Tag Archives: Country

Slim Whitman – The Very Best of Slim Whitman (1980) Vinyl

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I feel that I must warn everyone that Slim Whitman will thoroughly violate the fleshy folds of your ears with his extremely moist vocal chords. If you don’t want his lip blanket gently bristling your ear lobes with a subtle sweetness never meant to be possesed by man then please click your back button. If you find the idea of Slim may impregnating your thorax with a Burt Reynolds/Norm MacDonald hybrid demon then PLEASE…do not listen to this album. However, before you make your decision there are a few things that you may want to know.

1. Michael Jackson allegedly sited Slim Whitman as one of his top ten favorite vocalists. Well, that makes sense. I don’t see how else Michael Jackson could perform the French Tickler with his Uvula without thoroughly studying Slim’s complete body of delicous love songs.

2. George Harrison looked to Slim as an early musical influence: “The first person I ever saw playing a guitar was Slim Whitman, either a photo of him in a magazine or live on television. Guitars were definitely coming in.” I mean I guess that’s noteworthy. George Harrison was in The Beatles, wasn’t he?

3. His 1955 hit single “Rose Marie” held the record for the longest time at number 1 on the UK charts until Bryan Adams broke the record with “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” in 1992. Only Adams’ Robin Hood could slay Slim’s dragon.

4. Slim’s unearthly yodeling from the intro of his track “Indian Love Song” killed the invading Martians on the film Mars Attacks. Pure power.

Click to download Slim Whitman’s Very Best

A1   North Wind 2:18  
  Written By – Rod Norriss
A2   Secret Love 2:36  
  Written By – Paul Francis Webster , Sammy Fain
A3   Rose-Marie 2:21  
  Written By – Oscar Hammerstein II , Otto A. Harbach , Rudolf Friml
A4   The Cattle Call 2:09  
  Written By – Tex Owens
A5   Indian Love Call 3:17  
  Written By – Oscar Hammerstein II , Otto A. Harbach , Rudolf Friml
B1   More Than Yesterday 2:43  
  Written By – L. Dickens
B2   The Twelfth Of Never 2:13  
  Written By – Jerry Livingston , Paul Francis Webster
B3   Guess Who 2:53  
  Written By – Jesse Belvin
B4   Something Beautiful To Remember 2:57  
  Written By – M Carpenter
B5   It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie 2:15  
  Written By – Billy Mayhew

All-Time Greatest Hits of Country Music – DISC 3 (1986) >>> RCA DVL 4 – 0629 vinyl

Dottie West: Top Notch Country Doll

Dottie West: Top Notch Country Doll

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Dottie West – Careless Hands

I let my heart fall into careless hands
Careless hands that broke my heart in two
You held my dreams like worthless strings of sand
Careless hands don’t care when dreams secure

You’ve brought me joy and oh, I loved you so
But all that sunshine didn’t make roses grow
If you don’t change someday, you’ll know the sorrow
Careless hands that can’t hold on to love

You’ve brought me joy and oh, I loved you so
But all that sunshine didn’t make roses grow
If you don’t change someday, you’ll know the sorrow
Careless hands that can’t hold on to love

 

Country music stars love to love.  They love to sing about it.  They love to boast about it.  They love to have a baby waiting in the wings at each tour stop.  It’s the fire behind 9 out of 10 songs.

And they love heartache just as much as warm nights of snugglin’.  Country music is like a great twangy Easter egg hunt that never ends and instead of quarters and dollar bills in the eggs they have shells full of cheatin’ hearts.

Never get involved with a country music star.  No matter how much shiny fabric or hairspray they can afford don’t fall for their refined square dance mating rituals.  It will only end in breakups frosted with baseball bats through your windshield.

But feel free to get nasty with the girlfriend of a country music star.  They’re real loose and get killer deals on local motel rooms.  Plus they never insist on rubbers.  It’s a win/win situation.

