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Essential Country Records That Everyone Should Own
Alright, I have some money burning in my pocket and would like some buying advice. I am looking for the essential country records that everyone should own. I am not particular to old or new I just want to buy some of the best.
I have some Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens and some Louvin Brothers. What other records/cd's should I own...
I have some Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens and some Louvin Brothers. What other records/cd's should I own...
Tags: country, essential, music
Views: 447
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by simon2307 on -
Some Gram Parsons maybe?
GP / Grevious Angel - Gram Parsons
The Gilded Palace of Sin - Flying Burrito Brothers
Sweetheart of the Rodeo - The Byrds
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Permalink Reply by jeff reno on -
Consider some of these..
Waylon Jennings - Dreaming my Dreams
George Jones
David Allan Coe - Longhaired Redneck
The Flatlanders
Lefty Frizzell
Porter Wagoner - Wagonmaster
Willie Nelson - Redheaded Stranger
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Permalink Reply by Will James on -
I would add the two albums before RHS to complete Willie's country masterpieces: Shotgun Willie and Phases and Stages. I have a bunch more I'd add to the requested list if I get the time, but one is the first and original Will the Circle Be Unbroken sessions with the Dirt Band and all the great old ones, inc. Roy Acuff, Mama Maybelle, Vassar Clements, Earl Scruggs, the list goes on and the three-record album is an absolute must.
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Permalink Reply by Rick Sepulvado on
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Nanci Griffith - Little Love Affairs
Jim Lauderdale- whispers
Rodney Crowell , Houston Kid, Diamonds and Dirt
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Permalink Reply by mojobone on -
Elite Hotel, Luxury Liner, Profile, Wrecking Ball, Emmylou Harris
At San Quentin and At Folsom Prison Johnny Cash
Making Believe Conway and Loretta
Absolute Torch And Twang K. D. Lang And the Reclines
Vintage Collections' George Jones And Melba Montgomery
America Remembers... Johnny Horton
Stardust Willie Nelson
Twenty Years Of Dirt Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. Dwight Yoakum
The Very Best Of Buck Owens Vols 1&2 Buck Owens
Buck Owens And The Buckaroos, Live In Japan and Live In London
The Best Of The Buckaroos
The Instrumental Hits Of Buck Owens And His Buckaroos
Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys jes' find the biggest box set you can
Hot Licks, Cold Steel And Trucker's Favorites, Too Much Fun Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen
Ugly And Slouchy Maddux Brothers & Sister Rose
18 Original Sun Greatest Hits Jerry Lee Lewis
Me And Jerry, Me And Chet Chet Atkins And Jerry Reed
Chester And Lester Chet Atkins And Les Paul
The New Nashville Cats Mark O'Connor
Nashville Cats Homer And Jethro
Best Of Sun-Country
Greatest Hits: Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Hank Thompson, Hank Snow, Kitty Wells, Ernest Tubb, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Stringbean, Grandpa Jones, Boxcar Willie, Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynne, Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Marty Robbins, Vern Gosdin, Webb Pierce, , Stanley Bros, Moore and Napier, C.W. McCall, Travis Tritt
Not an exhaustive list but some of the best of my rather limited collection, spent too much on guitars, Cadillacs, etc.
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Permalink Reply by Randolph Martin on -
Good list, but where's the Hag? Hag is arguably the most vital country artist living today. (Apologies to Willie.) I recommend the Merle Haggard box set "Down Every Road."
Other omissions: Billy Joe Shaver (I recommend the "Restless Wind" compilation.) Also, anything the great Doc Watson put out in the 60s or the 70s.
And if you have to pick just two country greats to get started with (after the Hag of course) I'd choose George Jones and Loretta Lynn.
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Permalink Reply by Randolph Martin on
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Oh, and no list would be complete without Lucinda Williams' "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road"
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Permalink Reply by mojobone on
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I do have Hag's Greatest Hits, but not all the good stuff is on there; Hag never made a one-stop shopping kinda record. I left off Jerry Reed, Joe Maphis, Jimmy Bryant and Merle Travis for the same reason. Car Wheels got plenty love upthread and just about defines a great Americana/Alt. Country record and is a classic in its own right, jes not a Golden Oldie.
