Report From The Country, Part Seven: The Cruel World
6 Comments Published May 31st, 2006 in Treasure
This is the “oddball” collection. This is the one that confirms standing prejudices that country music is best when dark, that madness lurks just beneath the veneer of fiddle and steel guitar, that its politics are morbid and reactionary. This is the collection that makes country music look like a socio-anthropological artifact of a long dead micro culture. This is the one you’ve been waiting for.
You know this world is rough — Johnny Cash sang as much. But sometimes you can’t help but wonder: how do men like Bill or George manage to stay tough enough to, as the song says, “make it?” According to the top troubadours in the county field, you don’t avoid, justify or complain. You just have to live with it.
Which isn’t to say that country folks suffer any more than anyone else. They just seem to dwell upon it more. For them, the path to catharsis isn’t the frantic dyonisianism available to rock fans. It doesn’t matter if it’s the casual barnyard cruelty of a life of hardscrabble, the emotional wear and tear of ill-fortune, or just the general-purpose unfathomability of an unfair and uncaring universe. Sometimes the only thing standing between you and the urge to beat somebody to death with your bare hands is just a song. Or perhaps a recitation set to music.
Obviously, the songs in this collection have been chosen for their over-the-top quality, and you can’t help but laugh as the pile-on of misery reaches critical mass. But as this harrowing article reprinted at the Living In Stereo site so aply points out, it would be a mistake to adopt a strictly revisionist point of view. Despite their obvious kitsch appeal, the intentions of the artists included here are (probably) sincere.
Nowadays, it seems the market for this kind of material has pretty much dried up. But it’s too soon to get out the shovels. Pro-war sentiment, lifestyle-centric phobia and the urge for law and order continue to hold on our culture in their grip. Meanwhile, the recent fate of country legend Billy Walker shows that tragedy is also alive and well. And mindless violence never seems to go out of style. We could yet be headed for a new golden age.
Download “Report From The Country, Volume Seven”
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1. Slap Her Down Again Paw – Esmereldy & Her Novelty Band
2. My Dad Gave My Dog Away – T. Texas Tyler
3. The Knoxville Girl – Wilburn Brothers
4. (Jim) I Wore a Tie Today – Eddy Arnold
5. The World Lost A Man – David Price
6. Mommy, Can I Still Call Him Daddy – Dottie West
7. Walker’s Woods – Ed Bruce
8. Julie – Porter Wagoner
9. The Last Goodbye – Dick Miles
10. Vance – Roger Miller
11. Sing A Song About Love – Bobby Wright
12. Mister Professor – Leroy Van Dyke
13. Pencil Marks On The Wall – Henson Cargill
14. A Part Of America Died – Eddy Arnold
As someone who had never generally listened to country music willingly or attentively, I’d like to say that I’ve really loved this series you’ve been running here. Particularly the George Jones’ Dancetown USA and Songs of the Restless collections I found myself listening to over and over. This section was an interesting change in tone, although I think theres been a lot of undertones about cruelty, sorrow and hardship in it all. Although the article you link to suggests that most rock fans are quick to label the genre as the expression of some kind of nostalgia, it does seem like a rather implicit character of it. Although maybe it’s not a nostalgia for something long lost, but rather just in the difficulty of holding onto any kind of life in a world that’s always changing. One thing I thought rather interesting was in a search I did on Knoxville Girl, it’s apparently a derivative of an older English ballad called Wexford Girl, which although seemingly more violent in its lyrics, serves as cautionary tale unlike the Knoxville Girl which just describes almost a bitter cruelty. I’ve grown up and lived only in the Northeast, but I think there’s a kind of endemic penchant for darkness in the American character, and its even here in the music of the hearth of the country.
I don’t disagree that there are “dark” undercurrents in many old country songs — certainly there are in the not-necessarily-representative selections offered on this site. After sifting through hundreds and hundreds of songs in order to distill these compilations, what strikes me is not the darkness, but the strong undercurrents of uninterestingness. But all of my choices have struggle of one sort or another as their theme. What interests me is not so much how this reflects the American character, but how struggle and hardship get encoded into the shorthand of popular music.
I just found out about this site, and it’s already at the top of my blog lists. I’m making my way through the reports from the country and so far, really like Songs About Bad Choices, the George Jones live LP and Songs of the Restless (love “Bob” and “Big Daddy” especially). Your picks are well done. Great job and thanks a lot!
Thanks, Andy! Those are my favorites as well.
Dagnabbit! Someone just told me about this site and raved about The Cruel World.” Alas, I can’t access it (hadn’t noticed that your posts for it are 3 yrs old).
Is there another place i might find?
I adore this sort of deathy country too. Ever since hearing the Louvins “In the Pines”. I had loads of Folkways records when growing up – so much of the Anglo Scot Irish music of yore are in the same wheelhouse.
Cool blog. I look forward to checking back in.
-hilary
ps: I used to work at Island Records bck when it was a real label!
Even though the Rapidshare links on some of these older posts are dead, the Alternate links still work.
Happy exploring!