This may not be everyone's cup of tea (no pun intended), but Hank Williams Jr. is offering for the next 48 hours a free download of his new song "Keep the Change" on his website at Hankjr.com.
So wait, the First Amendment doesn't protect you against getting fired when you say stupid sh*t that embarrasses your employer? Better write a protest song.
Well, I won't be downloading Hank Williams Jr - I've never really understood or liked most Country and Western music. Country rock is about as close as I get to it. Maybe someone could explain, eg, why Dolly Parton's music is so popular.... perhaps one day I ought to give it a try though. I really shouldn't be so set in my ways....
@Greg: I share much of your trepidation over "Country and Western." I find the Nashville sound to be a lifeless entity dominated by producers, songwriters, and studio musicians. The role of C&W in the Culture Wars is complete alienating. And for the life of me I can't understand how a Country band can have some many guitar players and produce so little sound.
Truthfully, those are just a slice of Country music, which is really just another intersection of traditional music and mass media, not unlike Blues or Folk. Indeed, if you look before Countrypolitan, the divide between Country, Folk and Blues is far from obvious. Dare I say that you might find Merle Travis' Folks Songs of the Hills and Doc Watson's s/t familiar: not only do they incorporate the forms of English ballads, they proceed from simple faith and direct experience that makes traditional music compelling.
Thanks BT - I will look out for some of your suggestions. Inevitably most traditional American music has its roots in either European, but especially English and other British folk music, or in West African music - with the initial division, I assume, being on racial grounds. So there has to be some shared heritage with traditional English music from the C16th and 17th.
Thanks Greg and BT - I should dip into these suggestions also. I grew up with a parent who owned a small collection of records (mostly of the greatest hits variety) by Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, and Jim Reeves and played them regularly. It was very effective as aversion therapy, with the result that while I like to think I espouse a philosophy of it being possible to get to understand and like any serious musical genre if you try, I continue to engage in consistent avoidance behavior when it comes to "Country and Western".
I haven't listened to much Country lately, but I have a lot of older Country that I do like. No - more than like. Love! I completely dismissed it during my teens and early adult years, probably because my mother loved it so. I'm glad I finally saw the light.
I don't understand or appreciate some of the music others on this board like. What is it I don't like? Heavy metal and rap.
What do I like? I have, and like, a wide variety of music - classical, including opera; jazz; gospel; alternative; folk; blues; rock; new age - and I don't like everything in each category. I have no rational explanation for what I do and do not like. Either I like it, or I don't. Hank Williams, Jr. I like. Liked his daddy even more.
Yes Mommio I agree, we all have music we like and dislike. Heavy metal and rap mean nothing to me too, along with electronic, although I am beginning to listen to some after promptings here. My likes have chaged with age - I used to love Led Zeppelin 40 plus years ago, even stayed up at a festival to see them at 3'00 am one Sunday morning. But other than a few select tracks (eg Stairway to Heaven) I never listen now - I don't really like it all. But if you had played me some of the stuff I like now I would have said no way. We are all complex beings made up by our background and many other factors. My father used to play saxophone way back (still does even though he is nearly 92) and I really did not take to big band or jazz at all then, probably as a generational thing. I'm really getting into it now, thanks in so small way to Jonahpwll amongst others. I'll start listening to some of BT's ideas above. That is one of the great strengths of our 'community' - we do try to be open to all musical tasts and none are looked down upon (well maybe Lady GaGA...) Emusers continues to be a big part in my music education. But I am sure that for British people brought up in the 60s to 80s C and W was the music you loved to hate, a generational thing - as GP says parents' music!
@Doofy - I agree with you 100%. I totally and absolutely hate the commercialized overly-polished, saccharine 'pop product with a twang' that the music industry has made out of country music. I mean I REALLY hate it (but I will spare everyone the long rant I could easily digress into in making my point undeniably clear). But true country music can have an appeal that transcends across genres which I believe is due simply to a sincere expression of honest convictions and life experiences, as BT mentioned. And BT, by the way, thank you for mentioning Merle Travis's folk music record, which I did not know about. Very nice, indeed.
