Americana On A Budget -- Five Recommended Sampler CDs

Damn you Waylon, you've just ruined my entire day with your request of "Top Ten Americana Albums." Those are the sorts of things that (as Stacy correctly said) "make my head explode." So in an effort to defuse that situation, I'm throwing this at you. These are five samplers that should give you a taste of the major Country, Alt Country, and Bluegrass flavors of Americana music. These will introduce you to several of the major players including Whiskeytown, the components of Uncle Tupelo, Gillian Welch, Emmylou, Ralph Stanley, Johnny & Roseanne Cash, Lucinda Williams, the Jayhawks, and on and on. And although there's no actual Gram Parsons recording in this mix, you'll get plenty of his songs in an accessible way through the Return of the Grievous Angel tribute album. (And of course this isn't what you wanted, Waylon, this is just a diversion while I answer that more difficult question -- What are the top ten Americana CDs? Damn!)

Also note that I should probably include the tribute to Alejandro Escovedo, Por Vida, as I hear so many good things about it. However, I just haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. (More's the pity!) And I've heard lots of great things about the Hank Williams and various Johnny Cash tribute albums too, I just haven't got around to them yet either. (Even more's the pity!)

A Note On Genres:
Okay, I think anyone who knows me very well knows that I think that genre wars are about the biggest waste of time there is. Most artists will migrate over several different genre styles over their career, and most songs could live under several genre headings. So I find arguing about genres is foolish. That being said, however, I do find that genres, when used loosely, can be a useful tool. I tend to use a very broad definition of the phrase "Americana music" to include anything that has its roots in traditional Celtic/English music, Blues, Country, or early Rock/Rockabilly. The major sub-genres of Americana, to me anyway, are Bluegrass, Alt Country, "Good" Country, and, well, "Americana." I've discovered recently there are folks who blend those styles so fluidly that I have to count "Americana" as a specific sub-genre of "Americana Music," the broader definition. I guess you can think of those artists and songs as just not easily fitting into either Bluegrass, Alt Country, or Country, so there's no other term other than "Americana" to call them. I think artists like Doc Watson, Gillian Welch, Nickel Creek, The Waybacks, The Duhks, Old Crow Medicine Show, etc, all fall into this "leftover" sub-genre.

Alright, on to the sampler CDs:

No Depression, What It Sounds Like
A compilation by the magazine No Depression, I highly recommend this as a sampler to get a taste for Alt Country with a few excursions in the Americana sub-genre. The highlights on this album are the Whiskeytown, Johnny Cash, Doug Sahm, Robbie Fulks & Kelly Willis, and especially Neko Case songs. There are no bad songs on this album.

Return of the Grievous Angel (A Tribute to Gram Parsons)
I love these sorts of tribute albums.They're great because they work in both directions, sometimes at the same time. Say you don't know much about Gram Parsons, but would like to. This album will get you up to speed on his greatest hits very quickly, and in the other direction it will expose you to tons of artists who were influenced by him -- thus expanding your knowledge of good bands. These tribute albums are especially useful for you young'uns learning about older artists who you might have a harder time listening to directly at first. Nothing bad against Gram, of course, who I worship, but some people find his older 70s style of Cosmic American, ahem, "Country Rock," music a little too twangy at first. Remember folks -- it's all about training our ears to overcome our prejudices -- about any and every kind of music. We think music is "good" when it speaks to us -- and that's most usually when it sounds close enough to something we already know. (Hence the massive "herd" behavior in pop music -- don't do anything new, but just crank out the same old same old.)

One of the best features of this album is Emmylou Harris harmonizing with almost every artist! Woot! My absolute favorite song on this album is the Whiskeytown version of A Song For You -- one of my favorite GP songs, one of my favorite Whiskeytown covers, and absolutely one of my most favorite bands, all wrapped up together!! I also love the cover of Sin City by Beck & Emmylou. Before Sea Change came out, Beck was a serious Country tease. His country voice is amazing. The other highlights are Wilco, the Mavericks, Gillian Welch's version of "Hickory Wind," and others. This is truly a great album.

This album is also important because it begat the historical Sessions at 54th Street episode with all these Gram covers. That was one helluva show! The biggest highlight of that show (which you must TiVo, if you can) was the cover of "Return of the Grievous Angel" by Ryan Adams and Emmylou Harris. God-damn. You'll have to scrounge for this one since it's not on the album, but I promise it's worth the effort.

(You might want to also try Tanya Donnelly of Belly's alternative music cover of Hot Burrito #1 -- a very sexy cover.)

Intimate Portrait: Women of the Heartland
This is one of the best used CD store finds I've ever made. Yes, it's a compilation made by the Lifetime Women's channel -- get over it. It's damn fine Americana women artists singing their hearts out on some damn fine songs. I'm afraid this one is out of print, but they've got several used copies for cheap on Amazon, so I highly recommend you pick one up quickly. The highlights on this one are songs by Emmylou, Nanci Griffith, Gillian Welch, Kelly Willis, and Julie Miller. I even love that Victoria Williams song, although it's a bit of a departure from my normal musical tastes -- think of it as almost a children's Americana song if you have to. And that Kelly Willis song is the best I've ever heard her do... period.

This Is Americana
This was a sampler organized by the Americana Music Association as a way to get the word out about our fine music. It's very Alt Country heavy, but no one here's complaining. And since this CD is deliberately sold for almost nothing -- $1.98 on Amazon at this writing -- I recommend you pick it up post-haste. It's got twenty-one songs, and several are great, with only a few stinkers. This is where I originally heard Wishbones by Slaid Cleaves, which if I ever get back to it you'll see fairly soon in the Top 30 Songs of 2004 list. Another great highlight is September When It Comes by Roseanne Cash singing with her father. Since Johnny passed away in a September, this song is even more powerful. This album, since it's so damn cheap, has no reason not to find its way into every HickoryWind.org reader's collection. I want to give a big thanks to the AMA for making such a great collection available so cheaply! I hope it's paying off!

In The Country Of Country
This is the soundtrack to a great music history book I read a couple of years ago. I didn't realize until later that there was a soundtrack to it. Each of the major chapters and Country heroes outlined in the book have a song. It covers Country music from it's roots with Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family through all it's phases including Bluegrass and the Nashville Sound. However, instead of following the money up to today's Hat Acts, it instead follows the roots thread into the Flatlanders and Iris Dement.

If you're interested in the history of Country music, then I recommend this album. Some of the best songs are Johnny Cash's Big River, the quintessential Doc Watson song, Blue Railroad Train, and some fine Bluegrass songs by Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley. There's plenty of good stuff on here. The Jimmie Rodgers and Carter Family tunes at the beginning are both fine songs, but our modern ears might find them a little challenging, which is rather odd for Jimmie Rodgers whose greatest hits album is very accessible. (The Carters on the other hand... hmm, they didn't fare as well. Great music, mind you -- just from a different time.)

All in all, these CD samplers will challenge your ears and expand your Americana horizons, but only a few of these are considered anywhere near the "canon" of Americana music. I know some folks (most recently Waylon) have asked for that, and I promise to be back shortly with them. Stay tuned!

(I love saying "stay tuned" on a website. Just grinning with irony...)