When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. - Hunter S. Thompson

15 February 2010

Americana/alt.country playlist for Bunny

And anyone else who's interested.

Lyle Lovett: "Lyle Lovett" (debut album), "Pontiac," "It's Not Big It's Large" (with the Large Band) - a good introduction is "Anthology Vol 1, Cowboy Man", but there are no bad songs on the early albums and damn few on the later ones; it's worth buying the full albums in my view. 

Steve Earle: God, anything really. But especially "Guitar Town" and "Transcendental Blues."

Townes van Zandt: Anything and everything.  A good introduction is "Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, TX" - there are some compilations but I don't like the looks of them.

Willie Nelson: Anything and everything.  A good introduction is the recent comprehensive box set.  Just buy it. :-)

Guy Clark. The alt.country singer-songwriter's singer-songwriter.  Anything.  His last couple of records ("Dublin Blues," "Some Days The Song Writes You") are solid as they come.

Joe Ely - both as a solo artist and with The Flatlanders.  Look for an anthology.

Robert Earl Keen - another member of the Texas smart-country set.   "The Party Never Ends" is canonical.

Buddy and Julie Miller: If you buy just one record, buy this one: "Written In Chalk".

T-Bone Burnett: Producing more than performing these days, but proves that Christian Rock does not have to be "I found God and lost my talent."  He writes heartbreakingly beautiful songs.

John Prine - all of it.

Emmylou Harris - all of it pretty much.

Lucinda Williams - all of it, but especially "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road."

Tift Merritt - a good introduction is "Live in Birmingham" (England, not Alabama)

 

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1 comment:

Chap said...

Bunny, look into the Brit mag Uncut. It has record and movie reviews but more importantly fixates on Americana in a more friendly way than, say, No Depression does.

And Barry shows his Old School Country roots by not mentioning guys like Uncle Tupelo, Whiskeytown etc etc.