Country Music Legends

[dragonboy]

Man, I love Country Music.
Not the sort of shit you see on Country Music TV today but the real deal.

I'm talking Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette & Loretta Lynn etc etc etc

Who are your favourites? What are your Favourite Albums? Who've you seen in concert?

Let's talk Country!

[EC]

Huzzzzzah!

All righty.  

Favourite girls:

Loretta Lynn  She's possibly my favourite favourite.  Her duets with Conway are good (favourite is Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man), but my favourite of all times is her and Ernest Tubb.  You Aint Woman Enough is possibly my favourite song from her, but Fist City is a close second.  I loved the movie Nashville, and I especially loved the "Loretta" story.  I also think that Coal Miner's Daughter is a brilliant movie.
Tammy Wynette  I have tried, and failed, many times to sing Stand By Your Man like she does.  I have, however, learned most of the duets she and George did.  We sang Golden Ring once.  People didn't get it.  Tammy was badass, and she could sing.
Patsy Cline I don't know if there's any need to explain any further on that one.
Elizabeth Cotten I don't know if she's considered folk or country, but she's kind of country to me.  If you haven't heard this woman sing, or read her story, you have got to.  What a lady.  Freight Train is probably my favourite of her songs.
June Carter Cash Mmm hm.  

I'm having to stop myself from saying loads of people, because they're not what I consider the old school country stars.

Dolly Parton She's pretty damn amazing.

Fellas:
Johnny Cash Johnny Cash is probably the manliest man of all the men ever.  He was very bad, and also very good.  Bad as in badass.  There was that weird period where he had a tv show, and I can not stand watching him sing Daddy Sang Bass with the Oak Ridge Boys.  Favourite songs:  I Walk The Line; Get Rhythm; Long Black Veil (oh my); his version of Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone) from the American recordings.  
George Jones Also a badass, but slightly less appealing for it.  I got to see him play a couple of years back at Massey Hall.  His voice rips my heart in half.  He Stopped Loving Her Today - holy crap.  
Hank Williams Anything by him.  I think he's my favourite.  He's the first person I think of when I think of old country music.  Plus, my Dad used to sing his songs ALL the time.  Like, every morning when he was shaving.  That's how I used to wake up.  And my Dad can sing.  Favourites: Lost Highway; Your Cheatin' Heart; Why Don't You Love Me; Lovesick Blues.  Oh yeah, and Settin' The Woods on Fire.
Merle Haggard I don't know him as well as the others, and he's a little more on the newish side, but The Bull and The Beaver is hysterical.  Also, not very fond of that one he sings about rainbows.  I could do without that whole era of him.  He's also a badass.  
Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.  Also another favourite of my Dad, "ahh haaaas" and all. ;)
The Louvin Brothers Satan is Real was the first I'd ever really come to know about the weird, violent, woodsy old-timey songs.  I loved their harmonies.
Waylon Jennings Bad. Ass.

I love the Carter Family.  

I mean, I know these are all fairly obvious choices, I guess, but when I realized that I liked Country music (as opposed to hating it most of my early life for the sole reason that my Dad loved it), my entire world changed.  No jokes.  And then I got all interested in the song structures, and about how most of the old songs (especially Carter Family, and the real early stuff) were from ancient folk songs that had come from old Irish, English and Scottish songs.  

Oh man.  And then there's Woody Guthrie and Ramblin' Jack, although, I kind of feel like they should get their own category.

[Specialist]

Hank!!!!
Johnny Cash
June Carter Cash
George Jones

[dragonboy]

Great to see some love for the legends!

Here are some of my favourite artists/albums.

Waylon Jennings - what a voice & quite a picker too.
From 73-75 Waylon put out 5 of the best country albums of all time. You can pick them all up cheap from amazon.co.uk for the price of 2 CDs, Lonesome On'ry and Mean/Honky Tonk Heroes on 1CD & This Time/the Ramblin' Man/Dreaming My Dreams on the other.
These 2CDs are much better than any Waylon Best Of. Interesting fact: Waylon recorded the Theme Tune for the original Dukes of Hazzard & was the Narrator for the show.

Willie Nelson - Willie needs no introduction! An American Institution! I have too many Willie CDs to mention. Like Waylon, the 70's were good to Willie. His 60's output is great too.

Johnny Cash - Another American Institution!
His Autobiography is maybe my favourite book of all time!
When I first saw the video for Hurt I cried...
The Prison CDs (Folsom & San Quentin) are a great place to start, so is the The Essential Johnny Cash 1955-1983 3CD boxset + all of his American Recordings are excellent.

Merle Haggard - I have the Down Every Road 4CD boxset which is good but trails as it reaches the late 70's, 80's (which country artist didn't?)
Again, amazon.co.uk has some great 2LPsfor1's on offer, Strangers/Swinging Doors is the best & is a good place to start.

