Golden Voices

NPR (one of my faves?) has an online article, titled, "50 Great Voices".

Lists such as these are always interesting, but are generally consensual ~ a group of individuals gets together and hashes out their mutual top 50; weeding and eliminating and ranking artists as they go.

Music, however, is personal, emotional, and, I believe, mostly biographical.  Perhaps most of us can agree that certain voices are technically superior.  That does not account, however, for each of our life stories, and the way certain singers have influenced our own lives.  It's not necessarily the vocal prowess; often it's the way they have laid their hand upon our shoulder.     

And who, really, can even think of their own top singers, without first hearing them and realizing, hey!  This is one of my top singers!  Truly, one cannot even narrow the list to 50.  Somebody else is inevitably going to pop up; someone we hadn't even thought about.

I do know who my ultimate favorite singer is, but, in fairness, I have had almost 60 years to ponder the question (although I don't think I actually ever pondered it.  Maybe I did, when I was around 13, but what did I know then?)

But, for fun tonight, I thought I would search out some video performances of singers I really like.  All of them may not be the world's greatest singers, but don't forget the emotional and biographical aspect of this exercise.

There is no order to this, so I'm not ranking anybody.  I will, however, save the best for last (at least my best).

Steve Perry




Burton Cummings (and the Guess Who)



Art Garfunkel





Sam Cooke





Gordon Lightfoot



Daryl Hall (Hall & Oates)



Al Green (yea, the real one)



John Lennon (and the Beatles)




Eddie Brigati (and the Rascals)



Brian Wilson (and the Beach Boys)



Bill Medley (and the Righteous Brothers)



Connie Smith



Gene Watson




Tammy Wynette



Patsy Cline



Merle Haggard




George Strait



Dwight Yoakam



Roy Orbison




I know I have left out a bunch.  Inevitably.  I'm one of those people who is all about the songs, more so than the singers, usually.  I mean, if I was just going to list songs, I'd include Sheena Easton here.  Seriously. And ABBA.

I did try, however, to include the singers whose bodies of work are, to me, indisputable.

And yes, Alex, ultimately, I will go with Roy Orbison for the win.  I've heard a bunch in my 57 years, but I have never, and will never, hear one better.

But the question remains....Who are your golden voices?  Let me know, please.   I would love to discover artists I've missed, or don't even know about.

What's better than sharing music?  Nothin'.

More and Even Greater Country Singers from the Seventies ~ Gene Watson

In 1975, I had a job cleaning toilets as a motel maid.

I'd quit my job with the State; I don't remember why now, but I think there was some vague dissatisfaction with the person supervising me (I've always said, when you quit a job, and you tell them, "It's not you, it's me", it's really them).

I was young, and I didn't particularly care.  Jobs were easy to come by in those days.  Quit one; get another.  One would probably think that going from an office job to a job pushing a maid's cart was a step down.  I didn't see it that way.  See, I had cleaned motel rooms for my parents all through high school, so it was a known entity.  Plus, I didn't have a supervisor.  It's not like my mom was going to don white gloves and trail behind me to run her fingers across the nightstands that I'd just dusted.  She trusted me.  I did a good job.  I'm not an obsessive cleaner these days, but I figure, hey, I paid my dues.  I think I must have made about 1000 beds, if not more, during my maid's career.  I'm great with hospital corners.

The fun thing about being a maid was the independence.  We had a crew of three for 52 rooms; four in the summer, when my best friend Alice joined us.  But we all just did our own thing; we picked a row of rooms and cleaned them independently, usually.  I would stock my cart with toilet paper and towels and Comet at 7:00 in the morning, and trudge outside (yes, in those days, the rooms were all accessed from the outside).  The bad part about the 7:00 hour was that most people weren't yet gone.  I would, of course, scope out the room keys in the office to find out who had checked out, and I would hit those rooms immediately.  But often, I would have to try to guess which car belonged to which room, and thus, who was still inside, sleeping.  So, if I thought it was safe, I'd do my little light knock on the door, saying, "Maid!", but sometimes those idiots were still inside, but wouldn't answer.  I rarely walked in on naked people, but it happened.

Around 10:00, it was much better.  Most, if not all the people were gone, so I could just make my way down the walk, working from room to room. 

We had our distractions.  There were certain shows, at certain times, that we always watched.  Hollywood Squares, with Paul Lynde, was a must-see.  If we were still working at 12:30, of course we watched Days Of Our Lives.  (I always tried to be done by noon'ish, though).

And, when there wasn't anything good on TV, I had my radio.  The funny thing about certain songs back then, is that I can remember exactly which room I was working in when I first heard a particular song.  Maybe it was the tediousness of the job that made me focus more on the music, or maybe I just had fewer things in my brain to remember back then, so stuff kind of sunk in more.

Honestly, I remember cleaning room #10 when this song first came on the radio.  I think I paused in mid-pillowcase changing, and perked up my ears.  I thought, who is this guy?  And this is a strange song!  And I like it!  But I don't know why!

