The audience for country music in the years following World War II was predominantly male and many of the records were aimed at the juke boxes that thrived in the bars and watering holes where this working-class audience gathered. This week on the program we’ll sample some classic honky tonk music from the late 30’s until today. We’ll hear Kitty Wells, Hank Snow, Buck Owens, Webb Pierce and, of course, Hank Williams. We’ll also hear more contemporary tunes from The Byrds, Emmylou Harris and Asleep at the Wheel. “There Stands the Glass” and some honky tonk angels … this week on the Sing Out! Radio Magazine.

LISTEN:

Artist/”Song”/CD/Label

Pete Seeger / “If I Had A Hammer” (excerpt) / Songs of Hope and Struggle / Smithsonian
              Folkways
Don Rich / “Buckeroo” / Country Pickin’: The Don Rich Anthology / Sundazed
The Byrds / “You’re Still on My Mind” / Sweetheart of the Rodeo / Columbia
Hank Williams / “Honky Tonk Blues” / 40 Greatest Hits / Polydor
Jean Shepard /with Ferlon Husky / “A Dear John Letter” / Super Hits / Gusto
Emmylou Harris & the Nash Ramblers / “Two More Bottles of Wine” / Ramble in Music City / Nonesuch
Buddy Holly / “Midnight Shift” / The Definitive Collection / Decca

Asleep at the Wheel / “The Letter that Johnny Walker Read” / Half a Hundred Years / Bismeaux
Val Mindel & Emily Miller / “Lonely Street” / Close to Home / Yodel-Ay-Hee
Kitty Wells / “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” / Essential Honky Tonk / Not Now
Roger Miller / “Kansas City Star” / All Time Greatest Hits / Mercury
Don Rich / “Chicken Pickin’” / Country Pickin’: The Don Rich Anthology / Sundazed

Vernon Solomon / “Beaumont Rag” / Texas Hoedown Revisited / County
Jess Willard / “Honky Tonk Hardwood Floor” / Hillbilly Boogie and Jive / Atomicat
Hank Snow / “I’m Moving On” / The Very Best of Hank Snow / BMG
Patsy Montana / “Montana Plains” / Ragged But Right: Great Country String Bands of the 1930’s / RCA
Merle Haggard / “Mama Tried” / Live at Billy Bob’s Texas / Smith Music Group
Webb Pierce / “There Stands the Glass” / King of the Honky Tonk / MCA
Buck Owens / “Under Your Spell Again” / Right After the Dance / Atomicat
Willie Nelson / “Heartaches by the Number” / A Tribute to Ray Price / Legacy
Bill Doggett / “Honky Tonk pt.2” / Honky Tonk / Ace
Pete Seeger / “If I Had A Hammer” (excerpt) / Songs of Hope and Struggle / Smithsonian
              Folkways