Maybe some Conway Twitty… guess I’m Oldskool Hayseed…
I also really like Ronnie Milsap and the Carpenters for the same sonic reasons.
In some ways I think the Carpenters were crossover like Twain.
One of the main things this thread is showing me is how broad the genre is. It may be the hardest genre of all to identify or to isolate from its components. Add to the list:
Folk
Celtic
Story songs
Bluegrass
Old-Time
Rockabilly
Rock 'n Roll
R&B
Blues
Cajun
Zydeco
Tex-Mex
Gospel
Western
I wouldn’t be surprised if I have mentioned less than half of the bags that “Country” includes.
And one other thing: is there such a thing as Pure Country?
If so, who is a currently recording or performing example?
If not, when did that style fade into the history pages?
If you’re talking classic country, I like “Crazy” Patsy Cline.
For pop/country, I love “Let Me Be There,” by Olivia Newton-John or “The Sweetest Thing (I’ve Ever Known)” by Juice Newton.
Does Tom Russell count as country?
If so, this, this and the whole of this album
Don’t forget Western swing (different from the clippety-clop movie western music)! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvX8MijgeW8
To try to answer your questions:
IMO, no such animal as “pure country.” It’s an evolving genre that means different things to different people.
There are songs / artists who are nearly universally regarded as country (George Jones, Randy Travis), but there is also a lot out there that can duck under the umbrella for a time (songs and artists) before being considered another genre (Bonnie Tyler got some country airplay back in the 70s) or finds a niche on country radio in recent years (Pure Prairie League, the Eagles, John Denver) after being played on mainstream pop stations.
The concept of country music changes with the generation. What my dad considers “real” country music is usually honky-tonk music from the fifties and sixties, Western swing and the Nashville sound. My concept steers more toward Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Reba McEntire, the stars when I came of age.
Having kicked around the radio business off and on for 44 years and worked at several country stations, I’ve been exposed to a LOT of country in all its sub-genres.
If I had to pick just one, it would be obscure to most people:
Texas Trilogy, written by Steve Fromholz and performed by Steve and Dan McCrimmon, who called themselves Frummox, and released an album called “Here to There” in 1969.
As it says, it’s a trilogy of songs about the town of Kopperl, Texas: Daybreak, Train Ride, and Bosque County Romance. The whole thing runs more than 10 minutes, and it captures hardscrabble country living better than anything I’ve heard before or since.
Sample lyrics:
Someone just threw a clutch
In the old pickup truck
It seems like they been riding
On a streak of bad luck
The doctors bills came
And the well has gone dry
Seems their grown kids don’t care
Whether they live or die
And yet, for all its gloom, there is an ethic of endurance that enlightens the song and gives it resonance for everyone who’s had a hard life.
Take time to listen to the song, and the rest of the album is worth it, as well. Lyle Lovett covered it on his double CD, “Step Inside This House.”
Others that are right up there for me include Alan Jackson’s Midnight in Montgomery which apparently was CMA video of the year in 1992, which I didn’t know until just now, having only heard the song. It’s wonderfully minor key and sentimental without being schmaltzy AND it honors country’s patron said without having to drop his name. Affecting and classy.
And for a party song, I’m partial to Robert Earl Keen’s The Road Goes on Forever and the Party Never Ends. I particularly like the version with Keen and Joe Ely, which you can find here.
It has always been a hybrid/fusion style, adding Anglo-Celtic Ancient Tones to the styles brought over from Africa long before my ancestors got here. Add a pinch of French, Central European & Mexican flavors–especially in Texas, or any place far enough from Nashville.
This frakking thread sent me to a long night at YouTube. Now, my favorite Country Performance might be George Jones–“He Stopped Loving Her Today.” But Country Songs prove their worth by their adaptability.
So I’ll suggest “It Makes No Difference Now”–first, as performed by the songwriter, Jimmie Davis. Except that he didn’t really write it: He bought it from Texan Floyd Tillman, who eventually fought for some credit. I met Floyd in the 1970’s. He was one of the pioneers of the electric guitar & reminisced how Shell Shocked Vets (from the First War) would share their Government Issue Special Cigarettes with guitar players to help them devise their Take Off solos. (Here, Floyd talksto Jerry Jeff Walker.
Back to the song. Performed by Ernest Tubb, Marty Robbins, Merle Haggard, Ray Charles & The Supremes.
Then, there the version by Tommy Duncan, a former member of Bob Will’s Texas Playboys. Wills had fled to Tulsa after, as member of the Light Crust Doughboys, he had a falling out with Pappy O’Daniel, head of the Burris Flour Mills and future Governor of Texas. O Brother Where Art Thou shows us a Governor of Mississippi named Pappy O’Daniel, whose song was “You Are My Sunshine.” Which was actually another song (supposedly) written by Jimmie Davis–who served 2 terms as Governor of Louisiana.
Now would be a good time to go off on a Western Swing or Cajun/Zydeco tangent, but I’ll take it back to the mountains with Were You There, performed by Johnny Cash–who looks to have been going through one of his Dangerous Periods–backed by Mother Maybelle Carter & Her Beautiful Daughters. Anita Carter, with the voice of an angel, sings her sister’s song, Ring of Fire. Here’s a more familiar version–by JC himself. Then, there’s Social Distortion. And I’ve always liked Mingo Saldivar’s Rueda de Fuego.