And it was this song:



(Sorry, this is apparently the short version of the song, which is rather disappointing, but I wanted to show a time-appropriate performance).

Ever hear a pure voice, and think, wow?  There's no struggling; no straining; no producer punching in.  This is what a singer is.  Anyone who imagines themselves to be a singer, imagines that they can sing like this.

Today, it's all tricks.  I've used them.  A deficient singer uses the tools that are available.  But don't think that the voices wafting out of your radio are real.  Because they're not.  Recording a song, when you are a bad singer, is brutal.  You may punch in one chorus.  You may punch in one line.  You may punch in one word.  Imagine what someone like Faith Hill goes through.  If she's still even making records, which I'm not even sure she is.  Because I am about 10 years behind the times.  If I had autotune (like Faith does), I would use it constantly.  And I would listen back and say, wow, I'm a damned good (fake) singer!

Love In The Afternoon was just Gene's debut.  The best was yet to come.  But I'm saving that one for last.

I thought I would just post some of the videos I could find, and let you sit back and enjoy:





Love this one:



This is not an original Gene Watson song, but still:



Something new (with Rhonda Vincent):



Yup, saved the best for last.  I didn't know if it was just me, but it wasn't.  Because Alan Jackson did a whole album of covers, songs that had inspired him, called, "Under The Influence", and he included this one.  I like Alan Jackson a lot, but, sorry Al, you can't hold a candle to the original.

The first time you hear this song, you think, well, this is nice.  It goes along nicely.  Nice steel guitar.  And it moves along, and you are still thinking, nice traditional country song.

And then that last line comes, and Gene just stabs you with it.  And you say, hey!  Back up!  Let's hear this again, because, does anyone actually sing like that?  That good?



Needless to say, I truly believe that Gene Watson is one of the best country voices, ever.  And sadly, he has never really gotten the credit that he should have gotten.

If Gene had only recorded, let's say, three songs in his career (and I will pick the songs), he would deserve a plaque in the Hall of Fame.  Watch those other performers, in some of the "reunion" videos, watching Gene.  They know.

And everyone should know.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gene Watson's website

Larry Gatlin and/or Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers

Saturday afternoon, I flipped on the news channel, to pass the time while I was eating my cottage cheese and carrot sticks (yep, back on ye old diet again!), and lo and behold, there was Larry Gatlin!

Larry was being interviewed about some political thing (I wasn't paying real close attention, as I was also reading the newspaper ~ I like to multi-task), and then he broke out his acoustic and started singing a song!  I thought, well, that's different!  "And now, let's welcome Karl Rove.  Karl, what are you gonna sing for us today?"  Just seemed a bit incongruous.

Nevertheless, I thought, wow, Larry Gatlin.  I hadn't thought about him since sometime in the early nineteen eighties.  And then I thought, well, he did have a bunch of great songs, he and his brothers, or just he.  Depends upon which iteration of the Larry Gatlin show we're talking about.

I had (have?) maybe three Larry Gatlin albums, and that doesn't sound like much, but I didn't have a bunch of disposable income back then, by the by.

We're such a disposable society that we are quick to forget artists who, at one time, were hugely popular.  Shoot, even I tend to forget them, and I'm supposed to be the historian here.

And there are a bunch from the 1970's.  Larry Gatlin is but one.

The sad (bad?) thing about guys or gals who toiled and toiled until they finally made it big, is that we remember the hit songs, but those are generally the ones that are the most annoying ~ if for no other reason than from the sheer repetition on the radio.  And we forget the little gems that maybe charted around number 45, but in hindsight, they were the better songs.

If you know the name Larry Gatlin at all, you're probably thinking, "All the Gold in California".  Right?  Sure, that's the one that people know.  It's not that that is a bad song, but it was the biggest hit, and therefore, I rapidly became sick to death of it.

But Larry recorded......and wrote, by the way.....a lot of good songs.  So, I'm going to try to find some of them on YouTube.

"Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall" was written by Larry, and surprisingly, to me, was also recorded by Elvis.  I don't remember this, but it must be true.  I may search out the Elvis version, but I will forewarn myself ~ I am not a fan of the 70's bombastic Elvis, so I probably won't like it as much as Larry's version.

Here, however, is a live performance of Larry with one of the truest country voices ever, Gene Watson, doing, "Harder They Fall":



My favorite Larry Gatlin song came early in his career; "I Don't Wanna Cry":



Here is Larry with the brothers, and "Statues Without Hearts":



Another with the brothers....Not overly fond of this song, probably because it has that dated, seventies, disco-like beat.  "Nighttime Magic":



And now the one we've all been waiting for.  I was a bit harsh earlier, because this is a good song.  Again, I am a bit biased because I heard it thirteen million times on the radio, and I don't care if the song is by blah blah blah (insert the name of the most wonderful artist in the world here), if you hear a song thirteen million times, you're going to grow to hate it.  Although it did have that excellent cowbell at the beginning, and one can never have enough cowbell (as we are well aware).

