reccomend some country music

you don't want to live another day w/o this fine record.

Buck Owens, The Carnegie Hall Concert
Gram Parsons, Sacred Hearts & Fallen Angels, The Gram Parsons Anthology
Dwight Yoakam, If There Was a Way

more trad country, good stories? Robert Earl Keen's pretty good. Fred Eaglesmith (esp There Ain't No Easy Road, and Things is Changin'), though I dunno how easy those'll be to find, depending on where you're at. Stompin' Tom Connors! Lots of good stories there...

(For country that is, as for Byrds, I'd rather recommend "The Notorious Byrd Brothers", which was their best moment, but which was considerably less country)

Search: "Right or Wrong," "Time Changes Everything," "Bubbles in My Beer," "Deep in the Heart of Texas" (don't worry -- it's not the Pee-Wee version), "Take Me Back to Tulsa," "Stay All Night (Stay a Little Longer)," "Faded Love," and, as they say in all the commercials, MANY MORE!

You'll thank me. I promise.

Also, I work with a Bob Wills, in his fifties. He had never even heard that there was a musician of that name. How did he live in this world for over 50 years without someone mentioning that?

Holy cow, search Tom T. Hall!

So take my recommendation of Earl Scruggs with that in mind.

"Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" is more country than Uncle Tupelo or Whiskeytown anyway

And you're forgetting that it's rubbish, Geir.

I agree with PJ Miller about the George Jones collection ('Spirit of Country') - superb stuff.

The Byrds cover a number of songs on that record, most of which are better in their original versions. I'm sure you will have a Geir-certified reason why The Byrds are superior, but before you begin typing it, I suggest you look up the following records--this should also serve as a nice country primer for the person who started this thread:

(1) The Louvin Brothers, Satan Is Real ("The Christian Life"). Extraodinary vocal harmony, great original songs, impeccable arrangements with not a moment wasted. See also their best-of, When I Stop Dreaming. Sometimes I think the latter CD is my favorite record of them all.

(2) Merle Travis, Folk Songs of the Hills ("I Am a Pilgrim"). This is the album that introduced "Dark As a Dungeon" and "Sixteen Tons" to the world. Also contains Travis' s arrangements of "I Am a Pilgrim" and "Nine Pound Hammer" which were influential as all get-out. Incedible picking, a very spare sound--a kind of sop to the folk revival audience, but by someone who knew what they were doing.

(3) George Jones, Cup of Loneliness: The Classic Mecury Years ("You're Still on My Mind"). Jones is the virtuouso of postwar country, with the most remarkable way of wringing the most out of a melody and lyric. This double CD set is fucking incredible, with hardly a false step anywhere.

(4) Woody Guthrie, Dust Bowl Ballads ("Pretty Boy Flord"). Well the Byrds were betraying their folkie roots covering this song on a "country" record--except perhaps for The Maddox Brothers and Roses's cover of his "Philadelphia Lawyer," no Woody Guthrie song would come near the Grand Ole Opry--I mean, he was a pinko for chissakes. But while it's not a county album really (although more of one than most are wont to admit), check this out.

(5) Gene Autry, His Greatest Hits ("Blue Canadian Rockies"). This song was sort of a standard, and was adapted by Hank Snow and even Jim Reeves. But Autry's was the first important version, and Autry represents the high point of a great but always unfashionable subgenre of country, the singing cowboys. He had a golden voice, for sure. You also might want to check out the CD Blues Singe: Booger Rooger Saturday Night which has his earliest recordings in a Jimmie Rodgers/Jimmie Davis vein, complete with risqué lyrics and a real bluesy sound (scandalous!)

(6) Merle Haggard, I'm a Lonesome Fugitive ("Life in Prison"). You can't go wrong with nearly any of Merle Haggard's 1960s/early 1970s records, or any of the hits comps that cover this same period. Haggard was a masterful singer and songwriter -- and arranger.

It speaks well of The Byrds that they chose such great material to cover. And their album is hardly an embarrassment, in fact it's rather good. But my favorite moments are all Gram--his first recording of "Hickory Wind," his cover of William Bell's "You Don't Miss Your Water," and of course the glorious "One Hundred Yeas from Now." I think the albums Gram went on to make--The Flying Burrito Brothers's Gilded Palace of Sin and the two solo records--were much better than Sweetheart of the Rodeo. The Burrito Bros record is still country-rock all the way; the two solo records are very much country in form, if a little bit outside country in spirit.

