Rolling Country 2012

Those are accurate descriptions for the Big & Rich set. Reviewed it here a few weeks back; the first single stalled at #16, and the album hasn't sold particularly well, and there's not another standout choice for a single that could really turn the project into the "comeback" it was intended to be.

Absolutely love the new Iris DeMent. Have seen quite a few complaints about its overall tempo, which is something that I typically complain about (as with the comatose new Tift Merritt album), but I didn't hear that as an issue for Sing the Delta.

I've never been fond of Jamey Johnson's voice, but I was impressed by the range in his performances on the Hank Cochran tribute.

Me on the new Big & Rich, which I didn't like much:

http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/big-and-rich/album/hillbilly-jedi

Those reviews are all too plausible, ditto the Amazon. I guess I'll listen anyway, what is country without some sadness, after all. James Hand's Mighty Lonesome Man pays some mighty lonesome dues with mighty fine timing--unafraid to venture beyond deft word play into details that could easily keep him orbiting in mental and emotional rituals eternally--but 12 items, 34 minutes, as Windows Media Player sums up, hand him off, pass him along in the alone together jukebox of honky tonk pop. Good in the background or foreground; I'm tempted to say he'll be there when you get there--he's a stand-up guy--but whatcha say James? "Let's do it now, before they use a plow, 'cause then I won't be no earthly good to you."

Gotta head out before I can finish listening to John Fullbright's From The Ground Up, but the first 2/3 have me evangelistic 'bout it. Call it Southern Gothic or just past that. First song is like Randy Newman's "God's Song" and then some: He gives us the stuff to party with here, then He (or whoever's representing) got a hang over cure, if you can hang with that (party again, way out of or in the core of bounds). "Jerico" founds him heading east to find his destination all fallen down, but bury him in the vines, he wants to rise and be the trumpet sound all around the walls )which have to rise and fall again for him to do so). Oh, but he's a badass by day who prays at night, when the world disappears and he has to confront his fears, has an unmarked scar, wants to keep things unscarred (or looking that way), only flies so far. some things are nowhere to be found, but that's not nec bad: he might want to be a rich man in a big house where he can't be found--rich or poor, no matter how loudly he testifies, is always ready to take off again. So many shadows, such appetite, eh "Fat Man" (caricature taking on a life of its own). Another for Miranda or Lae Ann to consider, though the orig should be on the radio right now: "This is not reflection/Reflections are true/This is just me/Me wantin' you/Sweet silver mem'ries/Me wanting you", and the music starts another upward arc, then back to its perch, but as always (so far) with the talons to ride cows, whales, whatever you got. Strong, clean-cut voice; there's more to the boy next door than previously thought. Kid's got charisma, look out.

An unmarked "car" I meant (quoting him, and yeah wants to keep things unscarred, visibility-wise anyway, also based on transcript)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 30, 2012
TO CELEBRATE RECORD STORE DAY’S
BACK TO BLACK FRIDAY EVENT (NOVEMBER 23)
OMNIVORE RECORDINGS
READIES
FOUR TEN-INCH VINYL DISCS BY WANDA JACKSON,

GEORGE JONES, MERLE HAGGARD AND BUCK OWENS

Also from Omnivore, Jellyfish’s two-CD set Stack-a-Tracks offers
rare glimpse of band in an instrumental mode

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — In order to celebrate Back to Black Friday (November 23, 2012), Omnivore has prepared four ten-inch vinyl EPs by country legends Merle Haggard, Wanda Jackson, George Jones and Buck Owens, with much of the material making its vinyl debut. At another end of the musical spectrum, Jellyfish’s Stack-a-Tracks presents never-before-heard instrumental mixes of the band’s two studio albums in a limited-edition, numbered, first edition digipak.

On November 23, 2012, Omnivore will release these ten-inch discs, which will preview full albums due in 2013: George Jones’ United Artists Rarities; Wanda Jackson’s Capitol Rarities; Merle Haggard’s Capitol Rarities; and Buck Owens’ Buck Sings Eagles. Jellyfish’s Stack-a-Tracks also hits the racks on the same day.

According to Pawelski, “Our very first Omnivore release, the Big Star — Third [Test Pressing Edition, released on Record Store Day 2011] is an example of being a little extra creative for Record Store Day. It was an expensive release to make, and without the event that is RSD, we probably couldn’t have pulled it off. It gave us that extra latitude to be able to push the creative limits as far as we could go and justify it.”

