Best Country Song of All Time

[Dom Heffner]

Crazy- Willie Nelson wrote that as everybody knows. What a talent. That song is insanely good.

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I'm out of my league in this conversation.

I would be too if my parents hadn't listened to it. Plus Hee Haw every Saturday night.

For the most part music is intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus.

[marcshoe]

I'm out of my league in this conversation.

That's all right; people seem to think the op was a question.

___

I spent my first seven or so years in the sixties in a house full of records of every kind imaginable. I listened to the Beatles, Johnny Cash, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, The Platters, Roy Orbison, The New Christy Minstrels, and my favorites, Dean Martin and Roger Miller. The radio stations I heard were just about as eclectic.

The song that started this thread came out in '73, and my great-grandmother, who lived in a house behind ours, picked up the refrain. She was always convinced that every day might be her last, and if she could just make it through another month, things might get better (she died in '89). It's still what I think of when I'm trying to get through a rough time.

And yes, to me this is what country music is. It's real, and it writes as if someone I knew could be in the middle of a conversation. These days pop-country singers brag about how you can tell they're country because they party on a dirt road in their pickup truck, but I figure most of them grew up in Brentwood or Belle Meade. These guys were real. They sang about who they were.

That's all.

[Kingspoint]

Thanks for the share.

[bucksfan2]

That’s pretty much where I’m at as well. Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Conway Twitty, and Marty Robbins.

But don’t forget Dottie, Tammy, Loretta, and Dolly.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and a show at the Ryman is a must if you’re ever in Nashville. Just great.

My wife is a late arrival for country but loves it. For our anniversary this year, I bought 2 Country Megatickets at Riverbend. 7 shows, Dierks Bentley, Rascal Flatts, Luke Bryan (her favorite), Brad Paisley, FGL, Thomas Rhett, and Jason Andean. I guess I need to buy a cowboy hat.

Buy some tight fitting jeans as well!

I like a few of those guys. Dierks is pretty good, and I used to like Rhett and Aldean more. I actually like FGL if you are ok with pop country.

I feel like a lot of country anymore follows a formula without a whole lot of new thought. Very few artists are raw or unique anymore.

[Roy Tucker]

Buy some tight fitting jeans as well!

I like a few of those guys. Dierks is pretty good, and I used to like Rhett and Aldean more. I actually like FGL if you are ok with pop country.

I feel like a lot of country anymore follows a formula without a whole lot of new thought. Very few artists are raw or unique anymore.

Oh god. Me in tight jeans? No.

I hear you about pop country. It’s pretty glossy and formulaic. But occasionally I’ll hear a song that stops me dead in my tracks. But my wife loves it and my rock scene from the 60’s-80’s has pretty well died so I figure what the heck. They put on good shows and, unlike their rock brethren, truly appreciate their fans. It’s where the songwriting and performing talent is these days. Plus my kids are all out of college and married so we’re looking for things to do, it’s summertime, and I’m not getting any younger.

[cinredsfan2000]

I submit 2 of my recent fave artist together doing a merle haggard classic!

[goreds2]

Long Hair Country Boy - Charlie Daniels

[SunDeck]

I'd almost need to pick a favorite by genre. Here's my vote for the "Validating Blue Collar Values" country genre. One of my favorite songs ever:

[Bourgeois Zee]

I realize both of these are covers, but Chris Stapleton's voice is perhaps one of the four of five best in music. I'd rank both in my personal top 10 regardless of genre-- and I'm very much a traditionalist.

Witness:


And:

[westofyou]

I'd almost need to pick a favorite by genre. Here's my vote for the "Validating Blue Collar Values" country genre. One of my favorite songs ever:

Great ramble in that ditty too

[RedsManRick]

Not a huge fan of country, but the first two that came to mind for me were I Walk the Line and Crazy.

[bucksfan2]

Oh god. Me in tight jeans? No.

I hear you about pop country. It’s pretty glossy and formulaic. But occasionally I’ll hear a song that stops me dead in my tracks. But my wife loves it and my rock scene from the 60’s-80’s has pretty well died so I figure what the heck. They put on good shows and, unlike their rock brethren, truly appreciate their fans. It’s where the songwriting and performing talent is these days. Plus my kids are all out of college and married so we’re looking for things to do, it’s summertime, and I’m not getting any younger.

I am here with you, with the exception of my kids being out of college (mine are young.) I have enjoyed many a country concert and do agree that they seem to appreciate the fans.

I do think you have some artists who push the envelope in trying different sounds but the vast majority are formulaic. Again, there is nothing wrong with signing a highly successful summertime song!

Chris Stapleton is mentioned below, who I think has a fantastic voice, but I have heard isn't the best live guy to go and see. He is more of a bar stool type of listen, not a summer concert.

[GAC]

I'm not a big CW fan, though I do like Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison. I have far more respect for the "old timers" of CW , what I call really genuine (hard core) country western music, then I do today's stars. Again, not the biggest fan, but I still have friends who listen to current CW music, and when I hear it, for the most part, it's not the CW I grew up with. It's just not the same IMO. I think why I can "identify", at times, with so many of the older, traditional CW artist's music from back then was because of the dire economic circumstances (Appalachia) they were raised in and how it inspired them.

Every time I hear Tammy sing D-I-V-0-R-C-E I think of an old Navy buddy who was hardcore CW. It presented some issues sharing an apartment with a guy who was hardcore rock n roll. Led Zeppelin or Merle? LOL

But looking back on it now (40+ years later) I'm thankful I got "exposed" to so many of the classic CW songs. But I still have a line. My brother is a big Buck Owens fans. Sorry, ain't happening (LOL).

[GAC]

And my household growing up, besides Lawrence Welk and Jackie Gleason, never missed classics like Midwestern Hayride and the Porter Wagoner Show (everyone's first exposure to Dolly Parton LOL). And then came Hee Haw, which we also never missed. I still YouTube those on occasion. Roy Clark was one of the best guitarists I've ever seen.

[919191]

Country is an odd bird, you have the stripped down traditional stuff that predates the Billy Sherill era of the 60's then you have the gloss or outlaw stuff of the 70's and then the commercial growth seen in the 80's followed now by a country sound that has gotten more poppy and rock n roll.

For pure stripped down country I like Merle and the Strangers in the 60's and Willies Red Headed Stranger and Phases and Changes which IMO are the best Willie out there

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My wife's favorite guitar player was Eddie Shaver, Billy Joe's Thunderbird is epic

WOY Todd Snider's song Waco Moon is about his reaction to Eddie Shaver's death.