Favorite Country Albums

One of my major pet-peeves is when music lovers will say: "I like pretty much everything, except country".  What I think they mean is: I'm a liberal and all country singers are ignorant redneck republicans. Or: I only listened to country radio with my dad in the car a few times as a child and refused to examine the genre further. Or worst of all: I'm intimidated by people with the first two opinions and want them to think I have good musical taste.  All of which are much more ill-informed and downright stupid than decent country music has ever been.  Yes, that music industry manufactured douchebag with the album cover-art close-up of his perfectly manicured goatee and cowboy hat, flip open the sleeve to see a sepia bail of hay, truck, and boots is the worst (as are most music industry robots in any other genre). One-Direction and Stephin Merritt both made "pop" albums, Creed and Van Morrison both made "rock" albums, Billy Ray Cyrus and John Prine both made "country" albums.  Genres have their posers and their artists. Don't judge a genre if you've only heard the posers, right?

Anyway, what defines country music?

Should we just take Kris Kristofferson's "if it sounds country that's what it is" and leave it be? Or must we take a more rigorous stance? Perhaps the country song must contain one or more of David Allen Coe's crucial cliches: momma, trucks, trains, prison, gettin' drunk; perhaps a twangy drawl or a cowboy hat are essential.  The answer is probably between the two, perhaps an adherence to the basic values of country music are most important: sense of humor, desire for freedom, loneliness, alienation, predilection for narrative just to name a few.  I've included picks like The Band and Silver Jews which might strike others as "rock" records (although The Band are certainly americana at the very least) because they seem to possess aforementioned essential aesthetic and ethical qualities fundamental to the genre.

No compilations which means nothing before the '60's no Hank, Lefty, Earnest Tubbs, etc.  I favor overall musical excellence above historical significance/ commerical success.  I show preferential treatment to original material. I'm including bluegrass, southern rock, americana, and a few other sub-genres under the country umbrella. The dates are release dates which are admittedly problematic for records like More Legend Than Band and others.

Musical experimentation is not as important to me when it comes to such a lyrically driven genre as country (although The Band's second record seems to have reached an unparalleled height of musical proficiency and boundary pushing that has not been equalled by many others in the entirety of music). Country has tended to be pretty conservative on the sheerly musical plane, so I put a little more weight in the singer's expressiveness and the amount of apparent care taken in constructing relatively cliche-free lyrics than I would in other genres.

1. John Prine: John Prine (1971)

John Prine might be the greatest country lyricist of all time on the merits of, "Jesus Christ died for nothing I suppose" alone.











2. The Band: The Band II (1969)

3. Willis Alan Ramsey: Willis Alan Ramsey (1972)

4. George Jones: The Grand Tour (1974)

5. Willie Nelson: Red Headed Stranger (1975)

6. Michael Hurley, The Unholy Modal Rounders, and Jeffrey Frederick & The Clamtones: Have Moicy! (1976)

Hillbilly folk music.












7. Flying Burrito Brothers: The Gilded Palace of Sin (1969)

8. Waylon Jennings: Honky Tonk Heroes (1973)

Yes the name on the cover says Waylon Jennings, but this is really Billy Joe Shaver's opus as sung by one of the greatest of all time.











----More In No Particular Order:

Townes Van Zandt: Our Mother The Mountain (1969)

Jerry Jeff Walker: Ridin' High (1975)

Guy Clark: Old No. 1 (1975)

Charlie Rich: Behind Closed Doors (1973)

Tammy Wynette: Stand By Your Man (1969)

Ray Wylie Hubbard & The Cowboy Twinkies: Ray Wylie Hubbard & The Cowboy Twinkies (1975)

Jeffrey Fredrick & The Clamtones: Spiders in the Moonlight (1977)

-------------The Rest In Alphabetical Order:

Blue Rodeo: Five Days In July (1994)

Buck Owens And His Buckaroos: Carnegie Hall Concert (1966)

David Allan Coe: Longhaired Redneck (1974)

Drive By Truckers: Southern Rock Opera (2001)

Eagles: Desperado (1973)

Emmylou Harris: Pieces Of The Sky (1975)

The Flatlanders: More Legend Than Band (1990)

Gillian Welch: Time (The Revelator) (2001)

Gram Parsons: Grievous Angel (1974)

The Grateful Dead: Reckoning (1981)

Haynes Boys: Guardian Angel (1996)

James Talley: Got No Bread, No Milk, No Money, But We Sure Got A Lot Of Love (1975)

Jerry Jeff Walker: Viva Terlingua (1973)

John Hartford: Aereo-Plain (1971)

Johnny Cash: Folsom Prison (1968)

Kinky Friedman: Sold American (1973)

Kris Kristofferson: Kristofferson (1970)

Kris Kristofferson: The Silver Tongued Devil And I (1971)

Lynyrd Skynyrd: (Pronounced 'Leh-'nerd 'Skin-'nerd) (1973)

Michael Murphey: Geronimo's Cadillac (1972)

Michael Nesmith & The First National Band: Magnetic South (1970)

Michelle Shocked: Short Sharp Shocked (1988)

Mickey Newbury: Looks Like Rain (1969)

New Riders Of The Purple Sage: New Riders Of The Purple Sage (1971)

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: Will The Circle Be Unbroken (1972)

Norman Blake: Whiskey Before Breakfast (1976)

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils: The Ozark Mountain Daredevils (1973)

Palace Music: Viva Last Blues (1995)

Peter Grudzien: The Unicorn (1974)

Pure Prairie League: Bustin' Out (1972)

Rodney Crowell: Ain't Living Long Like This (1978)

Shrimp Boat: Duende (1992)

Silver Jews: American Water (1998)

Son Volt: Trace (1995)

Souled American: Fe (1988)

Steve Earle: I Feel Alright (1996)

Sturgill Simpson: High Top Mountain (2013)

Townes Van Zandt: Live At The Old Quarter (1977)

Uncle Tupelo: Anodyne (1993)

Waylon Jennings: Dreaming My Dreams (1975)

Willie Nelson: Shotgun Willie (1973)