POLL Miner's Daughter - ILM Artists Poll #117 - Women of Country Music - Results Thread

https://i.imgur.com/QC1mVl3.jpg

Rollout begins tomorrow. I will be posting Artists, Albums, and Tracks that received at least 40 points, the equivalent of a #1 vote. Many thanks to all who voted.

If anyone wants to start a Spotify playlist, I'd be grateful.

Voting thread.

Pseudo nominations list.

Pseudo track nominations Spotify playlist.

One of maybe two "Poll" puns I've ever liked as a thread title.

lovely! excited for the rollout

https://i.imgur.com/JHDmie3.jpg

TIE 39. Taylor Swift
41 points, 2 votes.

Wowzas, that's large. I'll adjust.

https://i.imgur.com/3IbBJd0.jpg

TIE 39. Rhiannon Giddens
41 points, 2 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/ano3d8w.jpg

TIE 37. Natalie Hemby
42 points, 3 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/0Y5cgnY.jpg

TIE 37. Lone Justice
42 points, 3 votes.

lotta soul patch there. recommend me a lone justice album

The first one. Dat's dat.

https://i.imgur.com/bk8WNkw.jpg

36. Pam Tillis
46 points, 4 votes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtpjmA5PkdQ

There's a video on Youtube of Maria McKee talking about how Dolly Parton came to see Lone Justice play when she (MM) was 18, and what a mindfuck it was.

McKee's vocals on the first Lone Justice album are flooring.

https://i.imgur.com/EDywpl3.jpg

35. Laura Cantrell
48 points, 2 votes.

My main purpose in voting was to rep for Laura Cantrell.

Just missed my ballot but I was very glad to revisit her work as part of this process!

https://i.imgur.com/DDY1j9z.jpg

34. Sunny Sweeney
50 points, 3 votes.

(That comment refers to Cantrell.) A song of hers that regularly finds itself lodged in my head:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pANNkrWZ8_s

The song construction is wonderful. Is there a verse? And the horns!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYBgB0j7_Ig

^^ love that one

https://i.imgur.com/fbSGkR1.jpg

TIE 31. Kathleen Edwards
53 points, 2 votes.

lol what

This high?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkamonwD2yM

I don't really think of her as a country artist though. More like commercial-alt indie-folk w/occasional twang.

xxp I know, right?

https://i.imgur.com/EVqNT1y.jpg

TIE 31. Waxahatchee
53 points, 3 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/M8cYVy8.jpg

TIE 31. Bobbie Gentry
53 points, 5 votes.

Wow. It wouldn't have occurred to me to think of Waxahatchee as country.

Ah I totally forgot about Bobbie Gentry in the voting, Fancy is a classic.

https://i.imgur.com/NcqPI2I.jpg

30. LeAnn Rimes
54 points, 4 votes.

don't know Lone Justice at all though, will give them a listen. Wouldn't think of Kathleen Edwards as too country but I feel like a lot of the Canadian folk artists I listen to would have come down more as country artists if they had come up in the US instead, but i am sure that theory is wrong in a lot of ways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z-XvUU83rk

Well I rate Kathleen Edwards pretty high, a couple of albums I really love and several singles that are all-time for me.

Don't know what's more insane: Tanya Tucker recording "Delta Dawn" at age 13, or LeAnn Rimes recording "Blue" at age 11. Probably the latter given its range.

yodeling at any age is impressive but at 11!? gtfoh <3

https://i.imgur.com/SPIb5t8.jpg

TIE 28. Pistol Annies
57 points, 3 votes.

This song cracks me up

He may as well be invisible in his Realtree overalls
I can barely see him through the tree stand
Seated underwear and turkey calls
Lord help me with this problem I can't figure no way out
It's like I'm married to a shotgun carryin',
Tobacco chewin', no good blue tick hound

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9fIsRNg3XA

I first heard Kathleen Edwards during a very formative listening session, listening to country music radio on American Airlines, on a heavy turbulence-filled flight from Chicago to Los Angeles. That particular flight sold me on country music. The two songs that stood out from that playlist were her track “In State” (pretty damn country) and Sara Evans’ “Suds in the Bucket”.

I may have misinterpreted Alfred's comment. I, too, rate Edwards highly (I was one of the two voters!) and expected her to be higher. The first two records, and Asking for Flowers in particular, have great breadth and depth of songwriting. The session musicians she got for Flowers include a few Lone Justice members and Benmont Tench, and it is a lively record -- until it's not ("Alicia Ross," "Sure as Shit," "Scared at Night") and then she's cutting deep on some heavy topics and imagery. Love that album.

https://i.imgur.com/reovvRd.jpg

TIE 28. Martina McBride
57 points, 4 votes.

Hunters Wife is A+! love that one. i lalso really love Happy Birthday Jesus from Pistol Annies xmas album, the songwriting is so “them”

Kathleen Edwards does rule that is for sure, I alway kinda classify her and her contemporaries like Carolyn mark and Jenny whiteley (and dudes like Justin Rutledge and NQ Arbuckle) as something not quite country but more I’m line with Blue Rodeo in lineage. But then again i voted for trinity sessions so my arbitrary breakdowns of genre are not exactly rigorous. And Blue Rodeo is pretty alt country but I always just associate them with canrock.

https://i.imgur.com/djCGVpy.jpg

27. Wanda Jackson
61 points, 4 votes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-47tlPvmuE

https://i.imgur.com/tqWA5Wh.jpg

26. The Judds
68 points, 5 votes.

yaaay <3

https://i.imgur.com/nDHBtw7.jpg

25. Shania Twain
86 points, 5 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/V3kOHnB.jpg

24. Trisha Yearwood
87 points, 5 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/JwiWSHf.jpg

23. k.d. lang
88 points, 5 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/JQwMzUj.jpg

22. Lee Ann Womack
102 points, 7 votes, 1 No. 1 vote.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh77XhzwHTs

<3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aawsPd0kTYo

Yeah, Lone Justice's s/t debut is a good place to start, also the very refreshing early sets brought by Omnivore: the one I picked for this poll, This Is Lone Justice: The Vaught Tapes 1983, also The Western Tapes, 1983, and Live At The Palomino 1983 Another studio set is forthcoming, no date yet. The Millennium Collection tones down the Big 80s blare of Shelter tracks and is another good place to start. Maria's got her own volume in that (2oth Century Masters) series, though has ranged further afield since, most recently in 2020's La Vita Nuova's Pre-Raphaelite chamber folk-rock shout-outs to Beatrice---those who thought she got too theatrical on the somewhut oversold but still songworthy Shelter sorta had the wrong idea about her sensibility---cowpunk and Cali Grapes of Wrath-type visions were only part of it---as I said in a 2001 Voice round-up. "Alias In Wonderland":

The first time I laid eyes on another Hellywood Kid, Maria McKee, fronting
her "cowpunk" band Lone Justice (a name that makes the same kind of sense as
Blazing Saddles), I saw her as an ancestor/descendant of Bette Midler and Stevie
Nicks: a Gold Dust Woman, (re-)born to raise the stakes and stage in Silver
City (prospectors shooting down chandeliers in appreciation). (Bette Midler?
Western as Hawaii, as in "Who you think brought-um steel guitars, Paleface?" And speaking of Midler, she's Jewish, as possibly was Annie Oakley a/k/a Phoebe Moses---O rabbithole, spare me over for another point.)
McKee's new Ultimate Collection (Hip-O) , while discreetly tweaking Big 80s blare, nevertheless unleashes a careening career saga, yet leaves out her self-written, unreleased "To Deserve You" (credibly covered by Midler, on Bette of Roses). Here, a young girl avidly peers out the window at women whose otherworldly beauty and grace come from their virtue. She wants to "shine in
your eye like a jewel," to be as good as, well, gold. This song clarifies (or at least uncovers an especially striking facet of) MM's sometimes distracting, refracted raised-religious-in-Tinseltown
sensibility. She was onstage at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go with her big brother Bryan McLean,
ex-member of punk-psych pioneers Love, when she was only three. (He was also a romantic, Christian-speculative songpoet, whose "Don't Toss Us Away"t was first launched into lonely orbit by teen McKee on one of the earliest known Lone J. demo tapes.) And "Soup, Soap, and Salvation" depicts the wee McKee as pounding a tambourine (and even the Sunset Strip?!), with her allegedly ex-beatnik/born-again parents, belting Gospel to the glitz-blitzed.
But Bryan also turned her on to Broadway, and Maria's teen dreams included
studying with Sondheim at Juilliard. Regarded by some in her hometown as a
proto-alt-country vanguard artist turned Corporate Rock wash-out, she wrote (and released)
"Panic Beach" (included on Ultimate...): She finds herself spending another day
by the bee-yootiful sea, taking her place in the sideshow of invisible
friends, eternal Hollywood Hopefuls, utterly ignored. At first the sweet 'n' salty swirl recalls McKee's art based on vintage poster images of L.A, beach areas mirroring Coney Island, then it's like being trapped inside
the ever growing mural of "The Burning of Los Angeles" in Nathanael West's The
Day of the Locust. But all in her mind—which is finally obligingly
noticed—and then swallowed, by the depths of the now alarmingly reverberating stereo
sky.
However, once in said sky, she learns to ride the whirlwind she hath reaped,
playing guitar like Mick Ronson and swinging by the star once called Ziggy,
into her personal-space odysseys (freshly cherry-picked for UC, from her 1996
breakthrough, Life Is Sweet). She even whistles like Bowie did in "Golden Years," but spookier, a
coded refrain, on "If Love Is a Red Dress (Hang Me in Rags)"—from the Pulp Fiction
soundtrack, appropriately enough. She's one of those Western Women, like
Belle Starr and Calamity Jane, Billy Tipton and Brandon Teena, forever having to
migrate through dime novels and disappearances, trespasses and transports.
Straying is the tradition—that Satellite o' Love always needs more lasso.

