# Country music (old and contemporary)



## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I know that people are going to think that I'm crazy being an Asian guy who loves country music but I really do. I was more into it when I was at Vanderbilt.

One of my favorite country music stars is Martina McBride. Lovely voice:









I also love Kelly Willis, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams Jr., Patsy Cline and so on.

Any other country music fans too?


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

I like Martina as well. Suzy Bogguss and Patty Loveless and Martina are about the only country artists I still listen to.

Oh...and Emmylou Harris, of course. She's sort of in a class by herself.

The only male country artists I can still listen to are Clint Black and Travis Tritt. (You can probably tell what decade I was into country).

Oh...and Willie Nelson, of course. He's sort of in a class by himself. 


When Tim McGraw came into country, I left....


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Vesteralen said:


> I like Martina as well. Suzy Bogguss and Patty Loveless and Martina are about the only country artists I still listen to.
> 
> Oh...and Emmylou Harris, of course. She's sort of in a class by herself.
> 
> ...


Agreed. When Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert came I left contemporary country music quickly. I love the stylish and upbeat nature of Martina's music. It makes me happy on a snowy day.

There are days when I miss living the Southern USA (e.g. Nashville) but Utah has been awesome to me .

Suzy Bogguss is incredible too.

By the way, I'm huge on folk music too.


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Let me recommend, if you can find it, Emmylou Harris' *Cimarron* album. It wasn't one of her best received critically, but it has only one bad song on it and two of my all-time favorite country tracks. "Another Lonesome Morning" (with Fayssioux Starling on backing vocals) is probably my favorite country song ever, and one of my top five favorite songs period.


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## Bluecrab (Jun 24, 2014)

albertfallickwang, you should check out WKCR FM at Columbia University (http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/wkcr/). They do a good country show every Sunday from noon to 2:00 (Eastern time) called the Tennessee Border Show. Their focus is on the classic older stuff - people like Hank Williams, George Jones, Ray Price, Patsy Cline, Merle, Willie, etc. Before that show, from 10 to noon, is a Bluegrass show called The Moonshine Show. You can listen online for free. And because it's a college station, you won't be bombarded with insufferable ads.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

I know the genre only superficially but there are certain things that I really appreciate. The first two albums of Iris Dement for instance:




This piece could be the anthem of every agnostic, and obviously there's that incredibly pure and touching voice. Seriously, I think that as a singer she deserves to be considered in the company of women like Maria Callas, Aretha Franklin or Bessie Smith.
Or what about the first beautiful album made by James Talley:


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I am not a big country music fan but really like the country music of Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young. Well Bob did not do much country, one album for the most part, titled Nashville Skyline, but it is great and features a duet with Johnny Cash. Neil Young did more than a few albums of countryish music and perhaps the greatest is the album he did with the International Harvesters band, think it is titled A Treausure.

One of my favorite guitarists who was a bluesman did a couple of country songs. Here is one:

Ain't nothing to me.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

I love country music. I know it best from the 1980s to the present, but I also love some of the songs by Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and Buck Owens, to name a few.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

For Emmylou Harris fans like me I recommend getting these two 5CD sets:


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Country Music Old and Contemporary and about the oldest artist is Johnny Cash. What about the Carter Family, Bill Munroe, the Stanley Brothers, the Louvin Brothers, Marty Robbins, Jimmie Rogers, Fiddlin' John Carson, Uncle Dave Macon, Roy Acuff. Then we have Merle Travis, Kenny Rogers, the Highwaymen, Red Foley, Sreve Earle, Gene Autry, Charlie Daniels Band Roy Rogers, Dolly Parton, Johnny Paycheck, Porter Wagoner on and on and on. 

Most of what is called Country Music nowadays is really soft pop like the stuff people like Glen Campbell, Bobbie Gentry, John Denver, Olivia Newton sing.

Dylan fans will remember that his first album included country and folk including the Stanley Brother's hit - Man of Constant Sorrow - so the move to the Nashville sound was simply a continuation of that.

Basically, just I have a Baroque and Early Music taste in Classical, I have a preference for the music I grew up with - "proper" old-style country, bluegrass and mountain music.


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## Bluecrab (Jun 24, 2014)

Taggart said:


> Most of what is called Country Music nowadays is really soft pop like the stuff people like Glen Campbell, Bobbie Gentry, John Denver, Olivia Newton sing.




I think you're being too kind... IMO most of what has come out of Nashville in the last 25 years is nothing more than bad country-tinged rock, with a heavy dose of schlocky patriotism.

