(May 2020) Episode 262 is ALISON KRAUSS. When I subject myself to country music, it usually goes down best as bluegrass. And so I find a lot to like about Alison Krauss, who (with Union Station) kind of propelled a bluegrass revival. But no matter the style of music, she just has the perfect voice. And her fiddlin’ is pretty good too.
Favorite album: Raising Sand (with Robert Plant)
Favorite solo album: I’ve Got That Old Feeling
Favorite song: Jacob’s Dream
Compared to expectations: same
(March 2020) Episode 256 is EMMYLOU HARRIS. In my effort to expose myself to country music, I turn next to Emmylou Harris, on the perception that she does not confine herself to the country genre that made her famous. So it’s not surprising that I prefer her folk- and bluegrass-influenced songs, for which I find her wonderful voice more suited, and her later-career Americana and country-folk albums. While most of her famous songs were written by others, I like better the albums where she wrote most.
Favorite album: Red Dirt Girl
Favorite “country” album: Roses in the Snow
Favorite song: The Stranger Song
Favorite song (written by EH): Prayer in Open D
Compared with expectations: same
(February 2020) Episode 249 of the “opus project” is HANK WILLIAMS. The influence of Hank cannot be understated. He set the standards — musical style, performance, tone, lyrical themes — by which all country music that followed is measured. I’m not a country fan, but I do enjoy artists closer to its roots. The dude could write a tune.
Favorite song: I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
Compared to expectations: same
(December 2019) Episode 244 is JIMMIE RODGERS. He is known as the “Father of Country Music” because of his immeasurable influence there. Much of the music itself, however, is indistinguishable from the blues, demonstrating that blues, country, folk, and later rock all emanate from the same authentic American musical tradition. Everything gets a yodel.
Favorite song: In the Jailhouse Now
Favorite ballad: I’ve Ranged, I’ve Roamed, I’ve Traveled
Compared to expectations: same
(December 2019) Episode 243 is JOHNNY CASH. If there were a Mount Rushmore of the Voices of America, he would be on it. I appreciate the independent, even rebellious, spirit of his long and storied career – resisting capture by corporate Nashville, collaborating with artists across genres (U2, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, etc.), exploring concept albums. I love his musical expression of a personal ideology that defied political categorization: respect for the forgotten/downtrodden/persecuted man (exemplified by “Man in Black” and “Bitter Tears”) – a rare wokeness for its time and his genre. But most of all his songs are just plain enjoyable (even though I’m not a fan of country music). This was a long one, at ~80 albums.
Favorite album: American Recordings
Favorite song: Man in Black
Favorite duet: If I Were A Carpenter (with June)
Worst album: The Rambler
Favorite Period: Sun recordings
Least favorite genre: gospel
Compared to expectations: same
(June 2019) Episode 219 of my “opus project” is PATSY CLINE. I dislike country music in most of its forms, but I am fond of some of the early-era artists when the genre was closer to its roots. Cline has such a lovely, clear voice, and the songs are earnest, melodic and unavoidably enjoyable.
Favorite album: Showcase
Favorite song: Crazy
Compared to expectations: same
Opus Project 