God, I'm officially old...I'm starting to appreciate classic country

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

Take the ribbon from your hair,
Shake it loose and let it fall,
Layin´ soft upon my skin,
Like the shadows on the wall.

Come and lay down by my side
Till the early morning light;
All I´m taking is your time,
Help me make it through the night.

I don´t care who´s right or wrong;
I don´t try to understand;
Let the devil take tomorrow;
Lord, tonight I need a friend:

Yesterday is dead and gone,
And tomorrow´s out of sight;
And it´s sad to be alone;
Help me make it through the night.

Kris Kristofferson
Copyright 1970 by Combine Music Corp

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

1. There's country and then there's country...

Kris Kristofferson is Country. Shania Twain is a lingerie model with a recording contract.

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

3. For that very reason I made the distinction of "classic" country...

can't stand any country after 1980 or so.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

9. I worked at a country radio station in 1978-79

Geez! The Kendalls. Eddie Rabbit (who I like more in retrospect than I did at the time). Yoiks! Management forced us to play "new artists" who were just terrible.

My favorite, though, was a song called "Drop-Kick Me, Jesus, Through the Goalposts of Life." It was unintentionally hysterical.

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

11. You're kidding...I'm blown away..

They were serious in the drop-kick song...I was sure that was a joke. HA! incredible.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

24. I got fired over that song...

I made some smart-assed comment over the air about it, and those Proto-Freepers in the listening audience made such a stink to my management that I was pulled off the air. Let go a few weeks later.

[jedicord]

2. Me too...

Living without you has gotten to be so inconvenient.

(la la can't remember the words)

Is it still over?
Are we still through?
Since my phone still ain't ringin'
I assume it still ain't you.

I have half the mind to find somebody new.
But I still ain't sure that I'm still over you.

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

8. Not familiar with that one...my guess it would fall into the classic....

category but hey I'm no expert. I like some Cash,Hank,Charlie Rich, and Merle. I always appreciated Willie...we are kindred spirits.

[jedicord]

10. Randy Travis

OK guys, he's after the 80's, but his stuff is bluesy and original.

And man, could that guy sing a low note.

[wideopen]

18. I think that was Randy Travis n/t

[johnnie]

4. I listen to a lot of it

I like the stuff from about 1940 to about 1980. Not all of course, but a lot of it.

[Sandpiper]

5. Classic country is authentic working class music

By blue collar guys like Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, etc.

Modern country is for yuppie suburbanites.

[AX10]

6. Classic Country is true populist/progress/working man music.

The corporate crap that comes out of Nashville now is nothing than Britney Spears with a banjo and Neo-Con/Pro Bush Propaganda.

[Shell Beau]

7. I appreciate it and I am only 26!

[On the Road]

12. Classic Country Can be Great

There are some bluegrass programs in the DC area (88.5) that I listen to sometimes.

and if you go back and listen to classic rock bands from the 60s, a amazing amount of the songs have an unmistakeable country sound. Eveything from Buffalo Springfield to James Talyor to Crosby, Stills, and Nash. I think rock music lost its way when it abandoned its roots in country and traditional blues.

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

15. I'll second that...

To me the best rock had a heavy blues influence...and I liked country influenced songs like "Don't pass me by" by the beatles and ones by Eagles as well as Neil Young that were also country influenced.

[BamaGirl]

13. Great song

I grew up on classic country and classic rock lol. My mom loves this stuff, and my dad loves classic rock. It's an interesting combo lol. Most of the new stuff coming out of Nashville now though is just crap.

[In_The_Wind]

14. thanks for posting one of my favorites

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

16. (with a thick southern accent) Well, your certainly welcome,darling!

[In_The_Wind]

22. *sigh*

haven't heard an accent like that one in a long time ... hmmm ... haven't seen you around the lounge either ... we must be here at different times

[Rob H.]

17. You might like Junior Brown and/or Redd Volkaert

They both write songs in the classic country vein and they're both phenomenal players, too. Redd has some solo stuff and he now lives in Austin and plays there when he's not on the road with Merle Haggard or doing session work in Nashville. Junior Brown plays this contraption called a "guit-steel" and makes it look easy--it's almost one of those things you'd have to see for yourself to believe someone could even make it work and sound good.

[Texasgal]

19. I love old Loretta Lynn

YOu ain't woman enuff to take my man...... Good stuff!

[Momgonepostal]

20. My 9 year old loves Johnny Cash, including this one:

This is one of the most left wing songs I have ever heard, and the fact that it's from someone accepted as a country musician blows me away.

"Man In Black"

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

[bridgit]

21. hell yes...

I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry

Hear that lonesome whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whining low
I'm so lonesome I could cry

I've never seen a night so long
When time goes crawling by
The moon just went behind a cloud
To hide its face and cry

Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves begin to die?
Like me he's lost the will to live
I'm so lonesome I could cry

The silence of a falling star
Lights up a purple sky
And as I wonder where you are
I'm so lonesome I could cry

Words & Music by Hank Williams ~

[Taverner]

23. Hey I love Hank Williams Sr and Patsy Cline

that's what you meant, right?

[Kilroy003]

25. You're not getting old.

You may be experincing a maturation of taste.

Johnny Cash, Patsy Kline, Willy Nelson, Kenny Rogers, bless his soul.

[NeoTraitors]

26. There is at least one country artist of today that I would rate on

par with the classics and her name is Iris Dement. This girl can write, sing, and play and she ain't no Nashville lap dancer.

When she sings about politics, well you can bet that she is singin' what I'm thinking.