I apologize in advance for the mono sound quality, but I much prefer performance videos to a static picture of someone superimposed over a recorded song.

Thus, "All The Gold in California":



Aside from "I Don't Wanna Cry", my favorite Larry Gatlin and/or Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers song is "Houston", recorded in 1983.

I was able to find a live performance video of the song that someone was nice enough to upload.  It's the Larry Gatlin that I saw on the news channel; more mature.  The curly black locks have now become wavy-ish gray locks, but he still sings real good.  I did have to chuckle at someone's comment; "Why is one of the brothers wearing a dress?": 



As I said earlier, there are a bunch of artists from the seventies that we really shouldn't forget, and Larry Gatlin is definitely one.  I would like to turn this into a series; much like my writers series, that I started and sort of, well, to be honest, forgot about.

My theory (one of them) about music is that we get used to a certain "sound", and anything that doesn't sound like that "sound" is considered old; outdated; and therefore, inferior.  I have that problem with old Hank Williams recordings, for example.  I had to learn to appreciate the songs, and overlook the "sound", because it was tinny and mono, and I was used to something a bit fuller.

And, I guess, it's even worse now.  Everything now is recorded really "hot", so that's the sound people are used to.  I would argue that it's rather muddy and overdone, but that's my bias.

The problem with becoming enamored of a sound is that one tends to overrate inferior songs, and dismiss the really good ones.

What I would like to do with this blog is to highlight the "good ones".  Larry Gatlin is a good one.

The Music Cycle

I distinctly remember, around 1980 or so, desperately searching for some good music. Anything!

1980 was kind of a seminal year for me, because it was shortly after this time that I just finally GAVE UP on country music. I mean, gave up. I think Charley Pride did it. (Thanks, Charley!)

I remember house-sitting for my parents when they took their trip to Vegas. I had my four-year-old, and my two-year-old, and me just hanging around, kind of faux-housecleaning, and tuning the stupid console stereo to the country station, and longing...yes, LONGING for one, just ONE, decent country song.

I had gotten the Thorn Birds from the library, so that was a nice distraction, but something was still missing. And that missing piece was some decent country music.

You see, there was no such thing as DECENT country music in 1980.

You can look back now, and pinpoint some classic songs, but truthfully, if one is honest, it was all Crystal Gayle and Sylvia, and others. And this chart will point the way.

It was a sad, demoralizing time for country music.

I just scrolled through the chart, and I don't even recognize most of these songs. That's how bad it was.

Sure, I can pick out some good ones. But that really doesn't give you the flavor of 1980.

I would hate to be someone who charted in that year, because, well, if you were still doing concerts, you'd have approximately three people show up for your show, and two of them would have been dragged by their wives, just to keep peace in the family.

Country music in 1980 deserved what it got.

I wonder sometimes about cycles in popular music, and what causes them. Is it societal? Does the culture dictate what kind of music is created?

If we're feeling complacent, and not challenged, is the music complacent and unchallenging? The answer must be yes.

But what about music now?

One would think that the times we're living in would create angst and disharmony. Instead, it's blase. Maybe everyone has just given up.

In the sixties, everyone was ticked off. They were all mad about the war and about this and that, or at least they pretended to be mad, when they weren't prancing around with flowers in their hair. And look at the music of the sixties. It was great!

1980? I don't know. I'm thinking, we were at the tail end of that "long malaise" that the guy in the White House told us we were in. Way to buck everybody up, there, Jimmy! Such inspiring words!

And thus, the music on the radio was still malaise-ackal, as well. The music said, "Really, we just don't care. Don't listen to us ~ we're hideous! Just like the economy!"

Amazingly, after 1980, the music started looking up! Coincidence? I think not.

The nineteen eighties were really some of the best times country music has ever seen. If you don't believe me, check out these songs and artists.

So, maybe if things get better, the music will get better? There's always hope.

Like I said earlier, you can pick out the good songs from any year, even a crummy one. And that's what I'm going to do.

I don't feel like depressing myself, or you, and as you know, my motto is, music should be fun.

So, no Sylvia; no Crystal; no Charley Pride (sorry, Charley).

EDDIE RABBITT



THE OAK RIDGE BOYS



MERLE HAGGARD Sorry about the re-route. I don't know what's up with that, but at least this video works!



One of the best country voices EVER ~ GENE WATSON



EMMYLOU HARRIS



Sorry, no performance video available of this song, but I still feel it needs to be included:

JOHN ANDERSON



RONNIE MILSAP



It's becoming an unfortunate pattern that I am not finding performance videos of some of the best songs of 1980, but to leave them out would be unthinkable:

ROY ORBISON & EMMYLOU HARRIS



I honestly didn't even remember that this song charted on the country charts in 1980, because this isn't a country song. Is it? Yes, to me, it's an homage to Roy Orbison, so I guess, since Roy charted on the country charts, why not JD SOUTHER? Plus, I love this song! So, fine by me!



