At one point in my life I hated country music. Then I grew up and realized I'd missed out on a lot. And forgotten some important stuff from my childhood.
Today I bought something I've been meaning to buy for a long time. Now I'm kicking myself for not buying it a lot sooner. It's one of the best live albums I've ever heard--and I've heard quite a few.
The digitally remastered Johnny Cash at San Quentin has to be the best fifteen bucks I've spent in at least a year. This reissue collects all the songs from Cash's original multi-platinum album from 1969. As a bonus, it restores a number of tracks that were not on the original release due to lack of room. It also removes the bleeping noises that masked Johnny's sometimes salty language on the original release.
June Carter, her sisters and mom, as well as Carl Perkins, serve as backup. This is such a good album, I don't even have words for it. I'm listening to it for the third time as I type this. I only got it about three hours ago.
If you're not a country music fan but are looking for something really good in that genre, buy this. If you kind of like country music but haven't discovered Johnny Cash yet, buy this. If you're a Cash fan but don't own this, you deserve to be smacked on the back of the head for not owning it already. And if you've got an older copy of it, without the remastering or the extra tracks, then you need this most of all.
Damn. Just go buy it, would ya?
Now I taught the weeping willow how to cry
And I showed the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky
And the tears I cried for that woman are gonna flood you Big River
Then I'm gonna sit right here until I die...
Dean,
You're getting there, but you're still not quite ready for the Red Hen Boogie. :)
And let's be sure not to confuse REAL country music with most of what is coming out of Nahsville these days.
Someone has to ask this, and it might as well be yours truly:
"But you ought to thank me before I die,
For the gravel in your gut and the spit in your eye,
'Cause I'm the [bleep] who named you Sue."
What's under the bleep?
He said: Now you just fought one hell of a fight,
And I know you hate me, and you got the right
To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do.
But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you Sue.
I always liked one of the pictures that came out of that performance.
It's about 5 years old, but there is more here.
>>"What's under the bleep?"
Son Of A Bitch!
Clearly articulated, not sonuvabitch, Son Of A Bitch.
Actually, I should say that that is what I've heard him say in concert. I would assume it's the same at San Quentin.
Remember who wrote it?
Gary: I'm curious to hear what you think real country is.
Some of my favorites: SheDaisy, The Kinleys, Alan Jackson, Chet Atkins (RIP, Chet), Marty Stuart, Travis Tritt, and Tim McGraw.
I think you can extend that to folks like Jeff Healy or Indio Girls, especially if you want to extend to Appalachian themes.
If anyone is curious, (IMHO) one of the best video/CD's on country (or R&B) is "Rythm, Country, and Blues" from PBS. It looks at some of the origins of country and R&B and how they've influenced each other over the years. One of the tastier interview-ees is Rufus Thomas. :)
Some of the matchups include:
Al Green & Lyle Lovett, "Funny How Time Slips Away"
Aaron Neville & Trisha Yearwood, "I Fall To Pieces"
Patti LaBelle & Travis Tritt, "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby"
Natalie Cole & Reba McEntire, "Since I Fell For You"
Oh, and
Little Richard & Tanya Tucker, "Somethin' Else". Yikes!!
Shel Silverstein wrote "A Boy Named Sue", allegedly three days before Cash recorded it.
Let me second Rhythm, Country and Blues. I never saw the TV production, but the soundtrack album (MCA MCAD-10965) has been a regular visitor to my CD player for seven years now.
Cash's new album is just great, by the way. His cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" is better than the original.
I was watching CMT's weekly top 10 video countdown the other day. The two most popular country music videos were by Faith Hill and Shania Twain.
Except for the fact that if you listened very closely, there was a banjo and a peddle steel guitar in parts of the song, buried way down in the mix, and a very, very, very soft drawl on the part of both women, I couldn't spot a hint of country music in either song. Seemed like middle-of-the-road basic pop music to me. Although Miss Twain's video was tres cool.
I know country music has a tendency to morph and change over time. But jesus, what are these kids listening to these days? %-)
Casey: Rufus Thomas is cool, but I like Carla better. :-) :-) :-) By the way, I have some stuff she recorded in the early 1990s with Lee Atwater (yes, that Lee Atwater) that's just killer. But I have all the singles she did for Stax records back in the 60s too. Killer stuff. She never got the stardom she deserved.
Casey,
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, Willie Nelson, Roy Rogers & The Sons of The Pioneers, Gene Autrey, Flatt & Scruggs, Johnny Cash, Patsy Kline, you get the idea.
Gary, with those standards I can see your point. :) But (not knocking what you like) don't you like any of the newer artists? They're not all white-bread, middle of the road pop artists I think...
I really like Willie Nelson as he is one of the rare artists you can NOT categorize. Heck, he puts stuff in his work thats straight out of old '30s or '40s swing.
Almost forgot: no one's mentioned Glen Campbell yet. Not a bad guitar-picker...
Jerry: Cash did a cover of a NIN cut? Weird. Gotta check that one out!
Dean: Yep, that's very white bread stuff. I think Faith Hill has a lovely voice, but I lost all faith (pun intended) in her when she cut A Piece of my Heart as an upbeat song! Didn't she bloody listen to the bloody lyrics!?
Ooh! Ooh! Gotta say:
"Tennesee" Ernie Ford. 'nuff said. :)
Late Breaking:
For those who enjoy the R&B part of Country, I strongly recommend checking out Standing in the Shadows of Motown.
I haven't seen it yet, but I have seen the previews. Between that and the reviews I've read, if you at all enjoy things like the Rythm, Country, and Blues that was mentioned before, this is a must see movie. Strongly recommended if you can find it locally...
Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!Hank Williams Senior!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I assume the Shania Twain song was "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!", which is also shown on VH1 with a different, poppier mix.
What I like about this stuff is that it doesn't try all that hard to conform to its genre. Shania, even with a Dobro in the mix, comes perilously close to Abba-esque. And the first track on Faith Hill's current album blatantly quotes the Beatles and the Supremes.
Yeah, I know, this will probably not get them into Hillbilly Heaven alongside Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins and Tex Ritter (Tex Ritter?), but what the hell.
Casey,
I don't listen to "country music" stations, because they mostly are NOT playing country music. So I don't get much exposure to new artists who DO play country music.
But, for me, "country" is a style, and very few people are doing it these days. "Rock and roll" is in the same boat.
"Rock and Roll will never die," said Neil Young, but I contend that it pretty much did just that some time in the mid-1990s. Which is funny, because a huge amount of what was going on in the "alternative rock" scene was great rock'n'roll. Then all of a sudden, FOOOP!.
Then again, it'll probably be resurrected. Gary, you might not be aware of it but there is a thriving and growing sub-culture in country music called "Alternative Country" and it's all about the old-school stuff.
Listen to the soundtrack for Oh Brother Where Art Thou? and you'll know folks are still out there trying to play old school. Not that it's a good movie, but I'm not talking about the movie I'm talking about the soundtrack.
The big problem for Nashville was when they got addicted to the big fat guitar and the smooth, slick production. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it marked the trend for things getting too too safe. They lost their soul.
Casey: Not only does Cash cover NIN, he also covers Depeche Mode. And makes both songs his own. He also covers several other artists. The album is called "American IV: The Man Comes Around" and it is fan-freakin'-tastic.
Jerry:
Yikes! This disc has defintitely moved up to the "must buy" category.