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CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD DISC 3

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Be sure to also check out Disc 1 and Disc 2

Tracklist

Side E

1. George Hamilton IV – She’s A Little Bit Country

2. Dottie West & The Jordanaires – Careless Hands

3. Hank Thompson – I’ve Got A Humpty Dumpty Heart

4. Hank Locklin – Geisha Girl

5. George Jones – Window Up Above

6. Bobby Bare – (Margie’s at) The Lincoln Park Inn

7. Barry Sadler – The Ballad of the Green Berets

8. Hank Williams – Your Cheatin’ Heart

9. Sonny James – Young Love

10. Moon Mullican – I’ll Sail My Ship Alone

11. Don Gibson – Sea Of Heartache

12. Connie Smith – Ain’t Had No Lovin’

Side F

1. Hank Locklin – Let Me Be The One

2. Connie Smith – Once A Day

3. Carl Belew – Hello Out There

4. Jim Reeves – Mexican Joe

5. Roger Miller – King Of The Road

6. Bobby Bare – Four Strong Winds

7. George Hamilton IV – Abilene

8. Nat Stuckey – Cut Across Shorty

9. Sammie Smith – Help Me Make It Through The Night

10. Leroy Van Dyke – Walk On By

11. Dickey Lee – Never Ending Song Of Love

12. Jerry Reed – When You’re Hot…You’re Hot

All-Time Greatest Hits Of Country Music – Disc 2 (1986)>>>RCA DVL 4 – 0629 vinyl

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After listening to Disc 2 a few times I’ve come to the conclusion that this selection was hand-picked by none other than super pimp Nudie Cohn.  He’s the feller in the picture here perched atop the firearm-adorned Caddy convertible wearing the sequin-slathered suit jacket.  You see, Nudie is the legend in country western apparel design.  He built by hand hundreds, maybe thousands, of suits for the cream of Country’s crop through the 50s, 60s, and 70s.  And he was a one-of-a-kind car customizer.  That Cadillac in the picture was Cowboy-Uped by Nudie himself.  Yes, he was an all around rhinestone badass.  I mean if you can make Elvis shine like this you must have a terrifying set of cajones:

Elvis' $10,000 Gold Nudie Suit

Now what leads me to believe that Nudie hand-picked the songs in this album is that Porter Wagoner is featured 3 times on this disc alone.  If you search images of Porter Wagoner on the internet it is nearly impossible to find a pic of him not draped in a Nudie original.  It just doesn’t happen.  Now, what I’m thinking is this:  Nudie passed away in 1983.  This happens to be the same year that the original pressing of this album was released.  There is a 99% chance that Nudie put Porter Wagoner on here in full effect to keep the Nudie legend alive in song through Porter.  That is so clever, Sir Nudie.  Clever til the very end.

Hello, Im Porter Wagoner. Do you like my Nudie?

Hello, I'm Porter Wagoner. Do you like my Nudie?

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Click here to Download Disc 2 to MP3

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Be sure to also check out Disc 1 and Disc 3

Tracklist

Side C

1. Hank Williams – I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry

2. Hawkshaw Hawkins – Lonesome 7-7203

3. Bobby Bare – Detroit City

4. Sheb Wooley – That’s My Pa

5. The Carlisles – No Help Wanted

6. Chet Atkins – Yakety Axe

7. Skeeter Davis – The End Of The World

8. Eddy Arnold – Bouquet of Roses

9. Porter Wagoner – The Carroll County Accident

10. Hank Snow – I’ve Been Everywhere

11. The Browns – The Three Bells (Les Trois Cloches)

Side D

1. Hank Locklin – Please Help Me, I’m Falling

2. Don Bigson – Blue, Blue Day

3. Hank Snow – Don’t Hurt Anymore

4. Ferlin Husky – Gone

5. Red Sovine – Giddy-Up-Go

6. Hank WIlliams – Saw The Light

7. Jim Reeves – Blue Boy

8. Tennessee Ernie Ford – Sixteen Tons

9. Porter Wagoner – Green, Green Grass Of Home

10. Jerry Reed – Amos Moses

11. Porter Wagoner – Eat, Drink And Be Merry (Tomorrow You’ll Cry)

All-Time Greatest Hits Of Country Music – Disc 1 – (1986) >>> RCA DVL 4 – 0629 vinyl