My son probably wouldn't admit it, but he was obsessed with this TV show in 1980. Remember, he was four.

So, we had to rush home on Friday nights (from Happy Joe's Pizza Parlor) to tune in to CBS to watch Bo and Luke. This was one of the worst shows I was ever forced to watch (ha!), but I did it for my kid.

By the way, my son, Chris, thought the sheriff's name was Roscoe PEE-Co-Train, when, in fact, it was Roscoe P. Coltraine. I'm sure he knows the difference now.

Here is WAYLON JENNINGS (at least here are his hands):

(Note to YouTube posters ~ you can "disable embedding by request" all you want. One can find ANYTHING on the internet. It wasn't hard, really. And by the way, who is requesting that you disable embedding? CBS? This show was 32 years ago, for God's sake! Do you (CBS) think someone is going to steal your "intellectual property"? C'mon).



So, here we are. The best songs from a bad, bad year in country music.

Yes, you think, well, these are pretty good! Sure! I cherry-picked them! Just check out my Wikipedia link to see all the bad ones! You know, ten songs, out of all the records released in a year, is a woefully bad percentage.

WOEFULLY bad.

Just trust me on this ~ it was a bad year. I was there.

Yes, I know what you're thinking. Aren't you forgetting one, oh Sage?

No, I didn't forget it.

Here's the deal. When anybody says, "This is the best song EVER. The best song that mankind ever created", well, I kind of bristle at that. The truth is, there is no such thing as the best song ever. There could be a best song today. A best song that you like a whole lot, because you heard it on the radio when you were driving to work, and you forgot how much you liked it, but now you think you should get home and download it, because it's the best song EVER. At least, that's how you feel today. Tomorrow, there will be a new best song.

So, I like Bobby Braddock's and Curly Putman's writing a lot. They wrote a ton of classic country songs.

And this is a good song. No doubt. But is it the best country song ever? No.

Because there is no such thing.

But no, I'm not going to leave out GEORGE JONES.



So, eleven. Eleven good songs from 1980. And you could quibble about whether a couple of them are even country songs. That's a bad average.

I guess, though, you could take any year and dissect it, and find that there weren't a whole lot of good songs. But music is meant to be taken in its entirety. Our brains don't sort songs by year (leave that job to me ~ ha).

I do find it interesting, however, that when you take even a bad year like 1980, the usual suspects pop up ~ the classic artists ~ Merle, Gene, Emmylou, Ronnie, George, Roy (of course), Waylon. There aren't any one-hit wonders (and JD Souther, by the way, wrote some classic songs for the Eagles, so no, he's not a one-hit wonder, either).

The cream rises to the top. Even in 1980.

Making Life Simpler

Well, that's rather a misnomer, isn't it? Life is never simple.

I am of a mind, though, that life would be simpler without so much "stuff" to clutter it up.

I'm not certain, but the evidence tells me that, when I was in my twenties, I pretty much saved everything. That was brought home to me recently when my oldest son delivered about six or seven boxes of junk, once belonging to me, that he had been storing in his garage. Yes, junk.

I've been on a remodeling kick of late, so in conjunction with that, I needed to go through those boxes, to see if per chance there might be something I'd actually want.

Well, here's what was in those boxes of "treasures". About 50 picture frames of various sizes (I've always been a sucker for picture frames; don't ask me why); some random photos of people I couldn't pick out of a lineup if my life depended on it; a copy of Life Magazine, "The Year In Pictures, 1986"; three sizes of embroidery hoops, along with a couple packages of unfinished cross-stitch projects; a few of those cheesy CD's ~ you know, "The Best Of...", which were actually re-recordings of songs that you really loved in their original form, but you don't so much love the re-doing of them, twenty years after the fact. A copy of National Geographic from March, 1987; the cover story titled, "North Dakota ~ Tough Times on the Prairie". Guess we can't say that now, can we??

A microphone that I think was part of my reel-to-reel tape recorder, which I haven't a clue where that is, but I would kind of like to have that. A super-8 movie camera and projector. That's cool and all, but what I am really searching for are the actual super-8 films that I shot of my kids when they were little. A movie projector without movies is sort of worthless. I will find those movies; I think they're in the back of our closet somewhere. I'll be transferring those to DVD, just as soon as I can pinpoint their location; I'm thinking in two to three years, at the most.

An instamatic camera inside its very own faux-leather carrying case with the initials CJL pasted on the back of it. AND with a film still inside it! I'm giving that back to my son, and I hope he gets the film developed. That sort of mystery is just the kind of thing that I find ultimately cool.

Some sleeves of baseball cards, all from the Minnesota Twins, circa 1987 (their championship year). I'm sincerely hoping that these belong to my son, because I don't remember being dorky enough to collect baseball cards back then, even though I was sort of a Twins fanatic in those years.

