Me And Jesus

Over the years, Jesus has made his way into a ton of songs, many of which are on my i-pod today. Here's the official STWOF Jesus mix:

01. Talladega Nights – Baby Jesus Grace
02. Ernest Tubb - What A Friend We Have In Jesus
03. Tom T. Hall - Me And Jesus
04. Kinky Friedman - High On Jesus
05. Paul Newman - Plastic Jesus
06. The Bad Livers - Jesus Is On The Mainline
07. Loretta Lynn - I'd Rather Have Jesus
08. Bobby Bare - Dropkick Me, Jesus
09. Bobby Charles - Save Me Jesus
10. Help Yourself - I Must See Jesus For Myself
11. The Byrds - Jesus Is Just Alright
12. Buck Owens - Bring It To Jesus
13. Billy Joe Shaver - Jesus Christ, What A Man
14. Johnny Cash - It Was Jesus
15. Emmylou Harris - Jerusalem Tomorrow
16. John Prine - Jesus The Missing Years
17. Lightnin' Hopkins - Jesus Would You Come By Here
18. Tom T. Hall - One More Song For Jesus

"I like to party, so I like my Jesus to party..."

20 Essential "Alt" Country Albums of the 1970s, Part 1 of 2

STWOF Mix #1:
01. Jerry Jeff Walker - Sangria Wine (0:00)
02. Terry Allen - Amarillo Highway (4:12)
03. Willie Nelson – Devil In A Sleepin’ Bag (7:58)
04. Billy Joe Shaver – Old Five & Dimers Like Me (10:36)
05. Waylon Jennings – Honky Tonk Heroes (13:15)
06. The Flatlanders – Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown (16:45)
07. Guy Clark – L.A. Freeway (19:23)
08. Joe Ely – Honky Tonk Masquerade (24:15)
09. Doug Sahm – Faded Love (27:59)
10. Butch Hancock – West Texas Waltz (31:55)

Welcome to my first podcast! I hope you like (or can tolerate) the new format. You'll notice that I am taking baby steps. No talking on this podcast, just ten great tracks in a row. Makes a heck of a mix tape.

The theme is Essential "Alt" Country Albums of the 1970s. In terms of artistic merit and musical diversity, country music really came into its own in the 1970s. The epicenter of that development was Texas. While the term "alt-country" wasn't invented until the 1990's when groups like Uncle Tupelo and Whiskeytown made their mark, the country music coming out of Texas in the 1970's was every bit as "alternative." Alt-country before alt-country was cool. To get a good feel for similar releases from the same era, check out Joe Sixpack's list of 1970's Hillbilly & Outlaw Albums.

The ten albums featured below are one-half of what I would consider to be the 20 essential country, or better yet "alt-country," LPs of the 1970s. (The rest will be presented in STWOF podcast #2.) These are not listed in any particular order, except that I included all Texas artists in the first installment. The only ground rule I followed in making my list was to limit inclusion to one selection per artist. I also left off the more mainstream country artists of the time, even though some are quite deserving. (Remember: Willie and Waylon were "outlaws").

If you like the music featured on this site, then you will LOVE these records, all of which come with the highest possible STWOF seal of approval. If you are looking for a way to stimulate our economy, you couldn't do any better than dropping a few bucks on these classics.

Jerry Jeff Walker – Viva Terlingua (1973)


This one is a ton of fun. Great mood.

AMG Review
Featured Song: Sangria Wine
(buy album)

Terry Allen – Lubbock (On Everything) (1979)


A lost gem from an eclectic and underrated artist.

AMG Review
Featured Song: Amarillo Highway
(buy album)

Willie Nelson – Shotgun Willie (1973)


Willie had a few other LPs in the running for this list, especially Red-Headed Stranger, but in the end something told me to go with this one.

AMG Review
Featured Song: Devil In A Sleepin’ Bag
(buy album)

Billy Joe Shaver – Old Five And Dimers Like Me (1973)


Billy Joe's debut is a Texas tour de force.

AMG Review
Featured Song: Old Five & Dimers Like Me
(buy album)

Waylon Jennings – Honky Tonk Heroes (1973)

A surprisingly close call between this landmark album and Waylon's other masterpiece, Dreaming My Dreams, but HTH just can't be denied. One of my all-time favorite records of any era or genre.

AMG Review
Featured Song: Honky Tonk Heroes
(buy album)

The Flatlanders – More A Legend Than A Band (1972)

This one's definitely a desert island disc for me, though it probably would play better on a barren plain. Legendary is no exaggeration for this collection from Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock. Recorded in 1972 and only released on 8-track for a limited run until this reissue in 1990.

AMG Review
Featured Song: Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown
(buy album)

Guy Clark – Old No. 1 (1975)

Guy is one of the great Texas songwriters. His debut is chock full of classics.

AMG Review
Featured Song: L.A. Freeway
(buy album)

Joe Ely – Honky Tonk Masquerade (1978)

Joe Ely was born to be a country singer. Even if he had wanted to be a dentist or an accountant, his voice would have compelled him to switch careers. When you hear him, you hear country. This album is probably his best.

