Country Music

[stoutfellow]

You really couldn't call me a fan of country music. Most of my music collection lies somewhere in the spectrum from rock to pop; there's a sprinkling of jazz, blues, latin music, even a little calypso. But I do own (and listen to) a fair amount of country.

It's an eclectic collection, and there are a lot of big names - Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Reba, many others - who go unrepresented. Also, I know even less about the subgenres of country than I do about those of rock. I've heard, for instance, that some people class the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band as bluegrass, but what features place them there rather than elsewhere are a mystery to me. (A mystery which, for the moment, I'm not concerned with solving. That can wait.) What I'd like to ask any country fans out there is this: if I were to expand my collection further, who should I look for? Names are fine; specific albums are better.

The singers and groups I have that I'd class as straight-up country are: the Charlie Daniels Band; Crystal Gayle; Dolly Parton; Kenny Rogers; Leeann Womack; Mary Chapin Carpenter; the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band; Patsy Cline; Roxanne Cash; Shania Twain; Skeeter Davis; Suzy Bogguss; and Tammy Wynette. Then there are singers and groups at least some of whose work is country-tinged, including: Blood, Sweat and Tears; Bruce Hornsby; Creedence; Dan Fogelberg, maybe; the Doobie Brothers; Dusty Springfield; the Eagles; mid-period Elvis; Gordon Lightfoot; Jim Croce; Linda Ronstadt; and The Band.

So. What am I missing? Anybody?

Comments

[kd5mdk.livejournal.com]

Alabama
Brad Paisley
Conway Twitty
Jo Dee Messina
Johnny Horton
Phil Vassar
Terri Clark

are names that browsing through my collection seemed to be good ones. My music is more individual songs than albumns, so I'm not entirely sure where exactly to go with recommendations.
My suggestion would be to look at the online music stores and give songs a try there, with their preview or whatever.

[filkferengi]

Roy Clark, in addition to the whole "Hee Haw" thing, is one of the best classical guitarists in the world.

Randy Travis is also lots of fun; but then, I'm partial to men who sing from their knees. Don't forget Garth Brooks. You also need some Loretta Lynn. And where's the Lynyrd Skynyrd love?

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Good suggestion (and a feasible one, now that I have some suggestions as to which artists to look at). Thanks.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Uh, I don't know. [looks under desk] Nope, not here. Maybe...

But seriously, thanks.

[desert-vixen.livejournal.com]

Of the stuff that's been suggested:

Alabama - There's 2 double-CD sets out now - one that includes all their #1 hits, and one that's called "In the Mood" (I think), which includes all the big love songs. They'd make a good starter.

Any of the 3 Brad Paisley CDs, although I'm partial to the first one - I think it's Who Needs Pictures - has the title song, and a few other good ones. Part II includes the infamous "fishing" song, as well as a few others. The newest one is Mud on the Tires.

Conway Twitty - several Hits type collections available.

Garth Brooks - I highly recommend Scarecrow (the last GB), as well as the Double Live set.

Other recs - I like Gary Allan (sort of an alt-retro country) especially the Smoke Rings in the Dark album. Keith Urban is also pretty good. His first American album is my favorite, although the Golden Road CD has an awesome remake of Raining On Sunday. Alison Krauss/Union Station is more bluegrass than country, but still worth having. A Keith Whitley hits never seems to go unlistened to. Steve Wariner also ranks as a favorite in my book.

The bluegrass/country question is also blurred by the fact that some country artists/groups have done bluegrass albums - Patty Loveless has one called Mountain Soul, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has done some, Ricky Skaggs does a lot now.

DV

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that looks very helpful!

[filkferengi]

You're very welcome. Keep us posted on further acquisitions.

[neonnurse.livejournal.com]

Did anyone say Alan Jackson yet? His song, "Gone Country" is a wonderful, true but not harsh send-up of the song writers and singers who all tried to jump on the Country bandwagon when it was newly hot again.

"Well the folk scene is dead
But he’s holding out in the village
He’s been writing songs speaking out
Against wealth and privilege
He says ’i don’t believe in money
But a man could make him a killin’
Cause some of that stuff don’t sound
Much different than Dylan...."

Another personal favorite I didn't see mentioned is Joe Diffie. He got a little sidetracked (when I was following this genre) into the "joke title/novelty" song, and I think it hurt him in the long run, because people started expecting him to be silly and didn't pay attention to his quite good voice and more serious songs. He did one called "Ships That Don't Come in" that makes me cry, thinking of my dad, everytime I hear it.

"...He said it's only life's illusions
That bring us to this bar
To pick up these old crutches
And compare each other's scars
'Cuz the things we're calling heartache
Hell, they're hardly worth our time
We bitch about a dollar
When there's those without a dime.

And as he ordered one last round
He said I guess we can't complain
God made life a gamble
And we're still in the game.

So here's to all the soldiers
Who have ever died in vain
The insane locked up in themselves
The homeless down on Main
To those who stand on empty shores
And spit against the wind
And those who wait forever
For ships that don't come in."

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the suggestions; I'll add them to the list.

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

I would classify the Charlie Daniels Band and Lynryd Skynyrd as Southern Rock bands, not country, along with 38 Special, Little Feat, and ZZ Top.

Not being a country western fan at all (one of my favorite scenes in Blues Brothers was when they pretend to be The Good Ole Boys and have a first blues gig at a roadside country bar), I can't recomment anything.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

You may be right about Charlie Daniels; of the songs on A Decade of Hits, only "The Legend of Woolley Swamp" and "Long Haired Country Boy" really have a country feel to them. (Some of the others - "The South's Gonna Do It Again", "Stroker's Theme" - are thematically country but musically rock, I guess.) Maybe they should be moved to the second list, then.

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I smile, because I was thinking precisely of "Long Haired Country Boy" when I took Charlie Daniels *out.* Let's just call it a matter of perception, then.

My brief first husband (time-wise), along with being a college student and other things, was also a bass guitarist in a Southern rock band that played in local bars. The above song was one of their popular staples, along with anything Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker, ZZ Top - La Grange and Free Bird were great crowd pleasers. [I tell ya, it was truly fat-burning exercise on weekend nights. Maybe I should convince the Teflon Spouse to take up the ukelele (g). Nah, can't dance to that!]