E Pluribus,
You posed a difficult question to me this afternoon, asking me to list 10 country songs that I could tolerate, not including rock-influenced country songs. I admire you for posing this question in such a straightforward manner, requiring me to abide by some restrictions. As you know, without rules there can be no rules to break. As you also know, nothing beats breaking the rules from the inside, that is, by abiding by them and respecting them more vigorously than even those who’ve set the rules. Along with answering your question and commenting on 10 songs that I can tolerate, if not actually like, I’ll do my best to meet and exceed your expectations.
A few things up front for readers hoping that my tastes will dovetail with their own:
- Because my list will not include country-rock songs, I will refrain from including anything involving
GrahamGram Parsons, including his best works, all of which were done with Flying Burrito Brothers. - Johnny Cash spent a lot of time with rockers and started out, more or less, as a rocker. I’ll leave my favorite Johnny Cash songs off the list. Beside, hie best songs are basically rock ‘n roll songs, which give them an unfair advantage compared with real country songs.
- No songs by that controversial trio E Pluribus claims to like so much – the two sisters with bad posture and the pig-nosed, badass lead singer – will be included. I don’t know enough about their music to include them, and I’m bugged by their Look.
- Finally, I’ll refrain from including any songs from the film soundtrack for Nashville. Although it’s by far my favorite country album, its inclusion might upset the apple cart and hurt my credibility. Likewise, I’ll rule out the scenes in Tender Mercies in which Robert Duvall picks up his acoustic to play that new song he’s been working on, or when he sings the song he pretended he couldn’t remember singing to his daughter. That whole movie kills me, but although Duvall’s character is not influenced by rock, some of you might gripe that Duvall himself is not a real country musician and that including him on my list cheapens this entire effort. I’ll respect that possible concern.
So here goes, 10 real country songs I can tolerate, if not like…
1) Tammy Wynette, “D-I-V-O-R-C-E”
As a child of one and a child of those teased and sprayed hair times, there’s a lot to like about this song. For me, Wynette is as close as a country artist gets to Dionne Warwick: she’s got the whole failed ’60s suburban longings routine down pat. What a better representation of failed love than divorce. She avoids the suspense of a “Wouldn’t it Be Nice” and gets right to the bad times.
The other great thing about “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” is that is allows a Yankee like myself the opportunity to chuckle in assumed superiority at our quaint neighbors south of the border. Who in the Northeast Corridor would write a homespun song about having to spell out the end of a couple’s marriage in front of the children? Don’t get me wrong – I’m aware of all that’s wrong about this bias that I grew up with, but I can’t help but feel like lightly patting Tammy on the teased bouffant.
2) Tammy Wynette, “Stand by Your Man”
This song’s also cute and was outdated about 12 seconds after it was written. Poor Tammy is so homely yet stately. She could have been one of those tragic British women of good breeding and an oversized jawbone. Seriously, the song is both sad and campy, and I’m not in the minority in enjoying it for just these reasons.
3) Merle Haggard, “Okie from Muskogee”
I know country-rock guys love Haggard, but I he’s the real deal in terms of country, right? This is another country song that’s so lacking in self-consciousness that it sounds tongue in cheek – or maybe that’s intentional. Anyhow, the badass, anti-rebel pose of the song is similar to what Jonathan Richman did on the first Modern Lovers album, you know, the one great piece of work that guy did before he stopped checking his thumbsucking tendency onstage and doing “cute” things like cutting country albums.
4) Merle Haggard, “Mama Tried”
Without being “influenced by rock,” this song has a good rockin’ vibe, both musically and lyrically. The one big difference is Haggard’s acknowledgment of having a mother. Only country guys and soul guys seem comfortable acknowledging that they’re not bitches, so to speak.
5) Hank Williams, “Why Don’t You Love Me”
I think this is one of the Hank Williams songs I like best; I haven’t listened to my wife’s albums in a number of years. I do remember thinking he was pretty good – reminded me a lot of Bob Dylan’s goofy side, like those fun tracks from the early albums and The Basement Tapes.
6) TIE: Patsy Cline, “Walkin’ After Midnight” and “Crazy”
Here’s another artist my country-raised wife loves and whom I’ve learned to tolerate over the years. These are objectively strong, well-written, and well-sung songs, but they’ve got a “swing” element to them that’s not to my tastes and, more importantly, like Don McLean’s “American Pie”, they inspire “normal” people to drain their beers, get misty-eyed, and sing along – badly. I’d probably like these songs better if I spent more time listening to them in isolation, without the distraction of all those half-crocked, sentimental fools near closing time at the bars I’ve frequented.
