Country: My Personal Big Three

[Jason]

For at least the last five years or so, a lot of country music has taken up a good portion of my listening. And by country, I mean country. There have only been a few exceptions after the 80's.

The three country artists that have taken over for me are Johnny Horton, Hank Williams and Marty Robbins, with Johnny Cash a close 4th. I've yet to hear a song I haven't enjoyed from any of them. I realize Johnny Horton is more rockabilly, but I still liken him to the country of that era. Just feels right.

As of right now, Marty's entire album of Gunfighter Ballads & Trail Songs is getting a lot of playing time. Personal highlights are the obvious Big Iron and El Paso (the longer version) and also Billy The Kid, Saddle Tramp, The Master's Call, Running Gun (different perspective of the Big Iron story!) and the first time I heard They're Hanging Me Tonight, I couldn't believe my ears. The emotion just pours out of his voice in that song. Impossible not to like. Marty knew how to tell a story, and he knew how to sing it even better.

[Man in Black]

You can't go wrong with those 3, love them all.


Mine would have to be 4 as they are inseparable to me.

Merle Haggard
Waylon Jennings
Willie Nelson
Johnny Cash

These guys and their sound are literally part of me. I grew up listening to them in their prime and the lyrics of their songs are ingrained in who I am... the lessons they taught, the feelings they brought out and now the nostalgia they re-animate.

And I got to see Hag in Gatlinburg and Willie and Bob Dylan in Greenville. Unfortunately I missed seeing Johnny and Waylon.

[Jason]

I was just listening to this song on the way home, today.

[Man in Black]

Lol at the young, baby-faced Hag!

[Jason]

Did you hear about the Hank Williams movie coming out next month? Tom Hiddleston plays Hank. I was skeptical, and so was Hank III.

I guess Hank III heard Hiddleston sing before the sneak peek was released. He slammed him badly and said only a southern man should've played the role. He has no soul or moan in his voice. They released a clip of the movie on youtube with Hiddleston playing Hank, recording Move It On Over in the studio. It wasn't very good. Which bummed me out. I heard about this movie like a year ago. I'm sure the acting will hold up, and hopefully the story is told properly.

Elizabeth Olsen plays his first wife, so I am excited about it. She is my baybeh doll.

[Man in Black]

Lol...

No I didn't hear about this movie. But TH and EO are very good actors. I'm a HUGE TH mark after the Thor films. I can see him as Hank easily. I know nothing about his singing but I'm sure they'll figure that out... I think that the acting is more important with these things. While Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon sounded great in "Walk the Line"... they did NOT sound exactly like June and Johnny. And that film was brilliant! As a side note... Hank III has not exactly endeared himself to the country world so I'd take anything he says with a grain of salt.

Thanks for the heads up on this one... gives me something to look forward to.


On the same vibe (not exactly country but great music movies)... have you heard of "Love and Mercy" the Brian Wilson movie? It completely slipped by me in the theaters but is out on video soon. He is one of my all time favorite musicians and his story is infinitely fascinating. Stars John Cusack as Wilson... don't know about the fit but at least he's a good actor. It is supposed to be very historically accurate as even said by Wilson himself. The producers were worried about some of the content because the true events were so strange that they feared audiences wouldn't believe the stuff really happened.

[Jason]

Haven't heard of it. Slipped by me, too. Gonna have to check it out when I can. His story is pretty crazy, especially if you only knew him as the Beach Boy.

[Man in Black]

Yeah, I got into his post BB music about 15-20 years back. And then I read his biography and was amazed. He is a wacky genius for sure. In my opinion he's one of the top 5 musical minds in history.

[Jason]

The guy playing him is a pretty good actor, too. Should be a promising flick. I don't know as much about his life as I'd like to. Hopefully the movie (both movies here) do the musicians justice.

Here's that clip from the Hank movie I mentioned...
Also, I thought Hank said "My poor key don't fit no more" ...?

[Jason]

All of a sudden Hank's Move It On Over video on youtube has eclipsed a million views. On one hand I like seeing different generations getting into older music like that, on another hand, if they heard it for any other reason aside from Tom Hiddleston bringing them there, they probably would've hated it.