Recommend "country" music for those who think they hate country music...

[Shakespeare]

The Loretta Lynn/Jack White thread got me thinking--most C&W one hears on the radio is utter dreck. However, it's a shame to just write off the genre completely, especially because it's an important part of American music in general--it reflects our history and who we are in a totally unique way.

So...those of us who know about some of the real gems out there, here's your chance to initiate your fellow DUers into what REAL country music is all about. Let's have those recommendations!

I'll start: anything by Lyle Lovett.

[MsUnderstood]

1. STOP! Don't go to Lyle!

Anything by the Dixie Chicks would be much better IMHO.

[Melodybe]

9. Never forget Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, or Dolly Parton

I like both the Dixie Chicks and Lyle Lovett.

I wish that the Dixie Chicks would play "Landslide" at Kerry's inaguration.

[NuckinFutz]

11. I like the Chicks...

but their version of Landslide makes me completely nuts.

[Melodybe]

15. It irked me at first but it grew on me and now I love it

especially when I think about them singing it at Kerry's inaguration.

[DEM FAN]

57. Garth Brooks, Rascal Flatts, Dixie Chicks, Shania Twain, Deena Carter

[Mrs. Venation]

65. IMHO

Shania Twain is not country. She sings some kind of pop with a bit of a country influence, but she ain't country! I'm a fan; I know from country, and she ain't it!

[Shakespeare]

21. BLASPHEMER!

Lyle is a God.

[Beware the Beast Man]

2. As far as classic country...the Man in Black.

"Johnny Cash at San Quentin" was my introduction to country music that I wasn't embarrassed to enjoy.
"At Folsom Prison" is another good one for the novice.

[PragMantisT]

Everything by Johnny Cash

At first they thought he was a rocker. Maybe he was.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

39. Have you seen the video for "Hurt?"...

...no "maybe" about it. He WAS. Right up until the day he died.

I believe you can watch it on "Launch" (http://launch.yahoo.com/read/news_index.asp )

[Failure]

64. I still like NIN better...nt

[mac56]

44. He was a rocker.

Rock'n'roll is an attitude.

[dbt]

53. He was the King Of Rock And Roll!

dbt

PS: Earl Scruggs is God!

[Bake]

54. Amen to both of those!

Johnny Cash AND The Earl of Scruggs!

Bake

[NuckinFutz]

3. Oh, boy!!

Patsy Cline
Nanci Griffith
Mary Chapin-Carpenter
Bob Wills
Johnny Cash
Hank Williams Sr.
Ernest Tubb
Jim Reeves
The Judds -- River of Time
Emmy Lou Harris

[joshdawg]

17. Let me add:

Ray Price
Lefty Frizzell
Webb Pierce
Hank Locklin
Hank Thompson
Ferlin Husky

[XNASA]

4. Cash, Haggard, George Jones, Hank Williams.......

Great stuff.

[demnan]

5. Mine

Dixie Chicks, Emmylou Harris, Allison Kraus, Johnny Cash, Doc Watson, Norman Blake

[FreeSpeechCrusader]

28. Allison Kraus is wonderful.

I just recently saw her and her band for the first time, and she has the voice of an angel.

[dawg]

32. I'll second that!

I didn't think about her when making my post bacause I think of her more as a bluegrass artist, but she's awesome!

[dawg]

33. If you haven't heard Garth Brooks' song, "We Shall Be Free"

You should give it a listen. It is essentially an anthem of liberalism.


Edited to add: Crap! I didn't mean for this post to go here - it was supposed to go to the end of the thread.

[trotsky]

6. Patsy Cline

I'm not into country, but she had the most amazing voice. LeeAnn Rhimes is also very good.

[Fenris]

7. Lucinda Williams

Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys
The Byrd's "Sweetheart of the Rodeo"
The cross-genre beauty that is Uncle Tupelo
Dwight Yoakum
The Derailers

[On the Road]

8. There Are Huge Numbers of People

who would agree with the statement: "I'm not particularly fond of country music, but I do like Johnny Cash."

[bif]

10. Emmylou Harris's last album is great

And I can't stand country music And Mary Chapin Carpenter's latest is good too.

[NuckinFutz]

13. So, didja get MCC's new one already???

n/t

[bif]

19. Well, I just heard it this morning on NPR

And I've never heard her before. So maybe this weekend.

12. the Sir Douglas Quintet

also
Commander Cody
Grateful Dead
Gram Parsons
Willie Nelson

[dawg]

14. Here's a few ...

Dwight Yoakam

Martina McBride - I think I heard she was a Republican, but it doesn't show in her music.

Mary Chapin Carpenter - catchy melodies, clever lyrics, solid Democrat, and (I think) educated at Brown.