8) Olivia Newton-John, “Let Me Be There”
This song was pretty cool when I used to hear it as a 10-year-old, and it lived up to a lot of the conventions/stereotypes of what I thought country music should sound like. If I’m thinking of the right song (I haven’t heard it since the mid-70s), it even had an a capella breakdown, in which the bass vocal part was easily discerned and easy to dig! Much cooler than that Doobie Brothers song about hearing funky music and dancing with your mamma all night long! Also, Newton-John was very easy on the eyes when she hit the scene. Much better looking than Natalie Maines – that’s her name!
9) TIE: Charlie Rich, “Behind Closed Doors” and “The Most Beautiful Girl”
Like those Tammy Wynnette songs I love so, these “Silver Fox” hits of my youth captured all the early-’70s-era unfulfilled promise of middle-class life in the ’60s. I also like the fact that these songs barely sound “country”; they seem to have more in common with Liever and Stoller’s work for The Drifters or those Bacharach/David songs that Dionne Warwick made her own. Great Look to boot!
So there, E Pluribus, I hope I’ve answered your question. For my limited taste in country music, I hope that fans of the genre will be mildly impressed by my signs of good taste.
I like some of these choices, although I’m not exactly inspired by their originality (which I didn’t expect), but I can’t stand behind “Okie.” As a Merle fan, I think it’s close to his weakest hit. I don’t see the confusion as to whether it’s tongue-in-cheek or serious as a virtue; if he meant it seriously, then it’s a joke, if he meant it as a joke, then it’s a cartoon, if the ambivalence is on purpose, it’s a shallow ambivalence. It’s got some bounce, but that only highlights that it’s annoying.
The Stones “Girl With Faraway Eyes” is a much better effort along those lines: a song in which what’s wrong about the context it apes doesn’t really sink what makes it fun. Not that it’s a major Stones effort.
I bleed rock n’ roll. I mean, cut me, and that’s what color it is – Day Glo pink and rockin’ like mofo. But I had a friend that turned me on to country when I was a high school punk back in like, 77.
Whereas a fuckwit like Toby Keith thinks he “rocks” his country with his Ford guitar, he’s nothing but a wannabe douchebag. I saw Merle Haggard do an afternoon show where he wobbled out and looked barely able to hold his drink at 4 PM, but he managed to call out my sorry 17 year old ass for not shutting up about wanting to hear “Swingin’ Doors.” Merle did a take of “Silver Wings,” (which he specifically told me to pay attention to, it was a small place and I was noisy, being a Rock and Roller and all), and I’ll say that for the rest of the show I pretty much sat slack jawed and amazed at how much this loaded dude knew about how much I wanted the world to rock and roll with me, or at least understand why I wanted to rock and roll.
Merle Haggard is a true country star. But it’s part of his soul that created rock n’ roll. I don’t know enough about country music to really make sense of my true religion’s origins, but the country part of rock and roll was chipped from Merle Haggard’s soul.
I’ll point you to two places…
Way back in ’05 I came across a Radio DavidByrne.com playlist that blew me away – “Rednecks, Racists and Reactionaries: Country Classic”.
I loved it and played it over and over that month. I really wished he could have curated and released a box set of that list. I’m hoping to collect all of thoses tracks eventually. One of the discs I have since picked up is the boxed set by Lefty Frizzell called “Look What Thoughts Will Do” (look it up on Amazon through the RTH search and support this site and buy it!)
Lefty was a proto Hank Williams in the Honky Tonk style. The collection great. More on Lefty here.
The stuff that “Country Radio” plays now is more crappy pop than country to my ears…
On a tangental note – can anyone recommend a collection of Western Swing or Texas Swing music?
Willie Nelson. Love Willie Nelson.
Oh, and Toby Keith isn’t a wannabe douchebag, he’s a real douchebag.
2000 said:
Merle is actually a couple of years younger than Elvis. His first hit was in 1964, and he didn’t really break through into the big time until 1966. So what you’re saying is not historically accurate. His music shares some of the same sources as rock & roll, which is probably what you’re hearing.
The 4-CD Proper Box collection Doughboys, Playboys, and Cowboys is an excellent place to start, and cheap too, under $30 and sometimes even under $20, depending where you find it. If you wanted a single artist, the Proper Box for Bob Wills is a great purchase too.