@Mommio, I can really identify with all your comments. I think it can all be summed up in the bottom line of the old saying 'There are only two types of music - good and bad.' But about Hank Jr., I have always liked him. I haven't thought about his album "Habits Old and New" until now, but I remember I had that album on vinyl back in the day and I played the heck out of it. I still think it is a GREAT record. I remember it included one of his daddy's songs "Kaw-Liga," and also a song he wrote about his experience of surviving a mountain-climbing accident in which he came very close to getting killed and how that ordeal made him appreciate his family and his homeland and life itself so much more. But one of the real stand-out tracks for me on that album was Blues Man.
I've since gotten rid of the old vinyl album, but now I am in the frame of mind to listen to it again. I might have to download it just to satisfy my itch.
EDIT/ Huh, I just saw there is also "Blues Man" performed by George Jones & Dolly Parton on YouTube. Not bad, I think.
a sincere expression of honest convictions and life experiences
Maybe someone should make a thread for some of you to suggest half a dozen tracks that exemplify this and would have a good chance of impressing those of us who need educating...
I really liked the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack... my rule of thumb with country music seems to be, if it was written after World War II, it's probably not old enough. (That's just me!)
Hey folks - sudden inspiration here. Years ago Guitar Player magazine produced an extensive line of CDs that were their picks in a number of genres - most had 2 volumes, and as a guitar lover I have all of them and would highly recommend them, highest recommendation really. Unfortunately I think they have been out of print a while, and I don't know of a digital resource for them (I'll hunt later) but here's an Amazon search page link. If nothing else they might provide a playlist. So check out Country Volume 1 (there exists a Volume 2 also) - this was what (along with seeing Danny Gatton) convinced me I had to have a Telecaster which is my guitar of choice to this day even though I'm not really a country player. There is a list of songs for this volume, though not artists - I'll work on that - and they are hot ones. It is really the best sampler I can think of to woo someone who thinks that country has nothing to offer. Most of the material is from the '50's and '60's but it's pretty clear even today which artists still wear these people on their sleeves.
Aha, AllMusic - Country Volume 1. Volume 2. Artist names need some filling in. Be back later - got to go to work.
These might not be your picks, BigD, but this was what I found during breaks from my household duties. Can't do Volume 2 right now -- have to take husband to a medical appointment. Man, some of these took me way back, getting dressed for school behind the fuel oil burning stove in the cold house, in the even colder winter, while Mother was in the kitchen, cooking our breakfast oatmeal and listening to country music.
mommio, you are the best. How's about that Hurricane number with Joe Maphis and little Larry Collins? He was like 13 or something at the time.
Here's a link for first track Volume 2 -
1. Little Rock Getaway by Jimmy Bryant. Starts slow and easy and then it hits the fan. Still takes my breath away every time I hear it. Jimmy was one of the first name players to adopt Leo Fender's new-fangled Telecaster guitar and help put it on the map.
2. Wildwood Flower by the Carter Family. Maybelle Carter's picking method was actually a huge influence on future generations.
3. Chinatown, My Chinatown by Chet Atkins - Although Chet was the s**t as a guitar player, in all fairness he was sort of responsible for producing (as producer) a lot of Nashville country that became rather popified.
4. Steelin' The Blues by Jerry Byrd & The String Dusters - best I can find so far is this version by Eddie Cochran.
5. Corn Pickin' by James Burton and Ralph Mooney. From the time he was 15 playing on Dale Hawkins Suzie Q James Burton was a huge influence on so many players. I got to shake his hand once.
6. Farewell Blues by Clarence White & The Kentucky Colonels - This version is from an album I got not that long ago called 33 Acoustic Guitar Instrumentals that is freaking great - just Clarence and his guitar. The band he was in with his brother Roland, The Kentucky Colonels, before he joined The Byrds (Mach II), was an awesome bluegrass band. Their album Appalachian Swing is sensational - something I got out of a cutout cassette bin - I didn't even know he was in that band until later.
7. Blue Smoke by Merle Travis - How many pickers get a whole style named after them - Travis did. The man is amazing.
8. Dented Fender by Roy Clark - can't find this one. It's an almost surf-rock instrumental. The man can play, and there was some serious chops on the man. Here he is with Joe Pass - link- they did an album together.
9. The Claw by Jerry Reed - another guy with some serious chops. Want to be impressed - check this out - The Hellecasters doing The Beak/The Claw as perfected by member Jerry Donahue. These guys are the living modern devil's own spawn of many of the original stars on these albums. They are great and they do finally have an album on eMusic.