The November 2012 Record Store Day releases:

• George Jones – United Artists Rarities: As Jones prepares for his farewell tour in 2013, Omnivore is planning the release of The Complete United Artists Solo Singles. Jones had two label homes prior to signing to UA in 1962, and while his tenure there was short (four years), it produced hits like “She Thinks I Still Care” and “The Race Is On.” The United Artists Rarities ten-inch vinyl EP in a beautiful picture sleeve presents four alternate versions of UA recordings plus two previously unissued duets with Melba Montgomery (“There Will Never Be Another” and “Alabama”).

• Wanda Jackson – Capitol Rarities: 2012 was a big year for the Queen of Rockabilly on the heels of career-reinvigorating new albums produced by Jack White and Justin Townes Earle. While Omnivore puts the crowning touches on its 2013 release The Best of the Classic Capitol Singles, the six-song vinyl EP Capitol Rarities sets the stage. Included are previously unissued versions of songs recorded between 1956-62 including “Step by Step” “In the Middle of a Heartache,” “The Wrong Kind of Girl” and three more.

• Merle Haggard – Capitol Rarities: One of the pioneers of the Bakersfield sound, Haggard toured with Buck Owens in the early ’60s and in 1965 was signed to Capitol Records (already home to Buck) by producer Ken Nelson. Omnivore is planning a full-length CD The Complete Capitol ’60s Singles for 2013 release, to which the Capitol Rarities ten-inch vinyl EP sets the stage. The EP contains songs never released back in the day, and alternate versions of well-known tunes. All six songs emanate from unique Nashville and Hollywood recording sessions, making this EP a very cool, collectible piece.

• Buck Owens – Buck Sings Eagles: If Buck Owens, Father of the Bakersfield sound, wasn’t already a household name by 1968, the advent of the hit TV series Hee Haw cemented his fame. Music for the show was recorded in Buck’s studio and then played back on the show with live-to-track vocals. Omnivore will issue these previously unissued made-for-TV recordings as Honky Tonk Man: Buck Owens Sings Country Classics in 2013. Among these recordings were four previously unissued cover songs by the California country-rock torch-carriers the Eagles that comprise the ten-inch vinyl EP.

• Jellyfish: Stack-a-Tracks: While recording their two pivotal studio albums, 1990’s Bellybutton and 1993’s Spilt Milk, “instrumental” mixes of each record were created by Jellyfish and their producers. Unheard and untouched for decades, these recordings will finally see the light of day on Omnivore Recordings’ Jellyfish – Stack-a-Tracks. This is not a “re-imagining” of what these records “might” sound like as instrumentals. They’re the real deal, transferred from the original 1/4-inch masters. With an individually numbered edition of 2,500 units, housed in a digipak for the limited first edition with new illustrated artwork (created for the release by artist Mike McCarthy), this two-CD set is destined to become the newest gem in the collection of power-pop fans everywhere.

About Omnivore Recordings:
Founded in 2010 by longtime, highly respected industry veterans Cheryl Pawelski, Greg Allen, Dutch Cramblitt, and Brad Rosenberger, Omnivore Recordings preserves the legacies and music created by historical, heritage, and catalog artists while also releasing previously unissued, newly found “lost” recordings and making them available for music-loving audiences to discover. Omnivore Recordings is distributed by EMI.

So...who is watching the Country Music Awards? I mean...I'm not

It's got its lumps but I love this Niemann album.

Haven't heard the new one Niemann but I didn't like the last one, save for a few songs.

Re: CMAs: I really hate that Lambert song (and half of that record) but the performance was fantastic, probably the best of the whole night (tempering the fact that the insipid/overblown "Over You" won Song of the Year over "Springsteen," which is one of the most elegant songs to be a hit on country radio even if it pales in comparison to Taylor's "Tim McGraw'). Swift was ok, kind of nice to see her romantically triumphant after her current persona (which is why "Begin Again" is such a stellar closer on Red). Totally happy that Church won Album of the Year; of all the nominees, his was the most consistent, but his performance weirdly lacked the urgency of his last few times on the show, maybe because he knows he's finally Made It. I kinda love the new Paisley song for ~WHAT IT MEANS POLITCALLY/CULTURALLY~ and Underwood was flawless if frigid, as always. I'm most excited about Little Big Town's success; their songs have not often lived up to their talent, but "Little White Church" and "Pontoon" have a bluesy FMac influence that is really endearing.