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The title of this album is a very bold claim.  Usually I’d just notch this up to trumpery and smack the dick of the record label in the toilet seat. But this one sticks to its guns. So much so that it shot a hole right through my olive grey boots.  I’d sue but they only cost 11 bucks and it wouldn’t hold up in small claims court because by all accounts this compilation doesn’t exist.  Except for a few broken links for eBay item requests I couldn’t find anything on this.  So lucky for you you’re treated to a creep pic of a Country Bear for an album cover until I can revive my ancient digital camera.

I was lucky enough to pick this up at a thrift store in Newport, KY for 60 cents last week and have been itching to post it ever since.  It starts off strong with Johnny Cash’s “I Walk The Line” (albeit with a bit of an early skip hiccup) and continues into the perfect balance of classic country’s upbeat instruments with dog dying lyrics.  I can’t think of anything that can make you so content and suicidal at the same time.

I can just imagine my Grandma Jan listening to this right after its release in 1986 in her trailer in the absolute middle of nowhere in Wyoming with her half wolf/half huskie named Skoal as her companion.  Suddenly she gets an unexpected ring on her phone that awakens her fold of meticulously arranged Precious Moments dolls: it’s God and he wants to know why in the Hell she’s late for roll call.

Her response is simple: Good Country lives forever.

Download All-Time Greatest Hits of Country Music vinyl rip to MP3 HERE

Be sure to also check out Disc 2 and Disc 3

Tracklist

A1 – Johnny Cash – I Walk The Line

A2 – Sons of the Pioneers – Cool Water

A3 – Elton Britt – There’s A Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere

A4 – Roy Acuff – Wabash Cannonball

A5 – Hank Williams – Lovesick Blues

A6 – Eddy Arnold – Cattle Call

A7 – Jimmie Rodgers – Blue Yodel No. 1 (T For Texas)

A8 – The Davis Sisters – I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know

A9 – Tex Ritter – High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)

A10 – Vaughn Monroe & The Quartet – Riders In The Sky

A11 – Stuart Hamblen – This Ole House

B1 – Eddy Arnold – Anytime

B2 – Homer & Jethro – (How Much Is) That Hound Dog In The Window

B3 – Chet Atkins – Country Gentleman

B4 – Pee Wee King and his band featuring Redd Stewart – Slowpoke

B5 – Porter Wagoner – Misery Loves Company

B6 – Hank Snow – I’m Movin’ On

B7 – Don Gibson – Oh Lonesome Me

B8 – Jim Reeves – He’ll Have To Go

B9 – Slim Whitman – There’s A Rainbow In Ev’ry Teardrop

B10 – Connie Smith – Just One Time

B11 – Ernest Ashworth – Talk Back Trembling Lips

Johnny Cash & Jeannie C. Riley – Rock Island Line vinyl

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Ah, old fashioned country music.  Back when hearts were truly demolished and songs of murder flowed like mint juleps at the Kentucky Derby.  Unlike today’s country it wasn’t meant to be cheeky or cute; just expedite your conversion into a lonely alcoholic who spends his or her time glued to a barstool in some watering hole set in the foothills of the Appalachians.

This here album is the definition of what country music should be: songs about love lost, deceit, betrayal, and bad memories by people with real life experience in those fields.  Old Time Country is the perfect vehicle for Johnny Cash; whose life was, for much if its duration, stuck in the bottom of a Busch League Porta Potty.

Most likely you won’t recognize most of the tracks from this album, which is a good thing.  It gives you the opportunity to start afresh and really absorb the strange comedy created by the juxtaposition of melancholy lyrics set to catchy rhythms. However, if you are familiar with these ditties I’d like to buy you a round of the Bourbon of your choice.

