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jimmy
= Cult of Ray =
USA
876 Posts |
 Posted - 04/15/2006 : 07:43:18
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If I'm just on the computer I'll turn the tv to GAC, the country music video station. I don't like country except for some of the old songs. From watching GAC I like it even less. Here's what's on:
Craig Morgan "What I Love About Sunday" This song is as corny as it could be- singing about church, fishing, and reading the Sunday paper, "35 cents off a ground round/ baby, cut that coupon out"
Trace Adkins "Honkeytonk Bodonkadonk" This song has everything that's wrong with country right now. It's all a mix of watered-down pop culture references with either the word "redneck" or "honkeytonk" slapped on ( "Redneck Yacht Club", "Redneck Woman").
Toby Keith "American Soldier" It goes without saying that TK is a tool, but this song just goes over the line. Pandering. Shameless. And the video, along with his video for "Honkeytonk U" make use of that tired video techniche where the picture flashes brightly for extra emotional effect ( I may not be describing it well enough, I hope you know what I mean )
( I have to admit, I downloaded his song "The Angry American (Courtesy of the Red White and Blue)- it's so gay that I can't help playing it when there's no one else around.)
There are a couple songs that I do like though:
"Long Time Gone" Dixie Chicks
"Mud On The Tires" Brad Paisly- he's ok, but he's not as funny as he thinks he is w/ songs like "Celebrity" and "Alcohol", this one is a good song though.
"The Talking Repair Shop Song" Alan Jackson- it's corny, yes, the video with the guys from the show "Yes Dear" is corny too, but it's very, very catchy and I always stop what I'm doing and watch when it comes on.
can you think of any more good songs?
"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." JOHN 15:14 |
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Erebus
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1834 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 09:40:49
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When channel-hopping I always pause for a LeAnn Rimes video, mostly 'cause I think she's sexy. A couple months ago that video was for "Probably Wouldn't Be This Way", a really touching, wistfully sad song from the disc "This Woman". Prompted me to buy the disc and it turned out that's the only track worth having, naturally. But that track will be getting its spins for time to come.
I'll also always stop for a listen to Dwight Yoakum. Hank Williams III intrigues but the one disc I have features lyrics so bad it's almost unlistenable. I've read that his most recent disc is better, and he does have that punk side which would be fun to catch live, I think. Of course his grandfather's music belongs in everybody's collection, while his father simply disgraces the family name. Indeed, it is unfortunate that for so many Toby Keith speaks for the pro-Bush right, but then the anti-Bush sector has its Dixie Chicks, whom I disliked long before the controversy. I hated Natalie Maines from the moment I first heard her canyon-gaped mouth in an old interview. Hyper-extroverts make me crazy. |
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chickenwithtwoheads
= Cult of Ray =
Netherlands
391 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 10:43:41
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I'm not exactly a country expert.
Part of the country music I have is Frank related, like Johnny Horton and Hank Williams.
Too bad Johnny Horton's most melodic songs are racist ('I hate niggers' and 'Some niggers never die'), I never feel very comfortable listening to these songs.
Best tracks: 'I'm a one woman man', 'Honky tonk man', 'The battle of New Orleans', 'I'm ready if you're willing', 'I'll do it every time', Sink the Bismarck.'
Hank Williams is fun too. A lot of good songs, too much to mention. To name a few: 'Hey, good lookin', 'I'd still want you', 'I'll be a bachelor till I die', 'Baby, we're really in love', I can't help it (if I'm still in love with you)', 'Long gone lonesome blues', 'May you never be alone', 'Calling you', There's a tear in my beer', 'I saw the light', 'Pan American.'
Marty Robbins' sound is extremely corny, but most of the songs from the 1959 album Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs are excellent. It might take a while before you get used to his sound. Definitely check out 'The ballad of the Alamo,' one of my favorite songs ever.
If you're not familiar with Johnny Cash you should try the recording of his gig at San Quentin prison. So much energy, so many fun songs, the chering of the crowd, really something special.
My favorite Cash songs: 'Wreck of the old '97', 'Folsom prison blues', 'Hey porter', 'Wanted man', 'San Quentin', 'Tennessee stud', 'The man comes around'.
I'm not familiar with recent country stuff.
The only good album I know of is Van Lear Rose by (69-year-old) Loretta Lynn (2004).
Jack White plays guitar on the album.
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jimmy
= Cult of Ray =
USA
876 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 13:17:44
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erebus, I know what you mean, that LeAnn song is cool, if you like that you might like a song by Allison Krauss "Restless".
cw/2h, are those real songs by JH? My favorite was "North to Alaska", but I think the even better one is "(When It's) Springtime in Alaska (It's 40 Below)"
People always say how Johnny Cash could "take any song and make it his own" but in a lot of cases it's true. I got a compilation for 2.99 and on it he covers a song I can't stand- "Cat's In The Cradle"- and he makes it really good.
"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." JOHN 15:14 |
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WolfManMikeLonely
= Cult of Ray =
USA
936 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 13:51:22
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Do the Drive By Truckers count? Or is that just considered Southern rock? I missed out on a Hank III show a year or so ago really wish I had went apparently the first set was acoustic and all the rednecks loved it then he had a break and came out with his electric "punk" band and they all started heckling him and someone attacked him so they ended the show. For old country music a name that has to be mentioned is Gram Parsons.
"Hey fuck you if you don't like it."
-Johnny Thunders
www.transposed.net |
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Apesy
= Cult of Ray =
USA
411 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 14:19:15
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Most of what you guys are talking about (and certainly everything played on channels like CMT) are just pop songs with a country "twang". There's plenty of authentic country being made nowadays (I recommend people should hunt down Cast King's [http://www.locustmusic.com/castking.html] Saw Mill Man), you're just not going to see it on television.
-=Apesy |
Edited by - Apesy on 04/15/2006 14:25:09 |
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dayanara
* Dog in the Sand *
Australia
1811 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 14:43:32
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i agree with apesy, top 40 country is pretty evil. i've been really getting into the handsome family since they toured with Blanche (also an excellent band) a few years ago. i'm horrible at describing music but they're certainly not like anything else listed above, low key with really dark, vivid lyrics.
http://www.handsomefamily.com/index.html
and of course we don't even need to mention neko case, right?
i hate anyone who doesn't like me. |
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paintmeister
= Cult of Ray =
USA
347 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 18:52:31
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I've found a few artists that don't fit in the "mainstream" country category.
William Elliott Whitmore--Hymns for the Hopeless----sounds a bit like Tom Waits.
Nick Lowe--Dig My Mood--doesn't all sound like country. I enjoy this one.
Asleep at the Wheel--
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Erebus
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1834 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 22:28:18
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quote:
Originally posted by WolfManMikeLonely
Do the Drive By Truckers count? Or is that just considered Southern rock?
Don't think they count but yes, the Truckers are great. Something of a modern missing link as it were. Once that door is opened you've got the original Kentucky Headhunters. And Alt-Country may just save the world from Toby Keith and all that other trash. Last week I dragged out an old compilation by the forgotten 1970ish southern rock band Cowboy for a listen to the track I originally bought it for, Please Be With Me (raised to fame by Clapton's cover on another neglected wonder, 461 Ocean Boulevard), for a listen to a guesting Duane Allman on slide-dobro, and loved it so much I let the rest of the disc play. Cowboy was a fine act, lost to time. But we digress, perhaps for telling reasons. |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 04/16/2006 : 04:52:57
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I appreciate everybody's comments in this thread. I will cop to a knee-jerk reaction prejudice against country music. But via your comments I realize there is country-country (some of which I like -- ie Cash, Lucinda Williams) and then there is the fairly recent phenomenon of cliche-ridden top 40 crap (which is what I thought of as country until I read your comments).
btw, Erebus, plenty of reasons to dislike the Dixie Chicks. For starters their hit of a couple of years ago, Earl, I think it was called, about a woman killing her abusive husband? Imagine the outrage if the genders had been reversed.
I’m the only one who can say that this light is mine
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Edited by - kathryn on 04/16/2006 04:54:43 |
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Doog
* Dog in the Sand *
United Kingdom
1220 Posts |
Posted - 04/16/2006 : 05:29:01
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quote:
Originally posted by jimmy
"35 cents off a ground round/ baby, cut that coupon out"
Hahahaahahahahahahahaha, what a lyric!
www.myspace.com/doog = music
www.myspace.com/doogdoogdoog = emo |
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Erebus
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1834 Posts |
Posted - 04/16/2006 : 08:52:20
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quote:
Originally posted by kathryn
btw, Erebus, plenty of reasons to dislike the Dixie Chicks. For starters their hit of a couple of years ago, Earl, I think it was called, about a woman killing her abusive husband? Imagine the outrage if the genders had been reversed.
