Need C&W songs for party (England)

Subject: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: Gulliver
Date: 01 Jul 07 - 07:34 PM

I've been asked to play at my cousin's party in England in a few weeks time. He's a big C&W fan, and of course would like a few songs that he and his friends could sing along to. Any tips for suitable country songs for an English audience?

Thanks in advance, Don

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: Barry Finn
Date: 01 Jul 07 - 10:07 PM

Lyle Lovette's "If I Were The Man That You Wanted"
"Night Rider's Lament"
"Somebody Wants Me Out Of The Way" George Jones
"Bartender's Blue" George Jones
Most anything done by Hank Wiliams, Pasty Cline, Hank Snow, Louvin Brothers or the Flying Buritto (SP?) Brothers

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: Peace
Date: 01 Jul 07 - 10:16 PM

I think this would be TOO much. But, maybe not. It's on YOUTUBE

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: Sorcha
Date: 01 Jul 07 - 10:17 PM

Crystal Chandelier
Anybody Going to San Antone
Angel of the Morning
Pretty much any Waylon and Willie stuff
Pretty much any Johnny Cash stuff. Folsom, Walk the Line, Ring of Fire, etc.

Older Stuff:
Filipino Baby
Deck of Cards
Rainbow at Midnight
Steppin Around
Walking the Floor Over You
I Sat Right Down to write you a letter

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: Peace
Date: 01 Jul 07 - 10:22 PM

Also on YOUTUBE:

Country Rock--by the best female songwriter on Earth.

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: Sorcha
Date: 01 Jul 07 - 10:30 PM

Sorry, that should have been Slippin' Around, not Stepping

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: katlaughing
Date: 01 Jul 07 - 10:53 PM

Anything by Marty Robbins would probably go down well.

Does he like the modern, now-a-day "Country" or more old-timey, i.e. before late 1980's, what I think of as real C&W?:-)

Anything by Chris LeDoux esp. his earlier stuff and esp. his Five Dollar Fine.

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: Sorcha
Date: 01 Jul 07 - 10:59 PM

OH YES! Sorry, totally forgot Chris!!!

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Jul 07 - 11:11 PM

songs that he and his friends could sing along to
There are so many periods within C&W, with so many differences, that coming up with what will please him is difficult without knowing what he's into. The good news though is that you can easily find chords for most of the older, well-known ones at Cowpie. Can a secret agent plumb his record collection to see what he has that looks well-worn?

If it's contemporary country he likes, CMT-TV has songs you can hear (as videos) right online.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: SharonA
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 12:58 AM

Barry Finn: "Pasty" Cline?!? ROFLMAO!!!

Gulliver (Don): What makes one C&W song more "suitable" for an English audience than another? Is it a matter of finding songs that English audiences have heard on the radio? Or songs by artists who draw the largest crowds when they tour in England? Or songs with lyrics that English audiences can relate to (rather than story-songs that are set in places they've never seen or heard of)?

I'm guessing that "God Bless the U.S.A." is right out!!

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: GUEST,C & W singer
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 08:34 AM

As a C & W singer in England I can assure you that the following songs will be taken up & lustily joined by ANY C&W fans.(but sometimes accompanied with groans & cries of trite, old hat & worn out.
The reason they are worn out is because audiences kept asking for them until at one time they were the only songs heard on a C&W night.

But people still join in when you sing 'em. - guaranteed

My Best Friend – Don Williams
Lucille – Kenny Rogers
Folsom Prison – Johnny Cash
Banks of the Ohio – Crystal Gayle (?)
Old Flames – Don Williams
Sea of Heartbreak – Don Gibson
Jambalaya – Hank Williams
Your Cheating Heart – Hank Williams
He'll Have to Go – Jim Reeves
Crazy – Willie Nelson

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 11:27 AM

You are my sunshine
Tennessee Waltz
May I have this dance for the rest of my life?
(it isn't necessary to sing this one as if it were a dirge. Try    singing it while smiling.)