Purity is overrated. So is the Nashville Country Music Industry.
If you get lost on YouTube, don’t blame me…
ETA: Props to Hometownboy for his recommendations of Frummox & Joe Ely. And Lyle Lovett’s excellent album of covers by his singer-songwriter heroes & compadres.
Somebody’s gotta throw a trucking song in here. Here’s a great one:
Six Days on the Road - Dave Dudley
First up, I don’t know squat about country genres. Secondly, apologies if I’ve missed a mention of him, but I can’t believe that Guy Clark hasn’t been listed yet. He’s got a ton of terrific songs, but here’s a link to a performance on American television: Rita Ballou
Also, here’s Emmylou Harris on the BBC: Amarillo
There are a list of songs that were chart hits this side of the pond in the mid-seventies - and on the genres point I’m not sure they all count - but that I enjoy for (among others) nostalgic reasons:
Charlie Rich - Behind Closed Doors
Charlie Rich - The Most Beautiful Girl
Billie Jo Spears - What I’ve Got In Mind
Don Williams - Gypsy Woman
Crystal Gayle - Talking In Your Sleep(okay the style is off, but the sentiment is bang on)
Great to see Bob Wills on here, I was never sure if that counted as country, but all that matters is that it’s good. I’d have posted a link to ‘Texarkana Baby’ (not sure about the spelling there, Arkansas?) but I couldn’t find one. I like ‘Six Days On The Road’ too, but the version I’m familiar with is by Taj Mahal, and bluesier. I really like Millie Jackson’s take on country tunes, so you have to check out her versions of ‘Lovin’ Arms’ and ‘If You’re Not Back In Love By Monday’. And if I had time I’d include songs by Kris Kristofferson, because I haven’t seen a mention of him, John Prine - ‘Please Don’t Bury Me’, ‘Grandpa Was A Carpenter’, Illegal Smile’ and the Charlie Daniels’ Band.
Hal Ketchum’s “Past The Point Of Rescue”
Thanks Bridget Burke for both the kind words and the superb links. I’ll add that country fans could do well by their ears just by checking out the Austin music scene and a curious subgenre of those singer-songwriters who used three names:
Billy Joe Shaver
Robert Earl Keen
Jimmy Dale Gilmore
David Allen Coe
Ray Wylie Hubbard
and Jerry Jeff Walker
all come to mind. Not all of them are from Texas, originally. Mr. Walker was born Ronald Clyde Crosby in upstate New York and moved to Austin in 1971. But he more than made up for that.
As an aside, I had a chance to interview Mark Chesnutt in June and happened to ask him, since he’s from Beaumont, Texas, if he’d ever considered using three names. Here’s what he answered:
"My middle name is Nelson. I thought about that for a brief moment years ago before I ever even signed a record deal. Maybe Mark Chesnutt won’t catch attention.What about Mark Nelson Chesnutt?
“We damn near went with that. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever told anybody that. I don’t think my publicist Kathy even knows that. We actually discussed it for a while and decided to just go with the shorter version.”
Not sure if these even count. They’re more alternative county.
Silver Threads and Golden Needles
The Wreck of the Old 97
The Wabash Cannonball
Angel from Montgomery
Wow! 95 replies and no love for Don Gibson? 
I thought about this, and my first reaction was “Your Cheatin’ Heart” by Hank Williams, but in the end I have to go with “I Can’t Stop Loving You.” I love Don’s original, but I think Ray Charles’s cover is the definitive version.
The story is that Gibson wrote "I Can’t Stop Loving You and “Oh Lonesome Me” on the same day!! That may be apocryphal, but it’s well-documented he recorded both songs on the the same afternoon to release one of the greatest double-sided hit records in country music history.
Oh - when he came to Nashville to record at the RCA studios, he had three songs in his pocket - the two mentioned above and another tune you may be familiar with: “Sweet Dreams!!”
What a songwriter!
I would love to say I hate country music, but I was in a country band for about a year, so I’m not allowed.
The most fun song to play was “Jambalaya”.
ETA: Randy Travis’ stuff from the 80s (“On the Other Hand”, “Forever and Ever Amen”) would have to be right up there as well.
George Jones singing “Wine Colored Roses” kills me. I play it solo piano sometimes at cocktail hour, along with “If Drinking Don’t Kill Me.”
Honorable mentions: “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “You Don’t Know Me,” “Worried Mind,” “Time Changes Everything,” “The King Is Gone (And So Are You),” “Things Fall to Pieces,” and “I’m Moving On.”
Plus the James Booker arrangement of “King of the Road” (if that’s a country tune) and the Dr. John arrangement of “Waiting For a Train,” and the Jimmy Smith arrangement of “Careless Love.”
I couldn’t begin to give a single all-time answer; there would be hundreds of candidates.
In the last couple weeks, maybe “Miller’s Hill” by the Steel Wheels.
Let us not forget Kinky Friedman and The Texas Jewboys.
“They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore”
“I’m Proud To Be An Asshole From El Paso”
and the immortal “Ballad of Charles Whitman.”