Sorry, BigSteve. I forget I’m the new guy around here. I know Merle isn’t old enough to have been an influence on early rock n’ roll (in fact I’m sure he was influenced by early rock n’roll), but he’s certainly cut from the same cloth as a guy like Hank Williams. I usually try to be historically accurate, and when I don’t know I’ll look it up or ask. I’ll be more clear until you guys know me better.
Lots of great stuff to be found exploring country.
I’m a relative latecomer myself. I’ve loved Hank for 30 years (first coming to him thru Dylan) and I still think he’s the gold standard by a long shot. Everyone else is playing for second place (kind of like Sinatra and the Great American Songbook). But there are lots of great songs out there as I’ve been discovering in the last half-dozen years. I’ve been rambling through stuff from various places (Robbie Fulks’ “13 Hillbilly Giants” is a tree with lots of branches, tons of stuff on Dylan’s Theme Time Radio shows).
Mr. Mod’s list is a great one, if cliched. But there’s no reason if you like that stuff you can’t find lots more to like, even love
And you gotta love any genre that gave us the Nudie suit..
2000 Man, I am confident that you, like BigSteve, are a rocker and a gentleman. We all go “Pince Nez” on each other now and then, but folks mean no harm. I’m sure you get that, but I want to make sure it’s clear in case anyone else is thinking about making some noise in the Halls of Rock but is worried about getting shot down by any of a few dozen vigilant rock nerds. Continue rocking.
Al said:
Speaking of pince nezes, how can you trust a country list from someone who spells it Graham Parsons? Gram was short for Ingram, his middle name.
I’m on a roll.
I’m telling you, Steve, that Blondie video haunted me as I prepared last night’s new content. Cut me a break, will ya! Nevertheless, pince nezed. Thanks.
I’m seeing the first signs of folks trying to cut away at my credibility here – “not inspired by their originality”…”great one, if cliched”…corrections to spelling – that’s cool, and those are appropriate points of attack. However, I am surprised that no one else wants to discuss the greatness of the Nashville soundtrack. Point me in the direction of a better country album than that one, if you dare!
I do want to second Mr. Clean on the excellent of Lefty Frizzell, by the way. Guys like him and George Jones (and Merle and Johnny Cash too of course) give the lie to the mythology that Hank stands head and shoulders above everybody. Hank is great, but it wouldn’t stretch a metaphor too far to say he’s the Beatles in comparison to the Stones like roughness of early Jones.
By the way, one of Lefty’s songs on the 2-CD set could really be the Rocktown anthem: “I’m an Old, Old Man.” It maybe makes my Top Ten list of country songs–but I haven’t counted. Check it out, Mr. Mod: you’ve still got a few good years left, I’m sure.
Mr. Mod’s country Top Ten is eleven songs by six artists? What gives Mod? It seems like a list of country songs even a Yankee fool would know, circa 1975. It seems like if you had just a smidgen of curiousity you might like something from Conway Twitty, The Delmore Brothers, the Louvins, Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant, Willie Nelson, Porter Wagoner, Loretta Lynn, Buck Owens, Wynn Stuart, or a million other acts. And calling Johnny Cash a rock artist? The “country” section of your Id is a nebulous place indeed.
Buskirk throws down–ouch! And it’s all true. But–and but–Mr. Mod’s suggestion of the Nashville soundtrack has serious backdoor cred.
Watch that guy, is all I’m saying. Even when he knows almost nothing, a few things he knows are seriously ahead of the curve.
Yes, I’m with the mostly AWOL-of-late Mr. Buskirk. How can you exclude Cash for genre-blurring and then include that Rayon Miner’s Daughter Newton-John? But, even if the Nashville soundtrack is the best country record ever, you’ve got to branch out. You are omni-genreous in so many ways, Mr. Mod. Belly up to the country bar. In the late forties into the fifties you can’t go wrong with George Jones or Hank Snow. Hank Thompson, too, with Humpty Dumpty Heart, and didn’t he do If Teardrops Were Pennies? And Hello Walls by Faron Young is a classic. For Haggard I fall for The Emptiest Arms In the World, and I think it’s Tammy that does an amazing Walk Through This World With Me.