I think one of the best country singers recently (well, relatively recently) is Randy Travis. That guy has a voice made for country music. His first two albums (_Storms of Life_ and _Always and Forever_) are as good as country gets. Back to the roots... dobro, pedal steel and all. It's a shame about his recent physical travails.

It's nice to see several posts here about Emmylou Harris. Her voice is just unmistakable, one of a kind. It's probably out of print now, but she did an album in the late 70s called _Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town_ that I love to listen to to this day. And before that, she did some really nice stuff with Gram Parsons (RIP - left us way too young).


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Willie Nelson is a guilty pleasure of mine


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Yes, Johnny Cash was a true master


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

I tend to listen to traditional Bluegrass and Old Country: the Carter Family, the Stanley Brothers, the Louvin Brothers, Flatt and Scruggs, Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Patsy Kline, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Emmylou Harris, etc...


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

I cant abide much of the new stuff, but I like a lot of older stuff (all the way back to Hank...not Junior) and the outlaw stuff. Johnny and Willie are my favorites.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Taggart said:


> Country Music Old and Contemporary and about the oldest artist is Johnny Cash. What about the Carter Family, Bill Munroe, the Stanley Brothers, the Louvin Brothers, Marty Robbins, Jimmie Rogers, Fiddlin' John Carson, Uncle Dave Macon, Roy Acuff. Then we have Merle Travis, *Kenny Rogers,* the Highwaymen, Red Foley, Sreve Earle, Gene Autry, Charlie Daniels Band Roy Rogers, Dolly Parton, Johnny Paycheck, Porter Wagoner on and on and on.
> 
> Most of what is called Country Music nowadays is really soft pop like the stuff people like Glen Campbell, Bobbie Gentry, John Denver, Olivia Newton sing.


I agree with most of this, but am curious about how Kenny Rogers gets grouped with the good guys. Isn't he soft pop?


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Kenny Rogers is lighter country music. Also famous for his fried chicken too I think.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Azol said:


> For Emmylou Harris fans like me I recommend getting these two 5CD sets:
> 
> View attachment 64884
> View attachment 64883


I have the first one, and the first album in the second set. And Ballad Of Sally Rose. Once in a blue moon I'll listen to some Waylon Jennings. But I usually listen to acoustic stuff like Tony Rice, Sam Bush, or Alison Krauss.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

GreenMamba said:


> I agree with most of this, but am curious about how Kenny Rogers gets grouped with the good guys. Isn't he soft pop?


Everybody's got to have *one* guilty pleasure. He's a bit of a crossover with things like Ruby don't take your Love to Town but some of his stuff is OK.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Kelly Willis is wonderful. I really enjoy the alternative country music genre too. I even think that Feist has been influenced by this movement too.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

starthrower said:


> But I usually listen to acoustic stuff like Tony Rice, Sam Bush, or Alison Krauss.


Have you seen this one yet? Diggin' it at the moment, boy, Kenny Ingram on banjo is unbelievable!


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## Rose (Feb 9, 2015)

Interestingly, Iris Dement's speaking voice holds no trace of country accent or the high pitch she sings in. I'm a fan too, and probably surprised her by saying i was a fan of both grand opera and her singing.


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## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

I mostly mostly listen to Old Timey and Bluegrass music But I have plenty modern country. Gretchen Wilson, Big and Rich, Charlie Robison, Lucinda Williams, Robert Earl Keen. Bakersville stuff and Dieselbilly I like too.
I recently bought Rhiannon Giddens 'Tomorrow is my turn' CD good eclectic mix of songs. Wonderfull voice!

PS Love Iris Dement's singing on the Steve Earl song 'Still in love with you' from The Mountain cd. Of course it has Ronnie McCoury playing Mandolin on it waaahh! And I have that Rhonda Vincent DVD. Love it!


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Azol said:


> Have you seen this one yet? Diggin' it at the moment, boy, Kenny Ingram on banjo is unbelievable!
> 
> View attachment 64913


Lovely... I got a chance to check out her music before the month of Morton Feldman and her albums are great in fact. I appreciate your sharing this here.


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## echo (Aug 15, 2014)




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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I have a lot of affection for this triple album album where the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band collaborates with some of the great names from the generation before. Maybe it also proved to some sceptics with a redder shade of neck that long-haired hippy boys could not only revere this music but also play it faithfully and well.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Here is another country song that I really do like. It moves me to hear her voice accordingly:


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## Dustin (Mar 30, 2012)

I'm lucky to live in one of the thriving epicenters of country music here in Texas and I'm a big fan of many of the true country musicians that have already been mentioned. I won't even acknowledge any of that mainstream stuff coming out of Nashville these days but I'll add here some of my favorites that weren't mentioned.

