (a) Proper Records' 4 CD box set of Hank Williams; and (b) all the Johnny Cash they can find (start with the older stuff rather than the recent, IMO). Contemporary mainstream country music is mostly garbage (although I quite like some of the country-inflected stuff by Silver Jews, Smog, and the like), but Hank and Johnny are the real thing.

-- Ian

One of the scariest things I've seen recently is the voting for the last choice--God's gift, etc. Surely those voters were firmly tongue in cheek?

One of the problems with country is defining exactly what it is. I'd have to say Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard and Patsy Cline are all outstanding, even if they're not my favorites. I don't consider Bill Monroe country--unless you're going to roll bluegrass into country, which could get you shot in certain parts of the US...

Some artists worth trying include Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams, Townes Van Zandt, David Rodriguez, Guy Clark, Walter Hyatt, some early KD Lang, etc. I'd avoid at all costs anything by Garth Brooks and his "pop-country" ilk--they're the ones who give country a VERY bad rap...

Best,

Bob

If you like "O Brother, Where Art Thou" (which I consider bluegrass not country), then check out "Will the circle be unbroken" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I have it as a triple LP, and the both the music and recording are brilliant.

cheers,

Dans

Generalising about country music is the same as generalising about any other vast genre. What would a rock fan recommend to someone who knew nothing about rock? Would anyone else agree with those recommendations?

There's a lot of great, essential, life-enhancing country music. And a ton of shite. Just like everything else, really.

Davie

Common then Davie, I don't know about country music!

I have brother where art thou, and to be honest its alright for a run through, a bit like cross roads is for blues.

I think if I were to like country it would need to have a modern lilt, and probably not appear on radio two, if you know what I mean.

Hank Williams - I'm so lonely I could cry.

A work of genius. Makes Radiohead sound like the Monkees

duncan

Email: djcritchley at hotmail.com

quote:

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Originally posted by garyi:
I think if I were to like country it would need to have a modern lilt, and probably not appear on radio two, if you know what I mean.

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Let us know some of your favourite albums/artists from other genres so the country experts here can tailor their recommendations to your taste.

Davie

Doesn't Bob Harris have some killer comps? They're not available around here, sadly.

Gareth please try Calexico The Black Light. Not country "proper", but it may be best to take babysteps before exploring the entire
Merle Haggard discography.

Do the Cowboy junkies qualify? I really like them.

Bob

What do you guys reckon? The Cowboy Junkies' earlier albums certainly had a raw hard blues vibe to them, then it seems their doctor upped the valium prescription until the late 90s when they got into full bore adult-folk-rock...
You'd never know seeing them live however. Saw them twice and each time they seriously rock out- we're talking hardcore guitar grinders culminating in an unprecedented aural orgasm.
They're incredibly gifted.

My CJ album rating:
1 (tie): Whites off Earth Now, Trinity Sessions
2 The Caution Horses
3 Pale Sun Cresent Moon
4 Lay it Down (they went buck with the bass here)
5 Black Eyed Man
6 Open
7 Miles from our home

Never knew they did a BBC radio one sesh- must get it. Looking forward to In The Time Before Llamas- They sing Gram Parson's Hot Burrito No. 1!

Bob do you have the Junkie's Whites off Earth Now! album? In many ways that's the most interesting one...