Digression:
The morning after the night I had met the schizophrenic stripper who lived around the corner, and already had developed a crush toot sweet, she called me. And we realized if she stood on her neighbor’s deck and I stood on my roof, we could just see each other far away. But she had to put her phone down to get to the deck. So I’m on the roof with a hangover and a phone, and this stunning blonde woman is jumping and gesticulating like an idiot chimp while her radio plays Hank Williams over the wire (the last days of the great WXPN, there.) Naturally I thought this particular music was changing my life then and there. Which, unrequited love aside, turned out to be true!
I bought a Delmore Brothers box set which I think is a Proper Box, too. And the Louvin Brothers “She Will Get Lonesome” is a gem. I used to sing that one to my boy. That and Hank’s Waltz of the Wind. Man, as I think, the country songs just keep coming. Willie’s demo CD of stuff he was peddling when he first came on the scene is unbelievable. Something to Think About, and Opportunity to Cry stand out. Roy Acuff’s “Jole Blon” (Steve don’t pince nez better versions. They’re out there, but Acuff’s guiless voice is so sweet on that one.)Shoot, Mod. I’ll have to give you the 2CD set I made for a friend’s birthday a couple of years back: An Intellectual Snob’s Golden Treasury of Country Greats. Some Dolly with Porter Wagoner, a little Ernest Tubb, Webb Pierce’s “There Stands the Glass” and Johnny Cash? Fuckin’ A RIGHT there’s Johnny Cash on there! I didn’t realize you had deficiencies in this area. We’ll get you fixed up in no time.
Thanks for the feedback, Buskirk, Slocum, et al. I can take it, and I can take suggestions. That Hank Snow guy – what little I’ve heard of him – is good. I’ve heard some Conway Twitty and both his name and his Look are a major turnoff. Who else? I’ve got a Louvin’ Brothers comp. It’s a fine build-up to the Everly Brothers, but I don’t have a lot of interest in hearing all those songs I know most modern-day hipsters dig for their fire and brimstone camp appeal. I don’t believe in Satan except for his work in Satan movies like Rosemary’s Baby. Hearing songs about Satan is a major bore.
I’ve heard some Buck Owens, and that’s pretty good too – he’s one of those Bakersfield guys, isn’t he? They all have good guitar playing on their records, but they’re all leading toward the path of all the Urban Cowboy/Truck Driver Chic bands that have made up a part of the indie scene for the last 15 years. I get bored by that whole tough guy pose.
I’ve only heard a little bit of Loretta Lynn. I wish she actually looked like Sissy Spacek, who’s a real turn on for me. Willie Nelson’s always enjoyable but no particular SONGS ever stand out for me. He’s like peanut butter. I love the taste of it, but I’d never serve it for company.
George Jones has really good songs – among the best of the batch – but he sings like he’s got a 4×4 stuck up his ass. I do listen to the half dozen songs of his I’ve downloaded. He has promise.
I would WELCOME your country mixes. Please educate me, expand me. Thanks.
Ah, Mr. Mod, I’m afraid I have to disagree. The concept and imagery of Satan is completely central to the culture that you and I are a part of, perhaps second only to, well, that big white guy with the white beard who I’ve heard watches over us all.
Ruling out Satanic imagery in music is really more or less the same as ruling out religious imagery. Can’t be done, and it’s not clear why you’d want to.
Of course, there’s a lot of cheap use of Satanic imagery, second only, well, to cheap use of the imagery of that big white guy with the big white beard who I’ve heard watches over us all. “Hearing about God is a major bore.” But the fact that Satanic imagery is difficult to use well doesn’t mean it’s impossible to use well.
The devil, my friend, is an absolutely central element of rock and roll history. In fact I’m tempted to say that if you have nothing in common with the devil, then you have nothing in common with rock and roll.
One of my favorite devil poems, from Amiri Baraka:
You can pray to God all day
and no one shows up
but you call 9-11
the devil be here in 20 minutes.
Townsman Mwall, without boring anyone with my weird, ill-informed views on Christianity, let’s just say that I can and DO rule out the role of Satan in my spiritual life. If we can agree that “sin” is inherent in our nature, then there’s no need to blame it on some outside force. If god is within and god is supposed to be responsible for…everything?…then god can take credit for our sinful nature as well. Among other things I won’t bore you with, I propose a 1-stop maker. I’m also not sure about the maker’s ability to provide service after sale. That’s cool, though.
All I’d say is, I’m right with you on Satan, and it’s a big turnoff about the later career of the Louvins. But don’t discount their excellent body of work earlier for it. That kitschy bible thumpy shit is abhorrent to me, but they have at very least a great CD of hits, and to my ears a lot more than that. They are every bit the equals of the Everlys in a few important ways, without occupying such a keystone spot in terms of crossover appeal.