Diamond Rio - excellent harmonies and instrumentation, some beautiful songs and some hokey joke songs like "Bubba Hyde".

Dixie Chicks

Classic country artists like Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard have some great songs.

IMHO every musical genre has some redeeming artists and songs.

[Shakespeare]

22. Willie Nelson is also a God.

And a damn fine liberal, too.

[Servo300]

24. Martina McBride

"Martina McBride - I think I heard she was a Republican, but it doesn't show in her music."

Isn't she the one who does Sean Hannity's theme music?

[dawg]

31. He may use "Independence Day"

But the song is really about an abused woman who finally snaps and kills her abuser.

I can't listen to or "see" Sean Hannity for very long, so I wouldn't know.

[OneBlueSky]

16. "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" . . . Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (and friends)

great album that was re-released a couple of years back with some enhancements . . . there are also two followups, but they don't compare to the original . . .



http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006368...

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com

In an age when the old-timey soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? sells 5 million copies, it's hard to imagine how revolutionary Will the Circle Be Unbroken seemed upon its release 30 years ago. The triple album (now rereleased as a two-CD set) paired many of Nashville's venerable country and bluegrass performers (Roy Acuff, Mother Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Merle Travis, Jimmy Martin, Vassar Clements) with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, or as Acuff called them, "a bunch of long-haired West Coast boys." The idea seemed nearly as foreign as Martians setting down in Tennessee, but the Dirt Band were Colorado hippies steeped in the genre, so there was no disputing the authenticity of the music, or its earthy appeal. Aside from the sheer joy of the performances (listen to Jimmy Martin's "whoop" on "Sunny Side of the Mountain"), there's great fun in hearing Roy Acuff give the boys a lesson in doing a song right the first time (and using the word hell before launching into a religious number). And Mother Maybelle wafts through like a benevolent ghost, or at least a patron saint. One caveat: The boast of four previously unreleased tracks is balderdash, since three are really between-track conversations and rehearsals, and only "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" qualifies as a real song. But that's nitpicking. Buy it. Love it. Wallow in it. O brother, that's country music! --Alanna Nash

[northzax]

40. I agree, it's a stellar album

but I can't listen to the NGDB ever since chimpy stated they were his favourite artists.

[Whitacre D_WI]

52. "Will the Fetus Be Aborted" -- Jello Biafra and Mojo Nixon

[pscot]

18. Hank Williams

Though his style led to some of the most egregious offenses against taste, Williams was a natural wonder.

[BurtWorm]

20. Skirt the rock border of country first

listening to 1950s rockabilly (Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Link Wray), 1960s country pop (Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Roy Orbison) and 1980s-1990s homages (Elvis Costello, kd lang). Then go back and listen to the originals like Hank Snow and Hank Williams. Bluegrass like Bill Munro. There's a lot of gold under the glossy shit that sells the most.

[WildClarySage]

23. John Hiatt and Steve Earle. n/t

n/t

[Padraig18]

25. Patsy Cline!

Hands down!

[terrya]

26. "Shadowland" - k.d. lang

Great country music for a country music hater like me.

[BurtWorm]

27. That's a great album!

Produced by Owen Wilson, I think, who also produced Patsy Cline and Brenda Lee.

[terrya]

30. Right.

Her version of "Black Coffee" is wonderful.

Owen Wilson did produce this. A great album.

Terry

[Pithlet]

29. I'll check it out.

Good point. If I judged rock and "progressive" music based only on what they play on traditional radio, I'd be missing out on a lot.

[billbuckhead]

35. Steve Earle's the best out there right now

try "Jerusalem"

[Pithlet]

38. Thanks.

I will.

[rucky]

34. Nathan Hamilton, Jerry Jeff Walker, Ray Wylie Hubbard

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

36. Steve Earle & The Dukes..."Shut Up And Die Like An Aviator"

...a pretty ragged 'n' right live album, released just before his drug bust and prison time, featuring a nice, sloppy version of the Rolling Stones hit "Dead Flowers" and the Sir Douglas Quintet's "She's About A Mover."

Other albums in his catalog are more "alt-country" and his first, "Guitar Town," is pretty much the same twangy territory walked on by Dwight Yoakam. He also did a bluegrass album with the Del McCoury band ("The Mountain")...he tries a little bit of everything.

[corporatewhore]

37. Steve Earl johnny cash and hank fucking williams

[mac56]

41. The Mavericks

The Derailers
Radney Foster
Rodney Crowell
Dwight Yoakum
Hal Ketchum
Daryl Singletary

add on edit:
Emmylou Harris
Nanci Griffith
Lucinda Williams
Iris DeMent

[GOPisEvil]

46. That is one awesome list there, Mac!

Edited to add Patti Griffin, author of The Dixie Chicks' "Truth #2".

