# Classic Country - Your favorites? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 24, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733 "2012-10-24T15:02:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/1 "2012-10-24T15:02:59Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/2 "2012-10-24T15:11:07Z")
“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? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/3 "2012-10-24T15:13:13Z")
It’s not exactly what you asked for but I also highly recommend Junior Brown. “My Wife Thinks You’re Dead” is one of my favorite songs. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/4 "2012-10-24T15:19:34Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/5 "2012-10-24T15:20:52Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > “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? I don’t know George Jones at all, or Pride or Coe for that matter. What are some good Pride/Coe songs I should give a shot? ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/6 "2012-10-24T15:30:58Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > “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? If you’re talking George Jones and maudlin, let’s not forget “The Grand Tour”! I think George also did the best version of “Tennessee Whiskey” David Allen Coe’s triumph is “You Never Even Called Me By My Name” I’d also suggest more Buck Owens “Tiger by the Tail” is a good one ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/7 "2012-10-24T15:32:00Z")
Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys – _[“Take Me Back to Tulsa”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCjbMdY8dZE)_ ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/8 "2012-10-24T15:42:46Z")
Hank Williams Sr. — [Your Cheatin’ Heart](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS4LCoh0VGQ). [I’m So Lonesome, I Could Cry](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WXYjm74WFI). 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. Waylon Jennings — [Bob Wills Is Still The King](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55DO5sNGZ_s). [Luckenbach, Texas](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvZeYDBY4fw) etc… Johnny Cash — [The Long Black Veil](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pALSKcWcVEk) (with Joni Mitchell). [Folsom Prison Blues.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5Ts4M3irWM) One that isn’t before 1980, but sounds like it could’ve been, is Cash’s cover of Sting’s (!) song, [I Hung My Head](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRohMKD5yS0). David Allan Coe — [You Never Even Called Me By My Name](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAOVRkSCWmg) (Hey, it’s the perfect country and western song.) Loretta Lynn — [One’s On The Way](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMzSYyjNb74). Her [collaboration with Jack White](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Lear_Rose) is an interesting one, but probably not what you’re looking for. Jeannie Riley — [Harper Valley PTA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOZPBUu7Fro) Marty Robbins — [El Paso](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn3JB51NH_M). [Big Iron](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqWgTi2bIOc) Willie Nelson — [Night Life](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDc-9yRc5Jg). [Funny How Time Slips Away](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSxFiM41u8s). And thousands of others. Kris Kristofferson (though I much prefer other people’s versions of his hits.) — [Help Me Make It Through The Night](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh1y7Jkikuk). [Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztuXo9BuNAk). [Sunday Morning Coming Down](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxpTZYIbE6g). [Me and Bobby McGee](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-J7mLyD3yc). Jesus, what a songwriter. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/9 "2012-10-24T15:44:28Z")
Johnny Horton “The Battle of New Orleans” “North to Alaska” “Sink the Bismarck” “Rock Island Line” Roger Miller “King of the Road” The Flying Burrito Brothers “Wheels” Pure Prairie League “Two Lane Highway” Tennessee Ernie Ford “Sixteen Tons” Jimmy Dean “Big Bad John” ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/10 "2012-10-24T15:45:38Z")
Waylon Jennings- Love of the Common People Willie Nelson- Undo the Right ---
**Author:** ![happycamper\_5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@happycamper\_5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happycamper_5)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/11 "2012-10-24T15:50:44Z")
A few suggestions from a playlist I once had: Porter Wagoner - [The Carroll County Accident](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8jJq4rBsZc) Tammy Wynette - [Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS1PBpWWyfc), [Apartment #9](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsaQoSBJ7PQ), [I Don’t Wanna Play House](http://youtu.be/wuMCBE9yUqg) Conway Twitty - [Hello Darlin’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hLrGjh0Mk8) Marty Robbins - [Big Iron](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGmUsJvRv7U) Glen Campbell - [Rhinestone Cowboy](http://youtu.be/atHY8rDBhtI), [Wichita Lineman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTfwcLdP5Xk), [Galveston](http://youtu.be/xsHUgpSxMoI) Jim Reeves - [Four Walls](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyGrVEpqTqE), [He’ll Have To Go](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nls0zrxx7UY) Patsy Cline - [Three Cigarettes In An Ashtray](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHuxmeSLtRY) Cal Smith - [Country Bumpkin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqe74dv3JHk) Faron Young - [Hello Walls](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMSWAUAKJn0) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/12 "2012-10-24T15:58:21Z")
One from Down Under [Song and Danceman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZaLGZ3tqSE) - Mike McClellan ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/13 "2012-10-24T16:01:09Z")
[Flowers on the Wall](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s8nRL2bPCU) - The Statler Brothers ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/14 "2012-10-24T16:02:48Z")
I heard k.d. lang sing “Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray” live and boy, was that a hurricane-force experience. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/15 "2012-10-24T16:13:38Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I heard k.d. lang sing “Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray” live and boy, was that a hurricane-force experience. Isn’t she something? Our family’s theme song is [Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP67H4qfe5w) ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/16 "2012-10-24T16:24:53Z")
David Allen Coe: [Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1RLpWewoJg). Charlie Pride: [Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrBG3gUV92k). Faron Yound: [Four in the Morning](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Pt3oeL65Q). Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys: New San Antonio Rose (commonly called just San Antonio Rose). [Older single](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw2k8VfX83o); [later album version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD8cr8IX3_U&feature=related). Hank Snow: [I Don’t Hurt Anymore](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POrN4oZUdcc). Don Gibson: [Oh Lonesome Me](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc-2eO8FJzk). Those add up to a tiny scratch on the surface. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/17 "2012-10-24T16:53:44Z")
A few to listen to: “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. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/18 "2012-10-24T16:55:32Z")
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](http://www.amazon.com/Honky-Tonk-Heroes-Waylon-Jennings/dp/B00000J7AQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351096613&sr=8-1&keywords=honky+tonk+heroes)–Billy Joe Shaver tunes–this is _the_ “Outlaw” album; accept no substitutes. [Dreaming My Dreams](http://www.amazon.com/Dreaming-My-Dreams-Waylon-Jennings/dp/B00005QD6M/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1351096792&sr=1-1&keywords=dreaming+my+dreams), as one of his best… _Asleep At The Wheel_: [Ride With Bob](http://www.amazon.com/Ride-Bob-Asleep-at-Wheel/dp/B00000JWOJ/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1351096855&sr=1-1&keywords=riding+with+bob)–Bob Wills hits, with guest stars from Willie to Manhattan Transfer. [Willie & the Wheel](http://www.amazon.com/Willie-Wheel-Nelson/dp/B001NKWLDA/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1351096976&sr=1-1&keywords=willie+and+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](http://www.amazon.com/Livin-Lovin-Losin-Louvin-Brothers/dp/B0000CD5JG/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1351097117&sr=1-1&keywords=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](http://www.amazon.com/Will-Circle-Unbroken-30th-Anniversary/dp/B000063686/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1351097270&sr=1-1&keywords=may+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. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/19 "2012-10-24T17:06:44Z")
“Tennessee Stud”, “Jackson” and “Who’s Gonna Feed Them Hogs” are three good ones that haven’t been mentioned yet. ---
**Author:** ![Greekfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@Greekfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greekfreak)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733/20 "2012-10-24T17:25:07Z")
God. So many good ones, but I’m partial to: 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) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-country-your-favorites/638733.md?page=2)