Sturgill Simpson is exploding onto the national scene right now and getting a lot of admiration for his classic sounding, but fresh country music and Waylon-like voice. 

Merle Travis, Jerry Reed and Chet Atkins are some great old-timer fingerpickers who I've been emulating to learn their style on guitar lately. 

The "Americana" country scene is where it's at these days though with countless brilliant artists: Hayes Carll, Jason Isbell, Chris Knight, Delbert McClinton, John Fullbright, Reckless Kelly, Turnpike Troubadours, Todd Snider... and the list goes on forever.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Here is another country song that I really deeply enjoy... with Michelle Branch here:


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

I was only familiar with a few Merle Haggard songs for a lot of my life. Yesterday, I decided to give his 40 #1 Hits package a listen. I have a much deeper appreciation for his music now. Here are some of the best that I heard:

Mama Tried
The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde
Okie From Muskogee
Working Man Blues
The Fightin' Side of Me
If We Make It Through December
Old Man from the Mountain
Always Wanting You
I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink
I'm Always on a Mountain When I Fall
My Favorite Memory
Going Where the Lonely Go
Someday When Things Are Good
That's the Way Love Goes
A Place to Fall Apart

The guitar sound and use of saxophone in his music is very appealing to me. He's got a good singing voice and direct songwriting style. I am happy I gave him a shot.


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## Baregrass (Feb 16, 2015)

Dolly Partin's "Coat of Many Colors" is one of the great all time country songs and I like most kinds of bluegrass music. I guess I should, I play it. Can't go the newgrass stuff though.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Baregrass said:


> Dolly Partin's "Coat of Many Colors" is one of the great all time country songs and I like most kinds of bluegrass music. I guess I should, I play it. Can't go the newgrass stuff though.


I agree with you there... honestly most of the newer country music stuff is very unbearable. No creativity like the old guys... I miss Martina McBride a lot. Her vocals are just on point with great songs to uplift the soul honestly.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Martina McBride has a great voice and is amazing to see live. What frustrates me is that she often picks very mediocre material to record. Her last really good album was _Shine_. I can relate to her desire to say something with her music, but she has released a few too many "message songs" as singles for my taste.

So I end on a more positive note, I recommend Carolyn Dawn Johnson as a fantastic country singer. Her performance of "I Don't Want You To Go" that I saw was absolutely electrifying.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Another great alternative country singer is Alison Moorer, former wife of Steve Earle. Great vocals and wonderful lyrics to boot.


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## Baregrass (Feb 16, 2015)

bharbeke said:


> I was only familiar with a few Merle Haggard songs for a lot of my life. Yesterday, I decided to give his 40 #1 Hits package a listen. I have a much deeper appreciation for his music now.


One of his best songs is "Holding Things Together". I've sung it and played it many times.


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## Baregrass (Feb 16, 2015)

Albert7 said:


> I agree with you there... honestly most of the newer country music stuff is very unbearable. No creativity like the old guys... I miss Martina McBride a lot. Her vocals are just on point with great songs to uplift the soul honestly.


Martina McBride has a very good voice and yes the newer country stuff is just awful in my opinion but it sells unfortunately. I get a feeling that the artists and the studios are so afraid of violating copyright and being sued that they are hemmed in really badly. Same with pop music. Robin Thicke just lost a jury decision to Marvin Gaye's family over a song that no one except the family and the jury thinks was plagiarized.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

I just listened to Jake Owen's Easy Does It album, and it is extremely solid music. I saw Jake perform in Tucson once, back when he was still in first-opening-act territory. He impressed me then with his songs and abilities, and he continues to make music I enjoy.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

The Grateful Dead were never more rootsy than on this album; it was a brave diversion for them after primarily cementing their reputation with acid rock improvisation but it worked out wonderfully well - the band has the appropriate chops and the songs are strong.


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## aajj (Dec 28, 2014)

^^^
_Workingman's Dead _goes with _American Beauty_ from the same year, 1970. Both folksy-rootsy and a bit country. Great songwriting and great studio albums from a band that was usually at its best when live and jammin'.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

^
^

Yeah, that's a corker as well - the vocal harmonies are even stronger on that album in places, especially on the '..when I had no wings to fly...' part of Attics of My Life where they really soar. I gather thanks go to The Croz for his vocal assistance.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

What is awful that the young crop of country music singers just don't impress me. I heard Carrie Underwood's album awhile back and was not particularly impressed at all. In fact, there are too many hackneyed themes, lyrics, and images that make me yawn.