Record albums. A whole lot of record albums. I thought my son had given me all of them awhile back. Apparently not.

That's the one thing that brought a lump to my throat. Why? Well, the thing is, when I was about 16 or 17 years old, I couldn't just buy a record album on my Visa card (cuz, you know, I didn't have one, and frankly, in 1971 - 1972, Visa cards didn't actually exist).

No, I had to save up my pennies to buy an album, and I was only making seventy-five cents an hour, so you do the math.

So, I pretty much wore out those albums. I'd study the covers. In fact, I drew facsimiles of some of them (I was into drawing back then; a hobby I abandoned shortly thereafter).

So, those albums, when I saw them again, brought back a ton of memories for me. They took me back to that room, that component stereo system that I saved and saved to buy. The fact that I couldn't really sing along with the songs on those albums without disturbing whoever might be lodging in the room next door. But I really, really wanted to sing along, so it was a conundrum.

It wasn't even so much the songs on those albums. It was the albums themselves.

So, I thought I would post some pictures of those albums. Just because. The flash sort of obscures some of the pictures, but I still like them. And these, by the way, are Part II. I got the first box of albums awhile back, and I think I will post pictures of those later.

These are some that hold a whole bunch of memories for me..

It seems from these photos that I was a huge Dolly Parton fan. Not necessarily. But it was the late sixties/early seventies, and you couldn't turn around without bumping into Porter and Dolly. Seriously. Porter by himself. Dolly on her own. Porter and Dolly, singing some of Dolly's scribbles. We were all sort of relieved, frankly, in 1973, when Conway and Loretta decided to get together, just for the variety, if nothing else.

It was basically Porter & Dolly, or the Statler Brothers. That was 1970 through 1972, in a nutshell.

I can't explain it, but seeing those album covers kind of stabs at my heart. I guess you had to be there.

So, simplifying my life involves purging superfluous stuff, and stuff that at one time meant something to me, but just doesn't anymore.

The things I have on display in my computer room now are, pictures of family, my dad's AA book and his watch, a letter from my mom, pictures of people and things that hold a special place in my heart, and some funny stuff ~ cartoons ~ because we need to remember that life, and we, are sort of ridiculous.

And what do we need, other than the people we love, and the music we love?

I think that's about it.

2011 Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees

This topic used to aggravate me, but now I just think, eh.

My quarrel isn't so much with the selections, as it is with the omissions (more on that later).

But let's talk about the 2011 inductees.

MODERN ERA ~ Reba McEntire

When Reba first arrived on the scene, I was a big fan. She was pretty country (okay, really country), especially with that twang. I remember taking my mom to see her when she was still performing at rodeos (Reba; not my mom, although that does paint a funny picture).

I notice that Reba's YouTube channel doesn't include this single. Too country, most likely. But it's the one that first caught my attention. 1980:



And I like this one a lot (1984):



This one is probably my favorite (1986):



Reba's vocal stylings hadn't yet become a caricature (you know, how she turns a two-syllable word into sixteen syllables). She practiced restraint here.

I even sort of liked this one (although I will admit, I think I liked the video more than the actual recording). Also 1986:



Then something happened. Reba started recording songs like "Fancy" (which wasn't even a good song when Bobby Gentry did it) and, oh my God, "The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia" (Vicki Lawrence?) And it just continued to go downhill.

Remember this? This video was made as a joke; at least I hope so. Recorded as a duet with Linda Davis (mom, by the way, to that girl from Lady Antebellum):



Okay, I really, really like this song, but I guess Reba wasn't interested in filming a video for it. Too country, again.



Let's not forget that when we are chronicling the downfall of country music as we know it, we should cut Garth Brooks a little slack, and heavens, please, cut Shania some slack.

No, if we want to trace the downfall of country music, let's talk about Reba's stage show and her many costume changes and theatrics. I knew someone who attended one of these "concerts" once, and she said it was just the ABSOLUTE BEST EVER! Ick. Call me old school, but I like a live show where performers just perform their songs. Oh, maybe a little pyrotechnics now and then, if it's the Rolling Stones, but I don't really care how many "cute outfits" Reba has. Call me cuckoo.

So, there's a bit of the good and a bit of the bad with Reba. Pre-1989, I'm fully on board with Reba's induction. You know, when she was country.


VETERAN'S ERA ~ Jean Shepard

Let's just say at the outset that if you are going to have a "veteran's era", can we PLEASE induct more than one artist? Time is running out. I'm serious about this. It's completely unfair that so many deserving artists are passed over, simply because of some arbitrary rule about ONE inductee per category. Let's have a mass induction, shall we? Willie said it a long time ago, and I guess if they won't listen to Willie, they're not going to listen to me. But I'll keep saying it.

But I digress.

I believe I saw Jean Shepard in concert once. One of those package shows, way back when. She comes across as a very classy lady, and let me say, I'm GLAD that she is being inducted.