Anyways, Geir, please try these out and see what you think. Keep an open mind.

To everyone else: dig in, you'll love it. It's some of my favorite music in the world and I'm happy as pie to be sharing it with others.

Emmylou Harris: Elite Hotel (great if you love Gram), Luxury Liner for starters

The Carter Family - just dive in

Loretta Lynn - The first disc of the Honky Tonk Girl collection is a wonderful intro to her stuff

Kitty Wells, Ernest Tubb, Roy Acuff, Webb Pierce

And then again, what is my opinion on music with only three (the three usual ones) chords? What is my opinion on music with no key changes and mainly just major chords?

I don't think you will have to search for a long time to find my opinions on that stuff, but I can tell you that most country (in fact most North American music, regardless of genre) is way too harmonically simple for my taste.

i could name a lot more, but i'm tired. i haven't listened to much country in a while. i od'd on it, and now i need to take a break. my brother has told me that when i'm in the mood for some more country i should listen to my morning jacket.

I'd never thought to take this album seriously because the cover is so goofy. It seems there is more to it than the kitsch factor.

after that I'd get:
A good Merle Haggard collection
George Jones ditto (I prefer the schlockier 70s/80s stuff, so I'd say get Anniversary)
Look What Thoughts Can Do -- Lefty Frizzell two-disc best of
The Best of Dolly Parton that came out in the mid-Seventies
a good Loretta Lynn collection
The Essential Tom T. Hall -- The Story Songs
A good Johnny Cash set (his box isn't bad either)
a good Willie Nelson (the new "Essential" may be the best bet -- haven't really looked at the track listing)

avoid Waylon Jennings (too much macho bullshit and he's a bad singer by country standards) and don't sleep on Randy Travis

that's the best I can do off the top of my head, but obviously HANK WILLIAMS!

If you're looking for the Gram Parsons Cosmic American Music, not-really-country stuff:
More a Legend Than a Band -- Flatlanders
Old Paint -- Freakwater (waay under-recognized)
Have Moicy! (hippie bluegrass, sorta)
The Way I Should/My Life -- Iris Dement
Diary of a Mod Housewife -- Amy Rigby (not really country but adult romance/domesticity content + rootsy sound = close enough)

http://www.showandtellmusic.com/images/galleries/gallery%20n/louvin.jpg

What's funny is that the original LP issue came with the story about how Ira Louvin himself conceived of that cover, ordered up the 12-foot Lucifer, arranged the photo shoot (in a junkyard--old tires were set on fire), etc. Either the Louvins were really proud of the cover or Capitol Records wanted to distance themselves from it in the nicest way possible. The title song is spine-chilling though, despite the cover.

btw tom t. hall is one of the few liberals in country music. jimmy carter wrote the liner notes to one of his records!

This is like, seriously, one of the stupidest things I've read on ILM. "avoid Waylon Jennings". I'm still trying to come to terms with stupid arrogant hipsterism. I was actually sort of feeling all happy-boy and accepting of other people's point's of view and whatnot; then doofus-boy "chris herrington" comes along with his "avoid Waylon Jennings".

Dear Baby Jesus: now that you have risen, please smote all hipsters. Amen.

Like seriously, fuck off and shit.

"Luckenbach, Texas" = best song evah.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the outburst.

No one has mentioned Jerry Lee Lewis yet. The Mercury collections have much of his best country stuff.

for the bargain-minded, Killer Country is worth its weight in gold.

The liner notes refer to them as "saga songs", and it includes several well known ones, many of them cheesy (but good). Along those lines you've got 'The Ballad of Davy Crockett', 'Big Bad John', 'The Devil went down to Georgia', 'A boy named Sue' and even 'The Ballad of Jed Clampett' (theme song to the Beverley Hillbillies).

Then you've got a couple more Cash tracks, stuff by Marty Robbins, Lefty Frizell (the great 'Long Black Veil', which the liner notes interpret completely wrongly), 'Pancho and Lefty' by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, and several more country tales.

You can get it on mid-price (I paid $9.99) in the States, but I don't think it's available in the UK. Wouldn't cost too much to order it from the US Amazon site though.