Honestly I loved when country music was raw and crazy. And political too back in the 1960's.


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## aajj (Dec 28, 2014)

Although I normally go for the old-timey country artists, the Dixie Chicks _Home _is a very good album with strong material. Not slickly produced, I think the simple arrangements were at the time influenced by the success of the rootsy _O Brother Where Art Thou_ soundtrack.


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## Baregrass (Feb 16, 2015)

aajj said:


> Although I normally go for the old-timey country artists, the Dixie Chicks _Home _is a very good album with strong material. Not slickly produced, I think the simple arrangements were at the time influenced by the success of the rootsy _O Brother Where Art Thou_ soundtrack.


I have a personal Dixie Chick story. I was at the New Mexico State Fair way back in the 90's and on my way to get entered in the fiddle contest. Passed by this booth and heard some really good bluegrass music. So, I stopped and talked to the 3 girls playing and found out they were called the Dixie Chicks. This was the original Chicks before Natalie Maines. I told them I would like to hear more but I had to get going and register for the fiddle contest before the cut off. We wished each other luck and that was that. A few years later they really caught on nationwide. I liked the originals much better. Very good musicians.


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## aajj (Dec 28, 2014)

Baregrass said:


> I have a personal Dixie Chick story. I was at the New Mexico State Fair way back in the 90's and on my way to get entered in the fiddle contest. Passed by this booth and heard some really good bluegrass music. So, I stopped and talked to the 3 girls playing and found out they were called the Dixie Chicks. This was the original Chicks before Natalie Maines. I told them I would like to hear more but I had to get going and register for the fiddle contest before the cut off. We wished each other luck and that was that. A few years later they really caught on nationwide. I liked the originals much better. Very good musicians.


That must've been when they had their "cowgirl" image, before they broadened their sound. An endless stream of local-yokel musicians such as these and one in a million hits it big-time, but they underwent a lot of changes in their music to reach the top.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Darius Rucker is one of the best of all current musicians. His first three country albums are all wonderful, and he is also a charismatic performer. I am very excited to hear the rest of Southern Style (the first single being massively played on the radio right now).


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## Baregrass (Feb 16, 2015)

aajj said:


> That must've been when they had their "cowgirl" image, before they broadened their sound. An endless stream of local-yokel musicians such as these and one in a million hits it big-time, but they underwent a lot of changes in their music to reach the top.


They were just getting started I guess. I had never heard of them. Very nice people and had a good clean acoustic sound. I would have liked to have stayed and heard them play some more but just no time. They were one of the very few groups of any kind (rock, country, jazz, etc. ) that get the chance to make it big that is for sure.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I love the Dixie Chicks and they are very political...

I remember when the year they made their fans angry.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

One of the best collaborations between the man in black and a rap producer... OMG, so good here.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

The good ol' days!


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## ColColt (Apr 3, 2015)

I like the old country music like Hank Snow, Hank Locklin, Red Foley, some of Red Sovine,Lefty Frizzell, Kitty Wells, Ray Price and of course, Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves. Moving on, Willie Nelson became a great favorite. I liked both versions of "Frauline" by Hank Locklin and Bobby Helms who also sang "Precious Angel".

Favorite? It has to be "So Wrong" by Patsy Cline.


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## Baregrass (Feb 16, 2015)

ColColt said:


> Favorite? It has to be "So Wrong" by Patsy Cline.


Patsy Cline was taken from us way too soon.


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## ColColt (Apr 3, 2015)

Quite a few were...all in my high school years.

Buddy Holly
Ritchie Valens
Big Bopper
Patsy Cline
Hawkshaw Hawkins
Cowboy Copus
Jim Reeves


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Albert7 said:


> One of the best collaborations between the man in black and a rap producer... OMG, so good here.


I have no idea, but are you sure it was a collaboration? I am well aware that since time immemorial one musician has 'borrowed' form what ahs gone before. Collaboration is quite another thing. In the later case both parties are fully aware of what's going on.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Taggart said:


> Country Music Old and Contemporary and about the oldest artist is Johnny Cash. What about the Carter Family, Bill Munroe, the Stanley Brothers, the Louvin Brothers, Marty Robbins, Jimmie Rogers, Fiddlin' John Carson, Uncle Dave Macon, Roy Acuff. Then we have Merle Travis, Kenny Rogers, the Highwaymen, Red Foley, Sreve Earle, Gene Autry, Charlie Daniels Band Roy Rogers, Dolly Parton, Johnny Paycheck, Porter Wagoner on and on and on.
> 
> Most of what is called Country Music nowadays is really soft pop like the stuff people like Glen Campbell, Bobbie Gentry, John Denver, Olivia Newton sing.
> 
> ...