Jean didn't have an abundance of hit songs, but she was (and is) a mainstay of the Grand Ole Opry, and she paved the way for pretty much every other "girl singer", except Kitty Wells, of course.

Since Ferlin Husky passed away today, I think it's only fitting that I include the video of Jean's only number one song, a duet with Ferlin, called "Dear John Letter", originally recorded in 1953! (sorry for the poor sound quality ~ it's the only embeddable video I could find):



I also like this one (1969):




SONGWRITER (rotating category) ~ Bobby Braddock

What Bobby Braddock knows how to do is write hit songs. Mostly employing the "KISS" method (yay!), Bobby has had hit songs in every decade, from the '60's up to today.

One may listen to some of these songs and think, gee, they're dated. Well, yea! But they weren't dated when they were hits. Bobby adapted to the times for which he was writing. Styles change; tastes change. The mark of a master songwriter is to be flexible enough to write hits for any era. Well, he did it!

Where shall we start? How about with Bobby's first number one hit, in 1968 (I like to include a video from the time the song was popular, so thanks, Roy and Dale, for the introduction:



Jerry Lee always makes me happy:



Sorry again for the poor video quality, but I wanted to include this one by Tracy Lawrence (I miss Tracy Lawrence!):



2009 (most played song on radio for 2009!):



Okay, I didn't forget.

(Note to video posters - if you insist on inserting ads before the video, I'm not going to watch; same for your little personal logos that obscure the singer. Sorry for the tangent, but this is a "general crankiness blog, too, as you know.)

Well, Bobby Braddock can cry this song all the way to the bank, as everyone knows. Some say this is the best country song ever. I don't say that. I will say, however, that this is diabolically addicting to many.

I could deconstruct the diabolical-ness of the song, but that would just bore everyone, and people just want to get to the video. If you're a songwriting geek, however, note how Bobby pushed all the right buttons with this song. Kudos as well to the producer of the single, Billy Sherrill (who is a story unto himself!), for the soaring violins on the last chorus. No disrespect to George Jones, but it was the violins that did it.

My dad thought this was one of the best songs EVER, and I never disrespect my dad, so I will just stay silent and present the video here:



So, thanks, HOF, for the randomness of the "rotating category", which allowed a songwriter to be inducted this year. Look, singers, you ain't nowhere without the songwriters. Unless someone wants to download an mp3 of you humming (although that would have a melody, and thus would be considered a "song").

As I said at the start of this post, I have little quarrel with the selections, and I have already detailed my one and only reservation.

That said, c'mon, you guys! I'm not going to get into the whole Bobby Bare thing again; you can read it here. And I'm not going to mention Ronnie Milsap today.

I'm just really, really disappointed that you are passing over a whole bunch of deserving artists.

My latest dissertation is this: Ask any true country music fan who has any historical knowledge and/or taste, and they will name this guy almost every time, if only for just this one song (ask Alan Jackson, who will most likely be inducted before Gene Watson ever is):

Essential Country Albums

I find ideas in the strangest places. I went to Amazon, with the sole purpose of leaving a book review, and then I thought, oh, why bother? I thought, what if the author reads it, and her feelings are hurt? What's the point?

Anyway, the page I was on had some discussions about country music, and you know how I like a good country music discussion. One of the questions was:

"What are the first 10 CD's that are a 'must own' for anyone just starting a country music collection?"

The author went on to say that some of the artists he likes are Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, and Waylon Jennings (a pertinent point to include, since country music to me could mean something completely different to someone else).

So, I started thinking about my favorite country music albums.

The problem with country albums, as opposed to rock, is that back in the day, albums were basically a means of promoting the hit single, and the rest of the tracks were afterthoughts (a lot of filler; usually a bunch of cover songs). Sadly.

So, overall, a new country listener would be well advised to go for the "greatest hits" packages.

As time went on, and country was dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th century, some of that began to change, happily.

Thence (thence?) I started to browse through my music collection, and surprisingly, I realized that ten albums is very limiting.

I've got way more than ten that fit the parameters of the author's question. But I'll stop with ten this time, and maybe do a Part Two later.

So, in no particular order, because I'm really too lazy to try to rank them, here's Part One:

The Carnegie Hall Concert - Buck Owens & The Buckaroos

Recorded live, back in the sixties, this album has the joy and the excitement that only a live recording can convey.

You'll hear the best versions of some of Buck's greatest hits, particularly because Don Rich is singing harmony, whereas, in the studio recordings, Buck tended to sing harmony with himself much of the time, and Don Rich adds a real vibrancy to the songs.

You'll get little snippets (medleys) of some of Buck's perhaps lesser-known songs, which will make you want to get the original recordings, just to hear these songs in their entirety. Songs such as, "Don't Let Her Know" and "Excuse Me (I Think I've Got a Heartache)".

Plus, you'll hear a kick-ass version of "Buckaroo".

Love In The Hot Afternoon - Gene Watson

This is the album that introduced us to the voice that is Gene Watson.

