To conclude our ‘True Grit Week’, we’ve asked our favourite Country and Western aficionado, our colleague Alex Massie, to compose a special C&W playlist.
Hickory Wind – The Byrds
The Byrds were never better than during the spell Gram Parsons was present. Sweetheart of the Rodeo is a near-faultless album and
‘Hickory Wind’ perhaps its standout track.
Boulder to Birmingham – Emmylou Harris
You could cheerfully pick any number of Emmylou songs but her tribute to Parsons is as good a place to start as any and,
frankly, better than most. Sublime.
Tecumseh Valley – Townes van Zandt
No collection is complete without a nod to the prince of Texas singer-songwriters. ‘Tecumseh Valley’ tells the story
of a young girl seeking work in tough times; she turns from keeping bar to whoring and, as is the country way, comes to a bad end.
Ft Worth Blues – Steve Earle
And, in turn, here’s Steve Earle’s beautiful tribute to his friend, mentor and inspiration – Townes van Zandt.
Streets of Bakersfield – Dwight Yoakam
Buck Owens’s successor as the King of Bakersfield, Yoakam has steadily compiled one of the most impressive bodies of work in contemporary country. This song is typical and typically
excellent:
‘I came here looking for something
I couldn’t find anywhere else
Hey, I’m not trying to be nobody
I just want a chance to be myself’
True that and isn’t that all any of us can want? Preach it, Brother Yoakam.
Walking After Midnight – Patsy Cline
It’s Patsy Cline. What other reason do you need to listen to country music’s grandest broad?
These Hills – Iris DeMent
Beautiful and elegiac in equal measure. Anyone who grew up in the countryside, anywhere, will appreciate this hymn to the hills we call
home:
‘Like the flowers I am fading,
Into my setting sun.
Brother and sister passed before me:
Mama and Daddy, they’ve long since gone.
The wind is rushing through the valley,
And I don’t feel so all alone,
When I see the dandelions blowing,
Across the hills that I call home.’
The lyrics are grand but it’s the voice that wins it. Extraordinary.
Hungry Eyes – Merle Haggard
You’re spoilt for choice with Merle. But this song recalling the hardships of the Okies who’d left for California during the
Great Depression is classic Haggard:
‘I remember daddy praying for a better way of life
But I don’t recall a change of any size;
Just a little loss of courage, as their age began to show
And more sadness in my mama’s hungry eyes.’
While You’re Cheating On Me – The Louvin Brothers
The Alabama boys remain the gold standard of harmony and most probably always will. In just two minutes they
encapsulate half the country songs ever written…
‘(While you’re cheating on me I’m praying for you)
For I still believe someday you’ll be true
You’ll reap what you sow I know those words are so true
For when you were faithful to me I cheated on you.’
Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again) – Willie Nelson
A Kris Kristofferson song but his fellow-Highwayman does it better than Kristofferson ever
did. (Sorry Kris.)
Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone) – David Allan Coe
The Redneck’s Redneck reveals his more tender side here in what must be his finest love song.
Spare but raw; sad yet quietly noble too.
I Dream A Highway – Gillian Welch
A 15-minute tour de force that sounds as though it must date from the time the first Scot-Irish settlers pushed west into the
Tennessee Valley, this actually demonstrates Welch’s ability to sound fresh yet timeless. Light a pipe, pour a glass of whiskey and savour it. It begins:
‘Oh, I dream a highway back to you, Love
A winding ribbon with a band of gold
A silver vision, come and rest my soul
I dream a highway back to you.’
Pure, real country, you see.
Muswell Hillbilly – The Kinks
And, finally, a curiosity. London Country? Well, why not? The church of country is a broad-based community and all are welcome to come and join the worship. This song is for anyone who may be
trapped in Muswell Hill but whose heart lies in old West Virginia…
You can listen to the playlist HERE.
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