30 Days Out (From Christmas): Country

 

Day 19 – Nothing goes better with Christmas than sadness.  And nothing goes better with a sad Christmas than cheap beer and country music.  The “classic” country music artists knew this, and they cranked out some of the hoariest tearjerkers of all time.

A word here about country music – we’re going to avoid the current so-called country music artists.  For one thing, I don’t know what the hell these people are doin’!  It sure doesn’t sound like country music.  And of course we’ll steer clear of Grandma and Reindeer crossings, so pull up a box of Kleenex and shed a few tears for Christmas.

MP3: “Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus” by George Jones & Tammy Wynette

MP3: “If We Make It Through December” by Merle Haggard

MP3: “Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy” by Buck Owens

MP3: “Hard Candy Christmas” by Dolly Parton

MP3: “Christmas Time’s A-Coming” by Jerry Reed

MP3: “Pretty Paper” by Willie Nelson

MP3: “Mommy, Look Santa Is Crying” by Stonewall Jackson

MP3: “Christmas Without Daddy” by Loretta Lynn

MP3: “Shut In At Christmas” by Charlie Louvin

MP3: “Truckin’ Trees For Christmas” by Red Simpson

MP3: “Light Of The Stable” by Emmylou Harris (with Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt & Neil Young)

MP3: “The Little Drummer Boy” by Johnny Cash

MP3: Johnny Cash Holiday Message

MP3: “O Come All Ye Faithful” by George Jones

MP3: “Silent Night” by Jim Reeves

MP3: “White Christmas” by Tammy Wynette

MP3: “Jingle Bells” by Chet Atkins

Review: “All I Intended To Be,” Emmylou Harris

 

Emmylou Harris is a country music icon, but that doesn’t mean she gets played on the radio alongside Carrie Underwood and Kenny Chesney.  Harris is an artist of amazing grace and class, and every album she releases just reinforces that impression.  So All I Intended To Be, Emmylou’s first solo album in five years, fits comfortably alongside her past work.  Harris seems to work best when she has interesting collaborators – here, she sings with Dolly Parton, Vince Gill and Kate and Anna McGarrigle on 13 songs that shiver with the ache of melancholy and loss.  “Gold,” with Parton and Gill warbling behind Emmylou’s fragile vocal, is one of six that Emmylou wrote or co-wrote (a few with the McGarrigle sisters).  All I Intended To Be is a perfect mood piece for a cloudy winter’s day, and perhaps it could use a few livelier tempos.  But this music is transcendent and completely assured: even when Harris and McGarrigles cop the Carter Family riff for “How She Could Sing Wildwood Flower” they turn it into an original and emotionally affecting moment.  The covers, including Merle Haggard’s “Kern River” and Patty Griffin’s “Moon Song,” fit in perfectly with the originals.  With its folk/Americana sepia tinge, All I Intended To Be may appear to be down-home, but this is truly an uptown production. 

MP3: “Gold”

MP3: “How She Could Sing Wildwood Flower”

Emmylou Harris official website