New Ken Burns documentary on Country Music

My uncle was the music publisher of He Stopped Loving Her Today, and it was that family connection that landed me a gig in the middle of the country music boom in the 90s. As such, it's my undying belief that Garth Brooks is and was 100% country, The Dance is the greatest country song of all time, and any documentary about the genre without mention of him is deeply flawed (of course, I haven't seen Burns' documentary yet so until do, I'll just assume Garth makes at least a cameo).

 

Garth is pop. Pure and simple. If you like it, fine. But putting on a cowboy hat doesn't make him country.
The Dance the greatest country song ever? IYO. You'll get tons of debate on that. If you're talking ballads, I would put several Patsy Cline songs light-years ahead of that.
If the Ken Burns doc doesn't mention Alan Jackson, that saddens me. He and George Strait, in my opinion, are the last two pure country hit-makers.
I find myself listening to Outlaw Country on XM. The rest of the current list of "country" singers is trash.

 

I've driven across the far midwest and the west, and late at night you might catch "Country Gold" way out there on the AM dial. That's real country before its ill-fated Countrypolitan days.

I find it funny that Randy Skaggs was lumped into the same New Country category as Dwight Yoakam.

 

Is Randy the long-lost cousin of Ricky?

 

Shitfuck

 

There have been some classic country songs in the last 25 years that could have been recorded anytime in the last 60 years and been hits. Neon Moon by Brooks and Dunn (what happened to them after that is sad) and Whiskey Lullaby by Paisley and Krauss are two.

 

Strangely, it becomes a Judas Priest documentary.

 

I dunno. David Allan Coe's "You never even called me by my name" is the perfect country and western song. It says so right in the lyrics.

 

David Allan Coe's son Tyler Mahan Coe has a hell of a podcast called Cocaine and Rhinestones. He talks about the history of country music made in the 20th century. He put a TON of research into each episode. On the podcast's website, he lists all the sources he used, and it's a crazy long list.

 

Always thought "If Tomorrow Never Comes" is superior to "The Dance" - but both take a back seat to Friends in Low Places. where the whiskey drowns and beer chases my blues away is a great line. Garth doesn't write much, usually cribs a co-write credit though.
Clint Black's "Killing Time" (he wrote it) is another song that would work in any generation of country.

You were the first thing that I thought of
When I thought I drank you off my mind
When I get lost in the liquor
You're the only one I find
And if I did the things I oughta
You still would not be mine
So I'll keep a tight grip on the bottle
Gettin' loose and killin' time

I'll add Black's Put Yourself in My Shoes and Vince Gill's When I Call Your Name. Man - I miss country songs that were about what people felt, than what they were planning to do on the weekend.

 

I think "Killing Time" was written during a dark time in Clint Black's life. He's literally singing about drinking himself to death.

 

Vince Gill is one of the great guitar players of all time. Also, this song is about as country as it gets. There are not two better voices together than Vince Gill and Patty Loveless.