Hank Williams doesn't make the cut?

Edit: I posted too soon, others did mention the great man.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> Willie Nelson is a guilty pleasure of mine


NO guilt for me. The last living artist that I will kick myself if I never get to see live.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)




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## Cesare Impalatore (Apr 16, 2015)

I discovered this thanks to the teaser of the new True Detective season:






Very pleasent song by Lera Lynn!


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## Baregrass (Feb 16, 2015)

Belowpar said:


> NO guilt for me. The last living artist that I will kick myself if I never get to see live.


Poor Willie. He looks terrible. Lots of miles on him. Some of the songs he wrote back in the 60's are truly classics though like Crazy, Ain't it Funny and Hello Walls.


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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

Well my favorite is Loretta Lynn. To me she is country. There is a pretty good concert in YouTube.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

When I finally heard Roscoe Holcomb's album _the high lonesome sound_, I knew I had found the grail. I haven't listened to any other country music since.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I love The Race Horse Song by Bill Monroe: 'Run, Mollie, Run!' 





There's nothing like a banjo to make a song rip. Pity that Mollie copped it - but at least she didn't die in the real life horse race this is based on:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_and_Tenbrooks


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

My father was an Eddy Arnold fan. He attended an Arnold concert at the University of Texas in the early 1950s. There were barely a half dozen in the audience, but Arnold said they had nothing to be embarrassed about and gave a full, heartfelt performance. I'm especially fond of "Cattle Call." No one could yodel better. Hank Williams, Sr. was regularly on the record player at home, also. My mother revered Tex Ritter and was heartbroken when I accidentally sat on her 78 of "Do Not Foresake Me, Oh My Darlin'." She said C&W reminded her of home, Okinawa.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

All things I DON'T LIKE about contemporary "country music" are illustrated in this hilarious video:


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Who wrote it first? Plagiarism :lol:

That holds for much popular music, particularly all of these sub- and sub-sub-genres. The sound is so specifically defined that it's all pretty near the same thing.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

I used to listen to a cassette of Lee Greenwood's greatest hits at my grandparents' house all the time. Today, I listened to the 20th Century Masters CD for Lee Greenwood. I would call over half of them great songs that still hold up, and the rest are all pleasant at the very least. Lee has a great voice and ear for a good song.


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## Jorge Hereth (Aug 16, 2015)

Albert7 said:


> I know that people are going to think that I'm crazy being an Asian guy who loves country music but I really do. I was more into it when I was at Vanderbilt.
> One of my favorite country music stars is Martina McBride. Lovely voice:
> View attachment 64872
> 
> ...


What's wrong in being an Asian guy and loving country music? My girlfriend is an African-Brazilian and it was her who transmitted me her love and passion for classical music; eight months ago I would have answered: "Stay away from me with that sh..!", had anybody asked me. Well, she went the smooth path and succeeded, and today she puts on her beloved Verdi, Rossini and Carlos Gomes operas and I pour myself a whiskey and join her. Well, an African-Brazilian being a classical music lover is not exactly what one would expect here in Brazil, and much less being a woman and a fabric worker. But Elis, she always has her own ways... 

And I agree with you on Martina McBride, that woman has a so pretty awesome voice!

Here a country stuff I love, Alan Jackson performing _There Ya Go_:





And here Brazilian Sertanejo - kinda Brazilian Country Music - star and hero to Brazil's ******** Juliano Cézar recording _Sonhando Com Você (The Dance)_ together with Garth Brooks:


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Fine 1995 album from on-off project led by Catherine Irwin and Janet Beveridge Bean. Harmonies to die for.










Here's a track from it.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Gram Parsons

Yeehaw!


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## Guest (Sep 14, 2015)

I haven't seen anyone mention Junior Brown. I got to see him once and he was phenomenal. I didn't get to meet him but I met the bassist, Steve Starnes, who is a very nice guy. The drummer, Pete Amaral, had just a snare, a kick, a tom, a hi-hat and a cymbal and did a drum solo that was better than guys I've seen with double kick drums and cymbals hanging all over the place. Never underestimate a country drummer.






Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West recorded this in 1952 or 3 and it's perhaps the only example I know of that could be called "hillbilly jazz" (NOT western swing) and features the great Cliffie Stone on bass who played for Merle Travis and who was a great talent scout Capitol signing up all kinds of acts of all genres.






