43 Albums for the 43 Days Until the Election to Make America Cosmic Again and Unfuck Your Mind (Musically)

#15 Waylon Jennings Waylon Live

Released at the apex of the Outlaw movement, Waylon Live more than lived up to the hype that was heaped on Waylon, Willie and company. If there was any doubt that the Outlaws could challenge their rock contemporaries in terms of urgency and electricity, the first note from Waylon's Telecaster on this recording dispelled those notions immediately. The performances stomp and crackle throughout, with Willie Nelson's "Me and Paul," Waylon's own "Bob Wills Is Still The King," and Kris Kristofferson's "The Taker" leading the stampede. This is as far as it gets from doing two dinner shows a night at a casino resort. The crowd is loud and thirsty--and so is the band. Waylon made a lot of great albums--and a couple as good as Waylon Live--but he never made a better record.

43 Albums for the 43 Days Until the Election to Make America Cosmic Again and Unfuck Your Mind (Musically)

#16 Willie Nelson Shotgun Willie

Willie Nelson's career has had so many phases and changes that it's difficult to pinpoint one definitive album. About the best one can do is examine each of the periods of his life and career, and try your damnedest to figure out where one begins and one ends. With such an immense and eclectic body of work, it's tempting to treat Willie like Picasso or Miles Davis, and assign him "periods," which is stretching his artistic merit (or is it?).

 
No one can dispute that Shotgun Willie marked a definite change in Willie's style and attitude (both personally and musically). Recorded after a bitter contract dispute with his former label, RCA, Shotgun Willie marked the first of two releases on Atlantic Records before a similar falling out (aided, no doubt, by poor sales). 

Shotgun Willie didn't sell, but it became one of the cornerstones for the Outlaw movement that would produce Country's first platinum albums. Gone was the slick Nashville production that always seemed out of place on his recordings, and in its place a warm and loose sound seldom--if ever--heard on a Country record (which actually highlights the dexterous musicianship). The arrangements and lyrics pointed the way toward the future (at least for the 70's), but with a boot heel dragging in the past courtesy of not just one, but two, Bob Wills standards. 

If all that wasn't enough for country fans to try to make sense of, Willie's Atlantic debut also premiered his new image--long hair and a beard (helping him make inroads with the counter culture). At 39, with precious little success outside of his songwriting, it was a daring move. It was also a move that didn't immediately pay off. The still stranger Phases & Stages followed, and also failed to break Willie into the mainstream or Nashville's good graces. Atlantic decided it had indulged enough of Willie's artistic whims and abruptly let him go--a year before he released his most defiant and brilliant creative gesture, Red Headed Stranger, which reached number one on the Country charts and crossed over to make him a pop success as well. 

Shotgun Willie is the pivotal point where an artist is out of every option except to follow his muse. And it's the album that made Willie Nelson "Willie". Other of his albums have sold more and produced more hits, but Shotgun Willie may be his most reckless and perfectly executed record.

43 Albums for the 43 Days Until the Election to Make America Cosmic Again and Unfuck Your Mind (Musically)#16 Ray Price Night Life

Ray Price made seemingly countless recordings, spanning over five decades; from his early honky tonk, to Western swing, gospel, and sophisticated country-edged pop. Amazingly, throughout the long course of his career, his immaculate voice never faltered; instead it developed warm and rustic hues that lent even greater depth to his heart songs. 

Built around a song written by the then-unknown Willie Nelson, Night Life is one of the last great honky tonk albums, presented solemnly and stoically by a man who had already lived through all the highs and lows the songs chronicle. It's far from a pleasure trip, but it's a trip worth taking--especially on those woeful nights alone.

There will never be another vocal talent quite like Ray Price. His voice transcended country music, and deserves to be enshrined alongside Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Ray Charles as the top song interpreters of American music.

43 Albums for the 43 Days Until the Election to Make America Cosmic Again and Unfuck Your Mind (Musically)

#17 The Byrds The Notorious Byrd Brothers

Recorded as the band was kicking David Crosby out and right before bringing Gram Parsons in, The Notorious Byrd Brothers should have been a stop-gap at best or a career-ending disaster at worst. Instead it has the best mind and genre-altering music The Byrds ever made, though the bookend albums Younger Than Yesterday and Sweetheart of the Rodeo get more praise. 

