Mavericks and Missing Links
Part 1 of this very personal guide down the lost highway of country music focused on The Old Guard. Here I present 'Mavericks and Missing Links' - artists who provide the missing link between the old guard and the alt-country scene that emerged in the 1990s. For context I would suggest reading 'No Stetson Required' first and, of course, the same caveats mentioned in part 1 apply here.
6) Gram Parsons - 'GP/Grievous Angel' (1973/4)
Cecil Ingram Connor III first came to wide attention when he joined The Byrds in 1968 and the resultant album, 'Sweetheart of The Rodeo', strongly bears his mark. Sadly America wasn't ready for it's favourite psychedelic-folkies to 'go country'. Ironically, Parsons' brand of country-rock laid the groundwork for America's biggest ever band, The Eagles - who he famously dismissed as 'a plastic dry fuck'... Parsons left The Byrds after just five months, taking Chris Hillman with him, forming The Flying Burrito Brothers. Parsons described their work as Cosmic American Music, which to you and me is spaced-out hippies harmonising like (fallen) angels over a choir of pedal steel guitars. Hot Burrito #1 may well be alt country's finest ever 3 minutes.
As fleetingly brilliant as his two albums with the Burritos were, the two solo albums that followed, 'GP' and 'Grievous Angel', remain his most consistent albums. Backed by the divine Emmylou Harris, they mine a purer vein of country music and are the cornerstone of his reputation. It would be no exaggeration to say that Parsons may well be the single most important figure, in terms of influence, on the whole alt country scene. If you're still wondering why, I can empathise. His is an extraordinary, but slim, legacy. Of course, dying a rock star death at 26 helps. But let's not forget the boyish, almost feminine good looks, the outrageous Nudie Cohen suits, and above all, the cracked, haunted quality of his voice.
7) Elvis Costello - Almost Blue (1981)
Now, I'm a huge Costello fan. I loved the early stuff with the Attractions and even stuck with him during the weird, beardy years (Mighty Like A Rose and I even liked the album with the Brodsky Quartet) but I must confess I didn't 'get' this album at the time (or indeed until about 20 years after its release). Coming between the brilliant 'Trust' and 'Imperial Bedroom' this album of country covers was, at best, a left field move, at worst career suicide. The George Jones cover, 'A Good Year For The Roses' was a surprise top ten hit (his last), and the album charted well on the back of this, but commercially speaking I don't think his career ever recovered from this bold move.
8) Steve Earle - Guitar Town (1986)
In the mid 80s Steve Earle found himself at the forefront of the short-lived 'new country' or 'new traditionalist' movement. Artists such as Earle, Dwight Yoakam, George Strait and Randy Travis eschewed the pop trappings of contemporary country and interpreted the song stylings of honky tonk and bluegrass in a modern way. In truth Earle was too much of an individual to spearhead any movement. Like Parsons before him he straddled country and rock, and embraced the rock n roll lifestyle... With five marriages, three arrests, one long year 'inside' and a major drug habit behind him, it's fair to say that this one country rebel who walked it like he talked it. Despite his battles with personal demons and addiction, Earle claims to have only ever cancelled one show - a show which I had the misfortune to attend in Leicester in 1991 (enduring what I thought was the worst support act I'd ever seen, at that time - sorry, Will T. Massey).
Earle's debut, 'Guitar Town' set the tone for the following three decades: raw, heartfelt words set to wistful ballads and bludgeoning hard rock, and all points inbetween.
At times he taps into the spirit of a disaffected working-class in the manner of Springsteen. And I think he must have been the first person to rhyme 'asphalt' with 'my fault'.
9) Emmylou Harris- Wrecking Ball (1995)
Despite penning the beautiful 'Bolder to Birmingham' on her debut album, Emmylou is better known as an interpreter of other people's songs. A peerless one at that. 'Wrecking Ball' is largely a covers album but the choice of material is first rate: showcasing the best of the burgeoning new/alt country movement (Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch) and paying homage to the generation of singer-songwriters that influenced them (Dylan, Neil Young). Only the Daniel Lanois production dates it slightly.
After Gram Parsons' death, Emmylou became something of a keeper of the flame, performing his songs and in 1999 overseeing a tribute album, 'The Return of The Grievous Angel', which saw some of the cream of the alt country crop pay their respects.
Part 1 of this very personal guide down the lost highway of country music focused on The Old Guard. Here I present 'Mavericks and Missing Links' - artists who provide the missing link between the old guard and the alt-country scene that emerged in the 1990s. For context I would suggest reading 'No Stetson Required' first and, of course, the same caveats mentioned in part 1 apply here.
6) Gram Parsons - 'GP/Grievous Angel' (1973/4)
Cecil Ingram Connor III first came to wide attention when he joined The Byrds in 1968 and the resultant album, 'Sweetheart of The Rodeo', strongly bears his mark. Sadly America wasn't ready for it's favourite psychedelic-folkies to 'go country'. Ironically, Parsons' brand of country-rock laid the groundwork for America's biggest ever band, The Eagles - who he famously dismissed as 'a plastic dry fuck'... Parsons left The Byrds after just five months, taking Chris Hillman with him, forming The Flying Burrito Brothers. Parsons described their work as Cosmic American Music, which to you and me is spaced-out hippies harmonising like (fallen) angels over a choir of pedal steel guitars. Hot Burrito #1 may well be alt country's finest ever 3 minutes.
7) Elvis Costello - Almost Blue (1981)
Now, I'm a huge Costello fan. I loved the early stuff with the Attractions and even stuck with him during the weird, beardy years (Mighty Like A Rose and I even liked the album with the Brodsky Quartet) but I must confess I didn't 'get' this album at the time (or indeed until about 20 years after its release). Coming between the brilliant 'Trust' and 'Imperial Bedroom' this album of country covers was, at best, a left field move, at worst career suicide. The George Jones cover, 'A Good Year For The Roses' was a surprise top ten hit (his last), and the album charted well on the back of this, but commercially speaking I don't think his career ever recovered from this bold move.
Costello clearly anticipated this reaction, attaching a warning sticker to the first pressings of the album.
To put this in context we should remember that the biggest 'country' artists at the time were Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. The pop charts of 1981 were dominated by Adam & The Ants, The Specials, Soft Cell, The Human League; The New Romantic movement reached its zenith.
The cynic in me almost wonders whether 'Almost Blue' was a deliberate act of self-sabotage. This was so far from 'Angry Young Man' of New Wave it enabled him to pretty much record whatever the hell he wanted on the back of it. Having said that, his version of 'How Much I Lied' may well be better than the Gram Parsons' original.
8) Steve Earle - Guitar Town (1986)
Earle's debut, 'Guitar Town' set the tone for the following three decades: raw, heartfelt words set to wistful ballads and bludgeoning hard rock, and all points inbetween.
At times he taps into the spirit of a disaffected working-class in the manner of Springsteen. And I think he must have been the first person to rhyme 'asphalt' with 'my fault'.
9) Emmylou Harris- Wrecking Ball (1995)
Despite penning the beautiful 'Bolder to Birmingham' on her debut album, Emmylou is better known as an interpreter of other people's songs. A peerless one at that. 'Wrecking Ball' is largely a covers album but the choice of material is first rate: showcasing the best of the burgeoning new/alt country movement (Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch) and paying homage to the generation of singer-songwriters that influenced them (Dylan, Neil Young). Only the Daniel Lanois production dates it slightly.
