A Country Music Conversation: Introduction and Index
Previous Entry: Day 24: “Whole Lotta Love On the Line” to “You Don’t Seem to Miss Me”
Day 25 concludes the series with tracks from Marty Robbins, Anne Murray, Bobbie Cryner, The Judds, and Diamond Rio.
“You Gave Me a Mountain”
Marty Robbins
Written by Marty Robbins
Marty Robbins sang so many styles so well. He could do pure country, western epics, and melodramatic ballads like this one. And oh, is this one melodramatic. The sheer fury of his voice keeps the whole record on the right side of maudlin.
Other Favorites: “My Woman, My Woman, My Wife,” “I’ll Go On Alone,” “El Paso”
“You Needed Me”
Anne Murray
Written by Randy Goodrum
I’d always heard this song from a distance, and assumed it was about a love gone wrong. When I truly heard it for the first time, and discovered it was about self-redemption through love, I was stunned. With time, I now believe that it’s the most beautiful song that I’ve ever heard.
Other Favorites: “Could I Have This Dance,” “Danny’s Song,” “A Little Good News”
“You’d Think He’d Know Me Better”
Bobbie Cryner
Written by Bobbie Cryner
Bobbie Cryner is an extraordinary writer, but it is her skills as a vocalist on “You’d Think He’d Know Me Better” that redeem the character she wrote into life. The words are of a cold and distant woman. The voice reveals the lonely and hurt woman beneath that cold and distant surface.
Other Favorites: “Vision of Loneliness,” “Leavin’ Houston Blues,” “The Girl of Your Dreams”
“Young Love (Strong Love)”
The Judds
Written by Paul Kennerley and Kent Robbins
Wynonna was really coming into her own as a vocalist by the time this record rolled around, and The Judds were becoming less dependent on those goosebump-inducing familial harmonies. Listen to the way that Wy delivers that third verse, and you can almost hear her solo career coming to life. “Young Love (Strong Love)” captures the transition, and in doing so, we get the best of both worlds.
Other Favorites: “Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout the Good Old Days),” “Love is Alive,” “Why Not Me”
“You’re Gone”
Diamond Rio
Written by Jon Vezner and Paul Williams
A song about the transformative power of one true love, and how it can leave a better man behind after it departs. He’s damn lonely, but he’s a better man nonetheless, as evidenced by the purity of the gratitude intertwined with his sorrow.
Other Favorites: “Meet in the Middle,” “Nowhere Bound,” “How Your Love Makes Me Feel”
Anne Murray with that voice like silk was a family favorite. Her voice was one of a kind.
A Love Song, Walk Right Back, You Needed Me, Shadows In The Moonlight, I Just Fall In Love Again, Broken Hearted Me, Lucky Me, Somebody’s Always Saying Goodbye, and A Little Good News.
Juddd – Mama He’s Crazy, Why Not Me, Rhythm of the Rain, Love Is Alive
I don’t have my iTunes library in front of me so I’m not sure what my most played tracks by these artists are, but my favorites include:
Anne Murray – Broken Hearted Me
Bobbie Cryner – The Girl of Your Dreams and I Didn’t Know My Own Strength (I really loved her second album so I don’t know why I have never checked out her first release from a couple years earlier)
The Judds – River of Time, Guardian Angels, Water of Love, Cry Myself to Sleep, Change of Heart, One Hundred and Two
Diamond Rio – Mama, Don’t Forget to Pray for Me, It’s All in Your Head, Nowhere Bound, In a Week or Two, Night Is Fallin’ in My Heart
Thanks for doing this series, Kevin. Really enjoyed it!
Anne Murray – You Needed Me, Wrong End of the Rainbow, A Stranger in My Place, Son of a Rotten Gambler, Song for the Mira
Diamond Rio – You’re Gone, One More Day, She Misses Him on Sunday the Most, The Love of A Woman, I Know How the River Feels
Always liked ElPaso and I like the Cryner Know Me Better song. The first time I heard of Cryner was as the writer of a 1998 Suzy Bogguss single, Nobody Love, Nobody Gets Hurt.
Anne Murray: “Shadows In The Moonlight”; “Broken Hearted Me”; Daydream Believer”; “You Won’t See Me” (reputed to be the best-ever Beatles cover by one John Lennon); “I Just Fall In Love Again”
Marty Robbins: “Big Iron”; “Don’t Worry” (dig that fuzztone guitar solo, and this was from 1961); “Devil Woman”; “El Paso” (natch!); “Some Memories Just Won’t Die”.
Thanks, Kevin, for a great series. I’ll miss it tomorrow!
I was pleasantly surprised to see You’d Think He’d Know Me Better mentioned here. I was pretty young when the song came out, but thanks to the video getting regular play on CMT, I developed a fondness for the song that I still have today.
I love its sense of drama- it’s like a two act play in three verses. I think the song is actually very Reba and I wonder if Cryner wrote it with her in mind, but decided to keep it for herself.
It’s unfortunate the album didn’t take off, it was a great collection of mature, smartly written songs (funny though, I always thought Bobbie Cryner was older at the time than she actually was). I would love to have heard more from her, it’s disappointing The Girl of Your Dreams remains her most recent album.