Space rock, psychedelia, folk and country burst out intermittently (sometimes in the same song), invoking both futurism and Americana and pop and avant-garde (again...sometimes in the same song). It was a bizarrely beautiful collage of sounds, moods and atmospheres--perhaps not deliberately given the state of the turmoil The Byrds were in when they were recording the album.  
 The band would go in a decidedly country direction with Parsons on board, releasing Sweetheart of the Rodeo later the same year, but if "alt country" has a true origin, it's The Notorious Byrd Brothers. 

43 Albums for the 43 Days Until the Election to Make America Cosmic Again and Unfuck Your Mind (Musically)

#18 Steve Earle Guitar Town

Steve Earle began his solo career as a populist songwriter dressed in honky tonk clothing, combining the working class literacy of Bruce Springsteen, the roots rock swagger of The Replacements, and a sound and  image as unpretentious as a truck stop cafe. While his contemporary Dwight Yoakam was padding his debut with "Ring of Fire" and "Heartaches by the Number," Guitar Town's lone cover was an amphetamine-fueled version of Dick Dudley's "Six Days on the Road," providing as much insight as Earle's own songs into his life of late nights and long miles.

Guitar Town is undeniably a country record, but it's also a rock record...and a juke-joint record...and a hillbilly record. The songs' productions are stripped down to the essentials, replicating the live setting as much as 80's recording aesthetics would allow. Though Earle would later expand and experiment with his sound, distancing himself from country and earning alt-rock credibility in the process, Guitar Town is a testament to what three chords and the truth can convey in the hands of a hardcore troubadour.

43 Albums for the 43 Days Until the Election to Make America Cosmic Again and Unfuck Your Mind (Musically)

#19 George Jones I Am What I Am

For years "The Cadillac of Country Music," George Jones,  was no different than most of his contemporaries coming off the Nashville assembly line. He released a series of lackluster album-length collections all throughout the 60's and he did it with easy profit the goal rather than great songs and performances. This way of doing things changed for Jones, however, when he teamed up with producer Billy Sherrill in the early 70's.  Sherrill provided Jones with great songs and a cohesive & polished production that made him a commercial force in the LP format. This helped him to cross over to pop audiences--a feat Sherril replicated several times over with The Possum's future wife, Tammy Wynette, Charlie Rich and Johnny Paycheck. More often than not the Sherill/Jones partnership yielded stellar results. These include such opus' as A Picture of Me (Without You) and The Grand Tour--not to mention the George & Tammy two-fer Golden Ring.  

     The crown jewel of the Jones and Sherrill tandem, though, is undoubtedly I Am What I Am. This album was viewed by many as Jones' "comeback," following his divorce to Wynette, a stint drying out in the Betty Ford Clinic, and several well-publicized "no shows" performances. If anything, the album seems more defiant than apologetic--even if it is steeped in booze-soaked melancholy. Songs such as "Bone Dry," 'Brother To The Blues," and his surprisingly good reading of "Good Hearted Woman," seem to come more from a man who would commandeer a lawnmower to sneak out for a drink than one trying to solemnly rehabilitate himself.  

     The most well-known song from the album is without a doubt "He Stopped Loving Her Today"--a tale that would come across as a novelty tune in the hands of anyone but Jones. The album's other classic, "If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me (Her Memory Will)" makes I Am What I Am a quintessential soundtrack for drinking bourbon alone in the dark--and not just one of Jones' best recordings, but undeniably one of Country's all-time greatest.

43 Albums for the 43 Days Until the Election to Make America Cosmic Again and Unfuck Your Mind (Musically)#20 Emmylou Harris Elite Hotel

Emmylou Harris began her career as the protege of Gram Parsons, who inspired her to transition from a folk singer in the mold of Joan Baez to country music. After Parsons' passing in 1973, Harris signed with Reprise and released her first major label album, Pieces of the Sky, which garnered immediate praise for its Parsons-style blend of rock, folk and country and her immaculate vocals. 

It was Harris' second album (incredibly released the same year), Elite Hotel, that transformed her into a star--producing two number one singles, her reworkings of the Patsy Cline standard "Sweet Dreams" and Buck Owens' "Together Again". 

What made Harris more than a mere throwback, though, were her covers of three Parsons-penned songs, revealing his troubled talent to a wide audience. Also featuring covers of songs by Hank Williams and the Beatles, Elite Hotel displayed Harris' eclecticism, which was to become a trademark of her career. The album was humble yet confident, and endeared her to country fans while making inroads into the pop market. It reached number one and earned Harris her first Grammy for "Best Female Country Performance".  

She continues to release exemplary albums to the present day, consistently challenging the conventions of not only country, but pop and folk music as well--perhaps an even better homage to Parsons than her many renditions of his songs. Elite Hotel is but one jewel in a starry crown of recordings that operate more as artistic statements than mere albums, but it certainly qualifies as her brightest.

