Country Music

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I've been listening to Dolly Parton's album "Rock Star". The album came about after she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and jokingly said she'd better make some rock songs to justify it.

So she asked a whole bunch of rock legends whether they'd duet with her. Of course most of them agreed: it's Dolly Parton! I think the only ones who couldn't join her were Bob Seger for Night Moves (too ill) and The Rolling Stones for Satisfaction (touring).

About a third of the album is her and another singer dueting that other singer's music. Another third is Dolly and another singer singing either Dolly's someone else's song, with the remainder being Dolly solo songs, either hers or covers

Highlights:

Heart of Glass (with Debbie Harry)
I Hate Myself for Loving You (with Joan Jett)
Every Breath You Take (with Sting)
What Has Rock and Roll Ever Done For You (with Stevie Nicks)
Let it Be (with Paul and Ringo)
Bygones (with Rob Halford out of Judas Priest!)
Free Bird (with what's left of Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Satisfaction (with Pink and Brandi Carlile)

Guest musicians on various tracks include Richie Sambora, Elton John, Ann Wilson, John Fogerty, Melissa Everidge, Simon Le Bon, Nikki Sixx, Pat Benatar and Lizzo. Well worth a listen, there's something for everyone here.
 
This band The Schramms has been around since the early 90's. They sit in the spot between mainstream and alternative but mostly unloved in either category. Self described as "nasal twang", the payoff if you get over the sometimes hard to listen to vocals of Dave Schramm is some neat stringbend guitar action.

This is their cover of the Lucinda Williams song "Side Of the Road" which I found a bit disconcerting at first, not hearing it sung in a woman's voice, but I've got to like it over the years.




This one from their 2nd album fits the nasal twang description more accurately.

 
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Although his name was vaguely familiar, somehow I had missed the opportunity to make the acquaintance of Mr. Ray Wylie Hubbard - until yesterday.
He has been performing for more than 50 years and has released more than a dozen albums, founded on gospel blues, folk, country and Texas rock'n'roll.
An exceptional songwriter and a gifted, sometimes quirky singer. Here's a good example.

 

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Some 21st century bands that dip into the alt. country genre that people might be interested in.

David Nance & Mowed Sound - "Tumbleweed"




Rose City Band - "Rivers of Mind"
I was surprised to find this tune had a video and by the looks of it, it does seem to suggest that the band were going for a kind of a spacey country jam. Not sure what possessed me to buy this in retrospect as the vocals are barely there but it does have a soft choogle undercurrent.



D. Charles Speer & The Helix "Cretan Lords". This is something you can find pretty cheap - like most of my music collection.



Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band - "Learn 2 Re-Luv"
Posted a couple of other songs from this album on another thread. Favourite from late 2023. A band that makes me think there's some good people out there with nuance and humour, and maybe everything is going to be ok in the good old US of A in this golden age of bullsh*t.

 
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Lost a Country Music original today.

Buck White passed today at 94 after a full life and he has left a country musical footprint, great mandolin player and pianist and all round entertainer and performer.

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Had a stella solo career before he teamed up with his two daughters to form “The Whites”, Sharon and Cheryl ( his son in law was CM legend Ricky Skaggs who married Sharon ).




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I have fond memories of him and his music, always came across as down to earth and genuine and a great performer, he and the daughters were regulars on The Country Road TV, hosted by Wispering Bill Anderson.




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Country and Bluegrass to the very core.

Member of the Grand Ole Opry for 40 years, that makes him Opry Royalty in my eyes .

RIP 🪦 Buck White.
 
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Monocle said:
Lost a Country Music original today.

Buck White passed today at 94 after a full life and he has left a country musical footprint, great mandolin player and pianist and all round entertainer and performer.

View attachment 2204596




Had a stella solo career before he teamed up with his two daughters to form “The Whites”, Sharon and Cheryl ( his son in law was CM legend Ricky Skaggs who married Sharon ).




View attachment 2204593





I have fond memories of him and his music, always came across as down to earth and genuine and a great performer, he and the daughters were regulars on The Country Road TV, hosted by Wispering Bill Anderson.




View attachment 2204587



Country and Bluegrass to the very core.

Member of the Grand Ole Opry for 40 years, that makes him Opry Royalty in my eyes .

