The Essential Music Library project is an attempt to get the many musical minds of the SDMB to sit down and discuss what works are absolutely necessary for a well-stocked musical library. There will be roughly 20 threads detailing a variety of genres so that we can get the depth that would be missing from a single-threaded discussion and the breadth necessary to cover what’s out there.
This thread’s topic is country and western. As picker explained in the project planning thread, this is meant to include old, new & alt-country.
Jimmie Rodgers. I can’t say I’m familiar enough with him to name specific songs/albums, but his yodeling is still influencing country singers today, and he was the first person inducted into the country hall of fame. (He also, in his “Singing Brakeman” persona, made the first music video, for what that’s worth.)
If you have everything the Carter Family recorded between 1927 and 1941, you have pretty much the Old Testament of country music. (Not western – see this thread for more details). Roy Acuff was another primordial country artist.
I second all those mentioned so far. I would also add Kitty Wells, Webb Pierce, Dolly Parton, and others who will come to mind later.
Since the meta-topic doesn’t have a separate category for bluegrass (on which I am not an expert), I will mention Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, and Josh Graves.
Yeah, I was going to mention Dwight-- my favorite country singer. I’d add:
Willie Nelson, The Essential Willie Nelson;
George Strait, Latest, Greatest Straitest Hits.
And I don’t know if he’s Country ‘n’ Western, per se, but I’ll also nominate Steve Goodman’s No Big Surprise: Anthology. Steve Goodman was an awesome songwriter, who was covered by some biggies in the country music arena, and he doesn’t always get his due.
Phases and Stages (1974): about the breakup of his marriage. When it was released as a record, the first side was from the woman’s point of view and the second from the man’s. Each of them go through shock, anger, recovery, and eventually acceptance. It’s a heartbreaking record to listen to, but it’s one of my favorites.
Red Headed Stranger (1975): A western movie in music. Just a brilliant album from start to finish.
Uncle Tupelo’s No Depression (1990): One of the early ventures into alt-country. It’s widely acknowledged as the album that started the movement, but I don’t think that’s really accurate - other artists had been putting out punk-infused country records (or country-infused punk ones) before this was released. It’s still a great album, though, and it definitely belongs on this list.
Highwaymen: Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson. An amazing collection of talent. The songs the recorded were good ones, but they didn’t always live up to the men playing them.
Lyle Lovett’s Live in Texas (1999): More than any of his studio albums, this live recording really showcases Lovett’s different influences, from country to jazz and blues to gospel to rock and roll. He’s got a great band, a great voice, and he writes amazing songs.
And a hearty endorsement of Dwight Yoakam as well.
Merle Travis. His influence on country music is incalculable.
Lefty Frizzell. Another one of the early giants. He changed country vocals the way Merle Travis changed guitar.
Finally, Don Gibson If he had written nothing other than “Sweet Dreams,” he’d deserve inclusion. But consider the fact he wrote “Oh Lonesome Me” and “I Can’t Stop Loving You” on the same day!!
Popping back into the thread to mention that no discussion of essential C&W is complete without Chet Atkins. As a guitarist, he was without peer, but to fully understand what he did for Country, take a look here - seven pages of albums from 1953 to present where he was either a musician, producer or arranger. The artists range from Elvis to Jim Reeves to Eddy Arnold to Don Gibson to Willie Nelson to Charley Pride to etc., etc., etc.
Country music on the pop charts would have never happened without Chet Atkins.
I’d suggest Jimmie Dale Gilmore, but he’s still at cult status, or whatever you call that black hole where reside original, exceedingly talented but not well-known singers and writers.
How about the singing cowboys? Sons of the Pioneers, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Tex Ritter?
