#GreatAlbums1950s - TOP 10 - #JohnnyCash – With His Hot and Blue Guitar (1957). From his deep baritone to the chug of the Tennessee Two to jaw-dropping lyrics (“I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die”), JC’s career at Sun was iconic. This debut LP has showstoppers (“Folsom Prison Blues,” “I Walk the Line”), folk standards (“Rock Island Line,” “Wreck of the Old 97”), and straight country (“Country Boy,” “Remember Me”) – all rendered with the classic Cash charisma.
#GreatAlbums1950s - #MartyRobbins – Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs (1959). This LP dramatized the American West through Robbins’s narratorial vocal style and cinematic arrangements. “Big Iron” and “El Paso” are original highlights amid traditional fare like “Billy the Kid” and “Cool Water.” Pervasive tragedy in the lyrics pulls the reins against Robbins’s smooth delivery. Breaking Bad fans will recall use of “El Paso” as a musical motif in the show’s finale, “Falina.”
#GreatAlbums1950s - #HankWilliams – Moanin’ the Blues (1952). One of two 10-inch LPs released during Williams’s lifetime, Moanin’ briefly encapsulated the bluesier side of the Williams canon on “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “I’m a Long Gone Daddy,” “The Blues Come Around” and five other tracks. The expanded version (available on streaming) adds raw solo-acoustic outtakes, including the brooding “Alone and Forsaken,” from one of the greatest bodies of music ever created.
#GreatAlbums1950s - #LeftyFrizell – Listen to Lefty (1952). The archetypal hard-living honkytonk journeyman of the fifties, Lefty remains best known for “If You’ve Got the Money (I’ve Got the Time),” which temporarily made him a friendly rival to Hank Williams on the country hit parade. This ten-inch LP (digitized on Apple and Spotify) presents eight songs from Frizell’s heyday as a singer able to twang the heartstrings while keeping a firm eye on hardscrabble realities.
#GreatAlbums1950s - #TheLouvinBrothers – Satan is Real (1959). As famous for its kitschy cover as the music within, this LP is a rare country-gospel classic. “The Christian Life,” famous from The Byrds’ cover on Sweetheart of the Rodeo, epitomizes the Louvins’ immaculate close harmonies and bluegrassy twang. There’s plenty of fire and brimstone to scare the wits out of believers, but songs like “The Drunkard’s Doom” are just as concerned with earthly demons of the flesh.
#GreatAlbums1990s - #ShaniaTwain – #ComeOnOver (1997). The guitars twang and the odd fiddle invades the mix, but this is pop music by any sane definition. Mutt Lange’s glistening production is sweet enough to rot teeth, but there’s no arguing with the craft of songs like “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” and “You’re Still the One.” Plus, as Klosterman notes, for every person who bought Live Through This, 14 bought a copy of Shania – and guess who Taylor Swift prefers.
#GreatAlbums1990s – #TheMavericks – #WhatACryingShame (1994). Led by Raul Malo’s resonant vocals, this Miami country combo brought a dose of good ole honky tonk to a genre obsessed with stadium overkill at the time. Echoes of George Jones run through memorable tunes like “There Goes My Heart” and “Neon Blue.” Malo’s keening voice touches a Roy Orbison nerve on the title track, “I Should Have Been True” and Jesse Winchester’s “O What a Thrill.”
Great_Albums