With four hungry children and a crop in the field

[johncorrigan]

Neville Skelly, Lat - Poet and a dreamer - you can find it on spotty (sorry I'm at work) - Cerys has been playing it - it's pretty new - it sounds a bit like a classic Country song - really fine. I would also go with Paul re the Flatlanders 'Dallas' - I did think about it before but couldn't hear a decent version on YT (the one Paul has put in probably - but hearing Jimmie Dale sing it on the studio record is just brilliant - terrific harmonies) - I also saw that tour in Perth on the back of AK's enthusiasm and Butch Hancock was a truly wonderful entertainer - he and JDG were just brilliant.

[Lateralthinking1]

Thank you to both of you. I once returned to a hotel I had stayed in previously and they put me in Room 101. I felt a little put out and only hope that we don't now have 101 selections here. If there are, we might just need an extra one. I will then again update the list.

Then it gets trickier. I don't want to say "Do not post anything more on this thread!" That would be crazy. At the same time, maybe we should let some other music have more of a look-in again. So, I think what I will say is that at 101 (or 102) the list will be on hold. We can see at the other end of the summer what interest there has been in continuing with the discussion and whether the list should be updated.

I have really enjoyed it and I have learnt a tremendous amount. One of the things that has struck me is that there is more humour in country that I had previously realised. Another is that while criticisms of schmaltz in the genre are clearly justified, there are many artists and songs conveying emotions that are generally moving. Perhaps one of the most fascinating things is to see how these apparent distinctions often hover on the grey lines. I doubt that any other music can challenge or intrigue in that way.

And, JC, I will certainly have another listen to Neville Skelly.

[Lateralthinking1]

This is the list we have agreed on 11 June 2011:

100 Great Country Songs

Alison Krauss and Union Station - Paper Airplane
Allison Moorer - A Soft Place To Fall
Bhundu Boys and Hank Wangford - Ring of Fire
The Blue Sky Boys - Somebody Makes Me Think of You
Bobbie Gentry - Ode To Billie Joe
Bobby Bare/Rosanne Cash - 500 Miles
Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash - One Too Many Mornings
Bob Wills - Stay a Little Longer
Boxcar Willie - Wabash Cannonball
Buck Owens and the Buckaroos - Act Naturally
Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam - Streets of Bakersfield
Buddy Jones - She's Sellin' What She Used To Give Away
Calexico - Tulsa Telephone Book
Carl and Pearl Butler - Don't Let Me Cross Over
Carl Butler - Heartaches For Lunch
The Carter Family - Engine 143
Charlie Bowman and the Hillbillies - Ride That Mule
Charlie Rich - I Can't Even Drink It Away
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen - Seeds and Stems Again Blues
Corb Lund - The Truck Got Stuck
Crystal Gayle - I've Cried The Blue Right Out Of My Eyes
Darby and Tarlton - The Weaver's Blues
Doctor Lloyd and Howard Maxey - Girl I Left Behind
Dolly Parton - Jolene
Don Williams - Gypsy Woman
Emmylou Harris - My Father's House
The Everly Brothers - Put My Little Shoes Away
The Family Singers - Tarira Nguva
The Flatlanders - Dallas
George Jones - The Image of Me
George Jones and Gene Pitney - Why Baby Why
Gillian Welch - Annabelle, A Study of American Sharecroppers
The Girls of the Golden West - Cross Eyed Beau
Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman
Gram Parsons - Brass Buttons
Guy Clark - Desperados Waiting For a Train
The Handsome Family - So Much Wine
Hank Thompson - Six Pack To Go
Hank Wangford - Riding High in the Saddle Again
Hank Williams - Honky Tonk Blues
Hank Williams and Kitty Wells - Searching For A Soldier's Grave
Hank Williams III - The Grand Ole Opry (Ain't So Grand Anymore)
Hugh Tracey introduces the Kipsigis Tribe - Chemirocha
Iris DeMent - Let the Mystery Be
Iris DeMent and Emmylou Harris - Our Town
Janis Joplin - Me And Bobby McGee
Jeannie C Riley - Harper Valley PTA
Jimmie Rodgers - I'm Free From the Chain Gang Now
Jimmy Dean - Big Bad John
Jimmy Revard and His Oklahoma Playboys - Someone Else You Care For
Joe Ely - West Texas Waltz
John Hartford with Del McCoury, Jerry Douglas, Alison Brown, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Mark O'Connor, Stuart Duncan, Tony Rice Unit, Sam Bush and the Nashville Bluegrass Band - Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms
Johnny Cash - Man In Black
Johnny Paycheck - Pardon Me, I've Got Someone To Kill
John Prine - Speed of the Sound of Loneliness
Karen Dalton - Katie Cruel
Kenny Rogers and the First Edition - Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town
Kinky Friedman - They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore
Kitty Wells - If Teardrops Were Pennies
Kris Kristofferson - Sunday Morning Coming Down
Lefty Frizzell - Don't Stay Away
Leon Payne/Jim Reeves - I Love You Because
Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs - Foggy Mountain Breakdown
Loretta Lynn and Jack White - Portland, Oregon
The Louvin Brothers - I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby
Lucinda Williams - Jackson
Martha Midgette - Tommy
Marty Robbins - El Paso
Mary Chapin Carpenter - I Am A Town
Mary Gauthier - I Drink
Merle Haggard - The Bottle Let Me Down
Mickey Newbury - She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye
Nanci Griffith - Tecumseh Valley
Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood - Jackson
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Paulette Carlson - Lovin' on the Side
OC Smith - Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp
Patsy Cline - I Fall To Pieces
Porter Wagoner - The Cold Hard Facts of Life
Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton - Jeannie's Afraid Of The Dark
Riley Puckett - I Wish I Was Single Again
Rosanne Cash and Johnny Cash - September When It Comes
Roy Orbison - In Dreams
Roy Rogers with the Sons of Pioneers - Dust
Sawyer Brown - The Race Is On
Slim Dusty and his Bushlanders - Click Go The Shears/The Overlander Trail/Waltzing Mathilda (Medley)
Steve Earle and The Del McCoury Band - The Mountain
Steve Young - Montgomery in the Rain
Tammy Wynette - D.I.V.O.R.C.E
Terry Allen - New Delhi Freight Train
Tex Ritter - High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)
Thomas Fraser - Lonely Boy on the Prairie
Tim O'Brien - Look Down That Lonesome Road
Tom T Hall - Homeaway
Townes Van Zandt with Seymour Washington - Waitin' Around To Die
Vernon Dalhart - Wreck of the Old 97
Walter Brennan- Old Rivers
Whiskeytown - Jacksonville Skyline
Wilco - Forget The Flowers
Wilf Carter - When the Ice Worm Nests Again
Willie Nelson - Funny How Time Slips Away

