I remember my grandad listened to a lot of old country when I was growing up. It's one of those things makes me think about him. But as I've gotten older, I find myself listening to it a lot more. I typically use YoutubeMusic, but I've found that different services help find songs I never knew.

I've always like Hank Sr. over Hank Jr. and hearing Tammy Wynette transports me back in time to the Chicken Oil Company and everything else melts away for a few minutes. But I think my favorite is Marty Robbins, and not just his popular stuff.







What do you like?

Loved marty robbins as a kid in the 70s. Years later was surprised to see my son had Big Iron on a playlist cuz it was featured in one on the Fallout games he was playing.
Small world.

Charlie Pride hit the scene in the mid 60s, but he would absolutely be considered a 70s artist. Conway Twitty was around in the 50's, but still kind of the same boat and most remembered for his 70s songs. But both are near the top of my list of favorite artists.

Roger Miller - Dang Me and king of the road

Johnny Horton and Don Gibson stand out in the 50s for me

No list is complete without Johnny Cash and Hank Sr.

As for the 60's, Merle Haggard's albums on Capitol Records are some of the finest country music ever made.

And though you don't hear his name much, Wynn Stewart's late 50's - early 60's work is also exemplary.

Of course, there are quite a few more from that time period I could mention (e.g. - hard-core honky tonk Johnny Paycheck), but we'd be here a while.

Hwy30East said:

---

Yep, I grew up listening to Marty, Merle, Ray Price, Willie (when he wore a suit and tie). I still listen to those old songs. Brings back a lot of my early memories growing up and being around my grandparents in the 60's and 70's.

---

Ray Price is one of my all time favorites. Was fortunate enough to see him live a few times and he was great. The first time was at Floore's Country Store in Helotes in 1997. He had a small symphony backing him up. Johnny Bush and Darrel McCall were the opening acts and then sat in with Ray since they were both former Cherokee Cowboys.

I love the lyrics!

She makes her underwear from hides of grizzly bear

And bathes in ice cold water every day
Her skin I love to touch but I just can't touch it much
Because her fur lined parka's in the way

I love me some old country, but I'm probably more in the '60s and '70s range.

Buck Owens is a favorite. George Jones. Merle Haggard, of course. Conway and Loretta.

There were some great tunes back then that stand the test of time.

Here's one of my favorites from the Possum.

CE Lounge Lizzard said:

---

Hwy30East said:

---

Yep, I grew up listening to Marty, Merle, Ray Price, Willie (when he wore a suit and tie). I still listen to those old songs. Brings back a lot of my early memories growing up and being around my grandparents in the 60's and 70's.

---

Ray Price is one of my all time favorites. Was fortunate enough to see him live a few times and he was great. The first time was at Floore's Country Store in Helotes in 1997. He had a small symphony backing him up. Johnny Bush and Darrel McCall were the opening acts and then sat in with Ray since they were both former Cherokee Cowboys.

---

Saw Ray Price at Moe's Place in Katy a few years before he died. He would occasionally need a prompt to start off a song, but once he started it was all good. Voice was still just as smooth and clear.

Another one of my favorites.

Didn't hear this one until long after I was a Jimmy Buffett fan, and when I did, the title of his 1973 album "White Sport Coat and A Pink Crustacean" suddenly made sense.

I keep my Sirius radio on Willie's Roadhouse almost all the time. Great country from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Ray Benson's show Austin's Outer Limits will pull stuff from way back in the 30's and 40s even.

When I was 5 or 6 years old, my parents gave me a little RCA record player with wired speakers about the size of square tissue boxes. I didn't have many records, so they gave me my dad's old case of 45s. There were probably 50 or 60 records in there, which meant 100-120 songs. I listened to all of them repeatedly, eventually finding my favorites, which were always the upbeat ones ("I Fought the Law") by the Bobby Fuller Four, or the ones with a good story like "Frankie and Johnny" which I had by both Johnny Cash and Jimmie Rodgers. Hearing two artists sing the same song was mind-blowing. Obviously to me, the version I listened to second (Cash) was all wrong.

I remember a lot of Johnny Cash, Ray Price, and multiple Hanks (Williams, Snow, Thompson). Some of my favorite songs from 45 years ago were: The Auctioneer Song, Mule Skinner Blues, Blackberry Boogie and Sinner Man.

After I grew up a little, and left multiple recoreds in the sun where they warped, or broke the records because kids break things that are breakable, my parents let me into there collection of LPs, which had a lot of the same stuff, but included some important Elvis and Beatles records.

Anyway, that's how it all began for me. I love music.

If you haven't watched Ken Burns Documentary: Country Music, go give it a watch. It's a great series!