Recommendation XLV: Marty Stuart (w/ Connie Smith)

Yeah, I know. You can’t believe your eyes? Me neither haha. Poor pathetic ole me is back with a new entry! I haven’t posted in like a year (even after I did a new look to the site. Sad, isn’t it?) Well, I got the writing bug biting again and wanted to fill you a lil in on some new stuff about me and what I’ve been digging lately.

The main reasons I haven’t been posting is life has been/is just busy, and I’ve dived into other more time-consuming activities… but one big significant problem is that my freakin’ computer is too damn slow! Every time I turn it on, my laptop literally takes like 30 minutes to start up the screen and sometimes it’ll shut itself off when it has too much going on. Utterly irritating, to say the least, but I digress from my main subject…

My forty-fifth recommendation is: Marty Stuart’s (with Connie Smith) “I Run to You” from his 2010 Ghost Train: The Studio B Sessions album. My post title practically gave it away haha, and I’m sure most people who read/used to read my blog already know about this gem however I wanted to write about it regardless.  I realize that I have already recommended Marty’s music in the past but 3 years has passed and this record can’t go ignored. Truly one of country music’s best guides to its history and tradition, Marty Stuart can always be counted upon to create timeless soul-driven pieces of art and this is no exception. I love watching his Marty Stuart Show on RFD-TV when it airs and soaking up on that intoxicating steel and fiddle (which is pretty much meaningless on today’s radio) and really feeling it, so real country fans oughta check that out.

Recommendation XXXXII: Dwight Yoakam & k.d. lang

Recommendations are back!  And back to the music the readers really wanna talk about: country music.  I haven’t done one of these in like a month, so I need to get back into the groove of things again.  I am really excited for what’s to come in ’09: Obama’s becoming president on Tuesday, I’m going to turn the big two-one in March, and life just seems good, despite the economic problems here in the household.  God has been more than good to us, and while I miss college immensely, I will get by, and hopefully can return in the fall.  I will visit my friends again in March, so I’m stoked.  Now, on to the music.

My forty-second recommendation is: Dwight Yoakam & k.d. lang’s “Sin City” from Dwight’s 1989 Just Lookin’ for a Hit album.  I’ve really been into duets and duos lately, and this one is no exception.  I didn’t find out about this collaboration until about summer 2008 and I was blown away by it’s beauty.  I never thought that Dwight Yoakam and k.d. lang would record and sing together and it’s just so special, especially on a traditional country song, a cover/remake of the Gram Parsons song.  Even though this duet is on a mostly “hits” album, I don’t believe it was ever released as a radio single, but man, it was an instant hit in my ears.  I know I’ve recommended k.d. previously, but I have yet to recommend Dwight, so I knew it was time.

Dwight is one of the coolest artists I know and I love his hard-core invocation of Buck Owens, and D.Y. has proven he’s still at the top of his game today.  I’d say my favorite track from him would either be “Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose”, “Guitars, Cadillacs”, or “Fast As You”.  My mom just loves his “Blame the Vain” (I do too).  He’s an impressive actor and I loved to hate his evil character in Panic Room.  The last song I bought from him was “Close Up the Honky Tonks”, but it’s totally clear to me now that I need more Yoakam in my collection!

Recommendation XXXX: Alan Jackson (triple-track)

Oh yes, we’ve gone and done it – we’ve made it to number forty.  I had no idea how long it would take us to reach here, but it’s been quite a journey of good music.  I’ve certainly got some worthy ideas for my upcoming recommendations/blog entries, but I like to wait and leave some space in between each one, because I feel that if a post gets buried under others, people are less likely to read it, it seems.  This one is extra special because of the artist and the big number.  Words really cannot express either one.  So, without, further ado…