Done laid around and played around this old town too long.
Down in the valley

Look for songs where you can sing the verses and the audience comes in on the refrain. People tend to know refrains best.

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 11:56 AM

Country Roads is a good one for group sing

Red River Valley

I second "May I have this dance." It can be a very happy song!:-)

Kenny Rogers' The Gambler

Ghost Riders in the sky

Cool Water

Lots of others to choose from on Nevada Slim's website and you can listen to them free by following his link to CDBaby.

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 12:08 PM

I have no idea how experienced you are as a musician, Don, so at the risk of teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, I would like to mention that it's important to play the songs in a key that your friends are comfortable with.

Where I live (Midwest USA) most commercial songs are too high for the general public. I believe I read in a language book that Americans in general pitch their voices lower than those over the pond, and it gets to be habit. Whatever, a song that goes up to high D is going to make people here uncomfortable, and then they'll quit singing.

The leader of my church choir often asks me to take songs from the songbook and make them lower so that the congregation will sing along. Going from D to F is a typical change. (Guitars use capos.)

If you get a song for the party, consider whether it will be singable for the general public where you live. Also, keep in mind that smokers need low songs.

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: Geordie-Peorgie
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 01:01 PM

Two days and neebody's mentioned "The Roseville Fair"

Has te be the loveliest song (almost) ever

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: Mr Red
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 01:32 PM

If he is pushing 60 from the wrong side - Check-out Lonnie Donegn's hits - Cumberland Gap, Down the Missisipi to the Gulf of Mexico etc.
Does your Chewing Gum - may be a bit commercial though.

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: Gulliver
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 03:04 PM

Thanks to everyone for these suggestions.

I don't know much about C&W. My cousin is a second cousin and a generation younger than me, and as far as I can remember he likes modern stuff like Garth Brooks, John Prine, Nancy Griffiths, Dolly Parton, ie, who are still alive and performing. I played a few old-timey country numbers when he was here last year but he thought they sounded "dated", so I thought I'd try out something more modern on my trip.

As regards whether there's a difference between UK and US country? I haven't an idea!

BTW, the suggestions by GUEST,C & W singer are exactly the kind of stuff I've heard at country sessions here in Ireland.


Don

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: SharonA
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 04:06 PM

As regards whether there's a difference between UK and US country? I haven't an idea!

Is there such a thing as a Country & Western song that originated in the UK? Seems to me that it's a genre that's uniquely American. Certainly the twang with which the songs are sung is a product of the different world-cultures that mixed and melded in the American West and the "Old South".

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: Severn
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 04:31 PM

Well Sharon, how about Gary P. Nunn's "London Homesick Blues", the tune that serves as the Austin City Limits theme song. His vocal was featured on Jerry Jeff Walker's album "Viva Terlingua" from when Nunn was part of Walker's Lost Gonzo Band. It's about a Texan in London.

Buck Owens' "Act Naturally" was covered by the Beatles and their own
"I Don't Want To Spoil The Party? or "I've Just Seen A Face" work well done up Country. The recognition factor might work.

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: Severn
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 04:43 PM

Oh, yes! And Johnny Horton's "Sink The Bismarck". They'll know the chorus and the Brits are the heroes, unlike their fate in that other hit of Horton's, "The Battle Of New Orleans".

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: van lingle
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 05:12 PM

Some country songs with good sing along choruses:

Worried Man Blues
Mama Tried
Sing Me Back Home
Pancho and Lefty
Going Down the Road Feeling Bad
Dark Hollow
Hey Mr. Spaceman
White Lightning

You can get lyrics to these and others at cowpie.com good luck

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: Brakn
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 07:38 PM

Give these a country feel......
Me and Bobby McGee (Kristofferson)
Early Mornin' Rain (Lightfoot)
Don't Think Twice (Dylan)
Wild Flowers (Parton)
On The Other Hand (Randy Travis)
Forever and Ever (Randy Travis)
She Thinks I Still Care
Old Paint
It Only Hurts For A Little While
Galway Girl (Steve Earl)
too many to list

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 10:49 PM

I freely admit that any country songs I can think of are dated. What little modern "country" I hear has no melody, and the lyrics sound like someone reliving visit to a therapist.

