whodathunkit wrote:A mix from Beenie enigmatically titled "Country Music"
. No BCB-approved earnest po-faced Americana or frazzled hillbilly punk. Straight down the line stuff with manly vocals, gooey backing singers and some sweet countrypolitan strings . I had the odd gag-reflex moment but on the whole it went down as sweet as a nut.
OK. I’ll take that as an overall thumbs up.
whodathunkit wrote:1. Sentimental but rather touching intro from some old-timer's live show.
Don Williams - Dialogue from a live album. Just a nice little intro to kick off.
whodathunkit wrote:2. Simple acoustic ballad. The tune puts me in mind of "Mr Bojangles". Like this v.much.
David Wiffen - Climb The Stairs. An obscure Canadian singer. Hagman introduced me to his two albums both unreleased on CD but available as needle drops if you want.
whodathunkit wrote:3. Conway Twitty. Probably called "The Story Of My Love". Doesn't really matter. It's still "It's Only Make Believe" like all his records.
It is Conway. A favourite of mine. He’s pretty consistently good.
whodathunkit wrote:4. Nice version of "Lonesome Town". It's not Rick Nelson but still perfectly acceptable.
Actually it is Rick. I did toy with putting on another version but stuck with the classic.
whodathunkit wrote:5. "Almost Persuaded". I enjoyed this but unfortunately it made me dig out the Etta James version which is a class above. She sounds like a woman haunted by the possibility of infidelity, he just sounds like a bloke who wants his wife to give him a medal for keeping his pants on.
Crispian St. Peters who passed on this month (I heard the bad news after putting this mix together). He’s had a number of good songs outside of his hits. I can’t recall Etta’s version off the top of my head but I prefer schmaltz on this stuff to haunting. That’d be another mix.
whodathunkit wrote:6. Prime example of 60s Nashville countrypolitan - "It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin". Johnny Tillotson, right? Nice. Just the right side of schmaltz.
It is Johnny. Another fella with more good stuff than is appreciated. He had 25 Top 40 hits. This made #5.
whodathunkit wrote:7. Time for a duet. "My Elusive Dreams". I'm guessing Bobbie Gentry and Glenn Campbell. One of those songs it's impossible to do a bad version of. This proves the point.
It’s Bobby & Glen. There have been a few versions but this is my favourite of those I know. I’ve always felt there’s a verse missing in the song. The baby’s death is quite sudden. David Houston & Tammy Wynette had the #1 country hit with this one.
whodathunkit wrote:8. Now we cross over to the wrong side of schmaltz. Jim Reeves is involved. Not for me.
Jim Reeves & Deborah Allen - Oh How I Miss You Tonight. Wash your mouth. The great Jim Reeves should not be so dismissed. This made the Country Top 10 in 1980, 16 years after his death
whodathunkit wrote:9. A pleasant enough version of "Crying Time" from a girl who just about holds the tune. As with track 5 however, once a great soul artist like Ray Charles has wrapped his tonsils around it, there's no going back to the country.
Jo Ann Houston. Don’t know if she’s related to David, who was a descendant of Sam. Agreed Ray owns the track but this is the version that I felt fit here.
whodathunkit wrote:10. "Someday you'll be lonely, in the mansion you stole". This has got the works - syrupy strings, oooh-ooh-ahing girlie chorus, sob-in-the-throat vocalist. Probably an original but could just as easily be a Brit cover by the likes of Billy Fury or Eden Kane.
Johnny Horton - The Mansion You Stole. A Johnny Horton composition. I love this stuff. Give me traditional country over nu-country any day. What lyrics. The Eagles Lyin’ Eyes is in the same vein. Money can’t buy a woman happiness.
whodathunkit wrote:11. A cracking version of "Long Black Veil" shared out between 3 or 4 singers. I would be fascinated to know whether this was before of after the Band did it on Big Pink. Very similar vocals and phrasing.
John Anderson & Merle Haggard Long Black Veil. Recorded well after The Band did it. And they recorded it 10 years after Lefty Frizzell. The ultimate cheating song. He lets himself be sentenced to death rather than reveal he’d been sleeping with his best friend’s wife. He barely mentions the friend but I bet his loyalty is as much to him as to the woman.
whodathunkit wrote:12. "Now I Lay Me Down To Cheat" - David Allen Coe. Bit of a wanker I always thought. Always sounds like a parody of a country singer rather than the real thing.
