Sometimes, when you've had your fill of people basking in the golden light of their self-righteous indignation, you just wanna hear a song about somebody telling those holier-than-thou-ers where to get off. Something like, say, Harper Valley PTA. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Apr 24, 2008 - 39 comments

Do you have a hard time relating to popular country music? Hank III is doing his best to play country music the way he thinks it should be. Not everyone likes him, but he drives some folks wild. [more inside]
posted by nola on Oct 8, 2007 - 49 comments

Boots Randolph has died. The Nashville saxophonist's signature was the hit Yakety Sax, better known to some as the Benny Hill Theme Song. Boots was one of the A-Team studio musicians who defined the Nashville Sound. He played with Elvis, recorded hundreds of albums both as backup and headliner, and never retired from performing. Listen to his music.
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot on Jul 10, 2007 - 13 comments

Dim Lights, Thick Smoke, and Loud, Loud Music Photgrapher Henry Horenstein's Honky-Tonk: Portraits of Country Music, 1972-1981 captures a sound in transition. This evocative collection of informal, black-and-white portraits of country musicians and fans in bars, backstage, and on the road illustrate a decade when smoky roadhouses and venerated venues began to give way to the more mainstream Countrypolitan or "Nashville" sound. Seminal artists like Mother Maybelle Carter and Bill Monroe mingled backstage with shinier newcomers like Dolly Parton and Anne Murray. But even as the commercial sound was dominating, youngsters mixing with old-timers sparked the first wave of old-time/bluegrass revival, and some of the artists who got started then still carry the torch for a non-Nashville sound today. In this online exhibit you can watch it all unfold.
posted by Miko on Feb 2, 2007 - 30 comments