Oh. And don’t similarly write off Buck Owens’ early recordings for any reason at all! The songs, the production values, the singing, and to me, it’s also his goofy simple good-hearted outlook. He is never too cool for whatever, but is a very positive and straightforward doofus. The re-releases on Sundazed are super. Abilene, I Must Have Rocks In My Head, Above and Beyond, all gems!
Can’t rule out the dark side in rock and roll, that’s all I’m saying. Damned if I care where it comes from; I’m not here to talk philosophy or religion, especially not some kinder-gentler Jackson Browne spirituality Jackson claptrap you seem to be espousing here. Most of the best rock and roll has got some devil in it, that’s all. The rest of it’s mainly just easy listening.
In the meantime, peace be with you.
The “dark side” is one thing; the “devil” is a cop out. That’s what I’m saying. People want to segment and deal out responsibilities for all that’s within. I prefer music that deals with all this stuff under one roof. Black Sabbath separates out the “dark side”; some other artist – a name doesn’t come to mind, but I’m sure you’ll think of one – separates out the lightness, another the humor, a third yet the spiritual… You get your Satanic verses, your Holy Trinity of rock, etc. To me, it all gets watered down. The greatest of artists usually deal with all these sides of our nature under one roof. I’m not sure that it has anything to do with Jackson Browne, although my time spent with that one album BigSteve, Dr. John, et al turned me onto has eased my feelings toward that guy.
I’m really not sure I follow you. The dark side is a concept, the devil is an image that stands in for the concept of the dark side, usually in an hackneyed way, but not always, and not that much more hackneyed, as far as I can tell, as most God references in rock. Black Sabbath (hardly literary geniuses, but whatever) tend after their first record to use the devil as a way of saying that human beings have lost their spiritual values; the devil tends to lecture them on their loss of peace and love, because Sabbath has these hippie longings that they suggest people need to return to but they don’t quite think can ever happen–they’re hippies who think that hippie culture has lost out. That sounds like an examination of both sides of our nature, so I’m not sure how that’s one-sided exactly. The devil is a fascinating character in many works of literature too, Paradise Lost etc. But that’s beside the point probably.
Now, I’m not saying that I’m a huge fan of devil references, just that many important American and British songs use that reference, and saying “Songs that mention the devil suck” just doesn’t hold much water. I like to see variations on what the devil does, of course. Deals with the devil, one of my favorites, often involve characters who, of their own free will, choose to go wrong. That’s an interesting rock and roll tale.
My reference to Jackson Browne was partly a joke, but not totally. Psychic Oblivion artists want to tell us it’s all about how we FEEL. Just the kind of thing that the devil loves us to fall for. “I feel like I want to live forever,” and wham, he’s got you.
Mwall, I’m not saying that all devil songs suck, just most of them. I’m also not suggesting that god songs are inherently great, so don’t bring god into it. I’m saying that the devil is an offshoot of god, so just as I file George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and Ringo Starr albums under B for Beatles, I file the devil’s work under G for God. There are exceptions, of course: John Cale and Lou Reed get filed separately from V for Velvet Underground, but that’s another matter.
I do love your read on Black Sabbath and Satan as a dejected hippie.
Well, we certainly have common ground here. As well as here:
Regarding the below:
It’s really kind of a lovely thing, isn’t it? And how about the devil in the Pere Ubu song “Laughing,” who haunts the empty stations of this life, looking to destroy arty hipsters, but who apparently can be shot, and as the song emphasizes, “with a gun.” I’ve always wondered what else they were considering shooting him with.
Townsman Mwall opined: “I do want to second Mr. Clean on the excellent of Lefty Frizzell, by the way. Guys like him and George Jones (and Merle and Johnny Cash too of course) give the lie to the mythology that Hank stands head and shoulders above everybody. Hank is great, but it wouldn’t stretch a metaphor too far to say he’s the Beatles in comparison to the Stones like roughness of early Jones.”
That’s not gonna convince me since I think the Beatles were more than head & shoulders above the Stones (great as the Stones were). Who’s with me on that?
The day we determine, Once and For All, whether the Beatles or the Stones is the better band, I’ll be right there on the Beatles side of the debate. But there’s nothing I’d like less than for that debate to break out prematurely and without great planning and research.