With Rock Island Line you also get the extra bonus of Jeannie C. Riley on the second side of the disc.  Her songs are just as misery-filled as good ole Johnny’s but with a more feminine twist: all of the sorrow with just a touch of catty gossip icing. And her voice ain’t too shabby either.

I want to sing you a very sad song.

I want to sing you a very sad song.

So if you’ve been poisoned by a contemporary country/butt rock song by Rascal Flatts or simply glimpsed a picture of Kid Rock take a listen to this record. It’s your guaranteed ticket to the Grand Ole Opry in the Sky.

Download the record here:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/1jioyytjlnn/Johnny Cash and Jeannie C. Riley – Rock Island Line.zip

Here’s a great live take on the title track:

Merle Haggard – My Farewell To Elvis (1977) vinyl

The Ciggy Bears the Burden

The Ciggy Bears the Burden

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This was one of those records that took me years to actually face and listen to. Just the name Merle carries a lot of baggage with it.  I mean seriously, if you were hanging out with some peeps and there was this dude hanging out with one of your somewhat friends and he says, “Hello, my name is Merle, I would like to handle your fine porcelain,” what would you do?  First, I would feel personally affronted that someone would feel that it’s proper to ask to see my fine porcelain on the first handshake.  Second, I would say, “Wait, this son of a gun’s name is Merle.  Merle.  What?  Merle?  Yes, I heard him right.  Think.  What is proper procedure.  Do I need wet knaps?  Do I need a zoning permit?  Bag it and tag it?”  I don’t really know.  Rather, I didn’t know.  I now know after this album.  If you happen to meet a Merle give him a stern look in the eyes to make sure he isn’t a dancing robot from Major Magic’s and then give him a firm but not too firm squeeze to thank him for carrying the flame.  I mean shit, it was a Merle, Merle Haggard none the less, that wrote the theme song to the Dukes of Hazzard.  What?  That as Waylon Jennings?  Well, fuck Waylon Jennings–he just lost shotgun. I hope you like sitting bitch, hombre.

I was worried that when I listened to this record that it was going to be what I’m worried what will happen to the legacy of Michael Jackson; which is cheap tribute albums aimed at cashing in on his untimely demise.  MJ’s and the King’s story are somewhat similar–two ridiculously popular drug-ravaged stars who, by fabler’s perspective, died too early.  However, the rest of us see it’s not too outlandish that either a nightly dose of fried peanut butter, bacon and banana or 10 xanax  before beddy-bye will weigh negatively on your overall health.

What I’m glad to hear from this album is that Merle didn’t go all willy nilly silly billy with Elvis’ songs.  For the most part they are pretty true to the intentions of the King’s original tracks.  They do have a welcome and expected tinge of southern bluegrass/country that only makes sense for a tribute for a boy from outside of Tupelo, Mississippi.  Presley always carried his tracks with a voice that cannon blasted deep from a diaphram anchored to a violent whip-hip-orockamus.  Merle doesn’t have the luxury of such a bodacious God-given contraption.  What he does have is a genuine sense of loss in this record.  Losing Elvis must have been a real punch in the stomach for the country/western community in the late 70s, especially for Haggard, who had battled much of the same drug and alcohol addiction.

Here’s the album from top to bottom to enjoy with a fully stocked bar.  Track 2 is especially tasty.

http://www.mediafire.com/?jvmdojmwgdm

Track List:

1. From Graceland To The Promised Land

2. In The Ghetto

3. Don’t Be Cruel

4. Jailhouse Rock

5. Love Me Tender

6. That’s All Right (Mama)

7. Heartbreak Hotel

8. Blue Christmas

9. Blue Suede Shoes

10. Are You Lonesome Tonight

11. Merle’s Farewell To Elvis

Here’s a taste of good things to come: