Roger Miller / Lock, Stock, and Teardrops

One of my all-time favorite songwriters, doing one of my all-time favorite tunes.

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Roger Miller is a name of at least two musicians: 1. A country music singer/songwriter from Oklahoma, USA 2. An alternative rock singer/songwriter from Massachusetts, USA 1) Roger Dean Miller (b. 2 Jan 1936 - d. 25 Oct 1992), was an American singer-songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs. His most recognized tunes included the chart-topping country/pop hits "King of the Road", "Dang Me" and "England Swings", all from the mid-1960s Nashville sound era. Read more on Last.fm more...

Roy Orbison / In Dreams

I love the way the song just builds and builds.

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Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988), nicknamed "The Big O", was an influential American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll, whose recording career spanned more than four decades. By the mid-1960s Orbison was internationally recognized for his ballads of lost love, rhythmically advanced melodies, three-octave vocal range, characteristic dark sunglasses, and sometimes distinctive usage of falsetto, typified in songs such as "Only the Lonely, "Oh, Pretty Woman", and "Crying". Read more on Last.fm more...

Loretta Lynn / Fist City

Loretta Lynn will kick your ass.

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Loretta Lynn (born April 14, 1932 in Butcher Hollow,Van Lear, Kentucky) is an American country singer who was the leading country female vocalist during much of the 1960's and 1970's. In the 1970's she became one of the most famous women in all of America and frequently made "most admired women" polls alongside first ladies and world leaders. According to Songfacts, Loretta Lynn's superstar Country career started in 1960 when she recorded " I'm a Honky Tonk Girl " as her debut single. Read more on Last.fm more...

Webb Pierce / There Stands the Glass

There's a warmth to recordings from the 1940s that you can't beat.

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Webb Michael Pierce (August 8, 1921 – February 24, 1991) was one of the most popular American honky tonk vocalists of the 1950s, charting more number one hits than any other country artist during the decade. His biggest hit was "In the Jailhouse Now," which charted for 37 weeks in 1955, 21 of them at number one. Pierce also charted number one for several weeks' each with his recordings of "Slowly" (1954), "Love, Love, Love" (1955), "I Don't Care" (1955) Read more on Last.fm more...

Palace / Brute Choir

More Will Oldham.

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1. Palace are an alternative blues/rock band from London combining laid back guitars with brooding vocals. 2. A UK bass producer having releases on the Unknown To The Unknown label. His style lies somewhere beyond uk funky, grime and uk garage. https://soundcloud.com/palacepalace 3. Palace is one of the many names used at one point or another by Will Oldham. Palace came after he named himself Palace Brothers for the first LP, before Palace Music, and a few years before the world knew him as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. Read more on Last.fm more...

Cindy Walker / When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again

Her Country Music Hall of Fame induction poem made me tear-up.

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Cindy Walker (July 20, 1918 – March 23, 2006) was a prolific American songwriter, as well as a country music singer and dancer. As a songwriter Walker was responsible for a large number of popular and enduring songs recorded by many different artists. She adopted a craftsman-like approach to her songwriting, often tailoring particular songs to specific recording artists. She produced a large body of songs that have been described as “direct, honest and unpretentious”. She had Top 10 hits spread over five decades. Read more on Last.fm more...

George Jones / He Stopped Loving Her Today

A towering classic. If this is your first time hearing it, I'm kind of jealous. He's playing The Calvin in July!

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By most accounts, George Jones (born George Glenn Jones September 12, 1931 in Saratoga, Texas, died April 26, 2013, in Nashville, Tennessee), was the finest vocalist in the recorded history of country music. Initially, he was a hardcore honky tonker in the tradition of Hank Williams, but over the course of his career he developed an affecting, nuanced ballad style. In the course of his career, he never left the top of the country charts, even as he suffered innumerable personal and professional difficulties. Read more on Last.fm more...

Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby / The Downside of Being a Fuck Up

For George Jones.

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Wreckless Eric (born Eric Goulden on the 18th May 1954 in East Sussex, England) was part of the pub-rock scene before he became one of the earliest artists to be signed to Stiff Records. Even as a singer-songwriter with a distinct singing voice, his records failed to chart but his live shows were his main successes, winning him a faithful audience to whom he continues to play to this day. Most recently he has been recording with his wife Amy Rigby (an American singer-songwriter) as Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby. Read more on Last.fm more...

Bill Callahan / America!

Greatness.

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Bill Callahan (born 1966), also known as Smog and (Smog), is an American singer-songwriter born in Silver Spring, Maryland. Callahan began working in the lo-fi genre of underground rock, with home-made tape-albums recorded on four track tape recorders. Later he began releasing albums with the label Drag City, to which he remains signed today. Callahan started out as a highly experimental artist, using substandard instruments and recording equipment. Read more on Last.fm more...

The dB's / Never Before and Never Again

Peter Holsapple (the main songwriter on this tune) is among my favorites. I won't argue that he's the greatest songwriter in the world, but there's something about his work that always hits the right spot.

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Along with Let's Active, The dB's defined the Southern power pop/jangle pop movement of the early to mid-80s. The band's music was a quirky blend of smart pop and psychedelia crossed with the more experimental side of new wave. Though they've never received widespread recognition outside of critical acclaim, they provided a key link between Big Star and 80s alternative acts such as R.E.M.. Their latest work is 2012's 'Falling Off the Sky', which has attracted serious critical praise. Read more on Last.fm more...

