Crikey I'm screwed! My mod/soul DJ party has turned into a country one! suggestions needed!

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I know plenty about the insurgent country scene and the newer good stuff from Nashville. But I need more! I need to know what albums I should snag to pad out a nice set of mournful country tunes. Either specific albums or some greatest hits double LPs, whatever. I have Hank Williams' 40 greatest hits LP, and a Bob Wills hits LP....but really, aside from those and Cash and Cline, I'm lost. H'ep me somebody. t-minus 4 days and counting...

― Gear! (Gear!), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 09:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Make sure you have some Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty, Gram Parsons/Flying Burrito Brothers/country Byrds/International Submarine Band, George Morgan, and Lefty Frizzell. That is all. Best-ofs by any of them should be fine.

― Sarah Pedal (call mr. lee), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 13:58 (twenty-one years ago)

you also need tammy wynette, buck owens, freddie fender ("before the last teardrop falls"), maybe some louvin brothers...

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 14:05 (twenty-one years ago)

What are you looking for? I mean, old timey? traditional country? country folk? You cant be without some Jimmie Rodgers(maybe the 'Country Music Hall of Fame'album), I dont know I dont have any full Rodgers albums...some of my other favorites are:

The Carter Family
Louvin Bros.
Porter Wagoner (Best of?)
Doc Watson

newer alt country stuff... The Handsome Family 'Through the Trees'

― nothingleft (nothingleft), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 15:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Louvin Brothers-Satan Is Real!

― Ronan (Ronan), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 16:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Nice list so far, cant go wrong with those. Might add Webb Pierce, and how can you leave out George Jones?

― pete from the street, Wednesday, 3 December 2003 16:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Merle Travis - great party music. Stuff like "So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed."

― Not That Chuck, Wednesday, 3 December 2003 17:19 (twenty-one years ago)

willie nelson

― possible m (mandinina), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 17:21 (twenty-one years ago)

go pop, young man! lee hazelwood (+nancy sinatra, too!) and glen campbell and kenny rogers are musts. if you are running out of records, go easy on yourself and drag out the eagles, elton john (tumblewood connection!!), buffalo springfield and the grateful dead. oh yeah and dick curless and merle haggard and charlie daniels band and skynyrd, too. stay away from dwight yoakam.

of course, if you're dj'ing for people who are into country you'll probably want to ignore this list.

― vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 18:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Kenny Rogers is not a must!

However, I think early Steve Earle is....anything by Dwight Yoakum is definitely!

― Matt Helgeson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 23:10 (twenty-one years ago)

"stay away from Dwight Yoakum"?

― Broheems (diamond), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 23:13 (twenty-one years ago)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004SZVS.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

― Charles McCain (Charles McCain), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 23:32 (twenty-one years ago)

um. that was my *faux country* list for *faux country* parties. dwight yoakam not faux enough for my taste. (faux pas?)

― vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 23:39 (twenty-one years ago)

pick up the Doughboys, Playboys and Cowboys: Golden Years of Western Swing and Hillbilly Boogie comps on Proper--both are 4CD box sets, both are filled with great stuff, both retail for under $25 ($20 in some stores). you will not be disappointed.

― M Matos (M Matos), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 23:40 (twenty-one years ago)

That swing one would definitely catch my interest! That cheap, you say? Hmm...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 23:45 (twenty-one years ago)

ah, I see vahid; I was just wondering what you didn't like about Yoakum. But then, Merle's not faux either..

― Broheems (diamond), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 23:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Ned, the Proper boxes are pretty much ALL (a) that cheap and (b) pretty fucking primo. try also: the Louis Jordan one, Bebop Spoken Here, The Birth of Doo-Wop, the Slim Gaillard one, Honkin' and Shoutin', more more more.

― M Matos (M Matos), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 23:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Ah, a fine thing. :-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 23:47 (twenty-one years ago)

who knows? i grew up listening to country radio because that's what my mom put on in the car (we used to commute to school). it was 90% from the 80s so whenever they played stuff from the 60s or 70s it sounded amazing and exotic. it's just being into a particular texture, i guess. maybe i'll try again on dwight yoakam now on the basis of your horrified expressions!

― vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 23:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Sure, if you like the form, you should! This Time is probably his best, maybe also his most "pop" (definitely his most successful; even some electronic sonorities here). Gone is real nice too. I've kinda lost track of him since then. First two records (Hillbilly Deluxe and Guitars, Cadillacs, etc.) are more traditional, more in the shadow of Bakersfield..

― Broheems (diamond), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 23:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Good stuff, everyone.

Gary Stewart - Out Of Hand - amazing classic 70s country rock. Somewhere between Waylon Jennings and Glen Campbell if that's possible. Somehow this record seems to have slipped through the canonical filter. "She's Actin' Single and I'm Drinkin' Doubles".

Oh, and Billy Joe muthafuckin' Shaver - go early, as in Old Five and Dimers Like Me or the essential comp Restless Wind. Then go new, with his tragically deceased guitar ace son, Eddy, on Tramp On Your Street and The Earth Rolls On. This guy also doesn't crop up too much in the canon, although he's better known.

I also don't see a call for Buck Owens anywhere. Any best-of will do you.

Dolly Parton best-ofs, plus her recent bluegrass records.

The last two Patty Loveless records are great.

― southern lights (southern lights), Thursday, 4 December 2003 00:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Sorry, lauren got Buck Owens up there. My bad.

― southern lights (southern lights), Thursday, 4 December 2003 00:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm just going to keep going here. Rodney Crowell records, 70s or 00s, are great.

Does anybody like country prog/concept records? If so, go for Marty Stuart's The Pilgrim. Wow.

― southern lights (southern lights), Thursday, 4 December 2003 00:12 (twenty-one years ago)

jean shepard, for sure. and neko case of course. chitlin' fooks, perhaps.

Dolly Parton best-ofs, plus her recent bluegrass records.
make sure it's the older dolly, ie has "jolene" on it, and not one with 9 to 5. unless, i guess, you want that.

also, tanya tucker's first greatest hits - the one with blood red and goin' down. also, tammy wynette.

roseanne cash's "seven year ache" is one of my favorite country singles because it's from 1980 and features a cool synth line - if only country went new wave.

― mig, Thursday, 4 December 2003 00:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, Waylon Jennings absolutely F789cking rules! His two-disc set is all good! Also Honky Tonk Heroes.

Also, I love the Louvin Bros. and everything, but I can't say they'd really be good party music.

Also, whoever said Gary Stewart Out of Hand - I kiss you!

― Matt Helgeson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 4 December 2003 01:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I second Merle Travis for your party

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 4 December 2003 01:28 (twenty-one years ago)

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