Can't believe Miranda won song of the year over Springsteen.

Albums are proving no prob, but could use suggestions for Top Ten Country Singles this year (can't stand the endless idiot commercials on my local radio, so mentions of tolerable online country stations also much appreciated)

a few:

Dierks Bentley - 5-1 5-0
Tim McGraw - The One That Got Away
Eric Church - Springsteen
Miranda Lambert - Fastest Girl in Town
Carrie Underwood - Blown Away
Luke Bryan - Drunk On You
Jerrod Niemann - Shinin' on Me
Lee Brice - A Woman Like You

In no real order except the top one (which is shoo-in for top 10 singles list, country or otherwise), here are some other singles from this year ( might consider, if I don't decide that I actually hate them:

Kacey Musgraves – Merry Go Round
Pistol Annies – Takin’ Pills
The Farm – Home Sweet Home
Toby Keith – Beers Ago
Tim McGraw – Better Than I Used to Be
David Nail – Sound Of A Million Dreams
Thomas Rhett - Something To Do With My Hands
Alan Jackson – So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore
Miss Willie Brown – You’re All That Matters To Me
Kix Brooks – New To This Town
Rodney Atkins - He's Mine
Dean Brody - Canadian Girls
Band Perry - Postcard To Paris
Dropkick Murphys – Rose Tatoo (probably not country enough, maybe also not good enough)
Laura Marling – All My Rage (ditto)

And Frank Kogan listed these (along with a few others Alfred and/or I mentioned) on his blog a month or so back:

Eden's Edge "Too Good To Be True"
Jason Aldean "Fly Over States"
Eric Church "Creepin'"
Carrie Underwood "Blown Away"
Easton Corbin "Lovin' You Is Fun"
Willie Nelson "Just Breathe"

And then there is Taylor Swift. I am inclined to grandmother in Red as country for my Nashville Scene album ballot if I get sent one despite its pervasive lack of actual country-ness. (And if I do, it will probably top my list -- sorry Jerrod.) But I'm less sure about the singles on it (some but not all of which I might like enough.)

Also, I hate Record Store Day sucker-bait on principle, but gotta admit those 10-inch rarities EPs Don posted about sound pretty cool. Then again, I always think that about 10-inch EPs. Reminds me that I actually used to own this 10-inch George Jones EP with early rockabilly sides like "White Lightnin" and "Who Shot Sam" on it, but for some reason I don't anymore. I sure have done some dumb purging over the years.

http://www.discogs.com/George-Jones-White-Lightnin/release/2923913

Oh yeah, the rest of that Fullbright album wasn't quite up to the first 2/3 or so, but overall pretty strong, he stays in the room w fellow Okies Woody, Garth, Toby 9yeah, some spaces in that room). Been listening to Deluxe Edition of Toby's Hope On The Rocks. The title song opens with troubled people hurtling into the bar and the chorus, which isn't quite up to the pressure. It's not a total let-down, and wouldn't want something grand, which would miss the point--the singing bartender's professionally observant, but he's just a bartender, and he knows that too. Just is a little too anti-climatic, beyond the call of realisn's duty. The uptempo yuk-yuk stuff could work (laff to keep from crine), but could use a guitar solo here, bigger beats there--thinking oof Montgomery Gentry, Terri Clark respectively--but Toby might riposte, "And where are they now?" Okay, but anyway I do enjoy "Get Got"--"Ask forgiveness, not permission." The one about the little gal who's just his size is kinda growiing on me, since the friend he's talling to back off is a big guy, which implies that Toby is fine with being little too (of course he's huge, so the buddy must be a monstah, but so be it). Immediately got spooked goosebumps via "Haven't Seen The Last of You" and "Missed You Just Right." Bonus tracks: good remix of "Red Solo Cup", which was already one of his funniest; nice mix of "Beers Ago" and live "Whiskey Girl" has some good beats too. Other extras are more disposable.

Thanks for the suggested singles, guys, I'll check 'em out.

