Opinion: Modern country is the worst musical genre of all time

For those who don’t care for Rap, I have one suggestion for which you may make an exception, and it is from a rather unlikely source: Lucinda Williams!

On her album West she has a 9:06 song entitled "Wrap My Head Around That". The song structure is just two alternating chords played on acoustic and electric guitars (both Bill Frisell and Doug Pettibone are listed in the album credits), with a simple boom/crack drum beat (played by Jim Keltner) and a mildly funky electric bass part (Tony Garnier, Dylan’s long-time bassist).

Like the entire album, the song’s lyrics are absolutely fantastic. Lucinda "sings" them is Rap style of a sort---almost every word in the same note, sung rather "matter-of-factly". For you Rockers, late in the song a stinging, kinetic electric guitar part erupts from out of nowhere, filling the space between the last verse and chorus. Quite thrilling!

Two songs later comes the last song on the album, and it is really something special. It is entitled "West", and once you hear it you will know why she chose the song as the album’s title, and as the album’s final track (it is the best ending to an album I have ever heard, and that includes "The End" on Abbey Road).

"West" is the most beautiful, deeply romantic song I have heard in a VERY long time, and brings me to tears every time I listen to it (almost every day for the past two years). It sort of reminds me of "Moon River" by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, as sung by Andy Williams. A masterpiece of a song imo.

The album also starts off strong with "Are You Alright?", in which Lucinda inquires as to a friend’s well being after suddenly disappearing from her life. Yes, Lucinda is a very romantic soul. I deeply love her, and often replay in my head my mid-80’s meeting of her in Club Lingerie on Sunset Blvd. We were both there to see her then-husband’s band The Long Ryders live (he was their drummer. For you musicians he was playing a set of 1940’s Radio King drums. Very cool!).

Sure have @stuartk. Chinaberry Sidewalks, 2011. It’s on a shelf in a bookcase, alongside those by Ray and Dave Davies.

I managed to see Rodney live at The Roxy Theater on Sunset in 2001. Just he and his guitarist Steuart Smith, along with master bassist Jerry Scheff (Elvis, Roy Orbison, L.A. studios, a favorite of T Bone Burnett). Hearing Scheff live was transcendental! Perhaps the best bassist I’ve heard live, and that includes John Entwistle (The Who of course), Joey Spampinato (NRBQ), and Rick Danko (The Band). Sitting at the table next to me and my gal was Dave Alvin, taking mental notes to himself no doubt ;-) .

Definitely a contender for worst but there are many pop music genres in the running - each have their strong points. That said, I’ve always found Country to be a genre where the vast majority is absolute crap, and I say that as a musician tbat really likes some good country, honkytonk, and country rock. I’m thinking, Hank Williams, Wynn Stewart, Patsy, Tammy, graham parsons, Emmylou Harris, and many many more.

Oh yeah, there are a couple of other observations about "West" I had intended to include in my comments about this fantastic song.

The song is performed in a VERY slow tempo, which many drummers find difficult. Not Keltner, of course. He takes advantage of the slow tempo to play some great bass drum parts, including the coolest employment of triplets I have ever heard. It reminds me of why Jim has been my Gold Standard of drumming since I heard his playing on Randy Newman’s Good Old Boys album in 1974, almost fifty years ago!

And then there is the lead guitar playing on the song. Very, very tasty, it sounds to me like Bill Frisell, one of the handful of the very best guitarists playing today.

@joshindc: Wynn Stewart; now THERE’S a name you rarely see mentioned! I have a 2-LP collection on Bear Family Records of his 1958-1963 Challenge Records recordings. He was part of the Southern California Honky-Tonk/Rockabilly scene, and was a favorite of Merle Haggard. Dwight Yoakam of course loves him.

Also rarely mentioned is Lefty Frizzell, another favorite of Merle. I learned of Lefty when The Band included his 1959 Country & Western hit song "Long Black Veil" on their 1968 debut album, Music From Big Pink (Johnny Cash had recorded the song in 1965, but I didn’t hear it back then). Yes, as the rest of the Rock world was still being psychedelicized by Jimi Hendrix, Cream, The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, etc. etc., The Band included a Lefty Frizzell song on their 1968 debut! Six months earlier Dylan’s John Wesley Harding was released by Columbia Records, itself a very Country-influenced album (recorded in Nashville).

As you say, there are of course plenty of others, including George Jones (Gram Parsons’ favorite singer), Buck Owens (a huge influence on Yoakam). The list is actually quite long, that is if your musical taste includes the genre.