I feel that Kris Kristofferson deserves a mention for his first 2 Albums Me and Bobby Mcgee & The Silver Tongued Devil and I + the man is such a dude!

I'll write about the ladies next time...

[CC]

I'd like to throw in Billy Joe Shaver. he's the real deal.
saw him live about 2 years ago together with Panama Red, another real deal.

[dragonboy]

I'd like to throw in Billy Joe Shaver. he's the real deal.
saw him live about 2 years ago together with Panama Red, another real deal.

You're so right!
I was sat thinking, Shit, I've gotta add Billy Joe to my list!
I was lucky enough to see Billy Joe Shaver in the UK a year or 2 back at a tiny little club in London called the Borderline (were Pearl Jam played their 1st UK show & Townes Van Zandt played his last show ever...)
The show was amazing! Billy Joe had us in stitches with his between song stories.
Legend has it that Billy Joe held a gun to Waylon Jennings  at one of Willie's 4th July picnic's in the 70's & told him that if he didn't record his music he would shoot him dead.
That's how Honky Tonk Heroes came about.
Not sure if it's true but it's a great story!

[CC]

dragonboy, bet you'll like this. scroll down a little and you'll find an mp3 of a song written by Billy Joe Shaver & Panama Red but recorded by none other than Fred Neil.

http://www.panamaredmusic.com/lyrics2.htm

[dragonboy]

CC - You SO da Man!!!
Written by Billy Joe, recorded by Fred?!! Now we're talkin'!!!
Downloading it now - Thanks a million!  ;D

[CC]

mp3s of the same song + the fred neil song 'dolphins' but this time sung by panama can be found here:
http://www.panamaredmusic.com/choicebuds.htm

it all goes round and round :)

[dragonboy]

Bottom Dollar is F***ing great!!!
I keep promising my wife I'll switch the PC off but I need that fix!
Cheers CC, like I said - You Da Man!

[dragonboy]

I need to add Waylon Live Expanded Edition to my Waylon List!
My wife & I just cooked some Johnsonville hotdogs listening to Waylon...does life get any better?

[EC]

See, this is where I was having difficulty.  I didn't include any of the Townes, Guy, Steve Earle, John Prine dudes...  Even though I think they're legendary, I guess I was thinking of more the earlier dudes.

I like Billie Joe, too, although, I've never been able to get into him as much.

I love Kris Kristofferson.  And I also love Willie.

[dragonboy]

Country Ladies:

Emmy Lou Harris is my favourite. I love her work with Gram, her 70's solo albums & her work in the 90's/00's too.
Her cover of Steve Earle's Goodbye is one of the most beautiful ever + she is SO hot!!!

No wait, Patsy Cline is my favourite!!!
I don't have much by her & need to get more. Her cover of Willie's Crazy could well be my favourite song of all time.

Tammy Wynette's Stand by your man is one of my favourite albums. It's an album that I can listen to from start to finish without wanting to skip a single track. What a voice!

The only Loretta Lynn CD I have is her latest with Jack White which is very good. I need to get some more!

[dragonboy]

See, this is where I was having difficulty.  I didn't include any of the Townes, Guy, Steve Earle, John Prine dudes...  Even though I think they're legendary, I guess I was thinking of more the earlier dudes.

I quite agree - write about whom ever you want!!!

Townes should be considered a legend if he isn't...maybe he's a cult legend? I've said before, if you're thinking of buying some Townes go straight out & buy his 4CD boxset because once you have one you'll want them all!

Steve Earle is the Man!!!
I love the Hard Way best & Train A Comin'
I saw him play a solo acoustic show in London many moons ago about the time of the Hard Way. He was going through his serious drug addiction phase then but still put on an amazing show!

Not a legend but should be - I'm a big fan of Steve Young (friends with Townes, Guy & Steve & featured briefly on Heartworn highways).
Wrote Lonsome Onry & Mean, one of my favourite singers.

I think Dale Watson is a bit of a Texas Legend.
They're not legends but I also love Mickey Newbury (good friend of Kris's, wrote American Trilogy) Gary Stewart, Gene Watson...I could go on forever!

[ycartrob]

Hank Snow, Hank Snow, Hank Snow

[Specialist]

John Prine

 :)

[CC]

They're not legends but I also love Mickey Newbury (good friend of Kris's, wrote American Trilogy) ...

good call. I bought  the Mickey Newbury boxset a while ago and was very impressed.

[dragonboy]

good call. I bought  the Mickey Newbury boxset a while ago and was very impressed.

Same here - I picked it up in Nashville earlier this year.
To be honest I haven't listened to all the CDs yet but love what I've heard especially Frisco Mabel Joy!

[dragonboy]

CC - I'm thinking you might like this CD.
Very nice country/folk  :)

[CC]

CC - I'm thinking you might like this CD.
Very nice country/folk  :)

he kinda looks like that evil fella in 'highlander' ;)
never heard of him, i'll check it out.