These tracks were also discussed:

- Country crossover

Abigail Washburn - Sometimes
Bill Brandon - Rainbow Road
Candi Staton - You Don't Have Far To Go
Dean Martin - Little Ole Wine Drinker Me
Jolie Holland - Old Fashioned Morphine
Judy Collins - The City of New Orleans
Light Crust Doughboys - Tiger Rag

- Duplicates

Bob Wills and His Texan Playboys - Sittin' on Top of the World
Buddy Jones - Rockin' Rollin' Mama
George Jones - Where Grass Won't Grow
Guy Clark - The Guitar
Jimmie Rodgers - Blue Yodel No 1
Johnny Cash - Walk The Line/I Won't Back Down/Hurt/The Man Comes Around
Johnny Paycheck - It Won't Be Long (And I'll Be Hating You )/Just Between You And Me/The Cave
Kinky Friedman - Amelia Earhart's Last Flight
Lucinda Williams - Can't Let Go
Merle Haggard - Why Am I Drinkin'?
Mickey Newbury - How I Love Them Old Songs
Porter Wagoner - The Rubber Room
Willie Nelson - Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain/She Is Gone/Crazy/My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

And additionally these artists were mentioned:

The Eagles
George Strait
kd Lang
Lambchop
Linda Ronstadt
Neville Skelly
The Rockingbirds

[Lateralthinking1]

Ok - Wilco are in. Still don't get the rave reviews of them. Loved the Loretta Lynn and Jack White. Jack could probably teach the brilliantly gifted but wayward Ryan something about direction. Kitty Wells and the Flatlanders - yes. That takes it to 100 as shown in the above posting.

Neville Skelly - JC - are you referring to "Brambles and Heather"?

http://www.nevilleskelly.com/

Oh no, that would take it to 101? If you want it to be included, it should be, but then we will need just one more. Overall, I think I am gradually learning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbJXkLpRZiE

[Lateralthinking1]

.......can I just say again - that Loretta Lynn and Jack White track is fantastic. Is it from an album?

[johncorrigan]

.......can I just say again - that Loretta Lynn and Jack White track is fantastic. Is it from an album?

I think Jack White produced a record with Loretta about 5 years back. He appears to have played on just that track, Lat.
http://music.dejkam.com/albums/loret...van_lear_rose/
I suppose we know her more for this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBnkA...831AA9D9A8806F

And on the Neville Skelly Lat, it's 'The Poet and the Dreamer' and I don't think it merits entry to the top 100 - I just really like it. As I said it is on Spot-u-like.

[Paul Sherratt]

John's correct Lat, I'd just like to add that Loretta Lynn, for the first time, wrote all thirteen songs on the album.

I did once have a spare copy of 'Van Lear Rose' I wonder where that went to ?

A good home, I hope.

[Lateralthinking1]

Many thanks. JC - I will definitely be listening to that album. I thought the video of it was very good. The website you have provided a link to looks excellent too.

Thanks for the advice on Neville. I have a real problem with Spotify at present. Have just 41 minutes left and I have no idea on what date (if at all) they will be giving me the 10 hours again. Am currently having to add to the list without listening to the tracks and am generally sticking to what I know.

Many thanks again to all contributors. The list of country songs (for now) is complete. I have amended the post at number 263 to show how it all now looks. That could be it or it might not be. Let's see what happens in the next couple of months. - Lat.

[Paul Sherratt]

>>(for now) is complete


Three Jimmys but I've overlooked Mr Martin !

Oh no ...