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Permalink Reply by Brandon Bertram on -
I was just going to add Lucinda to the list. Good call!
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Permalink Reply by Arty Hill on -
Here's a list of my favorites that I posted on my myspace page about a year ago. Still applies. I would also add the three latest Bear Family box sets of George Jones: "She Thinks I Still Care," "Walk Through This World With Me," and "A Good Year for the Roses." All essential !!
12. In Person, Recorded Live at Panther Hall – Charlie Pride
With Lloyd Green on steel. Without the strings that cluttered up so many of CP's studio releases. Shows you why CP is one of the greats – because he sounds like it.
11. A Six Pack to Go – Hank Thompson
1966 album of drinking songs, produced by the great Ken Nelson. A complete album is every way – tune choice, tempos, production, plenty of variety in the arrangements, plus a couple instrumentals. 'Hangover Tavern' is probably my favorite.
10. The Grand Tour – George Jones
Starting in the late 60s/early 70s, George's albums didn't have many uptempo tunes on them, and that makes them sluggish sometimes. But the songs on this one are exceptional enough that it doesn't matter much – The Grand Tour, Pass Me By, Once You've had the Best, and Borrowed Angel, just to name a few.
9. Lefty Frizzell – Lefty Frizzell Sings Jimmie Rodgers
This was issued around 1951 as a collection of 78s, and was issued in CD with a few extra JR tunes recorded by Lefty a couple years later. Lefty was the last singer to offer original, lasting interpretations of Jimmie Rodgers songs. He made them relevant to post-war era country (and to that Haggard fella), and they sound just as good today as they did then.
8. Buck Owens – Buck Owens
A looser Buck, before his songs and albums succumbed to the Buck "formula." Includes "Second Fiddle"(probably my favorite Buck song), Above and Beyond, Under your Spell Again, Excuse Me I Think I've Got a Heartache and others
7. Branded Man – Merle Haggard
I'm also partial to Merle's first album, "Strangers," but that "Sam Hill' song drives me nuts, so I'm sticking with "Branded Man." It's a superb collection of songs, and includes two of my favorite Merle obscurities, "Don't Get Married" and "Go Home," both written by Tommy Collins.
6. Phases and Stages – Willie Nelson
To call this just a "country album" is an injustice. This is some of the most beautiful and complex art ever made. I love the way his voice sounded back then, and he sings these tunes the way a great painter paints. You can spend years swimming in this one and never touch bottom.
5. Waylon Live !: The Expanded Edition – Waylon Jennings
I was leaning toward "This Time" or "Honky Tonk Heroes" (my favorite studio records of his). But Waylon spent years honing his craft as a live performer, and I think that's where he was at his best. The expanded edition has over 40 tunes, and gives a pretty complete picture of a guy who could do it all.
4. American Recordings - Johnny Cash
I like reminding myself and other people that there is virtually no music on this record – just a lightly strummed guitar, way in the background. It's all just a great voice singing great songs. And if you start with those two things, it's usually best to do what producer Rick Rubin did, and leave them the hell alone.
3. Confessions of a Broken Man/The Bottom of the Bottle - Porter Wagoner
This is two albums, so I guess I'm cheating now. Ah well. I just can't choose between these. Most folks would probably go with COABM – it has Porter's versions of some Luke the Drifter classics ("Men with Broken Hearts,' "I've Been down that road before"), "I just Came to Smell the Flowers " (about a guy who attends other people's funerals) and "Skid Row Joe,' one of my all-time favorite country tunes. But TBOTB has the killer title tune, the concept piece "Wino" (written by Porter and Dolly), and Mel Tillis's "Wine," a neck-breaking shuffle. Have to include them both.
2. San Antonio Rose – A Tribute to the Great Bob Wills
Ray Price & the Cherokee Cowboys (with Willie Nelson on bass) shuffling Bob Wills tunes Ray-style. Like having Christmas on my birthday.
1. Hank Williams – Live at the Opry
A posthumously-issued collection of Opry cuts. (Guess I'm cheating again). But the performances are as exciting as anything ever laid to wax. These were all recorded within about a two-year period, so the record feels very cohesive, and, of course, Hank put the pedal to the metal onstage.
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