Favorite Country Album Tracks

Sirius XM came out with their Top 1000 country songs of all time in May of last year. Shortly after, the writers at Country Universe began reviewing their selections, 10 songs at a time. I've been enjoying reading their evaluations. "So Wrong (Doesn't Belong)" is a frequent comment along with "Too High", "Too Low" or "About Right". They began with songs ranked #1000 to #991 and are currently at #690 - #681. In their comment on song #690, Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away", an LP cut from 1962, KJC commented that "I’m surprised an album cut is on this list at all. Either pick a single version of the song or a different Nelson hit." 

 

KJC's comment got me to thinking about my experience with LP cuts (album tracks). Most albums will include about 10 songs of which 2 or 3 songs get selected for release as a single. The other 7 or 8 songs are likely to include at least one that is better than one or more of the singles. Some of my favorite songs (to my knowledge) were never released as singles. If the song was released but never made the country music top 40 charts, I might not know about it.  What follows will be 10 of my many many favorite album tracks. I'm not ranking the songs. In each post, I'll provide the song title followed by the recording artist, the songwriters (in parenthesis), part of the lyric, the album title, year of release and maybe a comment.

 

"Daddy's Oldsmobile" - Hal Ketchum (Hal Ketchum and David Mallett) from his "Sure Love" album released in 1992.

 

"My daddy bought this car before I was born
Sure like the radio, I love the horn
I love the great big shiny steerin' wheel
Here in my daddy's Oldsmobile

"Four kids can sure fill up a big back seat.
They used to stop and get us something sweet.
Now Mamma says: 'Let's pray for one good meal'.
Here in my daddy's Oldsmobile."

 

Dad is looking for work in the third verse:

 

"Another mornin' and we're up and gone.
Daddy says there's work in San Antone.
Two days of ridin', it ain't no big deal,
Here in my daddy's Oldsmobile."

 

"Blank Sheet of Paper" - Tim McGraw (Don Schlitz & the Warren Brothers) from Tim's "Live Like You Were Dying" album released in 2004.

 

[Verse 1]
"I am just a blank sheet of paper
This fool's about to write you a letter
To tell you that he's sorry
For the way he did you wrong
To ask for your forgiveness
For leaving you alone

He's been looking down at me
It seems like forever
He takes the top on and off his pen
It's like he can't decide
What he wants to say
If he'd just tell the truth
I'd be on my way

 

[Chorus]

But he just stares at me
And I just stare at him
He don't know where to start
To say he doesn't want it to end
Now it’s one hour later
And I'm still a blank sheet of paper"

 

"The Time Machine" - Collin Raye (Gary Burr) from his 1995 album "I Think About You"

 

"To the casual eye it's a bar stool
But it's really much more than it seems
A few drinks and then
She'll be with him again
As he sits on the time machine"

 

"Dearly Beloved" - Faith Hill (Georgia Middleman & Fred Wilhelm) from her 2005 album "Fireflies"

 

"Good mornin' dearly beloved
I'd like to welcome y'all
To see the side effects
Of sex and alcohol
Please bow your heads and join me
In a prayer for these two
Who'll be together forever
'Til they find somebody new"

 

"Right About Now" - Ty Herndon (Darrell Brown & Michael Peterson), from Ty's 2007 album "Right About Now".

 

"And right about now
I bet she's finishin' up her crossword
And lovin' the way her coffee tastes

Right about now
I wish I was more than just a memory to her
I didn’t listen somehow"

 

Chorus:
"When she said, you’ll miss me if you go
And I swore before I slammed the door
I’ll never think of you again
Oh, I was so wrong back then
And she was so right about now"

 

"There's a Song in There Somewhere" - Victoria Shaw (Victoria Shaw & Gary Burr) from her 2007 album "Bring On the Love".

 

The first verse begins "I've got the broken heart, I've got the empty bed, ... the tear stained pillow ..." and concludes "the only thing missing is the steel guitar". (The steel is not missing on this mid-tempo recording.) The chorus begins with the song title and continues "isn't that what they say, between the saddest of goodbyes and cheap wine, tonight I'm a walking cliche". It concludes "there's a song in there somewhere, maybe I'll write it someday". Maybe Martina McBride will record it some day.

 

"Hold My Hand" - Brandy Clark (Mark Stephen Jones & Brandy). Great ballad - my favorite song on the "12 Stories" album released in 2013.

 

She's out with her man when her man's gorgeous former? girlfriend "walks up and says 'hello, it's been awhile' " to him. She's feeling vulnerable and needs reassurance. The chorus:

 

"Don't let this moment linger
Now would be the time
To reach out with your fingers and get them tangled up with mine
Let her know for sure that I'm more than just a soft place to land
Oh, this would be a good time
This'd be a real good time to hold my hand".

 

"Very Last Country Song" - Sugarland (Jennifer Nettles, Kristian Bush & Tim Owens) from their 2008 album "Love on the Inside".

 

"Today is my birthday and all that I want
Is to dig through this big box of pictures
In my kitchen 'til the daylight's gone"

 

[CHORUS:]
"But if life stayed the way it was
And lovers never fell out of love
If memories didn't last so long
If nobody did nobody wrong
If we knew what we had before it was gone
If every road led back home
This would be
The very last country song"

 

 

A Thousand Wild Horses - Blue Sky Riders (Gary Burr, Sam & Annie Tate) from their 2013 album "Finally Home". BSR members include Georgia Middleman, Kenny Loggins and Gary Burr.

 

"One drink too many, one kiss too deep, and I feel that old shake in the ground, that's a thousand wild horses, thundering behind me, hell bent on running me down." After the bridge, he warns his prospective lover "so if you're thinking you're the one who can save me, baby this ain't no merry-go-round, it's a thousand wild horses ..."

 

"Where Angels Hang Around" - James Otto (Monty Criswell & James Otto) from his 2008 album "Sunset Man". James was born in Fort Lewis, Washington.

 

"Across the Mississippi
A mile or two from Beale Street
Not too far from Graceland
Where the king of rock and roll sleeps
To a place for children
Where God sends his mercy rainin’ down
In the heart of Memphis
Where angels hang around"

 

Where? at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital