Week ending 10/31/09: #1 albums this week in country music history

1984: Willie Nelson – City of New Orleans (Sony)
1989: Clint Black – Killin’ Time (RCA)
1994: Mary Chapin Carpenter – Stones In The Road (Columbia)
1999: The Dixie Chicks – Fly (Monument)
2004: George Strait – 50 Number Ones (MCA)
2009: Taylor Swift – Fearless (Big Machine)

Classic Rewind: Doug Stone – ‘I’d Be Better Off In a Pine Box’

This was one of the first country songs I remember really loving.  Somehow the melody just sucked me in and I didn’t even know how dark the lyrics really were until I was much older.  There are lots of 90s country songs like that for me, those I memorized and then later learned what they [...]

Classic Rewind: Patty Loveless with Vince Gill – ‘On Down The Line’

Album Review: Patty Loveless – ‘Sleepless Nights’

Patty Loveless was dropped by Epic following disappointing sales and minimal airplay for her last album for the label, Dreamin’ My Dreams. She was in no hurry to make her next move, taking some time off the road to move down to Georgia, and dealing with family deaths and illness, but in 2008 she signed [...]

Classic Rewind: Dixie Chicks – ‘Cold Day In July’

Album Review: Patty Loveless – ‘Dreamin’ My Dreams’

Dreamin’ My Dreams was the last album Patty Loveless recorded for the Epic Nashville label before they closed shop. Some of their artists went to the Columbia Records roster.  Patty instead took a two-year hiatus from touring and recording before going the indie route, signing with Suguaro Records in 2008.  She has since recorded two [...]

Classic Rewind: Patty Loveless – ‘You Don’t Seem To Miss Me’

A genre by any other name …

Anyone who reads a country music blog for any length of time, is at some point bound to come across a heated discussion about what country music is and what it is not. There are no cut and dry definitions, and a lot of songs borrow heavily from different styles, and are thus, hard [...]

Recommendation: Kurt Nilsen & Willie Nelson – ‘Lost Highway’

One of the featured tracks from the T for Texas, T From Tennessee — The Lost Highway Sampler, which is available as a free digital EP from Amazon. It’s well worth checking out.

Classic Rewind: Pam Tillis – ‘Detroit City’

Album Review: Tim McGraw – ‘Southern Voice’

Tim McGraw has never impressed me as one of the great country voices, but where he frequently has impressed me is in his choice of interesting material, the kind of songs which are worth hearing in anyone’s hands. His tenth studio album is produced by the same production team of McGraw, Byron Gallimore and Darran [...]

Classic Rewind: Keith Whitley – ‘Don’t Close Your Eyes’

Album Review: Terri Clark – ‘The Long Way Home’

Following her exit from long-time label home Mercury Records in 2006, Terri Clark inked a deal with BNA Records just a few months later.  Under the Sony imprint, she released two singles to radio, but both stalled just inside the Top 40 on the U.S. Country chart.  Both were bona fide hits in her native [...]

Classic Rewind: Charley Pride – ‘Kiss An Angel Good Morning’

Week ending 10/24/09: #1 singles this week in country music history

1949: Slippin’ Around — Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely (Capitol)
1959: The Three Bells — The Browns (RCA)
1969: The Ways To Love A Man — Tammy Wynette (Epic)
1979: All The Gold In California — Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers (Columbia)
1989: Living Proof — Ricky Van Shelton (Columbia)
1999: Something Like That — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2009: Gettin’ [...]

Week ending 10/24/09: #1 albums this week in country music history

1984: Willie Nelson – City of New Orleans (Sony)
1989: Clint Black – Killin’ Time (RCA)
1994: Mary Chapin Carpenter – Stones In The Road (Columbia)
1999: The Dixie Chicks – Fly (Monument)
2004: George Strait – 50 Number Ones (MCA)
2009: Toby Keith – American Ride (Show Dog Nashville)

Classic Rewind: Gary Allan – ‘Songs About Rain’

Classic Rewind: Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, & Marty Stuart – ‘Where The Soul Of Men Never Dies’ / ‘Shine On Harvest Moon’

Thanks

It was just this March that, after only three months online, this little blog passed the 25,000 hits mark.  Now, less than 8 months later, I am very, very happy to be able to say thank you for stopping by 250,000 times.   That’s right: in less than one year, we’ve managed to get over [...]

Album Review: Patty Loveless – ‘On Your Way Home’

2003’s On Your Way Home marked Patty Loveless’ return to mainstream country, following her critically acclaimed bluegrass album Mountain Soul. She and producer Emory Gordy, Jr. revisited the formula that had worked so well for them in the nineties, combining traditional country with the best contemporary songs they could find, drawing upon writers such as [...]