I had forgotten about that but do recall it now that you mention it. That kind of outrage asymmetry drives me crazy. Just yesterday I saw a commercial in which the wife gives a passing slap to the husband's head. |
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Cheeseman1000
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Iceland
8201 Posts |
Posted - 04/16/2006 : 09:05:07
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How about Will Oldham? I'm pretty sure you'd consider him country. Pretty heartbreaking stuff as well, nice and dark and morbid. If you like the soul-wrenching, you might like to try Gillian Welch - I was introduced to her from KSR's mix CD a while back, The Revelator is a good place to start.
Ryan Adams' first album maybe?
 I have joined the Cult Of Frank/And I have dearly paid |
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Domestiques
= Cult of Ray =
United Kingdom
503 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2006 : 22:13:07
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lambchop, the man who loved beer, thats country!
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All I know there was humous. |
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Broken Face
-= Forum Pistolero =-
USA
5155 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2006 : 22:57:02
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Ryan Adams' HEARTBREAKER is a fantastic country-ish album (good call Simon), as is anything by his old band, Whiskeytown.
I highly recommend Cracker's COUNTRYSIDES as a cool place to look. They take some country songs and make them their own. There may be a track from this on my new CD Swap/Podcast.
I also love Gram Parsons, whether with the Flying Burrito Brothers, the Byrds (on their SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO album), or especially solo.
I think that knee-jerk reactions to country music can be blamed on people like Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood and the general 'pop-country' movement of Nashville. But like all genres ('cept, for me, polka) there are artists that transcend that and make good music within the confines of the shitty genre.
-Brian
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darwin
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
USA
5454 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2006 : 01:15:20
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What's wrong with polka?
I grew up in Texas absolutely hating country. It was a matter of survival. I was surrounded by dumbfucks in pickups. At the time it was the Oak Ridge Boys and Alabama and the urban cowboy Texas oil money boom. In hindsight even the mainstream country was better then than it is now. Now that I'm not surrounded by top 40 country I can appreciate the good stuff. I don't know much beyond the legends, but there aren't many musicians that respect more than Willie Nelson. That man can write, sing, and play with the best.
I was recently driving in Houston when I found for the first time a country oldies station. I enjoyed that. |
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jediroller
* Dog in the Sand *
France
1718 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2006 : 01:27:34
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Not only "country" in there - heck, it's got Kristin Hersh, Dylan and Joplin - but a good variety of styles and some really great classics (how can you not love "Act Naturally"!). It's never been too far from the CD player since I bought it a couple of years ago.
The experts they file in by the roomful / Watching him dying young
free music |
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Frog in the Sand
-+ Le premiere frog +-
France
2715 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2006 : 01:59:00
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This one's great too.
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"The following tale of me is true. And by true, I mean false. It's all lies. But they're entertaining lies. And in the end, isn't that the real truth? The answer is: No." (The Simpson Files)
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Frog in the Sand
-+ Le premiere frog +-
France
2715 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2006 : 02:25:29
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How could I forget to mention this one??? A classic.
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"The following tale of me is true. And by true, I mean false. It's all lies. But they're entertaining lies. And in the end, isn't that the real truth? The answer is: No." (The Simpson Files)
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jimmy
= Cult of Ray =
USA
876 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2006 : 02:51:57
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jediroller, I was wondering what songs by Janis and Kristin hersh were on that Beyond Nashville album?
"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." JOHN 15:14 |
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jediroller
* Dog in the Sand *
France
1718 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2006 : 04:01:39
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Janis: Me and Bobby McGee
Kristin: Sundrops
The experts they file in by the roomful / Watching him dying young
free music |
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cassandra is
> Teenager of the Year <
France
4233 Posts |
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Carolynanna
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Canada
6556 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2006 : 08:54:33
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I'm still trying to like Corb Lund just because he was in the Smalls.
But I suppose he did win a Juno...
__________
Don't believe the hype. |
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11687 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2006 : 09:20:12
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This is a great thread, and Apesy hit the nail on the head back there.
I've been meaning to check out some older country for a while.