Here's Hope... and a bunch of his other albums (if you want to stream a whole album here, better to hit Play All than try to go through track by track; can always pause it):
http://us.myspace.com/tobykeith/music/albums/hope-on-the-rocks-deluxe-edition-18769271

Almost as uneven, but w higher highs: Tim McGraw's Emotional Traffic. Opens and closes with dispatches from our correspondent in the field, with reminders that the middle ground can be pretty costly to gain and then settle for--a place that has to "bleed out", in the opener, "Halo" ("Lay low under your halo"). But oh well, time to realize once again, "I'll always die by my owh hand"--title of closer, as the music man cues the guitar's xxth nervous breakdown, served on shaved ice of hairline fractures. In between, the cost of advancing mainstream country-as-pop-rock-nostalgia into a reasonably radio-aimed degree and angle of support for a mature overview of personal history as something still being made, for better, worse and breaking even--the cost, Ah say (aside from getting sued by your label, if that's why), is the risk of some expectations getting unreasonably raised. So, even though the overall effect is taut 'n' juicy, the songs aren't always up to the voice and instruments, or sometimes even vice versa. For inst, when "The One" calls on memories of early inspirations, and these are not sunsets and Eagles tapes, but "black leather, acid rock, cherry lipstick, 17", seems like the music should tilt (oh yeah, he says "tilt-a-whirl" too) and whirl reflections of some of these wild things, instead of just perk, perk, perkin' along, unless this is an ironic effect--old dude, kidding himself about the wild thing comeback! But if so, who cares. Except maybe the folks for whom the thought of being middle-aged is still a kick in itself. But at least the lyrics' references are nicer thoughts than those of "I Will Not Fall Down", the previous track, which is way too Jon Bon Jovi contributing to the soundtrack of a Tom Cruise movie about military romance. However, "Better Than I Used To Be" can be heard as a no-comment on rationalized reasonables: "Still got a few more dances with the Devil, but I'm cleanin' up my act a little. til I can stand the man in the mirror I see...I'm better than I used to be." Shore, just keep hitting those Merit Lights, Miller's Lites, rub that stuff into yore sore tooth stead 'o' shootin' up. And yet there's no nudge-nudge to the vocal delivery, the guy in the song and the mirror really is hopefull. More boldly cautious is the speculative survey taken by "The One Who Got Away." A long shot success, now everybody wants some, incl everybody in the once chilly hometown, Cub Scout leaders included. "Now you tuck your scars up under your dress, like an American girl", oh hell yes. No gilt-edged guilt, self-pity, lashing out, peacemaking, "closure", just flying round in the big room. But in between these coups, "Touchdown Jesus" cheerleads for instant salvation! McGraw's idea of reasonable radio-bait, gateway for the uncut insights of the album-only cuts? Same kinda balance Niemann goes for--but "Felt Good On My Lips" is like one of Niemann's best, even harder rocking trade-offs with the Caribbean lilt. And the "Die By My Own Hand" guy's horizons have been permanently broadened by Sex In The City--on and off0screen too, probably, and always worthy of capitalization and Indian food, courtesy of the perhaps Indian-Indian, not "Indian Warpath" Indian gal whose "Indian Daddy" who admittedly was right, or is it "probably right", when said,?you were too good for me." But don't worry, he'll just always die by his own hand, while still thinking about you, no doubt. Just keep on keeping on, and "lay low under your halo." This way to the Egress!

"Felt Good On My Lips" and "The One That Got Away."

....are great.

Yeah! Those are prob best. The track between them, "Touchdown Jesus", is prob worst, since "instant salvation" sure implies as easy/sure cure for alcoholism, even.

I had "Right Back At Ya" in my iPod for a few months. We haven't even mentioned the Ne-Yo duet (they reunite for a track on Ne-Yo's new one).

The Ne-Yo starts great, but gets kinda cloyingly grandiose, re the downside of the 80s/90s pop-rock nostalgia as creative resource in this set. Furthermore! "Touchdown Jesus"'s implication of miracle cure is reinforced by context of the lyrics, undermining justification for "reasonable" context of sure-shot shout-out's placement between more daring songs. It's so conservative it's irresponsible, enabling self-delusion: "I can always get saved and get cured, someday."

So really he either needs more of the daring, or more better middling radio-bait.

Prob the latter.

"en though the overall effect is taut 'n' juicy, the songs aren't always up to the voice and instruments, or sometimes even vice versa" is otm, dow. On the strength of the two songs I mentioned I was ready to love Emotional Traffic. It's a rich, warm, beautiful sounding album. But he gets spongy.

