Forgive me, but I’m feeling a little sentimental this weekend. I need a good dose of an artist who is a good distance past her commercial peak, but too damn good to be forgotten:
Pam Tillis.
After all these years, she’s still the bomb diggity.
Who else do you think is too damn good to be forgotten?
Gotta shout out Roger Miller again. He’s been dead for sixteen years and I wasn’t even alive when he was making music, but dang, what a frickin’ great history lesson.
As an addendum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5cDuzselc4
Stonewall Jackson – they simply don’t come any more country than Stonewall
Jeannie C Riley – her MGM and MCA recordings were outstanding (and totally overlooked)
speaking of overlooked – jeannie c riley is also absolutely wonderful in that youtube clip of “the girl most likely” that comes with the summary in the “100 greatest women” countdown. the various facial expressions that she displays in that clip are only beaten by doris day’s in those 60′ “pillow movies” and loreley gilmore’s face, when she looks up to the traffic light, through the windshield of her car (at the beginning of each show) – cracks me up every time i watch it. i love jeannie’s confident “yeah, yeah” in that song too. the way she moves in that mini-dress is so funny and frankly, i’d spend quite a few pennies for the thoughts of some of those husbands and wifes sitting down in the audience, when that show was cut.
why bobbie cryner was overlooked is still one of the greater mysteries
in country music to me. sounded good, wrote fine songs, looked great and disappeared almost without a trace.
Rosanne Cash.
Kathy Mattea.
Mary Chapin Carpenter.
Patty Loveless (?)
Ditto on the Pam Tillis vote.
i was just listening to “portland, oregon” with loretta lynn and jack white, and thinking how nice it was to hear her, no matter which time period you name as her prime, she is still making awesome music
i also have to second all of LJ’s list
and add Wynnona…(I am in a bit of a sentimental mood as well…was just listening to some “No One Else On Earth”)
I would take the question mark away from Patty Loveless. Her commercial stats have been disappointed for 3-4 years now and she’s done limited touring lately, but her consistent quality and tremendous output commercial/critical output of the 90s have been swept away by today’s kiddie trends.
More votes for Roger Miller, Pam Tillis, and Patty Loveless.
Also, Vern Gosdin and Earl Thomas Conley.
Vern Gosdin
John Anderson
Clint Black – great voice, great persona…. and it’s hard to recall, but his first few albums were just classic… if someone could grab him around his neck and remind him of what he used to be… maybe just maybe he’d actually pick some decent songs and make a comeback.
Patty Loveless
I’m listening to WSM and was just reminded of Earl Thomas Conley. Ol ETC is a classic.
I also agree with the question mark I put after Patty’s name. While she would get airplay on a station like WSM, getting on the FM dial is a whole other thing.
I recently attended the Eddie Stubbs’ Kathy Mattea interview at the Country Music HoF and was so pleased to talk to so many Patty Loveless fans…. as well as her representing on these boards. She is such a great tip of the old school hat while also remaining classy enough to stay out of the headlines.
I hope her next cd really brings the spotlight back on her. Not that I consider Music Row any kind of yardstick but more in terms of Grammy, etc. Much like Kathy Mattea’s latest “Coal” is all but ignored by Music Row but has received some Grammy thoughts.
Re: Clint Black. Bless his heart. While his first cd (maybe even second) were so new and great at the time, they just haven’t aged well IMO. Also, I just can’t take that voice for more than a song. He and Gary LeVox (but that’s a whole other board). ;-)
(WSM is playing Clint now….)
Another vote for Pam Tillis. Damn she’s good.
How about the ultimate pair of left-of-center female legends: Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris?
Also, I think people today take someone like Tom T. Hall for granted these days–not only for his songwriting (“Harper Valley PTA”), but for his own hits (“Old Dogs, Children, And Watermelon Wine”, and the immortal “A Week In A Country Jail”)
Terri Clark was at one point one of the hottest new acts in Nashville. She made some great country albums – and if you don’t count 2001’s Pain To Kill, her output has been damn consistent. I want to hear TC back on the radio and with a new album.
I heard one track from her yet to be announced new release, ‘Nashville Girls’. Clark pays homage to Emmylou Harris, Jessi Colter, and June Carter among others and gets some vocal assistance from Sara Evans, Martina McBride, and Reba. Sounded like a hit to me …
Terri Clark was at one point one of the hottest new acts in Nashville. She made some great country albums – and if you don’t count 2001’s Pain To Kill, her output has been damn consistent. I want to hear TC back on the radio and with a new album.
I heard one track from her yet to be announced new release, ‘Nashville Girls’. The tune is stone country with lines like ‘Nashville Girls got big hair for a reason/So tease them curls, jack em up to Jesus’.
Clark pays homage to Emmylou Harris, Jessi Colter, and June Carter among others and gets some vocal assistance from Sara Evans, Martina McBride, and Reba on the song. Sounded like a hit to me …
Wynonna, Clint Black, MCC, Pam Tillis….all good choices.
Patty Loveless, of course, and also Bobbie Cryner. Bobbie’s two albums were just wonderful and I am so bummed she never had a breakthrough hit. Anyone know what’s she doing now? Kevin, maybe you could start a feature on acts like Bobbie, who came and went along with a “where are they now” kind of thing.
I have to agree to with Bobbie and Terri – two of my favs —
Pam Tillis is timeless…as is Dolly, Patty, The Judds, Tammy and the most overlooked artist of the past twenty years….Miss Chely Wright…she’s just too damn good to be forgotten….IMO
I also agree about Chely Wright, she is a constant on my ipod, I also like SheDaisy, Jessica Andrews, Shelly Fairchild, and Tammy Cochran – to name a few who are in my ipod –
I’m right there with you on SHeDaisy.
Diamond Rio-too bad they never made it to superstar status. At least their Chirstmas album was well-recived and they appear to still recieve award nominations, which helps them retain a little of their commercial potential.
Marty Stuart-great entertainer
Blackhawk-very underrated
Radney Foster-great songwriter
Vince Gill-His albums still sell, even if radio doesn’t play him anymore
Patty Loveless-she should have been even more famous than she was
It seems like every comment I make here has to do with the greatness of Bobbie Cryner, but since she has been mentioned by others in these comments, I want to chime in, also. I also really enjoyed Marty Brown’s debut release (from around 1989 or so) and he never made it. Mandy Barnett had a fantastic cd that bombed. Pirates of the Mississippi were good. I guess the thread is about peope who DID make it, but aren’t as popular now, so I’m off topic. Recently bought a book that lists every charting country single from 1944-1997 (it was out of date, so on sale). Thought I knew a lot about country music, but there were people in the book who had several charting singles that I have NEVER heard of — like Mundo Earwood, Anthony Armstrong Jones, and David Rogers. Also didn’t know that Kix Brooks WROTE several hit singles before he and Ronnie Dunn ever teamed up.
Sorry. Little late.
I would second the message for Clint Black to get things back on track (and I completely disagree with LJ – his albums have stood the test and his voice is wonderful).
As far as who I would put at the top of this list – in no particular order:
Don Williams
Gene Watson
Kathy Mattea
Earl Thomas Conley
Michael Johnson
Holly Dunn
Susy Bogguss
Doug Stone
John Conlee
Baillie and the Boys
I really wish I had gotten to this thread on time, but there you go.