43 Albums for the 43 Days Until the Election to Make America Cosmic Again and Unfuck Your Mind (Musically)

#21 Jean Shepard Heart, We Did All That We Could

One of the greatest female vocalists to ever stand in front of wood paneling and sing, Jean Shepard and had a slew of hits throughout the 50's, 60's and 70's singing West Coast honky tonk--as well as owning the distinction of making country music's first concept album, Songs of a Love Affair in 1956. Heart, We Did All That We Could was released in 1967, but included some of Shepard's hits from 1964-1966; assembled as albums often were back then, to compliment (or "pad") new material.  

Due to the fact that these recordings all came from Capital Records' studios, there's not a noticeable difference  in the sound of the material spanning the four years this LP collects. The title track stands apart though, featuring fuzzy psychedelic guitar, but still pairing nicely with the honky-noir of Shepard's lovelorn voice and the songs' icy arrangements.  

Jean Shepard's recordings for Capital alone should afford her the same respect and recognition as Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette (though she was enshrined in the Country Music Hall of Fame), but sadly the quality of her talent often goes unrecognized. Shepard was also an outspoken critic of "pop" country--going back to the 70's--which is only further justification for her status as a Honky Toker Heroine. Get high, put on Heart, We Did All That We Could, and get lost in the melancholy.

43 Albums for the 43 Days Until the Election to Make America Cosmic Again and Unfuck Your Mind (Musically)

#22 Merle Haggard A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (Or, My Salute to Bob Wills)

Merle Haggard was known for being outspoken with his political beliefs, but he was even more candid about the musicians he admired, whether it be Lefty Frizzell, Jimmie Rodgers, or--in the case of this album--Bob Wills.  

In 1970 Haggard was viewed as an emissary not only for the future of country music, but also as a guardian of its traditions. Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson are widely acknowledged as the progenitors of the Outlaw movement of the 1970's, but Haggard could just as easily assume that mantle--releasing an album of Western swing when its popularity was virtually non existent, and the influences of rock and pop were threatening to alienate country from its roots.  

But it was admiration (bordering on worship) and not defiance that drove Haggard to record the album--even learning how to play the fiddle for the occasion. A look at the songs he covered revealed the fact that he was not just a fan, but an aficionado of Wills' music--adding lesser-known tracks such as "Misery" and "Brain Cloudy Blues" to the set alongside such classics as "Take Me Back to Tulsa" and "San Antonio Rose".  

The result was a triumph, and went a long way toward garnering a renewed interest in  Western swing--no doubt inspiring Waylon and Willie to incorporate songs by Wills into their live sets and albums. A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World stands as one of Haggard's finest recorded accomplishments--not only as an excellent tribute to one of the genre's giants, but for providing invaluable insight into one of the main ingredients of Haggard's own immeasurable talent.

43 Albums for the 43 Days Until the Election to Make America Cosmic Again and Unfuck Your Mind (Musically)

#23 Charlie Rich Behind Closed Doors

Few albums in the history of country music were as equally loved and loathed as Charlie Rich's Behind Closed Doors. After recording rockabilly for Sun Records in the late 50's and early 60's, Rich's career was fledgling by the mid 60's, with only a few minor--and sporadic--hits to his credit. Famed producer Billy Sherrill--known for his work with George Jones, Tammy Wynette and Johnny Paycheck--saw something special in Rich and encouraged Epic Records to sign him. With Sherrill's guidance, Rich set about pairing his soulful voice with a countrypolitan production that emphasized lush strings and pop arrangements--culminating in the biggest hit of Rich's career. 

Response to Behind Closed Doors was divided, with purists taking exception to the overtly pop approach, but mainstream audiences falling in rapture with the title track and making "The Most Beautiful Girl" an immense crossover success, topping both the country and pop charts. The album was a creative as well as a commercial success, and produced the template for numerous acts of the 70's and beyond to follow.  

For Rich, the success of the album prompted him to explore gospel, R&B, blues and jazz and ensuing releases, giving his vocal talent a seemingly infinite palette for expression. Unfortunately, Rich's public behavior became as unpredictable as his creative side--most notoriously burning John Denver's CMA award for "Entertainer of the Year" in 1975--which made him fall out of favor with both the industry and the record buying public.  

Though the album was only being the beginning of Rich's stellar body of work during the 70's, and he made arguably better recordings, none were more popular or as influential Behind Closed Doors.