Merle Travis / Blue Smoke

An nice intro for Charlie Rich.

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Merle Robert Travis (November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and musician born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His lyrics often discussed the exploitation of coal miners. Some of the songs he wrote or performed include: "Sixteen Tons", "Dark as a Dungeon", "So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed", and "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette"; however, it is his masterful guitar playing that he is best known for today. Read more on Last.fm more...

Charlie Rich / Life Has Its Little Ups and Downs

Again, a major song and an all-time favorite of mine. If you've not heard this one before, you're welcome.

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Charles (Charlie) Rich (December 14, 1932 – July 25, 1995) was an American country music singer and musician. His eclectic-style of music was often hard to classify in a single genre, encompassing in the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country, and gospel genres. In the latter part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname The Silver Fox. He is perhaps best remembered for a pair of 1973 hits, "Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl". "The Most Beautiful Girl" topped the U. Read more on Last.fm more...

Mickey Newbury / The Future's Not What It Used to Be

A recent discovery for me, although I've known his name for awhile. Bill Callahan namechecks Newbury in track 9.

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Mickey Newbury (May 19, 1940 - September 29, 2002) was an American singer-songwriter for Acuff-Rose Music, a critically acclaimed recording artist, and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Born Milton Sims Newbury, Jr. in Houston, Texas. As a teenager, Mickey Newbury sang tenor in a moderately successful vocal group called The Embers. The group opened for several famous performers, such as Sam Cooke and Johnny Cash. Although Mickey tried to make a living off of his music by singing in clubs Read more on Last.fm more...

Carl Smith / I Just Dropped in to Say Goodbye

You can talk during this.

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Carl Smith (March 15, 1927 – January 16, 2010) was a country music singer and guitarist. Known as "Mister Country", Smith was the former husband of June Carter Cash and drinking buddy of Johnny Cash. Carl and June are the parents of singer Carlene Carter. After his divorce from June, he married country singer Goldie Hill. He retired from performing in 1979. He had many famous hits including, "Kisses Don't Lie", "Are You Teasing Me", "Hey Joe", and many others. Read more on Last.fm more...

Hank Williams / Mansion on the Hill

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Hank Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953), born Hiram King Williams, was an American singer-songwriter and musician regarded as one of the most important country music artists of all time. Williams recorded 35 singles (five released posthumously) that would place in the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that ranked number one. Born in Mount Olive, Butler County, Alabama, Williams moved to Georgiana Read more on Last.fm more...

Dwight Yoakam / Ain't That Lonely Yet

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Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter, actor and film director, most famous for his pioneering country music. Popular since the early 1980s, he has recorded more than 21 albums and compilations, charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and sold more than 25 million records. Yoakam has recorded 5 Billboard #1 Albums, 12 Gold Albums, and 9 Platinum Albums, including the Triple Platinum This Time. Read more on Last.fm more...

Merle Haggard / I've Seen It Go Away

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Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, during the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled after the death of his father, and he was incarcerated several times in his youth. After being released from San Quentin State Prison in 1960, he managed to turn his life around and launch a successful country music career. He gained Read more on Last.fm more...

Lou Reed / Legendary Hearts

Real love is messy and full of work.

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Lou Reed (March 2, 1942 - October 27, 2013) was an American rock artist originally from Brooklyn, New York, USA. Especially while a member of the The Velvet Underground in the 1960s, Reed broke new ground for the rock genre in several important dimensions, introducing more mature and intellectual themes to what was then considered a largely simplistic genre of music. In 1964 Reed moved to New York City and began working as an in-house songwriter for Pickwick Records. Read more on Last.fm more...

Chet Atkins / Satan's Doll

More guitar mastery.

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Chester Burton Atkins born 20 June 1924 - Died 30 June 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States (1942–1996) . was an American guitarist and record producer. Together with Owen Bradley, Atkins created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country music's appeal to include adult pop music fans as well. His virtuoso picking style - inspired by Merle Travis, Django Reinhardt, George Barnes and Les Paul - brought him admirers both within and outside the country scene. Read more on Last.fm more...

Dire Straits / Setting Me Up

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Dire Straits were a British rock band from Newcastle, United Kingdom, formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), his brother David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsley (bass), and Pick Withers (drums), and subsequently managed by Ed Bicknell. The band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. Dire Straits emerged during the post-punk era of the late '70s, and while their sound was minimalistic and stripped down, they owed little to punk. Read more on Last.fm more...

Brenda Lee / Too Many Rivers

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Brenda Lee, née Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944 in Atlanta, Georgia), is an American country-pop singer, who was popular during the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1960s she had more charted hits than any other woman, and only three male singers/groups (Elvis Presley, Ray Charles and The Beatles) outpaced her. She was one of the earliest pop stars to have a major contemporary international following. She was given the nickname Little Miss Dynamite Read more on Last.fm more...

Waylon Jennings / This Time

A song for Kristin and Saunders. If he can't set you straight, no one can.

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Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing guitar at eight and began performing at 14 on KVOW radio. His first band was The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a DJ on KVOW, KDAV, KYTI, and KLLL. In 1958, Buddy Holly arranged Jennings's first recording session, of "Jole Blon" and "When Sin Stops (Love Begins)". Holly hired him to play bass. In Clear Lake, Iowa Read more on Last.fm more...