“The heart is a lonely Hunter”, song written by Mark D. Sanders, Kim Williams and Ed Hill, and recorded by Reba McEntire for her album “Read My Mind” from 1994, now 25 years ago. This song was the fourth single from this piece of work, and it became #1 both in the US and Canadian country singles charts in 1995. The song talks about a woman who has been feeling lonely too long and is trying to find love at any price in all the wrong places. Hence, the name of the song: the heart is a lonely hunter.
Lest than a week separates us from the new album by Reba, the 33rd in her career, and as many experts prognosticate, the most country of them all. To say goodbye until we listen to some of them next week, we will listen to the first single that we listened to some weeks ago here in Grand Country: “No U turn in Oklahoma”, a Western Swing melody that will make you move your feet.
Austin's famed dancehall the Broken Spoke is pictured in the cover of Honky Tonk Time Machine, George Strait's 30th album. If you pay attention and look closely it's possible to see a hint of the new apartment buildings that crowd this historic landmark: it's there on the right side, peeking into a frame that deliberately cuts out these horrible constructions, and the main reason why Dale Watson left Austin and the Broken Spoke, as we explained two editions ago. This is all the better to present the Broken Spoke as the physical embodiment of the titular Honky Tonk Time Machine, a place that sends the listener back to the good ole days. Strait's music is a honky tonk time machine of its own lingering to traditions that seemed old-fashioned even when he delivered his debut album in 1981, Strait Country, almost 40 years ago. Honky Tonk Time Machine belongs in the same universe as Strait Country -- it may not have much in the way of Western Swing, but it's filled with barroom ballads, honky tonk sound, and a hint of Old Mexico, but it's clearly the work of a veteran who isn't concerned with keeping up with trends. Singing many songs co-written with his son Bubba and Dean Dillon like he’s done a zillion times, Strait doesn't attempt much new except for how he finally gets to "Sing One with Willie," a delightful duet with Willie Nelson, the other undisputed king of Texas country.
We’ve just listened to two of the songs included in this fantastic piece of work: “Take me Away”, written by Strait himself, and “Two More Wishes”, written by Jim Lauderdale.
Let’s listen to a couple more songs from the album. The first one is the song “God and Country Music”, a matter-of-fact spiritual song that might soften hardboiled atheists — even if the charming kid’s voice at the end (it belongs to Strait’s grandson) feels like cheating. The song was penned by the power trio of Luke Laird, Barry Dean and Lori McKenna. It’s an idealized vision of country’s power to unite, and religion’s. But good on Strait for pitching it. The second one, named “Codigo”, written again by Strait himself, is a good taste of Old Mexico, so close to his house in San Antonio, Texas.
This second LP since George Strait’s retirement from touring is a trip back to when country radio didn’t suck as a rule. Whether he's performing an ode to tequila, juke joints, or covering Johnny Paycheck's "Old Violin," Strait sings with humor, tenderness, and ease, qualities that lend the deliberately nostalgic Honky Tonk Time Machine grace, resonance, and depth. Perhaps this isn't a new trick for Strait, but it's one to be cherished nonetheless. To say goodbye to George and move on, we’ll celebrate George Strait and Willie Nelson's duet on "Sing One With Willie", the song we always knew we needed and can't believe we didn't have yet. The collaboration is one of the most talked-about songs from Strait's just-released album, and finds the icon looking back on his career, but questioning why he never had the chance to sing Nelson before now.
So, we’ll listen to these two songs, Strait’s rendition to Johnny Paycheck’s “Old Violin”, and his duet with Willie Nelson in this “Sing One With Willie”.
In June 2018, Willie Nelson released a public statement criticizing the Trump administration family separation policy. During his annual Fourth of July Picnic, Nelson was joined on stage by Beto O'Rourke, a candidate in the 2018 Senate election in Texas, running against Ted Cruz. Nelson later gave his endorsement to O'Rourke, and received critics among the conservative part of his fan base.
On September 29, 2018 Nelson offered a free concert in Austin, Texas, supporting O'Rourke's campaign efforts. At the end of the concert, Nelson debuted his new song "Vote 'Em Out", which he have just listened here. The track was released as a single on October 11, almost 6 months ago.
This year marks the 25th year of the release of his album “Healing Hands of Time”, which curiously enough is a crooning one, just like his last one published last year 2018 dedicated to Frank Sinatra under the name “My Way”. While none of the songs is country enough to be listened to in this show, we will choose one of the many times Willie has recorded this beautiful piece of music, listening to his most modern version from 2017 included in his record “Willie Nelson and the Boys, Willie’s Stash Volume 2”, this time next to the voices of his two sons, Lukas and Micah, sounding much more traditional than any of this other versions.
Singing the classic “I saw the light”, we’ve listened to Willie Nelson collaborating with Alison Krauss in a concert in the summer last year, just to get an excuse to listen to the last album released by Alison, this “Windy City” from a year and a half ago. This classic “It’s Goodbye and So Long to you” is included in the fifth solo studio album by bluegrass-country artist Alison Krauss, a classic by the Osborne Brothers. Released on February 17, 2017, the album is Krauss' first solo release in almost eighteen years, and includes ten covers of classic songs that she selected with producer Buddy Cannon, who also collaborates in the background vocals, as will Dan Timinsky and Hank Williams, Jr.
The album debuted at number one on both the country and Americana charts in the US and UK, as well as number nine on the all-genre Billboard 200, and as of March 2018 the album has sold some 128,000 copies in the United States.
Alison Krauss is one of the artists who helped break down the barriers between bluegrass and mainstream country music, but even though country radio was willing to make room for her, Krauss never seemed to be interested in following their directives or courting their favor. Krauss has always followed her own creative path and let the audience come to her with her mature approach to acoustics. Thirty years into her recording career, Krauss has made her most specifically "country" album to date.
Windy City is a polished and carefully crafted tribute to the countrypolitan sounds of the '50s and '60s, music that fused the emotional honesty and personal storytelling of country with smooth, sophisticated production dominated by pianos and strings, and the set list draws from old standards rather than contemporary compositions. Her stellar fiddle work appears on only one track. She meets the demands of the material beautifully, and she brings a warmth and subtle passion to songs like "Gentle on My Mind" and "You Don't Know Me" that makes you briefly forget the definitive recordings of these classics. Let’s listen to a couple of numbers more: “Windy City”, the classic by The Osborne Brothers penned by Bobby Osborne, and “Gentle on my mind”, the unforgettable classic by Glenn Campbell.
It remains to be seen if Windy City is a brief creative detour for Alison Krauss or the first salvo of a new creative direction. But if Krauss wants to be the new voice of retro countrypolitan music, Windy City leaves no doubt that she has the talent and the intelligence to make it work, and this album is a richly satisfying experience.
Just to say goodbye with a great mood, we’ll listen to three great pieces, “Dream of me”, a rendition to Vern Gosdin’s classic from 1981 and curiously enough written by Buddy Cannon, who produced Alison Krauss’ album we’ve just listened to, then we’ll play “Poison Love”, the traditional 50s classic country number from the duet Johnny and Jack, and “You Don’t know me” a song from Eddy Arnold written by Cindy Walker based on a title and storyline given to her by Eddy in 1955, who was really made famous by Ray Charles, taking it to the #2 of the Easy Listening charts in 1962.
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