Good post, dow!

https://i.imgur.com/lqkVnjm.jpg

TIE 20. Alison Krauss
109 points, 6 votes.

Thanks(Speaking of "Panic Beach," I read that Natalie Maines' tape cover of that greatly helped her to be hired by The Chicks).

https://i.imgur.com/cnr3VUV.jpg

TIE 20. Ashley Monroe
109 points, 7 votes.

Does Alison Krauss have the most plainly pretty voice in modern music?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flcrUnoAwVk

https://i.imgur.com/7m536j7.jpg

19. Iris DeMent
111 points, 6 votes.

Speaking of Canadian content, I cast one of the votes for Whitney Rose's Rule 62, also picked Terri Clark's Greatest Hits 1994-2004 because good gateway. Mention of xpost Carolyn Mark reminds me that I thought about voting for (your cue, wiki)

The Corn Sisters were a Canadian alternative country act formed in Vancouver in 1998 as a side project by Neko Case and Carolyn Mark. Case had already released a solo album (The Virginian, 1997), while Mark had released six albums with her former band The Vinaigrettes.[1]

Career
The Corn Sisters built a reputation as "a dynamic touring duo"[2] performing in coffee shops and other small venues before gaining wider exposure as the opening act for Richard Buckner.[3] One of their coffee shop performances, recorded at Seattle's "Hattie’s Hat" in May 1998, was released as The Other Women by Mint Records in 2000 to mixed reviews,[1][4] although Allmusic acknowledges its appealing "mix of twang and attitude".[5] The pair contributed three songs between them to the label's Team Mint Volume Two sampler in 2001 – one as the Corn Sisters, one as Carolyn Mark and Her Roommates, and one as Neko Case and Her Boyfriends.[6] They also contributed three tracks to the compilation A Tribute to the Soundtrack to Robert Altman's Nashville in 2002 – again, one as the Corn Sisters and one apiece as individuals.[7] While Case and Mark stopped performing regularly as a duo in 2002, they did join Kelly Hogan to record the music for the 2004 documentary Lipstick and Dynamite.[8]

Rule 62 didn't catch me upon release but I gave it a spin as part of this process and was impressed. Closer "Time to Cry" would make Dwight Yoakam proud.

https://i.imgur.com/2b1Byv2.jpg

18. Patty Loveless
123 points, 6 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/XZive39.jpg

17. The Chicks
126 points, 6 votes.

i am a relatively new fan of Iris De Ment, such a unique voice, love her stuff

Last post for today. Will run down the top 15 artists and begin the albums rollout tomorrow.

https://i.imgur.com/gRTCiz5.jpg

16. Reba McEntire
128 points, 7 votes.

xpost My Iris pick, Sing The Delta, is very strong, like most if not all of hers, ditto def way outta left field The Trackless Woods:lyrics are poems by Anna Akhmatova! New Workin' on a World is said to be awesome, though I haven't heard it yet.
Real hard to pick one alb by several of these artists, so some of mine are arbitrary, like xpost Rule 62 over We Still Go To Rodeos, for inst (all Rose's albums that I've heard have their own distinctions, but she is thee Canadian Cowgirl art pop narcotic, with all songs swirling through each other in my head).

Man I haven't thought about Whitney Rose in ages, I remember her s/t coming out back when I lived in Toronto but I had lost all track of the Old Cameron House and Six Shooter folks since I left Toronto. Will have to give her newer ones a listen.

FWIW, Iris is about to tour - if she was playing in the city here, I'd have bought tickets by now.

Lone Justice is kind of a sentimental favorite because truth be told, they never had a chance to properly develop as a label act. As soon as they were signed to Geffen, they were being re-shaped by Jimmy Iovine into something like a roots rock band à la Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers or John Mellencamp. (They even recorded one of Petty's rejected songs and added Benmont Tench as a session player.) To be fair, I think they did very well in that mode and most of their debut is excellent, but they sounded more raw and more rockabilly on their live and demo recordings prior to getting signed. The 1999 CD This World Is Not My Home is a really good compilation that traces their trajectory honestly without crashing and burning in the end. (You do hear them turn into something that sounds like a Stevie Nicks knock-off when most of the original line-up had left, but the disc spares us of the most dreadful parts.)

Lone Justice allegedly has a new album coming out later this year, fwiw.

Good morning! On to the top 15...

https://i.imgur.com/t8oL1jk.jpg

15. Kitty Wells
145 points, 6 votes.

Lone Justice allegedly has a new album coming out later this year, fwiw.

― jon_oh, Tuesday, March 21, 2023 8:51 AM

They're just finishing some unfinished recordings from the 80s iirc, but you bet I'll be listening to them if they do actually come out.

There's always a lot of deserved praise for the pre-Geffen life of Lone Justice, and for the debut, but y'know what? I really, really love the 'Shelter' album, even if it's not really Lone Justice (it's Maria McKee and session dudes). So many good songs on it! But yes, very very far removed from those original demos in the early 80s.

That's interesting because it was never the sound evolution that bothered me about Shelter, it was that the songs seemed significantly weaker. Might need to revisit.

https://i.imgur.com/B5jCzoW.jpg

14. Gillian Welch
152 points, 6 votes, 1 No. 1 Vote.

https://i.imgur.com/dGtu8AE.jpg

13. Tanya Tucker
159 points, 8 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/Mbn0KcB.jpg

12. Linda Ronstadt
168 points, 9 votes.

thought Kitty Wells would be top 5

https://i.imgur.com/8MBPxKa.jpg
11. Tammy Wynette
175 points, 8 votes.

Your top 10...

https://i.imgur.com/c3V9yVu.jpg

10. Neko Case
180 points, 8 votes.

whoa

Neko Case is fine, I guess, but more points than Wynette, Ronstadt, Wells, etc?

Tammy Wynette definitely way too low

lovin' the pics, Indexed!

i wonder if a lot of people did unweighted ballots (like me). could be cause for the cream not rising to the top?

I love Neko Case, but she benefits greatly from reverb.

Neko Case has recorded approximately 15 minutes of country music.

https://i.imgur.com/p48u9uZ.jpg

9. Kacey Musgraves
189 points, 10 votes.

I ranked Neko Case high p unapologetically, a few of her albums are all time for me and several are vv country.

her first couple records were pretty country-inflected!
xxp

nodding yes, omar

and Fox Confessor is just a perfect record

xps, thanks outdoor_miner!

https://i.imgur.com/MhSMvNZ.jpg

8. Rosanne Cash
198 points, 9 votes.

I love Cash's eyes.

https://i.imgur.com/wEVnYcs.jpg

7. Lucinda Williams
216 points, 10 votes.

Bears remembering that I think less than 20 people voted so I think the results of all three polls are going to be pretty idiosyncratic.

Signed, someone who voted for both Waxahatchee and Neko Case

People who didn't vote splitting hairs about what's country!...sheesh...

https://i.imgur.com/26QUG6v.jpg

6. Maybelle & Sara Carter
224 points, 9 votes, 1 No. 1 vote.

yaaaaay

https://i.imgur.com/Gxt4Wys.jpg

5. Miranda Lambert
266 points, 10 votes, 1 No. 1 vote.

Neko Case was probably my gateway drug to country music in a lot of respects, I still really love her though her last several albums veered away from country even more (but she’s still stellar!)

Voted for Kacey almost solely on the considerable strength of her debut and Golden Hour (not as familiar w the rest of her work.)

I didn't realize so many of us submitted unweighted ballots. To be clear, Neko Case belongs, but her finish surprised me.

also voted for Miranda Lambert tho her post WotW albums are ones I need to return to, haven’t listened to wildcard in ages. Platinum and Crazy Ex GF are huge in particular for me.

There were 9 weighted, 4 unweighted, and 1 mixed Artists ballots. So hopefully there are 10 no. 1 votes accounted for across all the artists!

https://i.imgur.com/8Z7aWft.jpg

4. Emmylou Harris
323 points, 11 votes, 1 No. 1 vote.

And then there were three, any of whom deserves to be first.

https://i.imgur.com/K0IIJgr.jpg

3. Patsy Cline
347 points, 13 votes, 2 No. 1 votes.

Thanks to all the commenters for following along this morning! Going to take a break and will start the albums roll out in the afternoon (CST).

https://i.imgur.com/jYL8rKr.jpg

2. Loretta Lynn
349 points, 13 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/450orrJ.jpg

1. Dolly Parton
371 points, 12 votes, 3 No. 1 votes.

Interesting Loretta Lynn pulled off second with no number 1 votes!

Emmylou was my number one but I had Dolly second, can't argue with her at number one at all. the rest of my top 5 were Lambert, Cash and the Carters so I have no complains! I thought The Chicks and Shania might crack the top ten though. I had Patsy Cline lower than most it seems.

Also - to the Rhiannon Giddens' voters, where do I start with her discography? I know nothing about her but it seems broad and across different groups.

Dolly was my number one, even though I didn’t include a lot of her in the other two polls. She’s just so wonderful and a singer few have been able to equal in the genre, and none have been able to equal as a quality person.

W Rhiannon Giddens I’d start with the Carolina chocolate drops and also her album Freedom Highway, which is vv underrated and beautiful.

