I’ve been getting more and more into classic country lately, but only have a handful of songs in regular rotation. Would love to find some more gems, so what are your favorites. Looking for music released before 1980. Here are the songs I’m into at the moment to give you an idea of what I’m looking for:
Merle Haggard - “Momma Tried” & “The Bottle Let Me Down”
Patsy Cline - “Walking After Midnight” & “Lovesick Blues”
Ernest Tubb - “Drivin Nails in my Coffin”
Willie Nelson - “Gotta Get Drunk”
Roger Miller - “Chug-a-Lug”
Dolly Parton - “Jolene”
Loretta Lynn - “Fist City” & “Success”
Buck Owens - “Act Naturally”
So enlighten me Dopers, what should I add to this list?
“Fist City” is one of my favorite Lorettie tunes. Where else can you find a catfight preserved in song? Other great songs by the Queen of Country Music include “Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’” and “You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man.” “Coal Miner’s Daughter” goes without saying.
Also I see no George Jones on your list. “He Stopped Loving Her Today” has been called The Greatest County Song Ever, which is hard to dispute. It has all those great maudlin themes. My personal favorite is “Wild Irish Rose,” which if I’m in the right mood can actually bring a tear to my eye.
Have you listened to any Charlie Pride or David Allen Coe?
Hank Williams. Your Cheatin’ Heart, Lovesick Blues, I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry, I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive, Honky Tonkin’, Move it on Over - there’s at least a hundred great country songs that he wrote and recorded.
Hank Williams Sr. — Your Cheatin’ Heart. I’m So Lonesome, I Could Cry. Weirdly, his grandkid, Hank III, sounds a whole lot like Sr. would’ve, if he were the same age today. I really like Hank III when he decides to play country.
Well some of these have been already mentioned, but you can try the clips and see which ones you like. I find myself going back again and again to the Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson songs.
“It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” - Kitty Wells (many other covers out there as well)
“Wildwood Flower”, “Keep on the Sunny Side” - The Carter Family (going back to the roots)
“I Walk the Line”, “Cocaine Blues”, “A Boy Named Sue”, “One Piece at a Time”, and about 100 others by Johnny Cash
“Family Tradition”, “All my Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight” by Hank Williams Jr.
Just about every Patsy Cline and Hank Williams song.
And some more modern stuff to check out, Hank Williams III (albums like Risin’ Outlaw and Straight to Hell), Miranda Lambert, and Jamey Johnson all remind me of classic outlaw country.
All of Hank Williams. All of Buck Owens & the Buckaroos. Most of George Jones. Most of Johnny Cash. Specific selections next…
Waylon Jennings:Honky Tonk Heroes–Billy Joe Shaver tunes–this is the “Outlaw” album; accept no substitutes. Dreaming My Dreams, as one of his best…
Asleep At The Wheel: Ride With Bob–Bob Wills hits, with guest stars from Willie to Manhattan Transfer. Willie & the Wheel–in which Willie gets his Western Swing on. (Why, yes. Bob Wills is still the king!)
Livin’, Lovin’, Losin’–Songs of the Louvin Brothers. More of the usual suspects sing heartbroken tunes from the hills. The Louvins were a throwback to the brother acts; Bill Monroe was half of one before he invented Bluegrass. (Gram Parsons loved the Louvins; so does Emmylou, of course.) Follow this line back to Old-Timey/String Band music if you like it…
More “Eastern” roots: Will the Circle Be Unbroken–in which lonhaired hippies (The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) went to Nashville in 1972. They not only avoided getting beat up, they played with stars of the old Opry–most of whom are gone now.
Charlie Pride–“The Snakes Crawl At Night”
Willie Nelson–“Me And Paul”
Patsy Cline–“I Fall To Pieces”
Johnny Cash–“Cocaine Blues”
Hank Williams–“Lovesick Blues”
George Jones–“No Show Jones” (not exactly classic)