[mac56]

55. thanks!

Us Mavericks fans have to stay together. Derailers, too, I see.

In general, look for any song written or cowritten by Kostas. Country soul.

[GOPisEvil]

42. The Derailers, Rex Hobart and The Misery Boys.

Both have that old school, cry in your beer country sound. The Derailers are more toward Buck Owens. Both bands are excellent!

[carolinayellowdog]

43. Another vote for PATSY

And I'll also echo the phrase "hands down." Don't care for the genre but she is one of the greatest singers in any genre.

[Taverner]

45. Well I don't like most country but

Willie Nelson, and Dwight Yokham always sounded good to me...

[flowomo]

47. A little IRIS DEMENT is good for the soul....

especially "Infamous Angel" -- and this is a performer who cancelled a scheduled concert and refused to tour until the war in Iraq ended. Her anti-war stuff on third CD is worth a listen.

[derby378]

48. Amy Rigby

Her first two albums are more pop/folk, but check out The Sugar Tree and Till the Wheels Fall Off.

[mvd]

49. Since you don't like mainstream country (of which SOME is dreck and..

some more is overplayed IMO,)

I'm not sure if you'd like neotraditionalists then, but there are Alan Jackson, George Strait, and Patty Loveless.

There's other old-style like Patsy Cline, Hank Sr., Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson

Then there are these:

Dixie Chicks
Alison Krauss
Kasey Chambers
Steve Earle
Kathleen Edwards
Martina McBride
Kim Richey
Nickel Creek
Mavericks
Dwight Yoakam

and more if you want..

[NoSunWithoutShadow]

50. The Flatlanders Album "Now Again" is really good.

From Amazon

About the Artist
The windy, expansive universe of West Texas around the town of Lubbock is distilled from just two elements: the land and the sky. They keep one another balanced in symmetrical counterpoint, with the horizon as a distant point of reference. In this most unadorned of landscapes, sunlight and shadow charge the Plains and the overarching sky with improbably transcendental power. This is the panorama that gave rise to the music of The Flatlanders.

Album Description
Now Again, by Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock—collectively known as The Flatlanders—marks the first album-length collaboration between the trio of acclaimed Texas songwriters since their debut album three decades ago.

Now Again was ostensibly produced by Ely, but the album's tracks were a true collaborative effort. The songs (with the exception of U. Utah Phillips' "Going Away") were co-written by the trio, and most of them feature the rough-hewn vocal blend of all three men ("It was fun to learn we could still sing harmonies," laughs Ely). Besides the session musicians, two other original Flatlanders joined Ely, Gilmore and Hancock for cameos in the studio: musical saw player Steve Wesson and vocalist Tony Pearson


More at:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000065V9X/qid=1...

[Whitacre D_WI]

51. "More a Legend than a Band" is even better.

"Dallas" is one of the great country songs of all time.

[TrogL]

56. Country rock and trucker songs

"Convoy" still makes me laugh.

Is the J. Giles Band considered country?

[gpandas]

58. as a rock and roll guy i have not heard much country...

but imo, whatever works, dig that.

[mitchum]

59. Backsliders, Gillian Welch, Alejandro Escovedo, Star Room Boys...

along with many already mentioned

[KG]

60. the man: Jimmy Lafave

more soul than the legal limit for a white guy.

[achtung_circus]

61. KD Land and the Reclines

especially the early stuff and especially "Angel With A Lariat"

[Shopaholic]

62. Mary Chapin Carpenter and Kim Richey

Can't miss with either!

[Failure]

63. I'm friends with Kenny Chesney and his band...they put on a good show..

Maybe I like the parties they throw...either way, you'll have fun. Kinda like Jimmy Buffett...


failure.

[devilgrrl]

66. Junior Brown - Ernest Tubb

Two brilliant honky tonk artists.

[Mrs. Venation]

67. I'll Add Some Folks That Haven't Been Mentioned

Suzy Bogguss has a pristine voice; she should be a superstar, and I can't understand why she isn't.

I don't think I've seen Patty Loveless's name mentioned, either. GoodGodAlmighty, she's awesome!

I like Tanya Tucker, Pam Tillis, Trisha Yearwood and Lorrie Morgan, too.

From the men, try Trace Adkins, Billy Dean, Collin Raye, Sammy Kershaw, Bryan White and David Kersh.

If groups are more your thing, there's Asleep at the Wheel (they do the best Texas swing!), and Lonestar.

[FDRrocks]

68. Beck

alot of his stuff has a very country-ish feel. Especially the Mutations album.

[mac56]

69. Hayseed Dixie

Great, quirky country band.