Connie Smith -- http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=9:53:22|AM&sql=Abt65mpbf9f1o
Kitty Wells -- http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=9:52:08|AM&sql=A5fkpu3tkan6k
Loretta Lynn -- http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=9:52:08|AM&sql=Agk5gtq6zbu4a
Patsy Cline -- http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=9:52:08|AM&sql=A8q5tk6kxwkrw

I can handle George Jones records from the late 1960s to the present only in small doses. I have little love for "He Stopped Loving Her Today" which for some reason makes rock critics all wet.

Just wanted to say that.

I've been more tempted by what I've heard of Haggard's recent stuff than Cash's, too.

And Marty Robbins, El Paso, can't be beat.

On the Haggard/Cash question - Merle would probably edge out Johnny if you're looking at their whole careers, for me. But I wouldn't say 'If I could only fly' was better than the recent Cash albums. In the same league, definitely. 'Wishing all these old things were new' is obviously a stand-out.

Funny this comes up -- I picked up the Revenant double disc collection of Feather's stuff last night for cheap, and the liner notes say something about how Jones is a raving Feather fanatic, so hey...

but: really jones a feathers fan? i have that collection at home and will have to see. it sounds unlikely. i do recall a quote from sam phillips saying if feathers didn't move into rockabilly he might've been the next george jones (inbetween the lines: it's sort of lamentable that feathers did move in that direction) and as usual i kinda agree with sam, even if I like charlie's rockabilly stuff.

as for 'the pill,' that was written by shel silverstein (sp?) of "where the sidewalk ends," etc. fame. i think. the idea was that lynn would have a string of "feminist" records to counter the "anti-feminist" records of tammy wynette ("stand by yr man," etc.). i need to hear more l. lynn to be honest.

you lucky fella!

jones's rockin stuff isn't very good, although "white lightnin" is fun.

Recommend more good classic pop-county for folx who like Killer Country.

mr. diamond is right (as usual) about waylon jennings.

Been picking up the Hag twofers I am missing as well. The guy is so damn consistent, it's scary. His "throwaways" and covers on these LPs are better than most people's best songs.

Also recently got the first Joe Ely album, can't believe I never had this. Just as good if not better than "Honky Tonk Masquerade."

this fuckin song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNf3eHJGe70&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHVGfC67eMM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1yKPXZt8U4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU2ntUdbhxc

possibly the biggest song with this subject matter besides maybe "brick" by ben folds five?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuV-Mqik1G8

super into this song lately. everything about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsDwcM--q1w

a perfect 2:24. the harmonies on the outro! so so tight.

not sure if there's another more active non-contemporary country music thread, but just wanted to recommend this excellent disc from Cherry Red sublabel T-Bird, which features 28 tracks that were originally released (as far as i can tell) in the immediate post-war period. sits at the sweet spot of hillbilly boogie and western swing, and many of the tracks have quite sophisticated/urban jazz-inspired arrangements but in spirit and lyric are nevertheless quite down home and feature some super hot guitar and steel solos. tunes by Leon Payne, Clyde Moody, Ray Price, Pee Wee King, Johnnie Lee Wills, and one Calvin Tubb -- who i'm pretty sure is Ernest's brother (in any case did Ernest have a brother with that name), and who sounds quite like him too.

https://www.discogs.com/release/12841546-Various-Early-Country-And-Western-From-Bullet-Records-Nashville

Almost forgot about Jim Bulleit.

Found my posts about him though.

Kind of an overlooked foundational figure

yeah, Bullet only operated for six years (1946-52) but managed to release the very first recordings by Chet Atkins, Ray Price, Sun Ra, B.B. King, and i'm sure there's others

don't know much else about Jim except he co-founded Sun with Sam Phillips, which isn't nothing

I'd take a look at some of Tony Russell's books on country. Country Music Originals is a great overview of the early old timey stuff which is like White Blues.

Proper have done some great CD box sets and individual discs of material across the early decades to at least the 50s.

Buck Owens did some great stuff that I think Ribgo Starr, Gram Parsons and one of the Apollo mission astronauts liked.
Partially because of that Brian Ron's strk for the Apollo documentary has a country tinge which works very well in places. Ambient Country. Deep Blue Day is sublime.

George Jones, Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash should be mandatory. Dolly Parton was a great songwriter so was Kris Kristofferson.

Listening now to Annahstasia's Tether, rec so far to fans of Brandi Carlile, Patty Griffin, with emphasis on voice x acoustic guitar, some distinctive turns eventually, so evident influence of early Joni Mitchell: https://annahstasia.bandcamp.com/album/tether Nice!

(2025 albs of Carlile and Griffin also cool)