Agreed he’s a wanker. Parody though? Is there such a thing as a parody of a country singer anyway? He’s had a lot of good songs.
The lyrics certainly emphasise his wankerdom. He cheats on his loving wife but he just can’t help himself. The temptation of other woman is too great. With a friend of the wife. And he keeps on doing it. To be fair he waited till 19 years of marriage before cheating so he’s not all bad.
whodathunkit wrote:13. "I Still Miss Someone". Another one of those songs - see track 7. This is a particularly lovely version though.
Robert Earl Keen. Johnny Cash wrote this one. Keen’s an unusual guy. Outlaw country but seems an outsider even to what’s an outsider genre. He has done some great stuff and I’ll include one of his own compositions next time.
Here’s what allmusic says:
Among the large contingent of talented songwriters who emerged in Texas in the 1980s and 1990s, Robert Earl Keen struck an unusual balance between sensitive story-portraits ("Corpus Christi Bay") and raucous barroom fun ("That Buckin' Song"). These two song types in Keen's output were unified by a mordant sense of humor that strongly influenced the early practitioners of what would become known as alternative country music. Keen, the son of an oil executive father and an attorney mother, was a native of Houston. His parents enjoyed both folk and country music, and his own style would land, like that of his close contemporary Nanci Griffith, between those genres. Keen wrote poetry while he was in high school, but it wasn't until he went to journalism school at musically fertile Texas A&M that he learned to play the guitar
whodathunkit wrote:14. Probably called "Senorita". Possibly Don Williams or Dave Alvin. Rather mundane when you're actually listening to it but it sticks in your head afterwards. Weird.
It’s Don. He couldn’t intro without having a song on board. Like you I found this song stuck with me. It was going in and out of my head for a week or so after I put this together. I could make my mixes all Don. I don’t think he’s cut a bad song.
whodathunkit wrote:15. This sort of comes and goes to no real effect. Waltzy ballad thing with rather limp playing.
Dexy’s Midnight Runners - Marguerita Time. My original idea, and the reason this disc was late in getting released (mailed to you) was that my original concept was to do a country disc full of what aren’t really seen as country acts. I put it together but it really didn’t work so I remade it with only a few songs from the first mix surviving. I’m more disposed to this song than you are.
whodathunkit wrote:16. Nice breezy shit-kicking closer. Vocals sound a bit like John Fogerty.
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Lookin’ For A Reason. A nice closer and more purecountry than their usual.
whodathunkit wrote:Well, considering how much I enjoyed this mix, I seem to have done plenty of moaning about it. One of those that are more than the sum it's parts. It's biggest crime was the lack of George Jones. Other than that it is definitely one I will play again
I’m glad it worked all up. This stuff can be done without George, though admittedly that makes it a bit harder.
whodathunkit wrote:Bonus Disc? I'll get around to it
.
Looking forward to it.
Apologies for the delay in revealing by the way. Got a new computer and a lot of stress in getting it going.
Here’s the tracklist.
1. Don Williams Dialogue 0.28
2. David Wiffen Climb The Stairs 4.11
3. Conway Twitty The Story Of My Love 2.17
4. Ricky Nelson Lonesome Town 2.17
5. Crispian St. Peters Almost Persuaded 3.04
6. Johnny Tillotson It Keeps Right On A Hurtin’ 2.54
7. Bobby Gentry & Glen Campbell My Elusive Dreams 3.13
8. Jim Reeves & Deborah Allen Oh How I Miss You Tonight 2.09
9. Jo Ann Houston Crying Time 3.09
10. Johnny Horton The Mansion You Stole 3.08
11. John Anderson & Merle Haggard Long Black Veil 3.18
12. David Allen Coe Now I Lay Me Down To Cheat 3.24
13. Robert Earl Keen I Still Miss Someone 3.19
14. Don Williams Senorita 4.15
15. Dexy’s Midnight Runners Marguerita Time 4.51
16. Creedence Clearwater Revival Lookin’ For A Reason 3.28