My fortieth recommendation is/are: Alan Jackson’s “A Little Bluer Than That” from his 2002 Drive album, “Leave a Light On” from The Wrights’s 2005 Down This Road album, AND “Good Imitation of the Blues” from his 2006 Like Red On a Rose album.  I did tell you, or hint, that Mr. Alan Jackson would be next in the CMT Giants entry, and that time has finally arrived.  Yeah, seeing that it is forty, seems like four songs would be a better choice, but I didn’t want to overextend myself in writing lol – three is a good enough amount for me!  I also thought about choosing a Christmas song from Alan, since it is the season, but I passed (bah humbug).  Alan is my second all-time favorite artist, behind George Strait, and just before Brooks & Dunn.  His hard-core neo-traditionalism has always been one of the main reasons I’ve been drawn to him, and his music is a huge part of my upbringing in the late 80′s, ’90s, and til today.  Alan’s songs have always had that signature sound to it: traditionalism with touches of modern production added to it, that’s been a big part of his appeal and that simplicity to the music he writes and records.  He’s one of Georgia’s best exports, and we sure are glad to have him.  I won’t go through all the tunes that go along with my different (precious) memories, because that would take forever, and I did talk about him in good length on the Giants entry, so here’s what you’ll get.  From the man who brought us the pure dark-honesty of “Here In the Real World” to today’s silly, innuendo-laced “Country Boy”, let’s talk more about the A-Jax.

Recommendation XXXIX: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Back to the art of music and outta mainsteam-land, to a place where quality is, and what it’s always been essentially about: the alternative country world.  You know, the CMAs, for the most part, left a bitter taste in my mouth (Taylor Swift and Kellie Pickler‘s bubblegum pop didn’t sweeten the night at all.  Just provided some more artificial “sugar” to the mess.)  Like I said in my CMA entry, I did enjoy parts of the show, but it really got me even more upset with how terrible mainstream country music really has become.  I’m not saying it should be 100% traditional country music, because that would be boring (though, there definitely needs more of that represented to remind artists and fans of what the music is).  I just wish it wasn’t all about the money and crossing-over and appealing to teenagers who don’t know what country is.  The format might be a business but quality and diversity of styles should be the #1 things on their mind, and radio stations aren’t innocent either.  They just contribute immensely to the destruction of the music. (Btw, speaking of destruction, I saw the midnight screening of the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, and man, I loved it!  Go see while it’s still in theaters! You should see 2006′s Casino Royale first, because both movies go hand-in-hand and Quantum is its sequel. Here’s the trailer.)

My thirty-ninth recommendation is: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss’s “Through the Morning, Through the Night” from their 2007 Raising Sand album.  I have been wanting to highlight this album and this particular song for months and months since I’ve had this album, but I never could find the right time.  I felt that, because I had recommended Alison before, I should wait until much later to use her again, because I’m all obsessed with rules and stuff, but I’m beginning not to care anymore lol.  It was time, and that time was today.  You need to see and hear country music for what it is and can be, and those award shows don’t really appreciate nor represent what the good part of the music is (the CMAs did give the win to Plant/Krauss for “Collaboration”, so I’ll give them that).  The first single, “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)”, with its Beatles-like sound, I wouldn’t consider to be country, but it’s very good.  It wasn’t until last year, during Christmas-time that I was able to finally purchase and listen to all of Raising Sand, and man I was blown away.  Led Zeppelin rock legend Robert Plant and bluegrass extraordinaire Alison Krauss are the perfect partners for a project like this.  Anybody who has heard all of the material and has trouble categorizing this as a “country album”, while at the same time, labels artists like Rascal Flatts “country”, just because they call themselves that, is seriously crazy (I won’t name names, but I’ve seen it online, and it makes no sense).  The album as a whole may not be particularly country, but its influence and sound is very evident, throughout.