10. Home In San Antone by Johnny Bush. Can't find this - Buddy Emmons was the steel guitar wizard on that track. Consolation prize - Redd Volkaert performing the song. Redd was (is?) in Merle Haggard's band and has several albums and also a great album with Bill Kirchen as The Twangbangers.
11. Me And My Guitar by Tony Rice - performed here with Mountain Heart. Tony Rice is all over acoustic guitar/bluegrass of the last 30 years or so - solo, in various supergroups, with David Grisman as part of the dawg-grass movement. A virtuoso.
12. Country Boy by Albert Lee - where in hell does an Englishman learn to play country so good? This song blows my mind every time.
13. Barnard Blues by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys - the number one western swing act in the world? Could be. That song was to highlight Junior Barnard on guitar. Couldn't find it. Here's something similar called Boot Heel Drag.
14. Seventh and Union by Hank Garland - can't find this clip, Sugarfoot Rag is in mommio's post for Volume 1. Here's Hank in Guitar Shuffle. He was also a fine jazz player - eMusic has a well priced comp of his jazz oriented releases.
15. Give My Love To Nell by Chet Atkins and Les Paul - Chester and Lester, as the album was called.
Got to go for now.
BDB & Mommio - great info! I will definitely check this out. Thanks.
@ScissorMan - glad you mentioned O Brother Where Art Thou. That album is a clear case in point on how the commercial music industry controls what 'country' is supposed to sound like today, and in the process has ruined country music. Not too long after the release of the soundtrack, O Brother Where Art Thou shot to No.1 on the Billboard Top 200 and Country charts and stayed there for quite a while, in spite of the fact that it received virtually zero airplay.
Just a bit of commentary on the items in Legends of Country Volume 1 - there's the Western Swing contingent: Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys being the most prolific and well known, then Spade Cooley and Milton Brown being other big names in the genre. Merle Travis and Chet Atkins were the gifted classicists. Jimmy Bryant, Joe Maphis and Hank Garland were the hot shots. Doc Watson iconic country in some kind of purist almost folksy way, but he has the chops too. Lost Weekend by Roy Lanham is one of my favorite cuts here - not that well known for some reason. Clarence White with the Byrds - love it. I never had a problem with the "country-rock" phenomenon, long as it was kicking.
Comments
I'm not sure I would have bought the download, but I downloaded the freebie and I like it.
Truthfully, those are just a slice of Country music, which is really just another intersection of traditional music and mass media, not unlike Blues or Folk. Indeed, if you look before Countrypolitan, the divide between Country, Folk and Blues is far from obvious. Dare I say that you might find Merle Travis' Folks Songs of the Hills and Doc Watson's s/t familiar: not only do they incorporate the forms of English ballads, they proceed from simple faith and direct experience that makes traditional music compelling.
I don't understand or appreciate some of the music others on this board like. What is it I don't like? Heavy metal and rap.
What do I like? I have, and like, a wide variety of music - classical, including opera; jazz; gospel; alternative; folk; blues; rock; new age - and I don't like everything in each category. I have no rational explanation for what I do and do not like. Either I like it, or I don't. Hank Williams, Jr. I like. Liked his daddy even more.
Thanks for the tip, kez.
@Mommio, I can really identify with all your comments. I think it can all be summed up in the bottom line of the old saying 'There are only two types of music - good and bad.' But about Hank Jr., I have always liked him. I haven't thought about his album "Habits Old and New" until now, but I remember I had that album on vinyl back in the day and I played the heck out of it. I still think it is a GREAT record. I remember it included one of his daddy's songs "Kaw-Liga," and also a song he wrote about his experience of surviving a mountain-climbing accident in which he came very close to getting killed and how that ordeal made him appreciate his family and his homeland and life itself so much more. But one of the real stand-out tracks for me on that album was Blues Man.
I've since gotten rid of the old vinyl album, but now I am in the frame of mind to listen to it again. I might have to download it just to satisfy my itch.
EDIT/ Huh, I just saw there is also "Blues Man" performed by George Jones & Dolly Parton on YouTube. Not bad, I think.
Aha, AllMusic - Country Volume 1. Volume 2. Artist names need some filling in. Be back later - got to go to work.