I dig about half of it so far, def for Singles lists anyway. Also like these guys I previewed; go see 'em:
Shovels & Rope
Shovels & Rope are Americana singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalists Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent, a committed couple who never settle down, or settle for less than true love and cheap thrills. 2012’s O Be Joyful tracks risky ramblers teaming up, learning the mixing and measuring of pleasures. Thrills-wise, when Hearst later calls, “Come down here and make some sense of it all,” she’s affectionately addressing someone known as Wrecking Ball. Appropriately so: after all, Hearst sent “Hell’s Bells” prowling through True Blood’s third season, and S&R’s sly, Southern Gothic beauty travels many a moonlit mile.

notes so far on this:
Don Williams-And So It Goes: startlingly good sound on some tracks, even though mp3s, has to be this good with “Infinity”, for inst, and “I Just Come Here For The Music." Appeal of wistful thinking bobbing out on a tether to/from way things are on other tracks and in general, but prefer more a sense of struggle or something in songs and/or singing which responds to less desirable situations the way the best music here does. Still, seems good for late night or midday consolation breaks.

Really like the strings pivoting around his trademark toetapping groove, and gets to the "Tula Time" groove at times in contexts quite diff from that song, yet appropriately so.

"Tulsa Time", that is.

Todd Snider, Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables. Known for his words, and yep music is setting for same, but I like 'em best when his voice unobtrusively and perfectly sets them down, teeth matched to gums, or upper and lower plates. Sharp enough, sometimes rounded, down in the gums or the plates and the meat of the matter, the details move into the overall effect. Better when he gets through the teaching moments and the passing suits, up above, down to the ground, where he might be a doorman, a cabbie, an ambulance driver, night court reporter--observing charred and certified White Trash and even a power couple (in "Brenda", which might be about Bill and Hilary, the renters of the lock just checked, and does incl their usual pursuits:"He's livin it up while she's workin, and that seems right/After all, Mick Jagger was born on Monday mornin'/Keith Richard on Saturday night")--when he's not "In Between Jobs" and back and forth from fear to distraction (like the primeval tribe in the first track), while 'llowing, "Ah may've been born yesterday, but I was up all night." His people are funny that way, incl when stubbornly creeping at their own chosen speed up and down tunnels and barrels they should be long gone from, given the means of course. That's the sound, which also usually includes a bluesy fiddle over a heavy flexible mobile rhythm section, which always includes a heavy etc. electric guitar (suggesting a door taken down and set on the kind of wheels that should be on an office chair, a door with a screen and bars too, a Southern thing). Rec to those jonesing for the next Truckers album, at least (if Cooley and Hood, in that order, were to merge, vocally and writing-wise, with Cooley's guitar central to and more prominent in the mix). What am I saying? Forget that, we got this. Imperfect, but it sure builds. Now I'm getting confused about my Scene Top Ten, oh well.

"funny that way" incl sometimes in the head and/or hands (easy now podner)

I don't think we've talked much about Korean country music - there not being much Korean country music to talk about. Han Myeong Suk's "The Boy In The Yellow Shirt" (1961) uses a self-consciously old-timey string band arrangement, though with a more aggressive '60s rhythm. Melody and singing are - I don't know - old bluesy country mixed with (I really don't know) trad Korean? pop Hawaiian? G'Old Korea Vinyl, the site that streams it, tells us that the lyrics "were pretty badass at that time" - doesn't quote much less translate them, unfortunately. Site says that the song was a hit in Japan too and other parts of Asia, and according to Wikip there was a French cover version by Yvette Giraud, YouTube being no aid to further research. Is terrific enough in the original.

Searching "country music in korea" on Google nets me Bobbyville, a side project of Seoul indie performer Bobby Chung, who says he models it on the Bakersfield sound; and Kim Tae-hun and his band Sunday Losers, who veer towards rockabilly and blues and are from the Busan indie scene. There's also a trot song by Moon Hee Ok that's labeled by the uploader as Korean country music, but isn't unless you consider trot the Korean equivalent to American country, which it's not.

There's perhaps a Korean yodeling scene that seems to go for yodel per se rather than the country variety, but it includes someone identified by the uploader as "Korea Young&Beautiful Yodelgirl" who wants to learn to rope and ride, someone doing "La Desperadado," and a fellow billing himself as Peter The Korean Yodeler who made his way to the Le Mars Country Festival in Iowa a few years ago.

Thanks--wish Subliminal Sounds or Sublime Frequencies would do a comp along these lines. Always good to check hearty voyagers having a go at familiar-to-seemingly-played-out styles.

Hopefully Psy will go country, Gangnam Style.

can't believe I love the generic crap of the Clarkson-Gill duet as much as I do.