AMG Review
Featured Song: Honky Tonk Masquerade
(buy album for cheap!)

Doug Sahm – Doug Sahm and Band (1973)

This album, which is as much blues as it is country, just feels like Texas. (That's why I picked a Bob Wills song to feature.) For more about Doug Sahm, check out The Adios Lounge.

AMG Review
Featured Song: Faded Love
(buy album)

Butch Hancock - West Texas Waltzes & Dust-Blown Tractor Tunes (1978)

Here is the "roughest" voice of The Flatlanders accompanied only by harmonica and guitar. Very Woody Guthrie-esque. Maybe the least accessible of today's features, but definitely worth checking out.

AMG Review
Featured Song: West Texas Waltz
(buy album)

Any guesses on the other 10 albums? (Hint: The next batch is a bit folkier and not all from Texas.)

STWOF Fourth of July Mix

Before I take the family over to mom and dad’s for a BBQ, here's a 4th of July mix:

Mickey Newbury – An American Trilogy (buy album)
Albert Brooks – Phone Call To Americans (out of print)
Merle Haggard – The Fightin’ Side Of Me (buy album)
X – 4th Of July (Demo) (buy album)
MC5 – Back In The USA (buy album)
Frank Sinatra – The House I Live In (Live) (buy album)
Townes Van Zandt – Ballad Of Ira Hayes (Live) (buy album)
Paul Simon – American Tune (Unfinished Demo) (buy album)
Tom Petty – American Girl (buy album)
Billy Joe Shaver – Good Ol’ USA (buy album)
The Hollies – 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) (buy album)

The Original Honky Tonk Hero

Photo by Gary Goldberg

It doesn’t get any better than this. Seriously.

This is the best thing I will ever post on Setting The Woods On Fire. Your mission is to download and absorb. Then go out and buy everything you can get your hands on by Billy Joe Shaver. You’ll be better for it. (And my mission here will be complete, notwithstanding the general public’s refusal to recognize the genius that is Tom T. Hall.)

In 1973, Waylon Jennings gave into Billy Joe Shaver's "threat" and recorded an entire album’s worth of Shaver’s songs. The result, Honky Tonk Heroes, is an amazing album that is probably my favorite country L.P. ever pressed. (The only other one in the running is More A Legend Than A Band by The Flatlanders.) Anyway, Waylon’s album was the shit. And 10 out of 11 songs were penned by the then-unknown Shaver.

But this collection might be even better. Here you will find the original Billy Joe Shaver version of each track from Waylon’s record (some of which were recorded after Waylon’s album). Two of the songs on Honky Tonk Heroes were never recorded by Billy Joe, so for these I’ve included the Waylon version.

I'm not going to tell you why it's good. Just listen for yourselves. And while you’re at it learn what you can about Billy Joe Shaver.

The Original Honky Tonk Heroes

1. Billy Joe Shaver – Honky Tonk Heroes
2. Billy Joe Shaver – Old Five And Dimers Like Me
3. Billy Joe Shaver – Willy The Wandering Gypsy And Me
4. Billy Joe Shaver – Low Down Freedom
5. Waylon Jennings – Omaha
6. Billy Joe Shaver – You Asked Me To
7. Billy Joe Shaver – Ride Me Down Easy
8. Billy Joe Shaver – Ain't No God In Mexico
9. Billy Joe Shaver – Black Rose
10. Waylon Jennings – We Had It All
11. Billy Joe Shaver – Slow Rollin' Low

Buy Billy Joe Shaver
Old Five And Dimers Like Me
Restless Wind: The Legendary Billy Joe Shaver 1973-1987
Honky Tonk Heroes (collection)
Greatest Hits
When I Get My Wings
Tramp On Your Street

Buy Waylon Jennings
Honky Tonk Heroes

Favorite Country Artist Results, Nos. 50-41

Uncle Tupelo--the first "official" alt-country band--took 45th place. Add Son Volt's votes and Jay Farrar's combined bands would be 26th.

41. Don Williams
42. Billy Joe Shaver
43. Charlie Rich
44. Hank Williams Jr.
45. Uncle Tupelo
46. Flatt and Scruggs
47. Hank Thompson
48. Guy Clark
49. Doc Watson
50. The Jayhawks

The feature song from this batch comes from Billy Joe Shaver, who might be the most underrated artist in the poll. That's two days and two great songs from Texas. (Did anyone besides Brendan like the Terry Allen track from yesterday?). Anyway, this is one of the best country songs of all time:

Billy Joe Shaver – I Been To Georgia On A Fast Train (buy album)

There’s a lot to choose from in Billy Joe’s catalog. If you are looking to jump in, I’d start with Old Five And Dimers Like Me from 1973. Follow that up with 1993's Tramp On Your Street. Hard to go wrong with Billy Joe.

“I got a good Christian raisin' and an eighth grade education...”