Recommendation XXXV: Anita Cochran w/ the Voice of Conway Twitty

Lately, I’ve been watching some documentaries through my NetFlix because I ran out of movies I was immediately interesting in seeing, and I’ve learned that they’re really compelling to watch. The last one I saw (well, we saw… since my family watched it with me because I wanted them to) was Sicko, the latest documentary by Michael Moore. I know, I know. I think he’s kinda annoying too, and I know there’s got to be some exaggeration in the claims, but I got the general truth from it, and I thought the film was put together real well. It was about how insurance companies take extreme advantage of the American people and man, it is horrible. Didn’t know they were so evil. Recommended for anybody to watch. I’ll definitely have to research more on that. Anyway, onto my next selection… (and ooh, #36 is coming up pretty soon, my lucky number…)

My thirty-fifth recommendation is: Anita Cochran’s (with The Voice of Conway Twitty) “(I Wanna Hear) A Cheatin’ Song” from her 2004 (I Wanna Hear) A Cheatin’ Song – Single album.  I have no idea the first time I heard Anita’s music…but I know she hasn’t had too much success on the country charts.  I know she had that hit #1 duet with Steve Wariner (“What If I Said”), which I gotta admit, I never really cared for, even though I like both of them.  I think it’s too adult-contemporary-sounding and way too lovey-dovey for me lol.  Otherwise, I don’t think there’s any other hits from Ms. Cochran, which is a shame because she’s really talented.  Her vocals are somewhat like Wynonna Judd‘s (I don’t like to refer to Wynonna by just her first name alone lol because her last name is part of who she is), but otherwise, IMO, Anita Cochran‘s got a voice distinct from other females.  I thought I should mention this quickly (but it certainly isn’t needed lol): Anita’s first and last name spoken together have got a James Bond/Austin Powers girl-like thing sorta goin’ on with it, if you say them together (…I know, too R-rated, but I thought it would be kinda funny to bring it up real quick.  Forgive me.).

Recommendation XXX: Tracy Lawrence (threesome)

Alright, alright.  So the “threesome” title for three songs may not be the best name (or even sound appropriate, which it’s not supposed to) for the feature, and we may have worried parents call in with protests, but whatever, here goes.  Since this was #30, I wanted to do something special and since I mentioned it in one of my older posts, I figured recommending three songs at one time would be a cool idea, and a great time to debut it.  I struggled on who I’d choose for numéro trente, and this Texan guy —> just seemed like a good idea, since I’ve wanted to feature him for quite some time.  This will probably be a long post, so hopefully I finish this on time.  Get ready…

My thirtieth recommendation is (are): Tracy Lawrence’s “For the Love” (duet with Brad Arnold) from his 2007 For the Love album, “Strong” from his 2004 Strong album, AND “If I Don’t Make It Back” from his 2005 Then & Now: The Hits Collection album.  It was way too hard to pick just one from him, so I had to do this way.  It was just a coincidence that the two listed above (“For the Love” and “Strong”) happened to be the title tracks, so I was not being lazy.  I love a lot of Tracy Lawrence‘s music, especially his more traditional stuff from the ’90s like “Time Marches On”, and I’ve always been a fan of his’.  This is a man, who even when he sometimes records poppish-country material, cannot not sound country. His nasal Texan drawl is so distinct, he can’t be confused with anybody else really.  I really think he’s one of the best. He’s also really exciting to see in concert.  I happened to catch him with Mark Chesnutt and Joe Diffie on tour in Greeley, Colorado, and it was a very good time (and I just found out here’s coming back here in late November!).  Now, on with the selected songs…

Recommendation XXIII: Dierks Bentley w/ Sarah Buxton

…And we’re back.  My summer’s going pretty well for me so far: I’m just hoping that I can look back at it and say that I didn’t waste it like past summers.  Too many days come by when I feel I could’ve done more and done something more productive (beside working, of course).  I hope I can get outside more and spend less time online (I admit, I’m lazy and I could’ve made more posts on here lol, but I’m a to-be-junior in college, so give me a break: I could do much worse).  Alright, alright.  ‘Nuff small talk…Imma gonna get to the music!  Lately, I’ve been listening to my local alternative/independent rock station at home, and sometimes, my local country stations (but they suck, for the most part, as we all know), so I’m sticking to the rock station because it sounds better ;), but that isn’t a segue into the following paragraphs (or maybe it is?), but anyway…