Is my favorite Clarkson single since "Never Again." And for being generic, it straddles genres nicely (country and AC).

reminds me how much I love Gill's harmonies

He was good in Emmylou's band too. I like him better in duets than solo, mostly.

A very provisional top twenty, or top twenty-one if I decide to classify Taylor Swift's "Red" as a single; if I do, it's number 1 - was one of a bunch of download-only singles Big Machine put out in the days before the album to drum up excitement. The label had previously done the same with "You Belong With Me" in 2008 and "Mean" in 2010, only to give each of them a more emphatic release in the year that followed, meaning I had to vote for them two consecutive years. So my inclination this time is to disqualify "Red" for insufficient singleness; I've got plenty others to list, anyway. I <i>am</i> counting Tim McGraw's "The One That Got Away," which was never a single except that it charted a bit (and of course by that criterion "Red" is undoubtedly a single, but, you know, list making is more an art than a science).

I'd rank "Blown Away" even higher if its words were in Korean.

[Taylor Swift "Red"]
1. Miranda Lambert "Fastest Girl In Town"
2. Charles Esten & Hayden Panettiere "Undermine"
3. Eden's Edge "Too Good To Be True"
4. Eric Church "Creepin'"
5. Lionel Richie ft. Jennifer Nettles "Hello"
6. Kix Brooks ft. Joe Walsh "New To This Town"
7. Luke Bryan "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye"
8. Carrie Underwood "Blown Away"
9. Kacey Musgraves "Merry Go Round"
10. Kelly Clarkson ft. Vince Gill "Don't Rush"
11. Thomas Rhett "Something To Do With My Hands"
12. Tim McGraw "The One That Got Away"
13. Easton Corbin "Lovin' You Is Fun"
14. Toby Keith "Beers Ago"
15. Willie Nelson "Just Breathe"
16. Gary Allan "Every Storm Runs Out Of Rain"
17. Greg Bates "Did It For The Girl"
18. Kristen Kelly "Ex Old Man"
19. Alan Jackson "So You Don't Have To Love Me Anymore"
20. Jason Aldean "Fly Over States"

oh yeah, lots of good 'uns on there, and ones I still need to check out. Also, the fine "Undermine" reminds me to check out the rest of Nashville-the-TV-series' soundtrack album.

Gary Allan's on there--does he have a new album? Anybody heard it?

Hey guys, sorry if this is a breach of decorum for this thread -- I'm not really up on mainstream country music or the opinions of ILX country thread regulars -- but can any of y'all recommend some new-ish traditionalist country music? No blues-rock riffs, no tom-tom fills, no redneck-pandering I-like-beer-and-jeans lyrics. I'd like to be able to listen to some new country music while simultaneously being able to pretend Brooks & Dunn never existed. Thanks in advance & no offense meant.

You might like current James Hand, Don Williams, Jamey Johnson's Hank Cochran tribute, all discussed upthread. Ditto those Merle and George Jones rarities collections, if you're into vinyl.

You might like the new Dwight Yoakam record a lot too. It's hardly straight country - there are a bunch of left-field-ish pop-rock moves on it, but they're all derived from '60s rock, not present-day rock, so give it a shot.

thanks guys!

Don, "Undermine" is written by Trent Dobbs and Kacey Musgraves and is going to be on Musgraves' debut album. Acoustic version here.

I was bored by Panettiere as a teenybopper, but she's ace on this song.

Gary Allan alb (Set You Free) not out till next year. My guess is that crüt would like Allan even if he doesn't specifically meet the criteria - like Yoakam he's got rock tendencies and dallied with L.A. punk in his distant past, but he's not part of the current we-are-country pander and insecurity (instead he's got his own insecurities), and he's a beautiful singer.

Don't think there was ever a time in the history of sound recording when country didn't have blues riffs, though.

Thanks for the link; also, yeah, Hayden and all the other TV series regulars' musical moments (always key plot points) have been pretty effective so far. Dunno if they're doing all their own singing, but good stuff. "Blues-rock" riffs are what crut's trying to avoid. Good to know about new Gary.

