Welcome to my super-opinionated alt.country music guide!
As a fella who's been listening to hick music for decades now, I have viewed the whole alterna-country scene of the '80s and '90s with mixed feelings. On one hand -- yay, country music!! On the other hand... all that drawls is not Hank Williams. There's a tendency for many alt.country fans (and journalists) to uncritically cheer on every band that picks up a fiddle and sings off-key... I, for one, think there's some value in being critical. Why settle for second-, third- or fourth-best?
Anyway, here's a quick look at some of alt.country's standout artists... This "guide" is incomplete for several reasons, not the least of which are shortages of time and money. Also, originally I had only intended to review alt.country records I like, and now that that the section's been expanded to be more inclusive, it may look a bit more sparse than the original, more compact version. What are my criteria? In short, I like folks who can play well, and who really "get" the vibe of country music. I'm particularly not fond of bands who play up to white trash stereotypes (henceforth known as WTS), or artists that I think are stuck up, stagey, or overrated. Yeah, I know... It's all a matter of taste... that's why I'm expressing mine.
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
Comps
Burl Ives "...Sings Little White Duck And Other Children's Favorites" (Columbia Harmony, 1974?)
Can't say as I'd recommend this one. This is an unfortunate collision of Ive's standard-issue, inoffensive folkie fare with the cluttered, overly clever pop-orchestral arrangements that were "in" back in the 1950s and early '60s... sort of the Mitch Miller-ization of Ive's kiddie repertoire. Nice songs, but all the orchestrations are way to busy and baroque, and the record never settles down to let the songs speak for themselves. The CD reissue lists the copyright date as 1974, but as far as I can tell, this was originally released in 1960; the LP reissue in '74 also added another unwelcome sonic complication in that it was remixed into fake stereo... I suppose there's a slight chance that the original mono version sounds a little better, but I wouldn't count on it.
Ella Jenkins "Growing Up With Ella Jenkins" (Smithsonian Folkways, 1976)
An off-the-cuff album by this iconic children's music pioneer. Jenkins performs and leads various songs and games along with performing partner Guy Guilbert, at the Mary Crane Day Care Center in Chicago, IL. The innocence (and belief in innocence) that these performances embody is pretty touching: it's hard to imagine in this era of amped-up, high-tech, quick edit product-placement heavy, violence-driven media bombardment that many kids would sit still for "Farmer Brown Had Ten Green Apples" or "Barnacle Bill The Sailor" -- but then again, what do I know? Maybe you just gotta get 'em young enough. Jenkins is cool, too, for how many new songs she introduces to the canon
More Kiddie Records
Hick Music Index
