Songs to Start with for Country Legends

[Kentucky25]

I've noticed in some of the other threads that some of the younger fans (like myself) have a desire to learn more about the Country singers before our time, I thought if we had a thread where some of our older (or wiser young) members could make recommendations to artists we are looking for it would help everyone become better fans. I'll give a couple artists that I have the big hits for, but would like to know some more of their less well-known songs.

Merle Haggard
Don Williams
Waylon Jennings

[Uncle Lumpy]

Feb 13, 2015 22:33:27 GMT -5 Kentucky25 said:

I've noticed in some of the other threads that some of the younger fans (like myself) have a desire to learn more about the Country singers before our time, I thought if we had a thread where some of our older (or wiser young) members could make recommendations to artists we are looking for it would help everyone become better fans. I'll give a couple artists that I have the big hits for, but would like to know some more of their less well-known songs.

Merle Haggard
Don Williams
Waylon Jennings

For Merle , the best starting point would be his box set "Down Every Road" , not the Bear Fanily box sets unless you want to sign away your first born. Down Every Road is a 4 disc box set but three of them cover his Capitol (and best) years. Seriously , if you are open minded about older country ...this will NOT be your only Hag records when its said & done. The man was a genius .

Somebody else might else might be more helpful with Don, Im only a moderate fan & only own a couple of his greatest hits & last years "Reflections".

With Waylon , Id go with his two disc box set "Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line : The RCA Years" (if you can still find it. Much like the Haggard box set , it catches most of the big hits in his prime. Also like Haggard it will only scratch the surface if you enjoy the music on it.

[bjer127]

At only 29, people think it's odd I know so much about classic country LOL. after all, I grew up around it and thats what me and my friends listened to as teenagers.
I agree with Uncle Lumpy above, "Down Every Road" is an essential listen for a Merle newcomer. I own every Merle album (mostly, except greatest hits and live albums), and that includes 442 songs. Some Merle albums you can start with should include:
- "Back To The Barrooms"
- "Big City"
- "It's All In The Game"
- "A Portrait of Merle Haggard"

I believe most of his albums are on Itunes. As for a little less unknown songs, I would try:

- "I'm Gonna Break Every Heart I Can"
- "Somewhere Between"
- "Ever Changing Woman"
- "Every Fool Has A Rainbow"
- "Someday We'll Look Back"
- "What Have You Got Planned Tonight Diana"
- "Kern River"
- "Bleachers"

All in all, Merle is considered an American icon, and one of the greatest songwriters ever ( as praised by Elvis Costello, Leonard Cohen and a bunch of others).

I also consider myself a HUGE Don Williams fan. His songs are so soft and mellow, yet straight-up country as a lazy Sunday laying in a hammock. Unfortunately, most of his catalog is not on Itunes or Spotify. I spent a few years collecting all his vinyl LP's and converting to CD/MP3. But you can find alot of compilations that for the most part hit on his biggest hits.
Essential Don Williams songs

- "I'm Just A Country Boy" (not what you would think by the title, today's country has distorted that meaning Lol)
- "I've Got A Winner In You"
- "Tulsa Time"
- "Lay Down Beside Me"
- "I Believe In You"
- "We Got Love"
- "Cryin Eyes"
- "Good Ole Boys Like Me" (another song that the title can be misleading, but a really great song)
- "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend" (love the opening line "coffee black....cigarettes")
- "Pressure Makes Diamonds"
- "Lord Have Mercy On A Country Boy"
- "I Won't Give Up On You"

His last 2 albums from 2012 and last year were actually fantastic. At 70-some years old, he still sounds great. I've been wanting to see him live for some time now, I heard he played a side tent at Bonnaroo and wowed the crowd with his simple songs.


Waylon Jennings
Waylon was a big influence on me. As a teenage and early 20'something, I listened to ALOT of Waylon. Again, have all his studio albums , even the rare ones. My cousin turned me on to him when I was 16 or so, and I loved the whole "outlaw" thing.
Some Essential Waylon Albums
- "This Time" from 1974, great from start to finish.
- "Are You Ready For The Country"
- "Honky Tonk Heroes"
- "Lonesome, Onry and Mean"

Try these lesser known Waylon songs
- "Freedom To Stay"
- "Mona" (try the version from his LIVE album)
- "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues
- "Slow Movin' Outlaw"
- "If You Could Touch Her At All"
- "Willie The Wandering Gypsy and Me"
- "A Couple More Years"
- "Them Old Love Songs"
- "Bob Wills Is Still The King" (definately the version from the LIVE album)
- "It's Only Rock and Roll"
- "If Ole Hank Could Only See Us Now"
- "Between Fathers and Sons"


Hope this helps!

[Andy]

Uncle Lumpy's recommendations are great, I'll second them. If it does you any good, here are some of my favorite lesser-known Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings songs off the top of my head (by no means are these lists exhaustive or all-encompassing). Like Uncle Lumpy, I like Don, but I'm not especially familiar with him outside of his greatest hits and more recent albums.

Merle Haggard
California Cottonfields
I Can't Be Myself
I Can't Hold Myself in Line
Leonard
Natural High
Somewhere Between
Swinging Doors
You Don't Have Very Far to Go

Waylon Jennings
Belle of the Ball
Black Rose
Freedom to Stay
High Time (You Quit Your Lowdown Ways)
Honky Tonk Heroes
Oklahoma Sunshine
The Dark Side of Fame
The Door is Always Open

Merle is probably the greatest country songwriter to ever live (or, at worst, second to Hank Williams and arguably tied with a couple other folks). His songs are incredibly intelligent and literary, and vocally he has pretty much the best phrasing in the genre this side of George Jones. And Waylon is one of the greatest creative forces the genre has ever seen as well. He has a great soulful voice and covered the best work of tons of great writers (and is an underrated songwriter himself).

Edit: I hadn't seen bjer127's post while I was writing this - his/her recommendations are top-notch as well!

[zebra71]

What are some good places to start with:
Hank Jr.
Hank Sr.
Johnny Cash
Marty Robbins
George Jones
Dolly
Loretta

[onebuffalo]

My top two box sets to get yourself acquainted with country legends are The Conway Twitty Collection and Strait Out Of The Box. Both I have on CD and cassette. For some strange reason, the Twitty box set leaves off #1s like Ain't She Somethin' Else, Don't Call Him A Cowboy, and Desperado Love.

[bjer127]

Zebra71, here are some places to start with Hank jr. One of my favorites and very underrated imo.

Essential albums
Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound
Habits Old and New
Five O

Some good songs:
I Cant Change My Tune
Dinosaur
Outlaws Reward
I Don't Have Anymore Love Songs
Stoned At The Jukebox
Clovis, New Mexico
Building Memories
Country State of Mind
I've Been Around
Practice What I Preach
Mr Lincoln


As for Hank sr his catalog is so small. Listen to it all. That's where it all began. I'll post more later on George jones

[bboat11]

Feb 15, 2015 18:36:58 GMT -5 zebra71 said:

Is Bocephus a baritone, bass, or tenor voice?

I don't know much of his catalog, but from what I do know he sounds like a baritone. I mean, he's certainly not Josh Turner, but even less so is he Gary Levox! But baritone can be somewhat hard to classify, because there can be so much variation in ranges. Some baritones tend to stay more mid-range (like George Strait and Alan Jackson), but there are also baritones who are really strong on both the low and high ends of their ranges (see Chris Young and Jason Michael Carrol). Hank, Jr. seems to me to be one of those baritones who prefers to stay mid-range as much as possible.