Following those xpost 10" records:

Omnivore Recordings will release definitive compilations by three giants of country and rockabilly music — Wanda Jackson, Merle Haggard and George Jones — on February 12, 2013. Having released musical appetizers in the form of ten-inch vinyl EPs on Record Store Day’s Back to Black Friday, Omnivore will serve the main course on compact disc in the form of Merle Haggard’s The Complete ’60s Capitol Singles, George Jones’ The Complete United Artists Solo Singles, and Wanda Jackson’s The Best of the Classic Capitol Singles. All three compilations feature A & B sides from the artists’ most influential years. The vinyl EPs were companion pieces, containing rarities not found on the CDs.

Wanda Jackson’s The Best of the Classic Capitol Singles contains 29 songs from her Capitol stint, which began in 1956. Each was taken from the original analog mono 45-rpm masters. Idolized by three generations of rockers, the Queen of Rockabilly made musical side-trips into country and gospel. For every A-side rave-up like “Mean Mean Man” or “Fujiyama Mama,” she offers B sides of equal intrigue: a weeper like “(Every Time They Play) Our Song” or the hillbilly tragedy of “No Wedding Bells for Joe.” She tore through songs that Elvis sang, and also drew from the jazz greats, R&B legends, doo-woppers and the Nashville hit machine. And she made each song her own.

In the ’50s, Capitol Records ad men scratched their heads, looking for a way to position Wanda Jackson’s sound, gamely settling on “jumping rock ’n’ waltz novelty.” Today, as she plays before indie-rock-aged crowds, supporting recent albums produced by Jack White and Justin Townes Earle, we know she’s no novelty. The Best of the Classic Capitol Singles, with extensive liner notes by Daniel Cooper, is her most definitive career retrospective to date.

Jackson’s Capitol label-mate Merle Haggard became one of country music’s greatest stars while recording his Bakersfield-honed songs at the tower at Hollywood & Vine from 1965 until 1976. The Omnivore compilation The Complete ’60s Capitol Singles features 28 A & B sides taken from the original analog mono 45-rpm masters. Neo-rockabilly artist and part-time journalist Deke Dickerson, a longtime Haggard fan, wrote the liner notes.

From “Swinging Doors” in 1965 until the end of the decade, Haggard had an impressive string of hits. “The Fugitive” (b/w “Someone Told My Story”), his first #1 single, was a composition by the esteemed songwriter Liz Anderson (Lynn Anderson’s mother). “I Threw Away the Rose” b/w “Loneliness Is Eating Me Alive” went to #2 on the charts in 1966. Other chart-toppers on this volume include “You Don’t Have Very Far To Go” b/w “Good Times” and “The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde” b/w “I Started Loving You Again.” “Working Man Blues,” written when Haggard “needed (his) own ‘Folsom Prison Blues,’” became a blue-collar anthem and shot to #1. The collection closes with “Okie From Muskogee,” the unlikely political pop crossover that sent mixed signals to younger listeners. Most have since delved deeper into Haggard’s five decades of music and consider him a hero. He continues to record today.

United Artists Records was eventually married to Capitol when it, along with parent label Liberty, was acquired by EMI in 1978. But when country star George Jones recorded for the label (following stints at Starday and Mercury) from 1962 til 1966, United Artists and Capitol were Hollywood crosstown rivals. It was at UA that Jones mastered all the flavors of country: lovelorn ballads, inspirational gospel, uptempo honky tonk, humorous novelty numbers, old-timey murder ballads — even holiday and Western songs. Most of his UA work was done in Nashville featuring the city’s A team: guitarist Grady Martin, pianist Hargus “Pig” Robbins, bassist Bob Moore, drummer Buddy Harman and Hal Rugg on pedal steel. The Jordanaires provided background vocals.

Omnivore’s 32-song George Jones compilation, The Complete United Artist Solo Singles, leads off with chart toppers “She Thinks I Still Care” b/w “Sometimes You Just Can’t Win,” produced by the legendary Cowboy Jack Clement. Both sides of the single pointed the way to the sound that would mark his signature style in decades to follow. The collection also includes Jones’ 1965 smash “The Race Is On.”

“Country music is like a religion to me,” he told Holly George-Warren, author of this compilation’s liner notes. Jones’ early ’60s work for United Artists will make a believer out of you.

About Omnivore Recordings:
Founded in 2010 by longtime, highly respected industry veterans Cheryl Pawelski, Greg Allen, Dutch Cramblitt, and Brad Rosenberger, Omnivore Recordings preserves the legacies and music created by historical, heritage, and catalog artists while also releasing previously unissued, newly found “lost” recordings and making them available for music-loving audiences to discover. Omnivore Recordings is distributed by EMI.