And while we're at it, may as well showcase some Merle:






And I loves me some Zeb Turner:


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## Guest (Sep 14, 2015)

Got to have some Bob Wills:






Written by the great Cindy Walker:






YEE-HAW!!!


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## Guest (Sep 14, 2015)

I suppose that it's obvious that my tastes in country go back to the old stuff. Indeed, I don't really hear any country in the new country stuff. People were calling Taylor Swift country for the same reason they were calling Adele a jazz singer--because they apparently have no idea what constitutes country or jazz.

This one came out in the 90s and I admit it's a guilty pleasure:






It was nice to see this band get voted as one the best country bands around today and I fully agree. I love this band:


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## Guest (Sep 14, 2015)

Can't believe I forgot to mention these guys:


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

John Michael Montgomery is really good. I like his songs "Be My Baby Tonight," "Life's a Dance," and "Cowboy Love" a lot. I would love to hear him duet with his brother Eddie sometime.

I was very excited to get Garth Brooks tickets this weekend. He comes to town in October, and the last time I saw him live was in 1996, when I was too young to fully appreciate the show. I have watched his concert specials many, many times. He knows how to put on a fun show, and his shows are not exactly like every other country (or rock) performer out there. I did not spoil myself too much for the show, but the opening number on YouTube is pretty amazing.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

I have seen the Hot Club of Cowtown 3x. Nothing better than being in a small room with great musicians enjoying themselves.

Eleana James...be still my beating heart!


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Victor, I watched that Junior Brown video, and I was extremely impressed. It gave me goosebumps. I may have been put off by his strange hat and humor in the 1990s. Now, I am eager to hear more from him.


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## Guest (Sep 15, 2015)

If you see him live it's like the guy is superhuman.


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## Guest (Sep 15, 2015)

The American music of the mid-40s to the mid-50s was the greatest period of music for me. I LOVE this old country and I LOVE the black jump and r&b plus rock n roll was taking off. And all these genres were borrowing from each other. Man what a period that was! There will never be another like it--certainly not today. Shame, this old stuff is a gold mine of great music.




















This one features Speedy West, Jimmy Bryant and Cliffie Stone


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## Guest (Sep 15, 2015)

Ya gotta include this one:






By the way, if some of you are wondering how some Japanese-American knows all this country, only my mother is Japanese. My daddy was a farm boy from Caintuck and West Virginny in the early 20s. He fought in the Pacific Theater in WW2 serving in the Navy. After the war, he left the service and went to Japan for the rebuilding effort. They put him in charge of revamping the vehicle factories and without so much as a high school diploma or any training in engineering or drafting, he drew up his own blueprints which worked so well that Chrysler hired him not to design cars but do design conveyors, tracks and elevators to move parts around the factory and he continued to do that when he returned to the States in '53 with a wife and two kids in tow. Then they made him a manager to oversee various projects and car lines. He retired from Chrysler with a full pension and died in 2009 at 85. But he sang me these old country and cowboy songs when I was but a wee lad but he also loved swing jazz.

This is the first record he ever heard. He was 5 or 6 and visiting an uncle in Arjay, KY and this guy had a wind-up Victrola (very little electricity in Arjay back then) and a single record--this one:





My dad told me that "Mr. Howard" was an alias that Jesse used a lot. He knew all about Jesse James who was a hero to all hillbillies. My grandparents used to hide moonshine still operators who killed revenuers who tried to shut them down. That's how it is out that way--you hide killers who made moonshine and you got your own silver-plated .45 on your 14th birthday and you settled all your arguments with it after that. Think gangs are a non-white urban thing? Wrong. The hillbillies formed armed gangs way before the first blacks or Latinos and they were just as violent and they fought over shine rather than drugs. My grandfather was a halfbreed Indian who was the meanest-tempered cuss who drove 85 mph on residential streets and he was in his 80s!! And he drank--him and his brother, one-legged Vic, drank like nobody you ever saw. Meanest, foulest SOB when he drank. Their mother, my great-grandmother, I remembered meeting when she was 100! She had long black-grey hair and blue eyes and this hot teen Indian girl who took care of her--no idea who she was of if we were related. Nice old lady. She kind of spooked me--the old woman--but she was never mean, very kind. Can't figure how her sons were such rotten hell-raisers. Actually, ol' Vic gave me eight silver dollars once--from the 1890s. My grandfather died at 94. She died at 102--the old woman. Could handle a 2-man saw by herself at 86! I got some genes in me, I mean to tell you!


