what are the good country records
 

I would like for you to recommend me the good country records in this thread please. I like laidback crap so I can pretend I'm relaxed.

George Strait's 'I Can Still Make Cheyenne' and 'Marina Del Rey' are laid back as fuck.

marina del rey is chilllll af. the other one, his twang makes me think too much of date rape in a pickup.

what's good country that isn't necessarily pristine? like the real down-n-out shit. (wanted to make this thread because I've been rinsing that tommy jay record recently which has got that sort of vibe on some tracks -- especially if you hear it through two closed doors and a wall -- and I was driving the other day at like 4am and heard drivin on 9 by the breeders on the radio and fell in love with my 15 year old dreamin self and want to get that feeling without actually listening to drivin on 9 all the time)

A Hank Williams Sr. compilation might do the trick.

Johnny Cash's AMERICAN RECORDINGS album is good and raw, though it might be closer to "folk" than "country."

Raw for sure but perhaps more heavy than chilled. Either way Lucinda Williams's songs have a knack of getting to you BIG time ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDq80rYhO_w

It's Rolling Stone, I know, but this is a pretty decent list. I've heard some good stuff through this...

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/li...d-own-20150603

It's telling that a lot of the ones on that list are greatest hits compilations. It's not a genre I really associate with great albums. Most of its biggest most successful stars built their careers almost exclusively on singles.

Yeah I'll give you that. It's similar in the DnB scene too. Never any decent albums, just singles.

willie nelson - the red headed stranger

carla bozulich's reworking of the same record is really good. nels cline is on the whole thing too.

Some OK stuff on that Rolling Stone list actually.

This one's probably pretty good (don't own it, but I like Charlie Poole), though it may be a bit expensive for an entry-level purchase.



Townes Van Zandt is on there as well.

Also, does Ennio Morricone count as "country?" I kinda think so. Composer of westerns, but we're not splicing genes here. Listen to that shit and it'll get you in the mood for gunfights and whatnot.

There's a three CD set of George Jones' complete recordings for the Starday label. Starday wasn't known for it's high standards of technical excellence but the performances are what's important.

^this is very pleasant, pretty bang on what I'm looking for, much appreciated! been rinsing dylan's 'I'll be your baby tonight' the last couple of days for the same vibe.

If you liked the Lucinda Williams song then you might also like Gillian Welch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFle2YoQwWg

see that's too proficient hahaha, I like that schmaltzier end of it, with some sort of percussion.

I know that it's like neil young and meat puppets that I'm really looking for but I'm trying to branch out a lil, just find it really hard to take a lot of this music seriously and it goes into uncanny valley territory when you have someone like gillian welch who's obviously really talented but expressing that in a way that's totally foreign to me.


also starting to realise it's only a matter of time before I become a begrudging grateful dead fan.

The Willie Nelson "MUST haves" for your collection:







along with, 'Stardust' shown above......

I would add:



And if you wanna get down with the badass shit:





I have Stardust and I can dig it, but some of its moments are a bit saccharine for me.