Opinion? The Greatest Country Album of All Time

Randy Travis - Storms of Life
The Statlers - Pardners in Rhyme
The Forester Sisters - self titled debut album
Johnny Cash -Water From the Wells of Home

These albums are all solid traditional country albums and were all from the country boom in the 80s.

 

Easily this is the answer.
You can't go wrong.
It contains every Hank Sr song shy of the Luke The Drifter spoken material.

 

Porter Wagoner - Greatest Hits

 

This gets my vote

 

I really really love this one:



DON GIBSON - Oh Lonesome Me

 

Jerry lee lewis' another time another place is my favorite country record, even if merle haggard is my favourite country artist

 

For the Luke The Drifter material, one only needs to get the Beyond The Sunset CD.

 

True or start from scratch with The Complete Hank Williams.

 

Tragic Songs of Life
Tribute to the Delmore Brothers
Country Love Ballads

These are my three favorite Louvin Brothers albums

 

my choice as well...and this set sounds great!

 

NRPS-Powerglide

 

Holy shirt!

 

How about the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Will The Circle Be Unbroken?
Johnny Cash Folsom Prison
Steve Earle Guitar Town
Anything by Hank Williams has to be at the top.

 

"Sound Of Heartache" is a great album which was funded by Johnny's dear friend and mentor, Willie Nelson. Although that LP didn't become a major hit on country radio, Johnny became a wealthy man when 'Whiskey River' was a hit for Willie. Btw, "Sound Of A Heartache" was apparently one of Ernest Tubb's favorite albums and he frequently listened to a copy of the record on his tour bus.

When I saw Johnny last year, he had copies "Sound Of A Heartache" for sale at the merch table, along with some more recent studio albums and the two compilations focusing on his RCA and Stop outputs. I don't recall seeing "Whiskey River/There Stands The Glass" or the live album, although he might still have those CDs in stock. If you want to send an email to Johnny, he should be able to give you a list of what is still available.

'There Stands The Glass' from the Johnny Bush RCA album "Whiskey River/There Stands The Glass."

 

Charlie Rich's Behind Closed Doors was the first album that I ever bought that did not have a weak song on the whole album. Unprecedented for the 1970's as usually country albums from this time period had one or two singles with a lot of filler. This album had two country-pop smashes, the great title cut as well as The Most Beautiful Girl In The World, a cross genre number one single on the pop, country and easy listening charts. It also featured his breakthrough top ten single, I Take It On Home. The rest of the album is almost like a country version of Frank Sinatra's best saloon albums, with some beautiful piano by Hargus "Pig" Robbins doing his best Charlie Rich imitation so producer Billy Sherrill could get Rich's voice recorded more cleanly without spillover. It was also layered with some silky strings and voices, but not to the detriment of the Silver Fox's spectacular voice, one of the greatest and most underrated of the 20th century.

My runner up is The Gambler by Kenny Rogers, maybe the first real mainstream concept album out of Nashville to also feature two major country-pop smashes, the title cut and the great ballad, She Believes In Me. This is one hell of an album and the cuts are almost better than the singles in my opinion.

 

Greatest of all time? Hank Williams songs, followed by Red Headed Stranger. Just to add two candidates to the list: Jerry Jeff Walker's Viva Terlingua and Charlie Pride's Greatest Hits. Both artists were influential in the Texas country music of my youth.

 

Could be the best cover photo

 

It’s really good. I think Shotgun Willie is better...

 

Grievous Angel,
by Gram Parsons
(with Emmylou Harris)

 

Not a big country music fan but the Urban Cowboy soundtrack is very good.

 

Speaking of which, have you by any chance heard the new vinyl pressing of this one? Saw it at Barnes and Noble. I can't find any reliable info online about this but it looks like a "replica" of the original. Discogs lists it but it has the same vinyl mastering info as for the original pressing (Wally Traugott cut it), so probably not reliable. Just wondering if anyone has heard it and what the source was for this pressing (digital CD master?).

 

I've got tickets to see Tanya Tucker next month so I've been playing her 4CD box set for the last couple of months in the car. Some really good songs there. Not a nominee for this thread but pretty darn good all the same. I've never really listened to any of her stuff before this.

 

I could see this album cover being pulled off gloriously by an indie rock band ! Like midlake or dr. John.

 

Johnny Cash Sings The Songs That Made Him Famous