Filed under: Classic Rewind | Tagged: Merle Haggard | Leave a Comment »
Week ending 11/28/09: #1 singles this week in country music history
1949: Slippin’ Around — Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely (Capitol)
1959: Country Girl – Faron Young (Capitol)
1969: Okie From Muskogee – Merle Haggard (Capitol)
1979: Broken Hearted Me — Anne Murray (Capitol)
1989: Yellow Roses — Dolly Parton (Columbia)
1999: I Love You — Martina McBride (RCA)
2009: Need You Now — Lady Antebellum (Capitol)
Filed under: Charts | Tagged: Anne Murray, Dolly Parton, Faron Young, Jimmy Wakely, Lady Antebellum, Margaret Whiting, Martina McBride, Merle Haggard | 5 Comments »
Week ending 11/21/09: #1 singles this week in country music history
1949: Slippin’ Around — Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely (Capitol)
1959: Country Girl – Faron Young (Capitol)
1969: Okie From Muskogee – Merle Haggard (Capitol)
1979: Come With Me – Waylon Jennings (RCA)
1989: Bayou Boys — Eddy Raven (Capitol)
1999: I Love You — Martina McBride (RCA)
2009: Cowboy Casanova – Carrie Underwood (19/Arista)
Filed under: Charts | Tagged: Carrie Underwood, Eddy Raven, Faron Young, Jimmy Wakely, Margaret Whiting, Martina McBride, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings | Leave a Comment »
If they were starting out today …
A lot has been written during the past week about The Night The Music Died. I read an excellent post in the past few days on Twang Nation about the state of modern country music. It speculated that country music icons like Hank Williams and Dolly Parton would not be able to find [...]
Filed under: Discussions | Tagged: Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Reba McEntire, Hank Williams | 6 Comments »
Week ending 11/14/09: #1 singles this week in country music history
1949: Slippin’ Around — Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely (Capitol)
1959: Country Girl – Faron Young (Capitol)
1969: Okie From Muskogee – Merle Haggard (Capitol)
1979: Come With Me – Waylon Jennings (RCA)
1989: Burnin’ Old Memories – Kathy Mattea (Mercury)
1999: I Love You — Martina McBride (RCA)
2009: Toes – Zac Brown Band (Atlantic)
Filed under: Charts | Tagged: Faron Young, Jimmy Wakely, Kathy Mattea, Margaret Whiting, Martina McBride, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Zac Brown Band | Leave a Comment »
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 [...]
Filed under: Discussions | Tagged: Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Miranda Lambert, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift | 14 Comments »
The year of the tribute
Several of my favorite artists have chosen 2009 as the year to pay tribute to the songs and artists that built country music as a commercial genre, and made it the American art form it is today. Collections from Wynonna and Tanya Tucker released earlier this year have both contained songs from the Great American [...]
Filed under: Recommendations | Tagged: Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Rosanne Cash, Tanya Tucker, Wynonna | 2 Comments »
Album Review: Ron Williams – ‘The Longer You’re Gone’
Ron Williams, son of the often underrated Leona Williams and one-time stepson of Merle Haggard, has a nice voice with a warm tone and soft timbre which is very pleasing. His third album, produced by Eddie Kilroy, on Ah-Ha Music Group, is solidly country, with some lovely fiddle from Rob Hajacos, and 80s star [...]
Filed under: Album Reviews | Tagged: Alabama, Becky Hobbs, Bill Anderson, Dave Lindsey, Dene Anton, Don Cook, Duane Sciacqua, Eddie Kilroy, George Jones, Harley Allen, Jake Owen, Janie Fricke, Jim Collins, John Wayne Wiggins, Kim Williams, Larry Shell, Leona Williams, Matt Jenkins, Merle Haggard, Ricky Van Shelton, Rob Hajacos, Ron Williams, Warren Robb | 1 Comment »
Album Review: George Strait – ‘Somewhere Down In Texas’
In 2005, twenty-four years into his hit-making career, George Strait released Somewhere Down In Texas, a collection of laid-back songs that contrasted 2003’s Honkytonkville’s hard honky-tonk sound. The album landed at the top of the country albums chart as well as the all-genre Billboard 200 and was certified platinum. It also provided Strait with another [...]
Filed under: Album Reviews, Retro Reviews, Spotlight Artist | Tagged: Conway Twitty, Cory Mayo, Dale Dodson, Dean Dillon, George Strait, Lee Ann Womack, Merle Haggard, Phillip White, Reba McEntire, Steven Dale Jones, Tony Brown, Willie Nelson | 2 Comments »
Week ending 9/26/09: #1 albums this week in country music history
1984: Merle Haggard – It’s All In The Game (Epic)
1989: Clint Black – Killin’ Time (RCA)
1994: Tim McGraw – Not A Moment Too Soon (Curb)
1999: The Dixie Chicks – Fly (Monument)
2004: Alan Jackson – What I Do (Arista)
2009: Brooks & Dunn – #1’s and Then Some (Arista)
Filed under: Charts | Tagged: Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Clint Black, Dixie Chicks, Merle Haggard, Tim McGraw | 2 Comments »
Album Review: George Strait – ‘Strait From The Heart’
George Strait’s sophomore effort finds him repeating the same winning formula of his debut, from teaming up once again with producer Blake Mevis, to working a pun based on his last name into the album title. Released in June 1982, Strait From The Heart attempts to strike a balance between Strait’s traditional country [...]