Country Volume 1
1. Hurricane - Larry Collins, Joe Maphis
2. The Night Rider - Jimmy Bryant, Speedy West
3. El Paso - Marty Robbins
4. Oklahoma Stomp - Spade Cooley and his Orchestra
5. Cannonball Rag - Merle Travis
6. Lost Weekend - Roy Lanham
7. Cheesy Breeze - Milton Brown
8. Galloping on the Guitar - Chet Atkins
9. Twin Guitar Special - Bob Wills
10. Honey Fingers - The Texas Troubadours - Leon Rhodes, Buddy Charleton
11. Guitar Boogie - Arthur Smith (Live in 1995)
12. Sugarfoot Rag - Hank Garland
13. Tennessee - Carl Perkins (audio only)
14. I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink - Merle Haggard
15. Slowly - Webb Pierce
16. Windy and Warm - Doc Watson
17. Nashville West - The Byrds
Here's a link for first track Volume 2 -
1. Little Rock Getaway by Jimmy Bryant. Starts slow and easy and then it hits the fan. Still takes my breath away every time I hear it. Jimmy was one of the first name players to adopt Leo Fender's new-fangled Telecaster guitar and help put it on the map.
2. Wildwood Flower by the Carter Family. Maybelle Carter's picking method was actually a huge influence on future generations.
3. Chinatown, My Chinatown by Chet Atkins - Although Chet was the s**t as a guitar player, in all fairness he was sort of responsible for producing (as producer) a lot of Nashville country that became rather popified.
4. Steelin' The Blues by Jerry Byrd & The String Dusters - best I can find so far is this version by Eddie Cochran.
5. Corn Pickin' by James Burton and Ralph Mooney. From the time he was 15 playing on Dale Hawkins Suzie Q James Burton was a huge influence on so many players. I got to shake his hand once.
6. Farewell Blues by Clarence White & The Kentucky Colonels - This version is from an album I got not that long ago called 33 Acoustic Guitar Instrumentals that is freaking great - just Clarence and his guitar. The band he was in with his brother Roland, The Kentucky Colonels, before he joined The Byrds (Mach II), was an awesome bluegrass band. Their album Appalachian Swing is sensational - something I got out of a cutout cassette bin - I didn't even know he was in that band until later.
7. Blue Smoke by Merle Travis - How many pickers get a whole style named after them - Travis did. The man is amazing.
8. Dented Fender by Roy Clark - can't find this one. It's an almost surf-rock instrumental. The man can play, and there was some serious chops on the man. Here he is with Joe Pass - link- they did an album together.
9. The Claw by Jerry Reed - another guy with some serious chops. Want to be impressed - check this out - The Hellecasters doing The Beak/The Claw as perfected by member Jerry Donahue. These guys are the living modern devil's own spawn of many of the original stars on these albums. They are great and they do finally have an album on eMusic.
10. Home In San Antone by Johnny Bush. Can't find this - Buddy Emmons was the steel guitar wizard on that track. Consolation prize - Redd Volkaert performing the song. Redd was (is?) in Merle Haggard's band and has several albums and also a great album with Bill Kirchen as The Twangbangers.
11. Me And My Guitar by Tony Rice - performed here with Mountain Heart. Tony Rice is all over acoustic guitar/bluegrass of the last 30 years or so - solo, in various supergroups, with David Grisman as part of the dawg-grass movement. A virtuoso.
12. Country Boy by Albert Lee - where in hell does an Englishman learn to play country so good? This song blows my mind every time.
13. Barnard Blues by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys - the number one western swing act in the world? Could be. That song was to highlight Junior Barnard on guitar. Couldn't find it. Here's something similar called Boot Heel Drag.
14. Seventh and Union by Hank Garland - can't find this clip, Sugarfoot Rag is in mommio's post for Volume 1. Here's Hank in Guitar Shuffle. He was also a fine jazz player - eMusic has a well priced comp of his jazz oriented releases.
15. Give My Love To Nell by Chet Atkins and Les Paul - Chester and Lester, as the album was called.
Got to go for now.
@ScissorMan - glad you mentioned O Brother Where Art Thou. That album is a clear case in point on how the commercial music industry controls what 'country' is supposed to sound like today, and in the process has ruined country music. Not too long after the release of the soundtrack, O Brother Where Art Thou shot to No.1 on the Billboard Top 200 and Country charts and stayed there for quite a while, in spite of the fact that it received virtually zero airplay.