For me Patsy > Loretta > Dolly. "I Fall To Pieces" gives me chills every time

prior to this poll i'd meant to check out, but never got around to, Lori McKenna. finally did for the poll. the bird and the bee and the balladeer are *killer* records in case anyone's curious

Dolly is as deserving as anyone of first place, not to mention that she is just an outstanding human being. Well done.

re Rhiannon Giddens, the album
she did with Our Native Daughters Songs of Our Native Daughtersis also really incredible

Dolly makes me crumble into a weeping mess everytime i hear Coat Of Many Colors and for that she’ll always be my #1

She has such a light touch with even the heaviest emotional material, her songcraft & musicianship is really stunning

prior to this poll i'd meant to check out, but never got around to, Lori McKenna. finally did for the poll. the bird and the bee and the balladeer are *killer* records in case anyone's curious

― Half Japanese Breakfast (outdoor_miner), Tuesday, March 21, 2023 11:28 AM (thirty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Agreed. I was one of two voters for her, but she just missed the poll.

Yeah, and even McK.'s Christmas EP got me going, though I got sick of every approach to xmas music while a seasonal galley slave in CD stores long ago (also worth checking: Trophy, that Sunny Sweeney album with a lot of McKenna co-writes, is a bit uneven, but can be good in startling ways---esp. the title track, where a designated "trophy wife" tells those talking pity and other shit to buzz off: she knows what she's doing and she got what she wanted.)

re Rhiannon Giddens, the album
she did with Our Native Daughters Songs of Our Native Daughtersis also really incredible

thx for the tip dow, i want more Sunny now as well

awww i sorta figured, but high five
xp

Here is the full Artists list. Hopefully the formatting works.

Rank Artist Points Votes #1 Votes
93 Lynn Anderson 2 1 0
92 Billie Jo Spears 3 1 0
91 Faith Hill 4 1 0
90 Sammi Smith 5 1 0
89 Katie Pruitt 6 1 0
87 Brennen Leigh 7 1 0
87 Tiff Merritt 7 1 0
84 Crystal Gayle 8 1 0
84 Nanci Griffith 8 1 0
84 Whitney Rose 8 1 0
82 Kasey Chambers 9 1 0
82 Lydia Loveless 9 1 0
79 Anne Murray 10 1 0
79 Brandy Clark 10 1 0
79 Sara Evans 10 1 0
78 Cam 11 1 0
77 Carrie Underwood 13 2 0
76 Shelby Lynne 14 1 0
75 Amanda Shires 15 1 0
73 Ashton Shepherd 16 1 0
73 Cindy Walker 16 1 0
71 Brandi Carlile 17 1 0
71 Jessi Colter 17 2 0
67 Cheri Knight 18 1 0
67 Lady A 18 1 0
67 Lilly Hiatt 18 1 0
67 Olivia Newton-John 18 1 0
66 Maren Morris 19 2 0
58 Brenda Lee 20 2 0
58 Elizabeth Cook 20 1 0
58 Hem 20 1 0
58 Ida Red 20 1 0
58 Kellie Pickler 20 1 0
58 Patti Page 20 1 0
58 Rose Maddox 20 1 0
58 Suzy Bogguss 20 1 0
56 Angaleena Presley 22 1 0
56 Sally Timms (Mekons) 22 2 0
55 Barbara Mandrell 23 2 0
52 Jo Dee Messina 24 1 0
52 Kelly Willis 24 3 0
52 Mary Ford 24 1 0
50 Patty Griffin 25 2 0
50 Skeeter Davis 25 1 0
49 Bonnie Raitt 28 1 0
47 Lori McKenna 29 2 0
47 Margo Price 29 2 0
46 Connie Smith 32 2 0
45 Jennifer Nettles (Sugarland) 33 2 0
44 K.T. Oslin 34 3 0
43 Dottie West 35 3 0
41 Catherine Irwin/Freakwater 36 2 0
41 Jean Shepard 36 3 0
39 Rhiannon Giddens 41 3 0
39 Taylor Swift 41 2 0
37 Lone Justice 42 3 0
37 Natalie Hemby 42 3 0
36 Pam Tillis 46 4 0
35 Laura Cantrell 48 2 0
34 Sunny Sweeney 50 3 0
31 Bobbie Gentry 53 5 0
31 Kathleen Edwards 53 2 0
31 Waxahatchee 53 3 0
30 LeAnn Rimes 54 4 0
28 Martina McBride 57 4 0
28 Pistol Annies 57 3 0
27 Wanda Jackson 61 4 0
26 The Judds 68 5 0
25 Shania Twain 86 5 0
24 Trisha Yearwood 87 5 0
23 k.d. lang 88 5 0
22 Lee Ann Womack 102 7 1
20 Alison Krauss 109 6 0
20 Ashley Monroe 109 7 0
19 Iris DeMent 111 6 0
18 Patty Loveless 123 6 0
17 The Chicks 126 6 0
16 Reba McEntire 128 7 0
15 Kitty Wells 145 6 0
14 Gillian Welch 152 6 1
13 Tanya Tucker 159 8 0
12 Linda Ronstadt 168 9 0
11 Tammy Wynette 175 8 0
10 Neko Case 180 8 0
9 Kacey Musgraves 189 10 0
8 Rosanne Cash 198 9 0
7 Lucinda Williams 216 10 0
6 Maybelle & Sara Carter 224 9 1
5 Miranda Lambert 266 10 1
4 Emmylou Harris 323 11 1
3 Patsy Cline 347 13 2
2 Loretta Lynn 349 13 0
1 Dolly Parton 371 12 3

Welp, so much for that...I'll share a google doc when the poll is over with the complete results for those who like to see the data.

Moving on to our Top 43 Country Albums...I will be posting 13 today and then the top 30 tomorrow. First up, a personal favorite that I wrote about upthread:

https://i.imgur.com/8vG3rVI.jpg

TIE 42. Kathleen Edwards - Asking for Flowers (2008)
40 points, 2 votes.

Neko was at her most country on several 7" singles I have, that were later on early v.a. comps rounded up by Bloodshot, which also released her most country/countryoid album, The Virginian, and the follow-up, Furnace Room Lullaby, also pertains. I like that she heard how early solo Scott Walker could fit, with her cover of "Duchess" (like the late great Amy Farris did a fine tenement shadow country version of Walker's "Big Louise").

Also at her most country as one of the xpost Corn Sisters, with Carolyn Marks (and some things they/she did w Kelly Hogan: see the Corn Sisters wiki page I pasted, way upthread now).

https://i.imgur.com/cRRpC5R.jpg

TIE 42. The Carter Family - In the Shadow of Clinch Mountain (2000)
40 points, 1 vote, 1 No. 1 vote.

https://i.imgur.com/AnIDaZf.jpg

41. Natalie Hemby - Puxico (2017)
41 points, 2 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/WTJ59e6.jpg

40. Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You (2013)
43 points, 2 votes.

One of the top finds for me from this poll...

https://i.imgur.com/1vsvdY3.jpg

TIE 38. Freakwater - Springtime (1998)
44 points, 2 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/OQvrBYB.jpg

TIE 38. Laura Cantrell - Not the Tremblin' Kind (2000)
44 points, 2 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/4iFbmj5.jpg

37. Lucinda Williams - Sweet Old World (1992)
45 points, 3 votes.

That Kathleen Edwards album is great! It got my vote.

The Neko and Freakwater ones are also great though they didn’t get a vote from me. Natalie Hemby, Laura Cantrell, excellent albums I need to spend more time with. Carter Fam, goes without saying they’re amazing but I didn’t vote for them.

Love that LW album but kinda forgot about it for this poll. Maybe I consider her less country and more rock? I haven’t heard the re-recording but curious how it sounds (knowing it’s doubtlessly not on par with the OG release.)

I enjoyed it, without comparing to the original, which I've never heard. She even re-recorded the previously unreleased tracks from the same sessions.

https://i.imgur.com/ee1k8UK.jpg

TIE 35. Lone Justice - Lone Justice (1985)
47 points, 4 votes.

Man, that Lone Justice cover brings back memories.

https://i.imgur.com/ISIZFaK.jpg

TIE 35. Trisha Yearwood - Hearts in Armor (1992)
47 points, 2 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/7kKv7kE.jpg

34. K.T. Oslin - 80's Ladies (1987)
49 points, 2 votes.

aw yeah

Two to go today. First, the only Jack White-involved album I've ever much cared for...

https://i.imgur.com/autxQGq.jpg

TIE 32. Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose (2004)
50 points, 2 votes.

Last post for today -- one of my votes, and as good a place as any to start with Lambert if you're unfamiliar. See you tomorrow for the top 30 albums.

https://i.imgur.com/tr0LLWV.jpg

TIE 32. Miranda Lambert - Kerosene (2005)
50 points, 2 votes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcTdaz7W-8E

Perfect song. Love Glenn Worf's bass line and the layered guitars and how she tweaks the last line of the chorus in the outro.

love the rollout and bummed i'm swamped with work and can't do anything more than scan through the posts. lots of great stuff to check out in future from the hype thread and itt

Re: artists, I voted for Neko Case above those three, and it's probably just a matter of personal taste - I listen to her records a lot more than the others, and she made a string of top-notch albums. Like Bonnie Raitt (who also got one of my votes when I found out she was eligible), it did bring up the question of whether she should be categorized as country. Rather than struggle with it endlessly, I just voted them accordingly as favorites. FWIW, I didn't vote for any of Raitt's albums because she never made a great one that felt more like country than anything else - the best ones are generally an eclectic mix of genres, usually blues, R&B, rock, pop, etc.

I've always had mixed feelings about Linda Ronstadt - the only ones I really come back to are Heart Like a Wheel, Trio and a modest selection of singles (mostly when she was still at Capitol Records). I really love those records, but she's also made a lot of music that I've never liked very much.

It's a similar case with Tammy Wynette - I love her duets with George Jones (together, the best ones add up to an amazing concept album that's unrivaled in genre legendary for heartbreak and divorce songs) and I really like a good number of her own singles as well, but she's also made a lot more records that I've never really liked either.

I should give Kitty Wells another listen - there's no question she's historically important thanks to "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels." I used to have that Country Music Hall of Fame compilation, which was only 16 songs, but only a handful of songs really knocked me out. It seemed a little underwhelming when some of the others had an entire box set I could enjoy listening to from start-to-finish.