While it doesn't include "Farewell Party" (download this as an mp3), this is an album I listened to over and over when it was released in 1975.

I thought, hey, this new guy has quite a voice! And "Love In The Hot Afternoon" is (now) a classic country song. Back then, it was just....new and great.

A couple of my other favorite tracks from this album are, "For The First Time", "This Is My Year For Mexico", and "Where Love Begins".

Country Music - Marty Stuart

Released in 2003, this, to me, is Marty's greatest album. Many prefer "The Pilgrim", but for those who remember real country (see Buck Owens, above), this album is hard to beat.

Marty is a real country music historian, and songs such as, "Sundown In Nashville" remind us of songs we may never have heard, or like me, just plain forgot about.

Stellar tracks include, "Fool For Love", "Here I Am", the silly/endearing "By George", and, of course, "Farmer's Blues", with Merle Haggard. Not to mention, "A Satisfied Mind".

Trust me on this one. You won't go wrong buying this CD. And that mandolin will kill you.

Diamonds and Dirt - Rodney Crowell

This album got robbed of the CMA Album of the Year award in 1988, but what can I say, except this is a joyous album!

I played it over and over......and over and over.

From the opening track, "Crazy Baby", to the modern country classic, "I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried", to Wynn Stewart's "Above and Beyond", to the goofy "She's Crazy For Leavin'", to "It's Such a Small World", with Rosanne Cash, it's essentially good song, good song, good song. No filler here!


Elite Hotel - Emmylou Harris

Another album from 1975. 1975 must have been a pretty good year!

This was my first consciousness of Emmylou Harris. And she was in rare form here. From "'Til I Gain Control Again", written by bandmate Rodney Crowell (see above), to the classics, "Together Again" and "Sweet Dreams", to the jaunty opening track, "Amarillo", to the last track, "Wheels", written by Emmy's mentor Gram Parsons, along with Chris Hillman, this is a classic from start to finish.

This album established Emmylou as the standard bearer of true country music, so it's a no-brainer, really.

Emmy's signature album.

Savin' The Honky Tonk - Mark Chesnutt

A 2004 release that said, hey country music, remember me? Remember country music? In case you forgot, this is what country music sounds like.

Oh, just some steel guitar, some fiddles. Some two-steppin' music. Somebody who's been sadly overlooked, but who, in years to come, will be regarded as somebody who "saved" country music for those who needed savin'.

From the opening track, "Somebody Save The Honky Tonk", to Kevin Fowler's "The Lord Loves The Drinkin' Man" (Kevin did a great recording of his song, but it took Mark to get it to mainstream radio).

Let me just say, "The Lord Loves The Drinkin' Man" is the quintessential country song. I think I heard it a grand total of ONE time on terrestrial radio, in between tracks by Tim McGruff, the crime dog, and Faith Hope Charity, his crime-fighting sidekick.

Lucky for me that I caught this song the ONE TIME it was played, or I never would have found this delicious album.

Easy Come, Easy Go - George Strait
Let me just say, I own ALL of George Strait's albums, so it was hard to pick a favorite. But this release from 1993 has all the elements I look for in a good COUNTRY release.

Number one, it's got not one, but two, songs written by the genius, Jim Lauderdale ~ "Stay Out Of My Arms" and "I Wasn't Fooling Around".

Plus, it's got the old Wayne Kemp (originally recorded by Faron Young) song, "That's Where My Baby Feels At Home".

And, for good measure, it's got a rousing rendition of the George Jones chestnut, "Love Bug".

I like this one because it's one of the most "country" of the country albums that George ever released.

I give it a 95. It's got a good beat; I can dance to it (for you American Bandstand fans).

Highway 101: Greatest Hits

If, for some unknown reason, you are not familiar with Highway 101, then it's time to GET familiar with them!

Where do I begin? With "Somewhere Tonight", written by Rodney Crowell (see above)? With "Whiskey, If You Were A Woman"? With "Cry Cry Cry"? With "Honky Tonk Heart"?

Roll the dice. You can't come up a loser with any of these choices.

Paulette Carlson is the "Stevie Nicks" of country music, with the added benefit that she's COUNTRY. I'll always be a Paulette Carlson fan. Throw in Cactus Moser, Curtis Stone, and Blackjack Daniels, and you've got a combination that can't be equaled in today's market ~ and I'll match Paulette up against Jennifer Nettles any day.

This Time - Dwight Yoakam

Much like George Strait, I own ALL of Dwight Yoakam's albums. Thus, it was difficult to choose the essential Dwight.

I chose this one simply for the fact that it includes two of Dwight's best songs EVER: "Ain't That Lonely Yet" and "A Thousand Miles From Nowhere".

Not to mention the never-to-be-ignored, "Fast As You".

You can pretty much choose any Dwight CD. You can't go wrong with any of them. This one just happens to be one of my favorites.