Maybe you should ask your cousin to give you a list of songs he thinks will succeed with his friends and take it from there.

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: GUEST,C & W Singer
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 02:45 AM

Sorry folks - many of the songs mentioned I (and friends I asked last night) have never heard of. They may be big in America but not in England.
The only time I have heard Roseville Fair on a C&W night is when I have sung it - it is considered a 'folky' song over here.

If he likes 'modern' country then standards they would know would be :-
On the Other Hand - Randy Travis
Forever and Ever Amen - Randy TRavis
Diggin' up Bones - Randy Travis
The Dance - Garth Brooks
If Tomorrow Never Comes - Garth Brooks
Dont Close Your Eyes - Garth Brooks
Blue Wing - Tom Russell
Navajo Rug - Tom Russell

These along with those in my previous post would cover ANY Country night !!

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: open mike
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 03:56 AM

Angel from Montgomery (John Prine)
Navajo Rug (co-written by Tom Russell and Ian Tyson, by the way)
Homegrown Tomatoes (Guy and Susanna Clark)
Night Rider's Lament (Michael Burton)
City of New Orleans (Steve Goodman)
Red River Valley

hard to classify these...country western genre is often played on commercial radio stations....some of these songs never are..

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: SharonA
Date: 04 Jul 07 - 12:36 AM

Severn: Gary P. Nunn's song may be about London, but of course Nunn is a Texan. In essence, "London Homesick Blues" is a typical American good ol' boy's typical Country & Western lament that he isn't in typical good ol' western American country.

By "originated in the UK", I meant to ask whether there were/are any Country & Western songwriters who were/are British, since Gulliver had speculated about "UK country" music. I'm just not sure there is such a thing as UK country music. Someone enlighten me, please!

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: Gulliver
Date: 04 Jul 07 - 05:59 PM

I don't know whether there is "UK country music", as differentiated from US country. I specified "suitable for an English audience" in case there might be a difference in taste between UK and US audiences.

I went to a pub that plays country music the other night and from talking to a few people there tend to agree with what GUEST,C & W Singer said, that a number of songs mentioned on this thread are unknown here in Ireland, while some people seem to know practically every song written by Garth Brooks and Nancy Griffith (and a few other singers whose names I wrote down but don't have here).

There used to be a Country'n'Irish (aka Irish Country and Western) scene here from the sixties to the eighties, part of the showband scene. There were hundreds of showbands, and singers like Larry Cunningham, Philomena Begley, Big Tom, etc., sang American country songs as well as self-written songs in the same style and were immensely popular. You can read about them on the Irish Showbands C&W page. Country music is still hugely popular in Ireland, especially outside the cities, but having spent most of my life abroad, I never got involved.

Again, thanks for the suggestions, Don

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Jul 07 - 06:02 PM

Well, Mudcatter Alison in Oz grew up in Ireland and was raised on Marty Robbins songs, from what I remember....her dad loved them.

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: Gulliver
Date: 04 Jul 07 - 06:46 PM

Frankie Lane of the Fleadh Cowboys released an album of Marty Robbins covers about two years ago. The Fleadh Cowboys, founded by Johnny Moynihan I think, including front man Frankie and fiddler/mandolinist Paul Kelly play a different style of country, mixture of old-time, skiffle, and modern self-written. Niall Toner is also another who has written his own country material, but that would be probably closer to bluegrass.

Don

Subject: RE: Need C&W songs for party (England)
From: GUEST,Gene
Date: 04 Jul 07 - 07:58 PM

Not being a dyed-in-the-horsehide Chris Ledoux fan

I prefer Sam & Son [The Geezinslaw Brothers] version of

Five Dollar Fine [for whinin']

Same for [Porter Wagoner]singing

This Cowboy's Hat