"a lot of records I don't really like" goes for just about any genre artist

I was lucky enough to see Kitty Wells perform at the old Methodist meeting hall in Orange Grove, NJ in about 1992. Despite the best efforts of her husband and son to hog the spotlight, she was clearly the real talent.

I voted for that Hemby album - it’s terrific!

I too have been absolutely swamped at work this week and am sadly only able to check in after all the day’s results have come. Wish I could be offering running commentary.

Re Neko - I definitely had her as a favorite artist and voted for some albums and tracks. In the context of this poll I kept my votes mostly centered on Furnace Room Lullaby, Blacklisted, and Fox Confessor—even though Middle Cyclone is probably my favorite of hers! I agree that her most recent albums have started to veer in a direction that, as good as it is, doesn’t feel so recognizable as “country.” Don’t ask me to articulate what should or shouldn’t be country, but that’s how I instinctively made the cutoff

84 Nanci Griffith 8 1 0
If I had known about this poll maybe she’d have had a chance, she was incredible. Last of the True Believers is one of the albums I hold dearest.

Oh yeah last night I caught the tail-end of Austin City Limits' re-run of The Best Of Nanci Griffin, compiled from ACL shows over the years. I saw all of the first broadcast, and was impressed by the range and evident depth of material, as delivered on stage: didn't know she was such a performer, didn't know shit about her, for the most part. The closer was one about her Vietnam vet ex-husband (she said he wasn't that impressed by the song).
I hadn't seen it on the ACL or PBS sites, may have to get that Passport thing to stream, though ACL releases CDs, maybe DVDs, of some such collections. Her expressions etc. are worth seeing.

(Also, check Caroline Spence if you like Nanci Griffin---latest Spence so far seems a bit uneven, but still some great keepers.)

Don't know Griffith but like a few of Spence's songs. Where to start with the former?

Work schedules be damned, hoping to elicit some discussion with the top 31 albums today, starting with...

https://i.imgur.com/jy1oO5E.jpg

TIE 30. Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Sessions (1988)
51 points, 2 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/eo5cGFD.jpg

TIE 30. k.d. lang and the Reclines - Absolute Torch & Twang (1989)
51 points, 4 votes.

The next three are all personal favorites and got my votes. My first exposure to this album felt as though a bomb had been dropped on me. The songs and instrumentations wholly familiar, the voice otherworldly.

https://i.imgur.com/xGMKshx.jpg

TIE 28. Iris DeMent - Infamous Angel
52 points, 3 votes.

Another debut, as barebones as they come, nearly every track just Patty and her acoustic guitar. More folk than country, if we're being honest, but its songs have been cited and covered by a number of country greats, most notably The Chicks, who named their second album Fly after their cover of its second track.

https://i.imgur.com/AeR4Hgv.jpg

TIE 28. Patty Griffin - Living With Ghosts (1996)
52 points, 2 votes.

My first opportunity to shout TOO LOW!

https://i.imgur.com/yx8uStH.jpg

27. Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris - Trio (1987)
53 points, 3 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/yOrmb0A.png

26. Iris DeMent - My Life (1992)
54 points, 3 votes.

such a great record.

https://i.imgur.com/Ylna2IC.jpg

25. k.d. lang - Shadowland (1988)
58 points, 3 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/ECUA7jo.jpg

24. Loretta Lynn - Writes 'Em and Sings 'Em (1970)
63 points, 3 votes.

Caught a small error...Trio should have 56 points, 4 votes. Somehow got lucky enough that it doesn't change rankings.

No one had more albums voted for than Emmylou Harris: 9 solo + Trio. Despite the vote splitting, at least one managed to rank, and rank quite high:

https://i.imgur.com/oww1nYd.jpg

23. Emmylou Harris - Pieces of the Sky (1975)
64 points, 3 votes.

The most recent album -- and the only one from the 2020s -- to rank:

https://i.imgur.com/Bmgpx1A.jpg

Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud (2020)
65 points, 3 votes.

I voted for Trio and several other Emmylou albums but not that one! It was hard to narrow it down for me w her so I had to make some tough choices.

Need to listen to more Iris DeMent.

This one was very high on my ballot. Where the debut is a bit up and down, sequencing-wise, nearly every song on their 2nd record is an absolute smash.

https://i.imgur.com/8Do48cx.jpg

21. The Chicks - Fly (1999)
66 points, 4 votes.

Don't know Griffith but like a few of Spence's songs. Where to start with the former?

... long before the terms “alt-country” or “Americana” came along, eighties artists like Griffith, Lyle Lovett, and Steve Earle (as well non-Texans Dwight Yoakam, k.d. lang, and Rosanne Cash) weren’t that far from the post-punk I was listening to on college radio, starting with R.E.M.
The same record store clerks who sold me jangly pop-inflected albums by Robyn Hitchcock, the Windbreakers, and Austin’s Zeitgeist (later the Reivers), also put a copy of Griffith’s 1987 MCA debut, Lone Star State of Mind, into my hands.

And that’s exactly what it put me in. Great art takes you to places you haven’t been and introduces you to people you didn’t know. The farming hardship saga “Trouble in the Fields” did in three minutes what Hollywood attempted in three different movies, and when I listen today to “There’s a Light Beyond These Woods (Mary Margaret),” it’s like catching up with two old friends.

I liked the next record, Little Love Affairs—a romantic song-cycle on the same emotional turf as Joni Michell’s Blue or Richard and Linda Thompson’s Shoot Out the Lights, but with Grand Ole Opry exuberance—even more.

Oops, meant to put Lone Star State of Mind in bold too (respect).

Sounds great, thanks!

The second of Harris's solo albums to rank, her 1995 collaboration with Daniel Lanois. I'd forgotten how carefully curated its tracklist was, with songs written by Steve Earle, Neil Young, Anna McGarrigle, Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, Rodney Crowell, Jimi Hendrix, Julie Miller, and Lanois.

https://i.imgur.com/T4afQQM.jpg

20. Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball (1995)
67 points, 3 votes.

Didn't vote in this poll, but like all ILM polls, picking up lots of great music. Could someone have warned me about the Iris DeMent/Emmy Lou version of 'Our Town'? Absolutely beautiful.

My personal Harris album of choice is somewhat surprisingly her foray into bluegrass, and I'm thrilled to see it this high, as I generally don't feel it gets its due (though it appears the Dean of American Rock Critics gave it his only A). "Jordan" is among my favorite of her recordings, and don't miss her cover of "You're Gonna Change" from the reissue bonus tracks.

https://i.imgur.com/DyUjLem.jpg

19. Emmylou Harris - Roses in the Snow (1980)
68 points, 3 votes

Wrecking Ball would have got a high-points vote from me if I’d managed a ballot. Maybe even a #1 — despite it being very much not a country record.

https://i.imgur.com/6arUrCP.jpg

TIE 17. Neko Case & Her Boyfriends - Furnace Room Lullaby (2000)
71 points, 3 votes.

Only 3 votes?

https://i.imgur.com/pWRIj66.jpg

TIE 17. Patsy Cline - Showcase (1961)
71 points, 3 votes, 1 No. 1 vote.

https://i.imgur.com/MH94thX.jpg

TIE 15. Maren Morris - HERO (2016)
72 points, 4 votes.

It’s interesting w/country bc so many of the great legacy artists were from the era before albums became the statements they are now, so I think for me at least i was became familiarized w/patsy and kitty and others via greatest hits collections. Which probably also explains why this poll is likely to be skewed more towards the last several decades as far as albums go.

yeah, it's hard to believe people think Maren Morris is better than Patsy Cline

I voted for roses in the snow, furnace room lullaby, and hero. They kind of really cover the gamut of styles and approaches. Love all three of those. Maren Morris impresses me as an artist more than most current country musicians in her wheelhouse, and as a person she really fights the good fight.

https://i.imgur.com/BBqO5kU.jpg

TIE 15. Lee Ann Womack - There's More Where That Came From (2005)
72 points, 2 votes, 1 No. 1 vote.

My #1

https://i.imgur.com/IJheTZs.jpg

14. Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose (2013)
73 points, 3 votes, 1 No. 1 vote.

My #1!

This album was an instant classic for me the first time I heard it. The only drawback, but also its strength, is its relative brevity.

xxxp I left out Cline, Parton, Lynn, Emmylou and some other obviously world-class/poll-topping choices, to make room for ones I thought deserved more exposure than they were likely to get, given that Indexed was expecting so few ballots. Agree w Keyes that Maren is one of the best in her area of activity (Herois her most consistent alb so far, despite never playing it safe on subsequent outings).

Good choices -- love them both, though am partial to The Way I'm Livin'.

https://i.imgur.com/kBE8EPN.jpg

13. Dolly Parton - Coat of Many Colors (1971)
74 points, 4 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/McTSa6B.jpg

12. Lucinda Williams - Lucinda Williams (1988)
77 points, 3 votes.

those are two i can't believe i didn't vote for. LOVE both of 'em. i met Neko, she was selling merch outside her tour bus after a show in sf on FRL tour. she seemed like a absolute sweetie. that was phase one of my fandom.

Our first album to earn five votes just turned ten. Relistening recently, I was struck by its quaintness; hard to think of another artist that saw such a meteoric rise over the last decade. I was lucky to see her on this tour, and the crowd was hyper engaged, singing along with every song, even the ones she had worked on for other artists.

https://i.imgur.com/issofmF.jpg

11. Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer Different Park (2013)
82 points, 5 votes.

Top 10!

https://i.imgur.com/X1n6oaO.jpg

10. Neko Case - Blacklisted (2002)
107 points, 4 votes.

shocked to see coat of many colors that low! thought it may well be number 1.

