Classic Rewind: George Jones & Tammy Wynette – ‘We Loved It Away’

Week ending 10/31/09: #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: High Cotton – Alabama (RCA)
1999: I Love You — Martina McBride (RCA)
2009: Only You Can [...]

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’ [...]

Album Review: Patty Loveless – ‘Patty Loveless’

A teenager of 14, Patty Loveless first came to Nashville with her brother Roger in 1971. Roger had a job on one of the most popular shows of the day, the nationally syndicated Porter Wagoner Show.  Brother Roger arranged a meeting with Wagoner one day, and after hearing her sing ‘Sounds of Loneliness’, Porter offered [...]

Happy birthday, Kitty Wells!

My Kind of Country salutes the Queen of Country Music on her 90th birthday. Kitty Wells was the first female artist to have a #1 country hit back in 1952 with “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” and in doing so paved the way for other women such as Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, [...]

Album Review: Reba McEntire – ‘What If It’s You’

After experiencing a dip in sales with 1995’s Starting Over, Reba McEntire again changed musical directions, abandoning the glossy production of that covers album, in favor of a more stripped-down, organic sound.  She also teamed up with a new co-producer, John Guess,  and used her road band instead of studio musicians for the first time.   [...]

Album Review: Reba McEntire – ‘Whoever’s In New England’

In February 1986, just seven months after Have I Got A Deal For You, Reba released her tenth studio album. She was to release yet another (What Am I Gonna Do About You) that fall. This level of productivity – unthinkable today – was commonplace in the mid 80s, and in this case [...]

Classic Rewind: Tammy Wynette – ‘Stand By Your Man’

Album Review: Tammy Cochran – ‘30 Something And Single’

Former Epic recording artist Tammy Cochran, best known for her autobiographical top 10 hit ‘Angels In Waiting’ in 2001, is back with a new self-released album. Having experienced mainstream success and a stint with an independent label (Shanachie released her Where I Am album in 2006), she now claims to have no desire to [...]

Classic Rewind: Tammy Wynette – ”Til I Can Make It On My Own’

When two stars collide

Country music has a long history of two separate artists coming together to record a single or album together.  We’ve also seen our fair share of duos who sing and perform exclusively together.  In the 1970s it seemed like all the rage for two of country’s biggest stars to join forces.  The decade saw the [...]

Classic Rewind: Randy Travis with George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Roy Rogers, and Vern Gosdin – ‘Heroes and Friends’

Classic Rewind: George Jones & Tammy Wynette – ‘Milwaukee, Here I Come’

George Jones released this song as a single in 1968. The record reached #12 on the Billboard country singles chart; however, this is a record that suffered from timing. It would have been a much better recording if it had been done a few years earlier — or a few years later. [...]

Single Review: Tanya Tucker – ‘Lizzie and the Rainman’

The extraordinary run of success enjoyed by the teenage Tanya Tucker is illustrated by the fact that she was still only 16 when she recorded the story song ‘Lizzie and the Rainman’. It was her fourth #1 hit, and her first single for a new record label, MCA.
As so often with Tanya’s choice of [...]

Week ending 6/6/09: #1 this week in country music history

1949: Lovesick Blues — Hank Williams (MGM)
1959: The Battle of New Orleans — Johnny Horton (Columbia)
1969: Singing My Song – Tammy Wynette (Epic)
1979: She Believes In Me — Kenny Rogers (United Artists)
1989: Where Did I Go Wrong – Steve Wariner (MCA)
1999: Please Remember Me– Tim McGraw (Curb)

Week ending 5/30/09: #1 this week in country music history

1949: Lovesick Blues — Hank Williams (MGM)
1959: The Battle of New Orleans — Johnny Horton (Columbia)
1969: Singing My Song – Tammy Wynette (Epic)
1979: If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me — Bellamy Brothers (Warner Bros.)
1989: After All This Time — Rodney Crowell (Columbia)
1999: Please Remember Me– [...]

YouTube Finds

Once in a while I still marvel at technology – even things we take for granted now – like YouTube.  It’s been just over 4 years since 3 former PayPal employees created the video sharing site, but it seems that it’s always been there now.  What would we do without music videos and all these [...]

Just a recommendation …

I’ve written about this song on various occasions before in comments on other sites.  But, here is my official recommendation for ‘Nashville Girls’. The track was recorded back in March 2008 for Terri’s album, In My Next Life – scheduled to be released April 29, 2008.  It features guest vocals from Reba, Sara Evans, and [...]

Country’s greatest duos

 
Few things satisfy a country music fan more than when two of one’s favorite solo performers announce plans to go into the studio and record together.  Country music has a long and rich history of producing collaborations with such great chemistry that they threatened to overshadow the solo work of the same artists. Perhaps that’s [...]

Album Review: Wynonna – ‘Sing: Chapter 1′

Wynonna’s latest album – a covers disc incorporating styles ranging from bawdy blues to elegant pop to Stones-style rock and roll to traditional country – is an interesting and at times inspired collection. Wynonna’s ferocious delivery is front and center the entire time, always reminding us that Wynonna Judd is the owner of one of [...]