Country

In my ongoing quest to catalogue my entire record collection, I just finished all of my Country albums. I have a grand total of forty-nine Country albums. That’s actually more than I expected. It means I have more Country than I do Gospel, and I like Gospel much better.

I don’t have too much to say about Country. I am including all of the subgenres, like Bluegrass, in with Country. Of all the genres, I think I find Country the most baffling. I honestly have no idea what makes a song Country. A huge chunk of Country songs follow the Blues patterns. It might have something to do with the instrumentation. Mandolins, Steel Guitars and Fiddles are very common. Of course they are found in other music, too. I almost think Country is just music sung with a Southern or a Western accent. If you know what makes Country Country, please let me know.

Of the forty-nine records I own, only three are in any kind of regular rotation: June Carter Cash’s Press On, Willie Nelson’s Teatro and Ray Charles’ Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music. All three are spectacular. They are probably funny choices, though. Ray Charles was only really a dabbler in Country music, he’s just generally amazing. Willie Nelson has plenty of classic albums, but I’m the only one who picks his 1998 release. And it’s Johnny Cash who is supposed to be THE Country artist, but I much prefer his wife’s music.

Overall, completing Country wasn’t nearly as satisfying as the other genres I’ve done. There were a lot of, “Oh yeah, I forgot about that,” moments, but they were rarely followed with a desire to listen to the record. So, I guess it’s time to move on. I think I’ll tackle Folk next. I am looking forward to that.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.