RIP 🪦 Buck White.
Click to expand...
Thank you for marking the passing of Buck White. Buck was mentioned in the history series - post # 1,111, for his contribution to Ricky Skagg’s most successful album, the 1982 "Highways & Heartaches" album - “… A roster of top-notch musicians was again assembled for this project, from pianist Buck White (Skagg’s father-in-law) … and Sharon White (Skaggs’ wife) who provided the background vocals on several tracks. …”

Here’s a very nice summation of Buck White’s career -

“… Buck White was the somewhat reluctant, but ultimately proud leader of one of country music’s most important bluegrass, country, and Gospel bands. … Along with Leroy Van Dyke and Willie Nelson, Buck White was one of the oldest living primary performers in country music … His passing marks the end of an era when family bands could still rise to the top of popularity in country music …” -
savingcountrymusic.com

Country Music Patriarch Buck White Has Died At 94 - Saving Country...

Father and grandfather of The Whites, the oldest member of the Grand Ole Opry, and a grand patriarch of country music has passed away. Buck White of The Whites has died at the age of 94.
savingcountrymusic.com savingcountrymusic.com
 
PatsFitztrick said:
Although his name was vaguely familiar, somehow I had missed the opportunity to make the acquaintance of Mr. Ray Wylie Hubbard - until yesterday.
He has been performing for more than 50 years and has released more than a dozen albums, founded on gospel blues, folk, country and Texas rock'n'roll.
An exceptional songwriter and a gifted, sometimes quirky singer. Here's a good example.

Click to expand...

I’m not surprised a Fredhead would appreciate Ray Wylie Hubbard! - another of those quintessential Texan singer-songwriters, in the tradition of fellow Texans like Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Billy Joe Shaver, Steve Earl and Jerry Jeff Walker etc. Hardly known at all outside Texas for most of his career, his fanbase dedicated but limited in numbers, he has really only become better known over the last 6-7 years, aged in his seventies. Despite his low profile, he has an interesting life story - he’s another that can write songs based on his own life experiences.

In the early 1970s, his band, Ray Wylie Hubbard & The Cowboy Twinkies, were erforming in countless honky–tonks and dance halls throughout Texas and Oklahoma, with Hubbard becoming one of the original Outlaw Country performers of the Texas music scene. In 1973, Jerry Jeff Walker recorded Hubbard’s funny social commentary of ‘Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother’ (post # 845), giving Hubbard his first taste of commercial success.

Hubbard seemed to be on the brink of having his own mainstream success, being signed to major label, Warner Bros. In 1976 the band cut “Ray Wylie Hubbard & The Cowboy Twinkies” in Nashville - but after they finished and returned to Texas, producer Michael Brovsky, thinking their sound was too raw and gritty to be commercial, weirdly added a load of "Nashville Sound" trimmings of overdub mixes and female backup singers to the recordings - all done without the bands knowledge. Released against the wishes of the band and just at the stage the Outlaw movement went mainstream - thus rendering the Nashville Sound trimmings dated, the record naturally bombed.

The heartbreaking ruination of Hubbard’s first album by the producer was taken badly by Hubbard - leading on to his hospitalisation at the age of 29 due to alcohol and drug abuse. More career frustration followed- “We were playing and selling out the same venues as Willie Nelson and Jerry Jeff … but couldn’t get a record deal.” Hubbard’s 30’s were marked by multiple losses that sent him on a tailspin. His first marriage ended in divorce and both his parents died. His alcohol and cocaine addictions reached the point of out-of-control behaviour, blackouts, suicidal contemplation, hitting the proverbial “rock bottom”. So, at a time when most performers were in their prime, Hubbard, with no record deals in sight, was reduced to playing in those rough neck Texan honky tonks when he as sober enough to perform -and where at least he gained a cult like, loyal following.

But of all the busloads of country singers who’ve gotten over alcohol and drug addiction, Hubbard has one of the most unlikely recovery stories of them all. Few, if anyone else, can give the long-troubled Texan legend, Stevie Ray Vaughn, credit for seeing the value in them as a musician and a human, and taking them aside to say that sobriety might be a better path forward. But Vaughn, having been clean and sober himself for a year, managed to get Hubbard to attend an AA meeting with him in 1987 - and 37 years later, the 78-year-old Hubbard hasn’t touched a drop of alcohol or drugs since!

Hubbard has become known for reaching out to others struggling with addiction, to return the favour Stevie Ray Vaughn extended to him. Hubbard doesn’t really have a lot of songs about getting sober. Many of his typically gritty songs are about his time in a drunken haze, like the song he wrote with another Texan honky tonk troubadour, Hayes Carll, who got sober recently himself, ‘Drunken Poet’s Dream‘ -
 
THE A5 said:
Is ray wylie hubbard country? From the few songs I’ve come across I’ve thought he’s rock and roll/blues rock
Click to expand...
He's a genre-hopper A5, and he handles all of them.
He writes like a balladeer, sings like a folkie and plays guitar like a genuine rocker.
I can't believe I took so long to find him.
 

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