Classic country & bluegrass music thread

I have dipped my toe in the waters of country music a few times, but in fact I have a large collection of older country and bluegrass music ranging from the 1920s to the 1960s. I'm not sure if anyone else appreciates the stuff, so I'm creating a separate thread to avoid cluttering the "What are you listening to now?" thread and if I don't get much reaction, I'll just quietly let this thread die.

Recorded country music dates to the mid/late 1920s when folks would go to rural areas to record the local musicians. The master recordings of the time were direct to cylinders, which would be taken back and copied onto 78-rpm records, I believe. One of the earliest sessions took place in Bristol Virginia/Tennesse/North Carolina where musicians came in from the Appalachians to try to make a little money by recording their music. One of the featured groups in those early sessions was the Carter family: A.P. Carter, his wife Sarah and A.P.'s sister-in-law Maybelle.

Carter Family - Single Girl, Married Girl (1927)

Within a few years, cowboy/Western music joined the fray, leading to the term "Country & Western". Here are three from the 1930s...

Prairie Ramblers - Shady Grove My Darling

The Prairie Ramblers were soon joined by a female singer, Patsy Montana (From New Jersey! ) who had the first million seller country & western hit with...

Patsy Montana - I Want to Be Cowboy's Sweetheart (1935)

Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys - Steel Guitar Rag

Llarry wrote

Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys - Steel Guitar Rag

Wills toured throughout the West and proved very popular in dance halls but noticed that the Hispanic couples were not dancing much. In attempt to appeal to those couples, he wrote "Spanish Two-Step" which did the trick.

Bill Monroe -- dubbed the "Father of Bluegrass Music" -- and His Bluegrass Boys started recording in the late 1940s and had a long career in bluegrass music.

Blue Moon of Kentucky

Molly & Tenbrooks (the story of an 1870s horse race)

I have a couple of Flatt & Scruggs volumes in the bootleg collection that are in my 'older than I am' collection; and I grew up with Hee Haw - does that count?

Maynard wrote

does that count?

Of course it does!

I’ll add the old joke: I like both kinds of music, Country and Western!

C&W was on the car radio when I was a wee lad, so the first real songs I learned to sing along with (beyond Mary had a little lamb, row row row your boat, etc) were A Boy Named Sue (Johnny Cash, written by Shel Silverstein I think) and Roger Miller’s King of the Road. Sons of the Pioneers also featured in my childhood.

I still listen to a lot of old Country and some western music. I have Sirius so catch it in the car but try to get Ranger Doug (saw him with the Time Jumpers in Nashville a few years back) for the really old, mostly western stuff.

I don’t think I own a single C&W album. I purchased mostly jazz and some classical in my acquiring days; I’ve been inheriting (absconding) with my parents’ LPs and they too are older (pre-1960s) jazz and classical. My folks received a good music education and an appreciation for classical music, which my mom continues to enjoy and attend regularly. My dad strayed into C&W and jazz (he was naughty), so as a teen I can remember in his car the 8-tracks of Jerry Reed and Mac Davis (O Lord, Its Hard to be Humble).

I’ll end with this favorite performed by David Allan Coe (who is mentioned in Cash’s Backstage at a Willie Nelson Concert). The last verse starting around 3:40, is a good laugh by a C&W artist at C&W’s stereotype:

2000cs wrote

I’ll add the old joke: I like both kinds of music, Country and Western!

Me, too!

Here's a standard from one of the greats -- Hank Williams.

Hey Good Lookin' (1951)

I love listening to bluegrass. Great story telling.

Johnnie & Jack - South of New Orleans (early 1950s)

Jim & Jesse - Are You Missing Me?

Kitty Wells, dubbed the "Queen of Country Music" in the 1950s - I Don't Claim to Be an Angel

The Louvin Brothers (Ira and Charlie) are widely acknowledged to be the masters of close harmony in their vocals. As the Nashville influence began to be felt in country music, Ira's mandolin was somewhat frowned upon.

When I Stop Dreaming (1955)

Webb Pierce - Just Imagination (1950s)

Kitty Wells & Webb Pierce duet - When I'm With You (1957)

Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs - Pike County Breakdown

The Louvin brothers wrote a large number of songs that were later covered by many country and bluegrass artists.

Around 30 years ago, I bought an 8-CD box set of the Louvins produced in Germany by Bear Family Records.

Louvin brothers - Don't Laugh (1955)

A fast-paced dual banjo bluegrass number by Larry Richardson & Happy Smith

Just Let Me Fall (1957)

Willie Nelson is both classic/old country, having written songs like “Crazy” (Patsy Cline sang it best) way back in 1961 when he was clean cut, and performing still.

Here are two of his more recent songs that are really good:

Louvin Brothers - White You're Cheatin' on Me

The Browns (brother Jim Ed and sisters Maxine and Bonnie) covered many Louvin Brothers songs, not including this one - I Heard the Blue Birds Sing

Here's an early 1960s song that was banned by many radio stations that misunderstood the meaning of the lyrics:

Norma Jean - Let's Go All the Way