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## Baregrass (Feb 16, 2015)

Junior Brown is one of the best musicians out there in the country music world. Hey, good to see this thread come alive again! Lots of good picks. Carolina Chocolate drops are very good for old time music and Bob Wills' music is timeless.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Not quite old or new, but I came across this fun song again this week and wanted to share it:


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## Guest (Sep 18, 2015)

Images of places as Arjay and Pineville. Coal mining towns where I still have a lot of relatives--most of whom I've never met or have met very briefly and very long ago. These were the kinds of places where country music was born.









In Arjay at the time my father lived there as a lad and as a young man, there were no roads in. you couldn't drive to it, you had to hop a train. Trains were a lifeline between these isolated rural towns and villages and the outside world. Sears & Roebuck and the Gibson Guitar company would put their catalogs on the trains heading into the Appalachians, the Smokies and the Cumberland Mountains, the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Kentucky hills (which is beautiful country) and so on. The mountain and hill folk would eagerly nab these catalogs and order merchandise that they normally had to make themselves or do without. Country music largely depended on these catalogs for instruments outside of dulcimers and hackbretts. Maybelle Carter ordered her Gibson L5 from one such catalog. She changed country music and the generations of guitarists of all genres who followed her via "the Carter lick" which was picking the bass and treble strings separately to sound like two guitars (which many thought was the case when they listened to the Carter Family recordings):





This is the reason so many early country songs are about trains. Without trains the country folk were cut off not only from the outside world but even from one another. Back then, your nearest neighbor could be 5 miles away or more. In fact, A. P. Carter (sang bass and assembled the band's repertoire) was a railroad man before getting into music.





Jimmy Rodgers wasn't called "the Singing Brakeman" for nothing.. He too worked for the railroad before becoming an entertainer Hard to believe this poor man suffered from TB throughout his career which grew so bad, he collapsed in the street unable to breathe. The TB killed him at age 35 in 1933. We had a Jimmy Rodgers record when I was growing up and I played that thing to death. He was also Bob Dylan's biggest musical hero.





And yet more songs about trains.


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## Guest (Sep 18, 2015)

My father attended a one-room schoolhouse and had a pretty good education even though he did not finish high school--his family was quite poor especially during the Depression. "You had to live through 'em to know how bad they were," he once told me. His school building had no electricity and the only plumbing was a water pump outside and if you had to go to the bathroom, you used an outhouse like this one in Pineville:


















Once while visiting my grandparents many moons ago in Cincinnati (the hillbilly Big Apple), they brought out their old family photographs which were full of photos like the one above (although I pulled this one off the internet). Some of the photos were so old, they were glass plates and some were on what appeared to be a square of celluloid or something. Sort of like printed on this surface. I remember a man in a black suit with his wife in a fancy old-fashioned dress. Both looked totally ill-at-ease in this "finery" and you could tell they didn't wear clothing like that very often. Photo looked to be 19th century or maybe early 20th century. There was even one of a 5 yo me standing in front of my great-grandmother's wheelchair and she has her hands on my shoulders. I don't know what happened to all those photos. But all these photos showed some ancestor or other of mine and some showed relatives I have otherwise never seen much less met.










I guess when you get down to it, ain't much changed about ol' Arjay.


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## Guest (Sep 18, 2015)

Once while driving with my father and younger brother down to Tennessee to visit my sister, we were on I-75 heading through Kentucky. I saw a large barn roof advertising "RENFRO VALLEY" and my dad explained that before there was Nashville, there was Renfro Valley, KY, the true home of country music. I never forgot that and started learning about Renfro Valley. I learned it had its own barn dance radio program and that a lot of big country artists were trying to book air time. I have since obtained transcriptions of the old broadcasts to digital.










Once, long ago, country music didn't allow drums. Drums didn't belong in country music, said the purists, they had no place. Not until Bob Wills brought a drummer in 1947 did Opryland ever see a drummer. Roy Acuff was the host and told Wills that drums are not allowed. Wills said without a drummer, he wouldn't play and they could give the audience their money back. Acuff relented but said to move the drummer to the back and behind a screen. Wills said ok. As soon as Acuff was gone, Wills ordered his band to move the drummer to the front. The curtain went up and there was the drummer at the front of stage flailing away. The audience loved it but Acuff did not nor was he amused. Enraged, he vowed never to allow Wills back to Opryland as long as he was hosting it. He was true to his word but when Red Foley took over as host, he immediately booked Wills and his band again. But the purists won out. After Wills, drums were not used at Opryland again until 1971! Today, country without drums is scarcely imaginable.














Some anonymous old guy playing guitar at Renfro Valley. And, holy hell, there's a drummer!