Filed under: Album Reviews, Retro Reviews, Spotlight Artist | Tagged: Blake Mevis, Byron Hill, Chris LeDoux, Connie Smith, Dean Dillon, Frank Dycus, George Strait, Guy Clark, Johnny Rodriguez, Keith Whitley, Merle Haggard, Paul Fraser, Ray Baker, Ricky Skaggs, Terry Stafford | 5 Comments »
Album Review: Shane Worley – ‘Mister Purified Country’
It’s easy to get discouraged by the state of today’s country radio and the majority of major-label releases. But there are still artists out there making real country music, even if most of them are on independent labels and can be hard to track down sometimes. One singer I’ve been interested in for [...]
Filed under: Album Reviews | Tagged: Dave Kirby, Don Helms, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Mike Headrick, Shane Worley, Steve Young, Vern Gosdin, Waylon Jennings | 10 Comments »
Album Review: Gene Watson – ‘Taste Of The Truth’
Gene Watson is one of my all-time favorite singers, and it is good to report that he is still sounding great at the age of 65. Listening to his new album, his second for independent label Shanachie, is like listening to a masterclass in singing country music, a subtle rendering of understated emotion. [...]
Filed under: Album Reviews | Tagged: Alison Krauss, Billy Lawson, Billy Yates, Curly Putman, Dale Dodson, Debbie Hupp, Dirk Johnson, Emmylou Harris, Gail Rudisill-Johnson, Gene Watson, Hank Cochran, Harley Allen, Jack Greene, Jerry Salley, Jim Rushing, John Wiggins, Keith Stegall, Mark Chesnutt, Merle Haggard, Monty Criswell, Monty Holmes, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Rhonda Vincent, Shawn Camp, Shelby Lynne, Tim Mensy, Timothy Menzies, Trace Adkins | 8 Comments »
The Song Remembers When
Whether it’s a breakthrough hit for a newcomer or a song that finally makes us fans of an established act to whom we’ve previously not paid much attention, we can all remember that one song that made an impression on us and made us become fans of the artist. Prior to 1980, I didn’t have [...]
Filed under: Discussions | Tagged: Charley Pride, Conway Twitty, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Reba McEntire | 9 Comments »
Album Review: Wade Hayes – ‘Place To Turn Around’
Wade Hayes was one of the more underrated of the 90s neotraditionalists, scoring only six top 10 hits in his career. I always liked his melancholy-tinged voice, and I was pleased to find he has released his first album in nine years. It’s very much an independent effort, with Wade writing or co-writing [...]
Filed under: Album Reviews | Tagged: Carson Chamberlain, Chick Rains, Don Cook, Gary Stewart, Gene Watson, Jenny Farrell, Jerry Salley, Jim McBride, Lefty Frizzell, Mark McClurg, McHayes, Merle Haggard, Michael White, Phillip Johnson, Roger Springer, Scotty Emerick, Trent Jeffcoat, Wade Hayes, Wayne Carson | 17 Comments »
Week ending 8/15/09: #1 singles this week in country music history
1949: I’m Throwing Rice (At The Girl I Love) — Eddy Arnold (RCA)
1959: Waterloo – Stonewall Jackson (Columbia)
1969: Workin’ Man Blues – Merle Haggard (Capitol)
1979: Coca Cola Cowboy – Mel Tillis (MCA)
1989: Timber, I’m Falling In Love — Patty Loveless (MCA)
1999: Amazed – Lonestar (BNA)
2009: You Belong With Me – Taylor Swift (Big Machine)
Filed under: Charts | Tagged: Eddy Arnold, Lonestar, Mel Tillis, Merle Haggard, Patty Loveless, Stonewall Jackson, Taylor Swift | 4 Comments »
Classic Rewind: Merle Haggard – ‘Hungry Eyes’
Filed under: Classic Rewind | Tagged: Merle Haggard | 1 Comment »
Album Review – John Anderson – ‘Wild And Blue’
Wild And Blue was John Anderson’s fourth album, released in 1982, and it provided the springboard for a major change in his career.
It was produced, like I Just Came Home To Count The Memories, by John with the Canadian Frank Jones who had worked with some of the all-time greats, including, at various times, Lefty [...]
Filed under: Album Reviews, Retro Reviews, Spotlight Artist | Tagged: Bob McDill, Emmylou Harris, Frank Jones, George Strait, John Anderson, John Scott Sherrill, Johnny Cash, Keith Whitley, Lefty Frizzell, Lionel A. Delmore, Marty Robbins, Merle Haggard, Ray Price, Ronal McCown, Sanger D Shafer | 2 Comments »
Singers & songwriters
Country music has a long, rich heritage of artists who were both accomplished singers and songwriters — Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, and Dolly Parton are just a few examples of those who excelled not only as vocalists, but at writing their own material. Others, like George Strait and Reba McEntire, have occasionally [...]
Filed under: Discussions | Tagged: Bill Anderson, Dolly Parton, George Strait, Hank Williams, Kris Kristofferson, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Nanci Griffith, Reba McEntire | 24 Comments »
Classic Rewind: John Anderson with Merle Haggard & The Strangers – ‘Swinging Doors’
Featuring the late Bonnie Owens singing harmony:
Filed under: Classic Rewind, Spotlight Artist | Tagged: Bonnie Owens, John Anderson, Merle Haggard | Leave a Comment »