 "If we hit that bullseye, the rest of the dominos will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate." |
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BLT
> Teenager of the Year <
South Sandwich Islands
4204 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2006 : 09:36:13
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I picked this up a few months ago and have slowly been immersing myself in it:
http://www.oldhatrecords.com/Releases.html#1005
I wouldn't call the music "country" -- most of it's more like primitive bluegrass or blues. Some of it's a bit amateurish and poorly recorded, but who cares? |
Edited by - BLT on 04/18/2006 11:21:05 |
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El Loco
- FB Fan -
206 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2006 : 10:06:08
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El Fartbone does country too.
My collection is 99% primarily music pre 80's (I was a fool for Urban Cowboy so some tunes crossed over into the 80's realm)
The time life early country comp that spans from the 50's to the early 70's is a good bet for someone who just needs the essentials.
I mainly listen to old faves like patsy cline, hank williams, tex ritter, johnny dinero etc.
I've even gone as far as having a collection of 20's and 30's tunes that are so damn good.
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therewererumours
* Dog in the Sand *
Ireland
1240 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2006 : 14:14:40
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What Brian said about Gram Parsons/Burriot Brothers/Bryds, I have a Frank like obession about him. Will Oldam's, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy Sings Greatest Palace Music, is an excellent country album, as is anything by The Knitters. Beechwood Sparks, Make the Robot Cowboys Cry, is a great pseudo country album. I'm in the process of listening to Son Volt, some Creedence and Lucinda Williams, and of course theres Ween's 12 Golden Country Greats. Jimmy I know that spot in the West your talking about, I've got relations there, and it's where I'm going to build my underground bunker.
 black, it was always black...... |
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Broken Face
-= Forum Pistolero =-
USA
5155 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2006 : 20:11:33
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quote:
Originally posted by darwin
What's wrong with polka?
It is the one genre where i really can't find a touchstone artist to really get me into it. It all sounds so similar to me.
-Brian
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darwin
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
USA
5454 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2006 : 00:56:18
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If we're being liberal with the meaning of country, one of my favorite country albums is REM's Fables of the Reconstruction.
Polka touchstone artists? The Shmenges!
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Edited by - darwin on 04/19/2006 01:00:56 |
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starmekitten
-= Forum Pistolera =-
United Kingdom
6370 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2006 : 02:39:55
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quote:
Originally posted by darwin
If we're being liberal with the meaning of country, one of my favorite country albums is REM's Fables of the Reconstruction.
That would mean I like country and I'm not sure that's right...
Kidding. I had some pretty common misconceptions about what country music is and this thread has helped set a lot of them right. It's all very interesting. I've made notes.
forum  ebook |
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jimmy
= Cult of Ray =
USA
876 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2006 : 02:43:50
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wow, jediroller, that's kind of disappointing- there are such better songs they could've used.
Janis: Easy Rider
Dear Landlord
Kristin: Sinkhole
Amazing Grace
Cowbirds
"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." JOHN 15:14 |
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jediroller
* Dog in the Sand *
France
1718 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2006 : 04:32:24
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Yes, or something from the "Murder, Misery and Then Goodnight" album. (A follow-up is on the way, yay!)
But I guess they didn't want to push the "country twang" thing too far... Dunno.
Any Kristin is good in any case.
The experts they file in by the roomful / Watching him dying young
free music |
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Cheeseman1000
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Iceland
8201 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2006 : 14:54:29
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Amen the Jedi.
I've heard good things about the Rough Trade country compilations as well. I'm not going to go searching at the moment as the computer is pretty fragile, but go investigate.
I have joined the Cult Of Frank/And I have dearly paid |
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mrgrieves1971
= Cult of Ray =
USA
544 Posts |
Posted - 04/19/2006 : 18:15:12
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| Check out Robert Earl Keen. You won't be disappointed. |
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El Loco
- FB Fan -
206 Posts |
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benji
> Teenager of the Year <
New Zealand
3426 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2006 : 01:41:05
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i know nothing about country music, but over the last couple of years i've become a huge fan of johnny cash. not much needs to be said about him, but he is truly a legend.
actually just saw the movie a week or so ago, and i really enjoyed that too. i thought that joaquin and reese did excellent jobs with the singing. but nothing beats the real thing tho.
and surely neko case must count as country-ish.
and i second the murder, misery and then goodnight record mentioned by jedi. |
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Country Music ( are there any good songs )