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## Guest (Sep 18, 2015)

And black musicians depended on the trains too. I play this at open mics a lot. Blacks have a long history of listening to country music. A large portion of Grand Ole Opry's listening audience was black. Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Ray Charles were all huge fans of country and grew up listening to and playing it.






Once I listened to a lecture by a woman who had joined the Black Panthers in the 60s. Her mother was white and she lived with her. One day her mother married actor Larry Storch. She said Storch was a really nice man and she liked him a lot. One day Storch and her mother took this woman with them to see Johnny Cash. She didn't want to go but couldn't refuse. She was embarrassed, she was a Black Panther for crying out loud! While there were sitting in the audience before the show, Storch leaned over to her and pointed out that Muhammad Ali was sitting not far from them. She looked over and saw him. Storch Knew Ali and took her over to meet him. She said Ali was very polite unlike his persona. She told him, "We're the only black people here. I _had_ to come here but why are you here?" Ali told her, "I'm from Louisville and in Louisville all black folks listen to country music." When Johnny took the stage, she suddenly found herself mesmerized by him. He had a commanding stage presence and when he started singing "I Walk the Line" she felt as though he was singing only to her and that it encapsulated her feelings of being a bi-racial black woman in a country where neither side likes you much or even tries to understand you. She became a lifelong fan of Cash.











Then there's this guy. The first live concert I ever attended--the State Fair when I was 10--was Charley Pride and I've been a fan ever since. We saw him because our next door neighbor in our Detroit-area hood was from Tennessee and she loved her some Charley Pride and dragged us along to see him. Funny thing was that she was the biggest racist in the world. She once actually said that she wasn't prejudiced she just hated "them damn n*(*%&$!" But if you said anything against Charley Pride--look out! Those were fightin' words and that woman was strong and could fight!


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Old: The Trio album by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris is amazingly beautiful. They sound great individually, and they harmonize like a dream.

Contemporary: I saw Garth Brooks on his current World Tour with Trisha Yearwood, and it is one of the best concerts I have ever been to. His song list is the envy of any artist, and he's got the band, energy, lights, and sound system to back up the music. The X factor is the fans. They are very loud and passionate, and they create a feedback loop with the performers that results in a truly special performance every night.


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## Baregrass (Feb 16, 2015)

bharbeke said:


> Old: The Trio album by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris is amazingly beautiful. They sound great individually, and they harmonize like a dream.


3 Very amazing talents those 3 are. Linda Ronstadt can't sing any more.


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## Baregrass (Feb 16, 2015)

Taggart said:


> Basically, just I have a Baroque and Early Music taste in Classical, I have a preference for the music I grew up with - "proper" old-style country, bluegrass and mountain music.


My tastes exactly although I have started to enjoy the Romantics and the Enlightenment Age classical composers more in recent years. I also like Irish and Scots trad. I just can't listen to most of the stuff coming out of Nashville. In my opinion it is just horrible and has been for a good twenty years.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Sara Evans - Three Chords and the Truth

Pair that wonderful voice with outstanding songwriting and musicianship, have Pete Anderson produce it, and let country magic happen. This album may get overlooked, as it did not produce any major radio hits for Sara, but it is very much worthy of hearing.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Brad Paisley's Love and War album is outstanding! Here's one of the songs I really like from it called "Go to Bed Early."


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## Baregrass (Feb 16, 2015)

Amazing that this thread is still going!!


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Jason Eady* - "The Luxury of Dreaming"






To the Passage of Time

℗ 2021 Old Guitar Records

Released on: 2021-08-27

Composer, Writer: Jason Eady


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in! :tiphat:


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull, Sarah Jarosz* - "Salt Creek"


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Doc Watson *and *Tony Rice* -"Salt Creek"






Merlefest 2002


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

SanAntone said:


> *Doc Watson *and *Tony Rice* -"Salt Creek"
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I do love me some *Doc Watson*, but git a load of this 

*Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys - Salt Creek*


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Evie Ladin - Glory (live at Ear Trumpet Labs)






I subscribe to the Ear Trumpet channel because I have one of their mics, which are excellent, and enjoy hearing the minimal recorded sessions. I also have a small connection to Evie Ladin: I took some online lessons on clawhammer banjo from her.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Just got this at the library used store for 25 cents. Playing it now.


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## Chibi Ubu (11 mo ago)

*Willie Nelson - A National Treasure*

:tiphat:


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

I'm really enjoying this album of Freddy Powers, called The country jazz singer.
The title says it perfectly, since Powers manages to mix country and jazz very well, and the guitars are great.

This time I really do


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