But, still, it seems like there was a lot more leeway for bands, including punk bands, back then to indulge their rootsy inclinations and release a couple of twangy songs on an album or even an entire record of roots music. I’m sure there must have been some backlash from fans and I’m also guessing that fans were more likely to indulge, and enjoy, “countrified” music more when it didn’t have the trappings of mainstream country music. Plus, there was no social media for people to complain – or hear complaints – about such things. Still, the complaints I remember hearing seem to focus much more on bands selling out.
Disc 4
Angel From Montgomery |
John Prine |
Baby Out Of Jail |
The Knitters |
I'm Still Dreaming, Now
I'm Yours |
The Jayhawks |
Wild Bill Jones |
Alison Krauss &
Union Station |
Animal Husbandry |
Hickoids |
Like An Outlaw (For You) |
Social Distortion |
Spinning |
Fetchin Bones |
Lottery Brazil |
Souled American |
Wearing the Robes of
Bible Black |
Giant Sand |
Get Your Feet Out Of My
Shoes |
The Boothill
Foot-Tappers |
Sound of the Rain |
Rank And File |
Paradise Of Lies |
The Stars Of Heaven |
(Don't Go Back To)
Rockville |
R.E.M. |
Love At The Five &
Dime |
Nanci Griffith |
Do You Believe Me Now |
Vern Gosdin |
Misguided Angel |
Cowboy Junkies |
One More Goodnight Kiss |
Greg Brown |
I Spent My Last $10.00
(On Birth Control and Beer) |
Two Nice Girls |
Disc 5
Wreck Of The Tammy Anne |
Stompin' Tom Connors |
So Sad (To Watch Good
Love Go Bad) |
Sweethearts Of The Rodeo |
Mister Love |
Re Winkler, Anne Harvey
& Ree Van Vleck |
Blind Love |
Tom Waits |
The Partner Nobody Chose |
Guy Clark |
Girls Night Out |
The Judds |
Time for Me to Fly |
Dolly Parton |
Big Lizard [Explicit] |
The Dead Milkmen |
Corona |
Minutemen |
Whitewater |
Béla Fleck |
I'm Only Human |
Dave Edmunds |
One Time One Night |
Los Lobos |
Straight A's In Love |
Peter Shelley |
Hayride to Hell |
The Hoodoo Gurus |
The Old Man Down The
Road |
John Fogerty |
Love Is |
Emmylou Harris |
Want You By My Side |
Darden Smith |
The Road Goes On Forever |
Robert Earl Keen, Jr. |
9 comments:
Thanks for these latest volumes.
To be sure, my memory isn't what it used to be, either. But
you're probably right to suggest that many of the music
afficionado types of the 1980s would have looked down on any
American roots music that somehow sounded a little too
mainstream for comfort.
On the other hand, during the mid- to late-1980s, some of
that snobbishness might have been more prevalent in certain
places than others. In Southern California, at least, there
was an admittedly short-lived cachet that attached to (among
many others) Blood on the Saddle, Lone Justice, the
Lonesome Strangers, and even the Lazy Cowgirls, all of whom
were more or less loosely associated with "cowpunk" or
"country punk." But that was also when the first couple of
"A Town South of Bakersfield" compilations came out.
So in some circles it actually became cool, even cutting-edge
to sound not just a tad bit twangy but downright, flat-out
countrified. Consider the example of the late, great Candye
Kane who was initially celebrated as a (budding) SoCal
country artist, and who didn't emerge as a bona fide blues
singer until later on.
And I DO remember that, for a stretch of many months there,
maybe even a couple of years, musicians around Los Angeles
(especially the guitar players, with their B-Benders and their
imitation pedal steel licks and all the rest of it) were going
absolutely nuts trying trying to show everybody how much
honky-tonky-er they were than the next guy!
This is a superb series. Thanks so much.
@Heartsofstone,
Quite welcome!
best,
Ish
@Crabdevil,
I didn't know that about Candye Kane, though she was on one of the Town South of Bakersfield compilations. And your point about cowpunk/"honky-tonkiness" is spot on - I never lived in Los Angeles, but I would say that the mid to late 80s, there was more embrace of country in music aficionado circles. I also forgot to include the Lazy Cowgirls - if I ever decide to a do a 7th volume, they'll be on it. :)
best,
Ish
@Ish,
Just on a whim, though in connection with this Torch and
Twang series of yours, I went to setlist.fm and looked up
some of the shows that took place at the Palomino (i.e.,
the storied club in North Hollywood) during the early- to
mid-1980s. It's kind of cool to peer back into that corner
of LA music history, so I thought I'd let you know, just
in case you might at some point want to head over for
a visit yourself.
If you were to begin somewhere around the page linked below,
you'd notice listings mainly for big-name country (and other)
artists, some of them iconic:
https://www.setlist.fm/venue/palomino-club-los-angeles-ca-usa-2bd7a83a.html?page=80
But then, continuing to page forward in time, you'd start
seeing more and more names of up-and-comers of the day,
such as Rank and File, Tin Star, Lonesome Strangers, and
then on to Lucinda Williams, Rosie Flores, and so on.
Thanks for your time on this. I'm simultaneously learning and remembering a lot.
@crabdevil,
It's pretty amazing how many great acts played there, especially since it seems like it was a pretty small club. Must have been a great place to hear live music. I also love that when Elvis Costello played there in 1979, he managed to play 3-4 country songs. When in Rome, I guess......
Thanks for the heads up,
Ish
@anonymous,
I will confess that I had never heard probably about 20-30% of the acts on the compilation before I started putting it together.
best,
Ish
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