My slightly contrarian opinion is that Hero is better than Same Trailer Different Park.

Like a Rose is immaculate. Ashley Monroe is great, I even love the duet she did with Train.

I don't know that Lee Ann Womack record though, I will rectify that now!

Speaking of Monroe...

https://i.imgur.com/f4UTYys.jpg

Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels (2011)
114 points, 7 votes.

This was definitely a holy shit moment for me!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvc2xmTXeiY

The Ashley Monroe, Womack, and Williams albums are some of the best albums I've heard, and they never stop resonating. I know what you mean, omar, but Like a Rose's brevity works on its behalf: it keeps me wanting me more.

My #1, an album I have played too many times to count...

https://i.imgur.com/HfCurGM.jpg

TIE 7. Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2007)
117 points, 5 votes, 1 No. 1 vote.

completely agreed on the brevity of like a rose Alfred.

This Lee Ann Womack record is fantastic, I missed a lot of country music from about 2005-2010 at the time, I need to rectify that.

I think the sense that Like a Rose at 32 minutes is perhaps overly brief is a modern construct. Nearly every Dolly & Loretta album I know is ~26-30 minutes long, and that's the format Monroe seemed to be intentionally nodding to (if "You Ain't Dolly" was a clue). I'll take a perfect 9-song 32 minute album over a 12-song 45 minute album that loses steam or wears thin any day.

Yep.

https://i.imgur.com/N5nYj32.jpg

TIE 7. Linda Ronstadt - Heart Like a Wheel (1974)
117 points, 6 votes.

Lambert's third and fourth albums sugfer from grueling lengths; I can hear her looking for a hit.

Agreed. Love her to pieces, but I'd happily cut at least one track from every album after the first two. Interestingly, if Wikipedia is right, Heart Like a Wheel is 31:40, Like a Rose is 31:50.

Re: like a rose I’m not really complaining, it’s hard to imagine how it could be improved and obv it’s my number one so it’s all good!

It’s always good to remember how brief studio albums used to be. Double albums now are often considered to be two hour affairs whereas something like exile on main st (the best double album) is a mere 66 min iirc?

Another bluegrass classic. Very pleased to see it do as well as it did.

https://i.imgur.com/zB95mhB.jpg

6. Patty Loveless - Mountain Soul (2001)
118 points, 5 votes, 1 No. 1 vote.

Indexed, bravo for putting this together. I am ashamed to admit that while I thought about this poll a lot (and contributed as much as I could to the discussion) in the end, I just couldn't manage to organize my thoughts and vote.

As it happens, it wouldn't have mattered that much - the right artists won, in pretty much the right order. There was never much doubt about who would be in the top few. The only big surprise here, for me, is the high finish for Miranda Lambert, who was not really on my radar screen. I might have registered a single vote for a few lesser-known artists but it wouldn't have budged the overall result much. Glad Cheri Knight is in there, she is a fave.

I think we all knew Dolly was always going to be in first, although I, too, prefer Patsy. A tragic figure, a great artist.

Thanks! 5 to go...

https://i.imgur.com/OKwupmb.png

5. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour (2018)
124 points, 5 votes.

Love this one. Breezy and summery and really beautiful-sounding.

Really have no idea about the top 4 after this one. Beyond maybe one album.

ended up putting Golden Hour higher than I expected, not that it didn't deserve it though. Superb record.

https://i.imgur.com/Mevgf9b.jpg

4. Rosanne Cash - King's Record Shop (1987)
142 points, 5 votes, 1 No. 1 vote.

https://i.imgur.com/HrjjdTm.jpg

3. Miranda Lambert - The Weight of These Wings (2016)
143 points, 5 votes.

Two classics there…didn’t make my ballot but maybe would on another day.

https://i.imgur.com/vowF6c8.jpg

2. Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (1998)
183 points, 7 votes.

voted those three all very high! King's Record Shop was my number one.

i really don't know what might win now, The Chicks and Shania are not getting this high I assume, Gillian Welch? A Different Loretta album? Jean Shepard? LeAnn Rimes?

https://i.imgur.com/efP0eln.jpg

1. Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator) (2001)
186 points, 7 votes, 2 No. 1 votes.

I had the great fortune to see her and David Rawlings live about ten years ago and left feeling both buzzed and humbled by their immense talent. I thought about that show for weeks after the fact. Easily among the most affecting live music experiences I've had.

I hadn't heard the Loveless.

I've always appreciated that the type on the cover of Car Wheels On a Gravel Road looks like its slowly falling off with each new bump the car hits.

I bought Car Wheels and YLT's And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out: the promise and the vague unease of twilight.

Car Wheels is a fine, fine record that (for me) still holds up.

Listening to Nanci Griffith because of this thread and wanted to share this fine duet with Iris DeMent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5ZFXVYTgNQ

Nice! DeMent's a champ as a harmonist. A Lightfoot cover, no?

Yes, Other Voices is a covers record, and I am pretty sure it was my intro to Griffith.

I still love her versions of "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness," "Night Rider's Lament," and "Across the Great Divide."

Speaking of duets with DeMent, this also reminds of what xgau sed:

In Spite of Ourselves [Oh Boy, 1999]
After two years of cancer treatments underwritten by George Strait's version of a throwaway written with Roger "I'd Like To Teach the World To Sing" Cook, the cheating songs and Nashville novelties on this duet album are a perfect way for Prine to keep his hand in until his muse feels as glad to be alive as he does. Every one of his helpmates--not just Trisha Yearwood and Emmylou Harris and Dolores Keane and Lucinda Williams, but creaky old Connie Smith and Melba Montgomery, and also feisty young Fiona Prine--pretties up his soundscape. But the costar is Iris DeMent, who kills on both the Bobby Braddock cornpone of "(We're Not) The Jet Set" (rhymes with "Chevro-let set") and the conflicted spouse-swapping of the impossible old George & Melba hit "Let's Invite Them Over"--as well as Prine's only new copyright, the title track, in which a husband and wife who love each other to death paint totally different pictures of their marriage. A

that compilation is so good!! i love it so much

The entire lack of placement of Mary Chapin Carpenter makes me a little bit sad I couldn't get it together to put a ballot together.

I’m kind of surprised that Platinum didn’t show up, that year it was almost regarded as Miranda Lambert’s big statement. Maybe it’s been kind of overshadowed a bit by her follow ups? Retrospectively I think it’s a bit more inconsistent than a lot of the others on this list but I did give it a vote.

Love that Gillian Welch album and voted for it - still surprised to see it at #1! But maybe unlike Patsy, Dolly, Emmylou and Miranda there is broader consensus around which is her best album, so there was less vote splitting.

Patsy was my #1. True about greatest hits comps for artists of this era, but many of her greatest greatest hits are on Showcase.

Oh yeah, DeMent got back with Prine on this one---from Scene ballot comments on 2016 releases:

John Prine, For Better Or Worse: got this pegged as About Half Good, the usual good being when his duet partner takes off and leaves him modestly/dgaf murmuring along in the background, but also for instance Iris DeMent and Amanda Shires know how to get the repartee started, and he plays catch pretty well.

XXP Miranda's got so many heavy hitters---it's hard to pick one.

Greg, I feel ya; MCC is a favorite of mine but I am not sure to what extent she should be shelved as country

I'll be starting the track rollout today with 46 tracks receiving at least 40 points. If someone wants to make a Spotify playlist, I'd be grateful, though I'm guessing most are on the noms list that I linked to in the first post.

https://i.imgur.com/xCCz6bN.jpg

TIE 45. Kathleen Edwards - "In State" (2005)
40 points, 1 vote, 1 No. 1 vote.

https://i.imgur.com/Ix3Gp7E.jpg

TIE 45. Shania Twain - "No One Needs to Know"
40 points, 1 vote, 1 No. 1 vote.

^ (1996)

hey there is my number one!

great work on the visuals btw.

Thanks!

https://i.imgur.com/syh4KoL.jpg

44. The Judds - "Change of Heart" (1988)
41 points, 2 votes.

"No One Needs to Know" didn't make my ballot, but it's probably my favorite Shania Twain song

also this poll reminded me to listen to Jo-Carol Pierce's album Bad Girls Upset By The Truth and though its not quite country (though its maybe a country musical) it is still one of the best and funniest albums I've ever heard.

https://i.imgur.com/jTjRIOF.jpg

43. Dolly Parton - "Down from Dover" (1970)
43 points, 2 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/41x0Tf3.jpg

TIE 40. Bobbie Gentry - "Fancy" (1969)
44 points, 2 votes.

“In state” was my number 1, just a pretty key song for me that stood out subjectively among many candidates. She’s got so many devastatingly great songs beyond this one obv will be curious to see if any others make it.

I voted for this one. Curious to see whether Reba McEntire's version also places

Here’s a Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7ybNnTU39zz0ErbY0Dh47p?si=h7YbN04BT1yv6AUNTX8qsQ

xpost yeah, it's hard for me to choose between the versions

Thank you pgwp!

https://i.imgur.com/YvYURzi.jpg

TIE 40. Kathleen Edwards - "Six O'Clock News" (2002)
44 points, 2 votes.

I don’t know this album or tune very well, gotta revisit it.

I voted for it -- my clear favorite of her many great tunes. The lyrics are out of a Cormac McCarthy novel and have some devastating lines. Brilliant last chorus, too: "Now you're lying dead on the avenue/ And I can't feel my broken heart."

I also voted for this gem, which again, iirc she recorded at age 11!

https://i.imgur.com/3aF9K3L.jpg

TIE 40. LeAnn Rimes - "Blue" (1996)
44 points, 2 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/jcwtwjd.jpg

39. Sara Evans - "A Real Fine Place to Start" (2005)
45 points, 2 votes.

Another of my votes and another song McCarthy might like, come to think of it. As mentioned in the voting thread, the chorus of this song is what immediately pops into my head when I think of her.

https://i.imgur.com/QgAp8Hf.jpg

38. Neko Case - "Deep Red Bells" (2002)
48 points, 3 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/qJ0U3RE.jpg

37. Loretta Lynn - "You Ain't Woman Enough" (1966)
49 points, 3 votes.

Fans of this song and/or Paramore should revisit their/Hayley Williams's stripped down cover from the 2010 compilation Coal Miner's Daughter: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn.

https://i.imgur.com/IWMZpS6.jpg

36. Trisha Yearwood - "She's in Love with the Boy" (1991)
50 points, 4 votes.

^^^ catchy little thing

https://i.imgur.com/cD2LtF9.jpg

35. Tammy Wynette - "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" (1968)
51 points, 3 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/sBcjSwC.jpg

34. The Davis Sisters - "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know" (1953)
52 points, 2 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/OmpZyxu.jpg

TIE 30. Pam Tillis - "Maybe It Was Memphis" (1991)
53 points, 2 votes.

that Davis Sisters song is great, was a last cut from my ballot

https://i.imgur.com/GSJc0VQ.jpg

TIE 30. Sunny Sweeney - "From a Table Away" (2010)
53 points, 2 votes, 1 No. 1 vote.

https://i.imgur.com/95JRlAB.jpg

TIE 30. Iris DeMent - "Our Town" (1992)
53 points, 3 votes.

Maybe not surprising... at the Chicks show I went to last summer, this was the song that elicited the most excitement from the crowd, by good measure.

https://i.imgur.com/gzVUntj.jpg

TIE 30. The Chicks - "Goodbye Earl" (2000)
53 points, 3 votes.

Listening to these songs as I commute to work.

Kathleen Edwards is not someone I was too familiar with prior to this poll and both of these tracks are great, especially “Six O’Clock News”. Excited to dig into her albums.

Shania, alongs with a few others here, is from that era of mainstream country in the 90s that I completely rejected at the time. My taste perspective just hadn’t opened yet at that point. I still get some residual knee jerk hives with her biggest hits but this song is a joy. Leann Rimes’ “Blue” is from that same era though hearing it now it feels timeless.

Of the first handful of tracks here maybe the Judds
is the only one that doesn’t really resonate with me. It’s fine but doesn’t stand out amidst these others.

Oh and this Sara Evans song I’ve never heard before. All I can do is sing Katy Perry “Hot n Cold” when I hear this chorus.

https://i.imgur.com/QftOwEm.jpg

29. Jeannie C. Riley - "Harper Valley P.T.A." (1968)
55 points, 4 votes.

Kathleen Edwards took a few years off from making music after her Justin Vernon-produced album, and came back with a really great album a couple years ago which probably won’t be represented in this poll but has some classic cuts.

Sara Evans is comfort food for me, her sound isn’t groundbreaking but she really pulls it off so well when she’s on.

“Blue” is from that same era though hearing it now it feels timeless.

for good reason — it was written in 1958!

also this poll reminded me to listen to Jo-Carol Pierce's album Bad Girls Upset By The Truth and though its not quite country (though its maybe a country musical) it is still one of the best and funniest albums I've ever heard.

― Will (kruezer2), Thursday, March 23, 2023

Can't believe there were only two votes for From a Table Away. I thought that was an ILM fave.

Been playing Sunny's Married Alone more and more: may well be her most consistent ever (trying not to get equally hooked into re-re-replaying the complete works, few though they be)

xpost Great deep dive; she did a lot of stuff I didn't know about: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2022/12/08/jo-carol-pierce-austin-death-obituary-wellington-jimmie-dale-gilmore-bad-girls/69703288007/

Your pollrunner's #1...

https://i.imgur.com/qYsyj0F.jpg

TIE 27. Kacey Musgraves - "Merry Go 'Round" (2012)
56 points, 2 votes, 1 No. 1 vote.

https://i.imgur.com/pb6TEqh.jpg

TIE 27. Reba McEntire - "Fancy" (1991)
56 points, 3 votes.

"here's your one chance" proven wrong

https://i.imgur.com/hu6s9oR.jpg

26. Loretta Lynn - "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)" (1966)
61 points, 3 votes.

Been playing Sunny's Married Alone more and more: may well be her most consistent ever (trying not to get equally hooked into re-re-replaying the complete works, few though they be)

― dow, Thursday, March 23, 2023 11:54 AM (twenty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Somehow never listened to this last year? Playing now and loving it, thanks.

https://i.imgur.com/hV1jScJ.jpg

TIE 24. Dolly Parton - "9 to 5" (1980)
64 points, 2 votes.

Regret not voting for this

https://i.imgur.com/UVTxNtN.jpg

TIE 24. Patsy Cline - "Walkin' After Midnight" (1957)
64 points, 3 votes.

Man this Sunny Sweeney album does not miss. Thanks again, dow.

Think I'll do a few more today and then will close out with the top 20 tomorrow.

https://i.imgur.com/8QdHVlK.jpg

23. Tammy Wynette - "Stand By Your Man" (1968)
65 points, 4 votes.

Seems only right to post these together. See you all tomorrow for the Top 20!

https://i.imgur.com/nYrpY9Q.jpg

TIE 21. Linda Ronstadt - "Willin'" (1974)
66 points, 3 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/XgkgKEq.jpg

TIE 21. Linda Ronstadt - "When Will I Be Loved (1974)
66 points, 4 votes.

xxxxpost you're welcome, and yeah I just keep noticing or focusing more on details of singing, writing, arranging, playing-- her-Nashville cats are just so spot on, and in the moment, however many takes it may have taken.

A long time ago I used to go in this mostly old man's bar in the city mainly because it still had Ronstadt's "I fallll, to pieces" on the jukebox---haven't heard it in a while, but still gives me goosebumps. Ditto Canciones de Mi Padre Deluxe last year and this. Some good prev. unreleased on the Trio box of several years back. Still want to get into her Stone Poneys albs, and more of the ones in Spanish.

I absolutely adore "Six O'clock News" but I probably prefer "Hockey Skates" as a song. There are multiple versions - one from Failer and a different one from an alt-country compilation (maybe Rounder? I don't remember) about 2001.

Playlist is now updated.

Apologies in advance but I’ll probably be very slow to update the playlist tomorrow.

Good morning and happy last day to you all! Though all of the top 20 songs are superb, I get to kick things off with one of my personal favorites, a beguiling masterpiece of songwriting and charming bit of wisdom from a sui generis artist who just released a fine new album you should check out.

https://i.imgur.com/jQT67TQ.jpg

20. Iris DeMent - "Let the Mystery Be" (1992)
67 points, 3 votes.

To think my first exposure was when 10,000 Maniacs + David Byrne covered it during the former's Unplugged set.

And another debut album Track 1

https://i.imgur.com/qPV4xWj.jpg

19. Miranda Lambert - "Kerosene" (2005)
69 points, 4 votes.

yeeeah

She would record better albums but often "Kerosene" sounds to me like her best single: a statement of purpose.

One side effect of listening to the nominations playlist a bunch this month: this earwormy single was repeatedly stuck in my head

https://i.imgur.com/B4knxAz.jpg

18. The Judds - "Why Not Me" (1984)
70 points, 4 votes.

Also their best.

I found it impossible to pick one or two Lambert tracks, but agree "Kerosene" is as good a choice as any.

The main thing I am learning here is that I need to get into Miranda Lambert

^ making the whole endeavor worthwhile!

Another track I ranked very high. My first exposure was on Rhino's great Left of the Dial boxset

https://i.imgur.com/5i5QRhf.jpg

17. Lone Justice - "Ways to Be Wicked" (1985)
72 points, 3 votes.

"Kerosene" was a definitely the right single choice to kill off any stigma of coming on off of a reality singing show

Ha, I forget she did that...she lost though, right?

I think people underrate Miranda's first album because it had a bit more of a radio friendly sound, but there are so many great moments-- I still get chill from "Catch it in a mason jar and with holes in the top/ And RUN LIKE HELL to show it off"

yeah, "Me and Charlie Talking" is fantastic.

It also has some really freaking cool, idiosyncratic tracks like "I Wanna Die": "If you're handin' out misery/ I'll be the first in line/ If you're the death of me darlin'/ I wanna die".

Dammit, y'all. I gotta play it again.

Speaking of cool...

https://i.imgur.com/PZQ8bj8.jpg

16. Loretta Lynn - "Fist City" (1968)
76 points, 5 votes.

At least Nashville Star led her to write "What About Georgia":

“That’s about (fellow ‘Nashville Star’ contestant) Travis Howard. Travis wrote a ‘dating’ song about me. It was called ‘Train Wreck.’ It says, ‘you’re just a train wreck and I’m a penny on the tracks.’

He sent it to me from L.A. That was like a shock to my heart. I thought, ‘OK. All right.’ I was so angry about him writing a song like that about me, I thought, ‘You know what? He’s the one who left home and forgot about everyone. What about that?’

My mom and I were on the way to Houston. On the way, I got out my guitar and wrote ‘What About Georgia’ in, like, an hour. That’s my favorite of all my songs.”

that is def a game miranda will win every time

love her

Didn't know that or even that he was on Nashville Star, too! I am a fan of nearly every song he either wrote for her or with her on her early albums and wish they'd stuck together as a songwriting team.

Coincidentally coming in at #15 in both our artists and tracks poll...

https://i.imgur.com/zEGEsep.jpg

15. Kitty Wells - "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" (1952)
77 points, 4 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/RbGaiXa.jpg

14. Deana Carter - "Strawberry Wine" (1996)
81 points, 4 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/fRhAUIR.jpg

13. Connie Smith - "Once a Day" (1964)
86 points, 4 votes.

that's a good one

https://i.imgur.com/4EQC1J4.jpg

TIE 11. Loretta Lynn - "Coal Miner's Daughter" (1970)
90 points, 4 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/IrgEqSH.jpg

TIE 11. Dolly Parton - "Coat of Many Colors" (1971)
90 points, 4 votes, 1 No. 1 vote.

Our top 10 begins with fireworks

https://i.imgur.com/yBzu93g.jpg

10. Martina McBride - "Independence Day" (1994)
95 points, 6 votes.

"Independence Day" is as ringing as "Kerosene." It's not Martina McBride's fault that she never topped it.

Surely not our last Patsy track to place?

https://i.imgur.com/BqKLqV6.jpg

TIE 8. Patsy Cline - "I Fall to Pieces" (1961)
98 points, 4 votes, 1 No. 1 vote.

https://i.imgur.com/FXpcECd.jpg

TIE 8. Bobbie Gentry - "Ode to Billie Joe" (1967)
98 points, 5 votes.

Love her dynamics on this

https://i.imgur.com/tiB5N4S.jpg

7. Patsy Cline - "She's Got You" (1962)
101 points, 6 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/C9FpPb2.jpg

6. Skeeter Davis - "The End of the World" (1962)
102 points, 5 votes, 1 No. 1 vote.

https://i.imgur.com/TGzsxPg.jpg

5. Tanya Tucker - "Delta Dawn" (1972)
106 points, 7 votes.

Back to back jams.

https://i.imgur.com/V45HIUK.jpg

4. The Carter Family - "Wildwood Flower" (1928)
110 points, 5 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/KI3zxku.jpg

3. Rosanne Cash - "Seven Year Ache" (1981)
123 points, 6 votes.

https://i.imgur.com/zBSzXwa.jpg

2. Patsy Cline - "Crazy" (1961)
131 points, 6 votes.

too low!

rooting for Redneck Woman for #1

https://i.imgur.com/bBaOehp.jpg

1. Dolly Parton - "Jolene" (1973)
143 points, 6 votes, 1 No. 1 vote.

And that's a wrap. Thanks again to all who voted! I know we only had 17 ballots, but I am quite proud of the results and think they're mighty fine. Someone with a blind spot here would do well to start with these artists, albums, and tracks.

If you'd like to see the full list of artists, albums, and tracks that received votes, I've further built out the google doc linked to in the first post.

You can find it here.

On the artists tab, you'll note four new columns of data that show the total count of distinct albums and tracks that received votes, and the total count of votes, that each artist received. This includes a tally for each member of a group.

If anyone would like their ballot retrieved, please let me know.

Thanks following along!

Oh and here's an imgur post with all the images from the rollout: https://imgur.com/a/zNskqsU

Thank for running this Indexed! The results are a good mix of classic, contemporary and alt.

Agreed, it's been a delight. I wish I had voted.

Thanks, Indexed. These results are fair, and they reflect a decent 21st century perspective on these artists and this work.

Two weeks ago I thought Dolly would be #1 and she was. I thought "Jolene" would win and it did. Was there a decent amount of respect for relative newcomers like Ms. Musgraves? There was. Did legendary performers get recognized? They did. How about comparatively quirky alt-songstresses? Yep.

The real winners were the friends we made on the journey.

"Independence Day" is as ringing as "Kerosene." It's not Martina McBride's fault that she never topped it.

Back in 2005 I made a mix CD for various friends and relations. First track was "Independence Day." Second was "Kerosene." I called the CD "Love Goes To Building On Fire."

Throw in "Before He Cheats" for more property damage

Here are my fairly hive-mindy ballots, all three mixed, bold dnp:

--Artists--
Miranda Lambert
Emmylou Harris
Patsy Cline
The Chicks
Dolly Parton
Loretta Lynn
The Carter Family
Kacey Musgraves
Taylor Swift
Neko Case
Iris DeMent
Kathleen Edwards
Alison Krauss
Patty Griffin

Linda Ronstadt
Lori McKenna
Lucinda Williams
Lee Ann Womack
Wanda Jackson
k.d. lang
Tammy Wynette
Gillian Welch
Lone Justice
The Judds
Kasey Chambers
Shania Twain
Natalie Hemby
Kelly Willis
Rosanne Cash
Ashley Monroe

--Albums--
Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
The (Dixie) Chicks - Fly
Emmylou Harris - Roses in the Snow
Patty Griffin - Living With Ghosts
Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour

Linda Ronstadt - Heart Like A Wheel
Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Miranda Lambert - Kerosene
Lee Ann Womack - The Way I'm Livin'
Tanya Tucker - Would You Lay With Me
Iris DeMent - Infamous Angel
Loretta Lynn - Writes 'Em and 'Sings Em
Pistol Annies - Hell On Heels
Dolly Parton - Coat of Many Colors
Patsy Cline - Showcase
Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt - Trio
Kathleen Edwards - Asking for Flowers
Roseanne Cash - King's Record Shop
Emmylou Harris - Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town
Cam - Untamed
Taylor Swift - Fearless
Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose
k.d. lang - Shadowland
Patty Loveless - Mountain Soul
Freakwater - Springtime
The Judds - Why Not Me
The Chicks - Wide Open Spaces
Maren Morris - Hero
Lone Justice - Lone Justice
Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

--Tracks--
Kacey Musgraves - Merry Go 'Round
Lone Justice - Ways to Be Wicked
Iris DeMent - Let The Mystery Be
Linda Ronstadt - Willin'
Emmylou Harris - Easy from Now On
Kathleen Edwards - Six O'Clock News
Sara Evans - Suds in the Bucket
Emily Scott Robinson - The Dress
The Judds - Why Not Me
Gillian Welch & Alison Krauss - I'll Fly Away
The Chicks - Goodbye Earl

Loretta Lynn - You Ain't Woman Enough
Dolly Parton - Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)
Kate Wolf - Across the Great Divide
Dolly Parton - I Will Always Love You
Skeeter Davis - The End of the World
Jo Dee Messina - I'm Alright
Mary Ford & Les Paul - How High the Moon
Trisha Yearwood - She's in Love with the Boy
LeAnn Rimes - Blue
Patsy Cline - Walkin' After Midnight
Jill Andrews - These Words
Neko Case - Deep Red Bells
Patty Loveless - Blame It On Your Heart
Katie Pruitt - Expectations
Martina McBride - Independence Day
Patsy Cline - Crazy
Ashley McBryde - Girl Goin' Nowhere
Tanya Tucker - Delta Dawn
Tammy Wynette - Stand By Your Man

thanks so much for running this poll, Indexed - this was great

also kudos for being the other vote for "Blame It On Your Heart." what a tune!

thanks indexed, this was fun, lots of stuff i loved and plenty that i can check out as well!

certainly can't complain about Jolene winning!

Didn't vote, mainly because of ignorance, but really enjoyed the rollout. Got more from the lower reaches to be honest - some of the more traditional country stuff is a step too far for me for whatever reason. Maybe it'll click next time.

I hear you, Chinaski. I tend to have e.g. Kitty Wells and Wanda Jackson in my head as influences, not as daily listening fodder.

Definitely more likely to put on Margo Price or Honeycutters than, say, Bobbie Gentry.

I will never not love Patsy, though. She has my entire heart. One rainy night in Richmond, Virginia in 1991 I was sad because of a minor romantic setback, and I stopped into a convenience store to get some beer (underage). The clerk had Patsy's greatest hits on the PA system, and I ended up staying for five songs. I went up to the clerk and said, "thanks, man," pointing up at the speakers.

The guy nodded with full understanding and said, "Patsy. She'll tell ya all ya need to know."

I think about that a lot.

No kidding, crut, how did "Blame It On Your Heart" not get more love?

Agreed on Patsy, Puffin. Like Dolly, she seems to transcend somehow.

Indeed. I drive through Winchester a couple times a year and everybody in the car knows what I'm going to say.

I turn around and say, "Hey, did you kno-

"Yeah, DAD, we KNOW. Patsy Cline was from here." Audible eyerolls.

Sometimes I mix things up and pretend that I was actually going to say something about the tomb of Lord Fairfax, or George Washington's surveying office.

A high point of my musical career was playing a gig at Smoketown Brewing in Brunswick, Maryland purely because Patsy performed there when it was a firehouse.

I followed this with great interest even though I wasn't able to pull together a ballot in time. If I'd have voted "I Was Country if Country Wasn't Cool" by Barbara Mandrell would have been high on my ballot as would have some song or other by Sara Evans and an album or two by Mary Chapin Carpenter. Otherwise the consensus was pretty darn good.

Updated the tracks playlist. Thanks Indexed for running this poll! And thanks for publishing the list of all the nominated tracks—eventually I’ll make that playlist too as I’m sure there’s much to discover

huge thanks to indexed +all. i did not vote and kept my mouth shut. digging into playlists/picks now.

pgwp— i would be glad to help with that but don't want to overstep any bounds. i know nothing about this music, but i'm good at spotify and feel like i owe something back to everyone. let me know.

or wait— isn't that what this is?

in any case, now or in the future: if anyone wants help compiling these sorts of playlists please let me know i'm glad to help.

thanks again, all!

thank you Indexed and other participants! excellent poll already has had me discovering artists and records i love and was unfamiliar with. can tell will be in this rabbit whole for some time.

I was 17 when Strawberry Wine came out

But nowadays:

The fields have grown over now
Years since they've seen the plow
There's nothing time hasn't touched
Is it really him or the loss of my innocence?
I've been missing so much

Ooh yeah.

I did my ballot in chronological order of recording, not nec. release date (exception is the Canciones Deluxe 2022 at the end, because "Logo Azul" is an add to the vision). To save slots, I've listed Pistol Annies rather than Annies' solo sets, likewise w Lynne & Moorer's duet set, also double-live Chicks is their most expansive comp up to that point (2003), and so on. Just the albums I actually remember, with a balance of those that deserve more exposure, and the better-known artists/albums that I just couldn't resist. Here 'tis:

1.Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard: Sing Me Back Home: The DC Tapes 1965-1969

2.Linda Martell: Color Me Country

3.Lone Justice: This Is Lone Justice: The Vaught Tapes 1983

4.Trailer Bride: Whine De Lune

5.The Mollys: Hat Trick

6..Gillian Welch: Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs Vol, 1-3

7.The Chicks: Top Of The World Tour Live

8..Terri Clark: Greatest Hits 1994-2004

9..Freakwater: Thinking Of You

10..Jessi Colter: Out Of The Ashes

11.Lydia Loveless: The Only Man

12.Pistol Annies: Hell On Heels

13.Wanda Jackson: The Party Ain’t Over

14.Iris DeMent: Sing The Delta

15.Carlene Carter: Carter Girl

16.The Delines: Colfax

17.Maren Morris: Hero

18.Whitney Rose: Rule 62

19.Shelby Lynne & Allison Moorer: Not Dark Yet

20.Elizabeth Cook: Aftermath

21.Ashley McBryde: Never Will

22.Gretchen Peters: The Night You Wrote That Song: The Songs Of Mickey Newbury

23.Lainey Wilson: Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’

24.Mickey Guyton: Remember her Name

25.Morgan Wade: Reckless Deluxe

26. Melissa Carper: Daddy’s Country Gold

27.Ingrid Andress: Good Person

28.Linda Ronstadt: Canciones De Mi Padre

29..Brennen Leigh: Obsessed With The West

30. Pillbox Patti: Florida

Dammit, Deluxe didn't make it through the paste on 28. sorry.
Frank Kogan asked me what 16. was, and I answered:

Delines on Colfax Avenue: seedy lowkey glory, cruising through another day and night in old bad-cough Nashville, Birmingham, Chicago, wherever, not nec cruising in the sexual-to-romantic sense, though that does happen, but also looking for work, for a wayward family member, also going to work, or a date: my central Scene ballot comment had to do with Piper Laurie and Paul Newman, "two lucky pennies," across from each other in a booth, backlit by gray sunlight of the diner window, before things go more sideways in The Hustler.

This was my ballot (tracks, weighted, best first). I've added links where I thought they'd be useful.

Skeeter Davis - The End Of The World
Bobbie Gentry - Ode To Billy Joe
LeAnn Rimes - Blue
The Carter Family - Wildwood Flower
Terri Gibbs - Somebody's Knockin'
Dolly Parton - Down From Dover
Miranda Lambert - Kerosene
Coon Creek Girls - Pretty Polly
Haley Georgia - Becky
Reba McEntire - Fancy
Ashley Monroe - Siren
Faith Hill - One
Taylor Swift - You're Not Sorry
Taylor Swift - Should've Said No
Bonnie Guitar - Grey Rain Years
Sarah Buxton - Stupid Boy
The Chicks - Goodbye Earl
The Collins Kids - Shortnin' Bread Rock
Sunny Sweeney - From A Table Away
Loretta Lynn - Saint To A Sinner
Tammy Wynette - D-I-V-O-R-C-E
Cassadee Pope - Wasting All These Tears
Deveigh Chase - The Happiest Girl In The Whole U.S.A.
Norma Jean - The Gambler And The Lady
Patsy Cline - She's Got You
Jan Howard - Bad Seed
Carrie Underwood - Before He Cheats
Kacey Musgraves - Blowin' Smoke
Martina McBride - Independence Day
Sara Evans - Suds In The Bucket

My ballot, all categories, weighted:

Dolly Parton
Emmylou Harris
Kathleen Edwards
Neko Case
Gillian Welch
Patsy Cline
Tammy Wynette
Ashley Monroe
Kacey Musgraves
Angaleena Presley
Pistol Annies
Rhiannon Giddens
Kitty Wells
Lilly Hiatt
Bobbie Gentry
Maren Morris
Amanda Shires
Freakwater
Lee Ann Womack
Miranda Lambert
Alison Krauss
Jessi Colter
Lydia Loveless
Whitney Rose
Brennen Leigh
Jean Shepherd
Dottie West
Sunny Sweeney
Billie Jo Spears
Lynn Anderson

Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose
Neko Case - Blacklisted
Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
Freakwater - Old Paint
Rhiannon Giddens - Freedom Highway
Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers
Maren Morris - Hero
Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator)
Emmylou Harris - The Ballad of Sally Rose
Emmylou Harris/Dolly Parton/Linda Ronstadt - Trio
Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels
Miranda Lambert - Platinum
Dolly Parton - Little Sparrow
Angaleena Presley - American Middle Class
Neko Case - Furnace Room Lullaby
Neko Case - The Tigers Have Spoken
Whitney Rose - Route 62
Emmylou Harris - Live at the Ryman
Ashley Monroe - The Blade
Lydia Loveless - Real
Lilly Hiatt - Walking Proof
Emmylou Harris - Roses In the Snow
Amanda Shires - Take It Like a Man
The Highwomen- The Highwomen
Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Angaleena Presley - Wrangled
Emmylou Harris - Luxury Liner
Brennen Leigh - Obsessed With the West
Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Lee Ann Womack - The Way I’m Livin’

Kathleen Edwards - In State
Ashley Monroe - The Morning After
Catherine Irwin - Hex
Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
Patsy Cline - Back in Baby’s Arms
Kathleen Edwards - Hard on Everyone
Whitney Rose - Wake Me In Wyoming
Kathleen Edwards - I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory
Connie Smith - Once a Day
Freakwater - Gone to Stay
Neko Case - I Missed the Point
Angaleena Presley - Dry County Blues
Maren Morris - My Church
Tammy Wynette - Crying Steel Guitar
Caitlyn Smith - I Can’t
Miranda Lambert - Famous in a Small Town
Nikki Lane - Jackpot
Esther Phillips - Release Me
Rhiannon Giddens - At the Purchaser’s Option
Skeeter Davis - Walk Softly Darling
Kitty Wells - Paying for That Back Street Affair
Sara Evans - Suds in the Bucket
Emmylou Harris - Timberline
Ashley Monroe - I’m Good at Leavin’
Michaela Anne - By Our Design
Linda Martell - I Almost Called Your Name
Jean Shepherd - You Win Again
Dottie West - In Its Own Little Way
Lynn Anderson - A Million Shades of Blue
Amanda Shires - Lonely at Night

Honestly really love those 3 Kathleen edwards tracks so much any single one of them could have been my number one. 3 vv different songs, on another day I might have preferred the sardonic humor of “I make the dough…” or driving unstoppable but heartbreaking power of “hard on everyone” over the righteously pissed “in state”

Hey Don, did you know I live 2¾ blocks south of Colfax Ave.? Several miles east of the Lions Lair, but the character of the street's the same. 've known people with brother-father-daughter-etc. like the character's in the song.

I bought myself a couple of country records yesterday for $2 apiece: Rosanne Cash’s Somewhere in the Stars (after I’d mentioned it in the bargain bin thread!) and Reba’s Whoever’s In New England. The former isn’t quite on par w Seven Year Ache but it’s excellent, the latter is just about as good as Reba can get. which is to say, incredible.

JUST ANNOUNCED: singer Patty Loveless (@theploveless), songwriter Bob McDill, and singer Tanya Tucker (@tanyatucker) are joining the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Congratulations to the new members-elect.#HonorThyMusic pic.twitter.com/yEySeojErr

— Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (@countrymusichof) April 3, 2023

Congrats to our #13 and #18 artists, who somehow weren't already in the CMHOF?

Excerpt from Natalie Weiner's ACM recap:

The winningest song of the evening was a nearly note-for-note remake of Jo Dee Messina’s “Heads Carolina, Tails California.” It’s not enough for the majority of the songs on country radio to sound similar. Now we’re claiming that there was not a better song in the past year in country music than a toothless rehashing of a nearly 30-year-old single (I’m pro- cover song and pro-answer song, but you’ve gotta give it a little more of a spin than just adding “She had me at!”). At least Jo Dee was there to bask in the afterglow, since her original version didn’t win a single award when it was released in 1996.

You can’t make this stuff up. The only glimpse of relevancy the show offered was the crowning of Lainey Wilson as the new woman country star to beat (we’re only allowed one at a time, remember) — an achievement that I wish could have come closer to when I called it back in 2019 (see 52:50), instead of after she (correctly, smartly and well) established a “bell-bottom country” brand that happens to be contingent on her flaunting her impressive posterior in latex pants. It worked, Lainey Wilson is quite good and fun, all’s well that ends well I suppose!

snagged a copy of Patty Loveless' Mountain Soul in the discount bin, damn what an album.

Somebody was asking about Lone Justice, our crossover stars on here, and the answer was start w the s/t '83 debut, surely true, but also I'll take everything they did in their lifetime, overproduced in that Big 80s way though some of it is, while remaining grateful for the discreetly tweaked, relatively more modern sounding posthumous comps This World Is Not My Home andUltimate Collection.
Omnivore has since come up with some red hots:

Lone Justice — Live At The Palomino, 1983
Lone Justice - The Western Tapes, 1983
Lone Justice - This Is Lone Justice: The Vaught Tapes, 1983

I wasn't aware of Lainey Wilson, but now this song is stuck in my head:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3Rq1kz5Emc

Yeah, that's a real good album too, also previous Sayin' What I'm Thinkin'.

No kidding, crut, how did "Blame It On Your Heart" not get more love?

― Indexed, Friday, March 24, 2023 4:26 PM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

Happy Birthday!

https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/30-years-ago-patty-loveless-takes-crazy-long-chorus-to-1/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rq-1VeiDw8