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October 03, 2005

100 Essential Country Songs

JB Doubtless (a freelance blogger who writes occasionally for Fraters and Nihilist) and I have been in an ongoing debate about music. Sort of.

Anyway, I was driving around last night and I caught a show on MPR - didn't catch the name - hosted by Rodney Crowell. Crowell is one of the best songwriters in any American music genre of the past 30 years; a former son-in-law of the late Johnny Cash (a status that is it's own great genre; Marty Stuart, another of my favorite c&w artists, is another), Crowell is amazing.

The show was on the legacy of Cash. It was all good - especially a segment where Crowell interviewed his ex-wife Roseanne Cash.

Roseanne noted that when she turned 18 and evinced an interest in a career as a c&w musician, her father gave her a list of 100 essential country western songs. Learn these, Cash related her father telling her, and you'll have a solid basis in the whole style. The list was not some museum archive, either - according to Ms. Cash, the list was classics and old Carter Family tunes, plus country protest songs, plus newer stuff. Also, the list is missing. Ms. Cash hopes to find it someday.

So what's on the list?

What are the 100 essential country/western songs?

I'll take a whack at a few, from my perspective of having worked at a couple of c&w stations and listened to some of the genre:

  • I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Hank Williams (which was, in fact, on the original list).
  • Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain - Willie Nelson, duh.
  • Boulder To Birmingham - Emmylou Harris
  • Wayfaring Stranger - Trad.
  • Wreck On The Highway - Roy Acuff...OK, that's five. We need 95 more.

    I hereby disqualify "I'm Gonna Hire A Wino to Decorate Our Home" by David Frizzell.

    Or not.

    Anyway - leave a comment!

    Posted by Mitch at October 3, 2005 05:09 AM | TrackBack
Comments

"T for Texas", the Jimmy Rogers version. "Wabash cannonball" (Roy Acuff), and for something more modern, Dwight Yoakum's "Little Ways".

Posted by: Terry at October 3, 2005 06:59 AM

"He Stopped Lovin' Her Today" by George Jones and "I Walk The Line" by Johnny Cash are two of my favorites.

Posted by: Just Me at October 3, 2005 07:47 AM

My list below is dedicated to my dad, a real hillbilly from KY still layin' down the vinyl twang on his turntable):

"I Fall to Pieces" by Patsy Cline

"Crazy Arms" - Ray Price

"Faded Love" - Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys

"Ring of Fire" - Johnny Cash

"Okie From Muskogee" - Merle Haggard

"Blue Moon of Kentucky" by Bill Monroe & the Bluegrass Boys

Posted by: Nancy at October 3, 2005 08:29 AM

Essentials? Well, these are some of my favorite c and w songs. Especially dedicated to JB:

"All That Heaven Will Allow" - Mavericks
"Stand On It" - Mac Macanally (I wonder if he got that name in prison?)
"My Father's House" - Emmylou Harris
"Reason to Believe" - Beat Farmers
"Tougher Than The Rest" - I forget who did it, but it went to #2 on the Billboard C&W chart in 1988.

Posted by: Jay at October 3, 2005 09:32 AM

"Open Pit Mine" by George Jones
"Folsom Prison Blues", Johnny Cash
"Tonight, the Bottle Let Me Down" - Merle Haggard

Posted by: Paul C at October 3, 2005 10:10 AM

Ernest Tubb "Walking the Floor Over You"
Hank Snow "I'm Movin' On"
Webb Pierce "There Stands the Glass"
Tom T. Hall "I Love" or "I Like Beer"
Merle Haggard "Silver Wings"
Tex Ritter "High Noon"
Lefty Frizzell "If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time"
Johnny Horton "North to Alaska"
Jim Reeves "He'll Have to Go"
Eddy Arnold "That's How Much I Love You"
Roger Miller "Chug-A-Lug"

Country Music TV did a series on the 100 greatest country songs:
http://www.cmt.com/shows/dyn//greatest_series/76599/episode.jhtml

Holy Cow - songs 12-1 are performed tonight! Conicidence? I think not....

Posted by: Dean at October 3, 2005 11:16 AM

Ernest Tubb "Walking the Floor Over You"
Hank Snow "I'm Movin' On"
Webb Pierce "There Stands the Glass"
Tom T. Hall "I Love" or "I Like Beer"
Merle Haggard "Silver Wings"
Tex Ritter "High Noon"
Lefty Frizzell "If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time"
Johnny Horton "North to Alaska"
Jim Reeves "He'll Have to Go"
Eddy Arnold "That's How Much I Love You"
Roger Miller "Chug-A-Lug"

Country Music TV did a series on the 100 greatest country songs:
http://www.cmt.com/shows/dyn//greatest_series/76599/episode_countdown.jhtml

Holy Cow - songs 12-1 are performed tonight! Conicidence? I think not....

Posted by: Dean at October 3, 2005 11:17 AM

I don't listen to a lot of country music, but "Hot Burrito #1 (I'm Your Toy)" by the Flying Burrito Brothers is one of the best songs of any genre, period.

Posted by: Monkey RobbL at October 3, 2005 11:22 AM

I'm not a fan of country music, but I have great respect for what Jack Sparks of "The Twin Cities Only Alt-Country Hillbilly Rant Blog" (http://blogs.citypages.com/jsparks) has to say on the subject.

Here's his top 5:
I'm so Lonesome I could Cry, Hank Williams
Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Cash
Love's Gonna Live Here, Buck Owens
Walking the Floor Over you, Ernest Tubb
Crazy, Patsy Cline

Posted by: bill at October 4, 2005 07:41 AM

Link to Jack's top 100.

Posted by: bill at October 4, 2005 07:43 AM

or not...having problems with preview.
http://blogs.citypages.com/jsparks/2005/07/i_hate_lists_pa.asp

Posted by: bill at October 4, 2005 07:46 AM
hi