My twenty-third recommendation is: Dierks Bentley’s (with Sarah Buxton) “Sweet & Wild” from his 2008 Greatest Hits – Every Mile a Memory album.  These days, Dierks is pretty well known amongst country fans because he’s gotten really big now quickly since his debut single, “What Was I Thinkin’?” came out years ago, so he’s one of the bigger, currently popular artists I’ve discussed on this site so far.  With him, I’m pretty much hit-and-miss with his music, but I really appreciate his respect towards real traditional country music and the history.  I gotta admit: I was a big fan of Dierks’s when he first came out: I loved his debut single, and then the honky-tonker, “How Am I Doin’?”, and then the Waylon-ish, “Lot of Leavin’ Left to Do”, but I began to lose interest in him because it seemed like he wanted to be a rock-star sex symbol (like Kenny Chesney) or something (and also the fact that my sister is obsessed with him, contributed a lot to it haha).  My favorite song of his’ is actually “Settle for a Slowdown” because it’s just an awesome song through and through, though after that, I really didn’t like his choice of singles because they seemed to become less country-sounding (with one exception, of course) and it turned me off even more.  I didn’t care to hear his music much anymore.

Recommendation XVIII: Rodney Crowell & Emmylou Harris

Yes, yes, I know – I’ve been away way too long…two months now since my last entry! I can’t believe it’s been that long and I really do apologize. I went home for winter break and had no internet to work with and since then, I’ve been back in school for January and have been as busy as ever, but now I finally have time to do more online stuff (lucky you). 2007 was quite a year for me and I thought the music was overall pretty good. I was planning on making a ’07 Best-of list, but now, it just seems too late hahaha. Alright, ‘nough chit-chat, and onto the recommendation…

My eighteenth recommendation is: Rodney Crowell & Emmylou Harris’s “My Baby’s Gone” from the 2003 Livin’, Lovin’, Losin’: Songs of the Louvin Brothers tribute album.  I remember that back in 2003, I had no idea at all who the Louvin Brothers were but I saw online ads for the tribute album on CMT.com and I read that Patty Loveless and Ronnie Dunn and many others were collaborating on there and I just had to check it out. CMT.com had an online Listening Party for the album and back then, you were only able to listen to one song per day, and from what I heard, I really loved it. The sweet pure country sound and vocals coming from it were just intoxicating to the ears and soul, and it was not usual to hear an album like this these days, especially with today’s mainstream country stuff. The Louvin Brothers are my kind of guys because based on the music covered on the album it’s perfect for hardcore traditionalists and for fans of the artists on the project. I love the production by Carl Jackson (he’s got a really good voice too!). I keep saying that if I was ever able to make a country album, I’d want Carl Jackson to produce it…or Marty Stuart, because I’d want that type of sound for my record. Anyway, this is one of the BEST albums that I own and I think more people should know about it.

Recommendation X: Pam Tillis & John Anderson

O.K. I’m back (well, I never really left, but I had to take a two-week hiatus – I myself can’t believe it’s been that long since my last blog entry – because I’ve been super-busy with school work, social life, and anything else left over. I’ve also been somewhat lazy and spending a good amount of time playing video games on N64 with friends lol, but don’t let that throw you off the blog – I know my music and I’m pretty smart!) I did, however, know all this time what album I was going to choose a song from to highlight for this entry. My only problem was choosing which song to do for this one, since it’s such a great album.

My tenth recommendation is: Pam Tillis & John Anderson’s duet, “Life Sure Has Changed Us Around” from Pam’s 2007 Rhinestoned album. This is a special selection because of different reasons: 1. it’s a first here because I have not showcased a duet here before, 2. this album is highly-acclaimed by many people – everywhere I look, everybody loves it, so choosing one song was difficult, and 3. Kevin from Country Universe has been waiting for me to pick a song from Rhinestoned for quite some time lol.