More Great Dirt: The Best of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Volume 2

Yes, they did Springsteen's"Cadillac Ranch". But they also did "I've Been Lookin'" by the Dirt's own Jeff Hanna, and "Workin' Man (Nowhere To Go)", and another Hanna song, "Down That Road Tonight". Not to mention, of course, the ubiquitous "Fishin' In The Dark", a song that, let me just say, is impossible to dance to.

Chockfull of hits and timeless songs, the Dirt round out my Part One list of essential country albums.


Did I forget anyone? Of course I did.

That's why there's gotta be a Part Two.

~~~

Bonus Video

I broke my toe on the bathroom door two nights ago (and they said it couldn't be done!)

So, here's a video to make me feel better.

2007 - The Year In Music

For someone like me who likes to bitch about the state of music, I have to admit, 2007 was pretty darn good. You just needed to know how to find the good stuff.

I've read a bunch of critics' lists of the best CD's of 2007, and unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to hear them all. The critics could well be right. After all, they did list most of my favorite CD's of the year.

Critics whose opinions I value include Chet Flippo (of course) and Jon Bream, who writes for the Star Tribune. I also like to read Entertainment Weekly's opinions, although their demographic is, admittedly, younger. I also perused the list that No Depression Magazine compiled.

So, here's where we agree:

"Raising Sand" - Alison Krauss & Robert Plant

"Revival" - John Fogerty

"Dwight Sings Buck" - Dwight Yoakam

"Magic" - Bruce Springsteen (the prettiest song of the year, "Girls In Their Summer Clothes")

Some mentioned "The Bluegrass Sessions" by Merle Haggard (produced by Marty Stuart).

At least one list included "In A Perfect World" by Gene Watson.

I would also include The Eagles, "Long Road Out Of Eden" and "Goin' Home - A Tribute To Fats Domino".

I'm sure there must be new artists who are great. I hear there's some British gals who are pretty good.

What I know is, the artists who produced the best music in 2007 (in my opinion) have been around since the 1980's or longer:

Alison Krauss, Robert Plant, John Fogerty, Dwight Yoakam, Bruce Springsteen, Merle Haggard, Gene Watson, The Eagles, Fats Domino.

I don't know what this means. A cynic would say, there are no good new artists on the horizon. I don't believe that. I guess we just don't get a chance to hear the new, good ones.

But thank God for the old ones!

And here's an old one:

More New Music Recommendations

John Fogerty's latest, Revival, is a VERY GOOD album. Ah, the kind of music I've been missing. Some really good rock & roll, and country (yes, some of it sounds country to me - I mean, country as it used to be known.)

**CONTENT WARNING**
This is a political album, lyrically. I was not aware of this before I bought it. Nevertheless, musically, it's very, very good. I can forgive political lectures, as long as the music is good, and as long as I don't have to be bombarded in the media constantly by the artist's political yammerings (see Dixie Chicks).

Since I downloaded the album, I don't have the liner notes, but there's a lot of great organ on many tracks, and some great drumming.

My favorite tracks:

Gunslinger - Sort of an Eagles vibe on this one; this is what I mean by country.

I Can't Take It No More - It's like a Little Richard song! And it comes in at 1:41. Hey, say what you need to say and be done with it - that's my philosophy.

It Ain't Right - This is more of a Creedence song than the track titled, "Creedence Song" on the album.

Natural Thing - Another "Creedence-type" song. Great organ on this one.

River Is Waiting - Very pretty & mellow. More great organ.

Don't You Wish It Was True - This is a catchy little number. This one and Gunslinger are my two favorites.

Broken Down Cowboy - Another "Eagles-type" country song. Another very pretty song.


If you are a John Fogerty or a Creedence fan, you won't be disappointed by this offering. Seven really good tracks; that's unusual these days. And the other tracks aren't too shabby, either.


Revival (purchase or download at Amazon (DRM-free downloads!)



On a completely different note, Gene Watson finally has a new album.

Casual country fans don't know this, but Gene Watson is kind of the ultimate country singer. If you've never heard "Farewell Party", check it out. And wait for that last note - it's a killer.

But on to the new album. It's good! He does some classic songs, some new songs. Some duets, some solos.

The ones I like the best are:

Don't You Ever Get Tired Of Hurting Me - A classic country song you never get tired of hearing; sung by, well, you know - the ultimate country singer.

Let Me Be The First To Go - A duet with Vince Gill. Very pretty song.

She's Already Gone - This one is my favorite. This is a new song, and Gene sings the heck out of it.

Together Again - A duet with Rhonda Vincent. I wonder how many times this song has been recorded. Well, this is a nice version.

A Good Place To Turn Around - Another duet, this time with Connie Smith. Well, isn't it nice to hear from Connie again! I like this one a lot.

So, there you have it. I haven't found any good music for about a year, and suddenly I've found four good (if not great) albums in the course of a couple of weeks! Hey, things are looking up!


In A Perfect World (purchase or download at Amazon)