Fanmix: Profiler - Otis, CA Residents - "Songs for Good Bowlers"
Heh. Apparently I require a soundtrack before I can write fic, and then the soundtrack takes on a life of its own.
...so, this is my shameful secret: I'm in dark, dirty luuurve with 1950's -1970's era country & western music. *G* Mind, I was born in the 1960s and I spent lots of time around relatives in a tiny Canadian Maritimes province that was very into the C&W scene, so I basically grew up on a steady diet of this music. And as you can see from my other fanmixes, I definitely play in lots of other musical sandboxes, but when I get tired of all things rock/pop/emo/classical/etc., I invariably wander back to my honky-tonk tunes.
Before you go "ick!" and hit the back button, I should mention that if you equate "country" with Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, and "The Dukes of Hazzard," this is seriously different stuff.
My personal take on the classic honky-tonk genre is that it's much more of a spiritual cousin to Delta blues than to current country music. There's a despair and a darkness to the lyrics of some of the earlier songs that wouldn't be out of place in anything sung by Leadbelly or Muddy Waters: imagine "Folsom Prison Blues" or "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" without the guitar twang, notice the rawness in Ray Charles' voice during the chorus of "You Don't Know Me," and you'll see what I mean. Even offerings from the smoother-voiced, more "traditional" Nashville artists like Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline are best savored in a smoky room while nursing a beer and a broken, bitter heart.
Honky-tonk roughened its edges and hit its peak of popularity in the late '60s and early '70s, when Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and their contemporaries shocked proper Nashville society with their hippie clothes and up-yours, in-your-face lyrics that dealt with drug use ("Sunday Morning Comin' Down"), casual sex ("Help Me Make It Through The Night"), and disconnection with society in general ("Me and Bobby McGee," which is probably my all-time favorite song and which has been covered by a huge number of singers in many different genres, from Janis Joplin to The Grateful Dead to Jennifer Love Hewitt). The movement both inspired and took inspiration from many big names and big voices in the folk, rock and R&B genres -- Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and the Pointer Sisters all recorded songs that fit surprisingly well with the likes of Merle Haggard and George Jones.
The honky-tonk style has been pretty much abandoned on today's airwaves in favor of the fluffy, pop-inspired kind of tunes that keep getting trotted out for "country theme night" on "American Idol." But the genre isn't dead by a long shot -- you have to dig around a little bit (Audiolunchbox.com is a veritable treasure trove), but you can still find current keepers-of-the-faith like Tom Dean, Shawn Mullins, Two Dollar Pistols and Grievous Angels. As long as there's a roadhouse with a jukebox and a bar, there'll be an audience to sing along with tales of whiskey, prison, lost love and the lure of the open road.
*cough*...Oh, yeah, fandom stuff, right.
C'mon, what doesn't say "Otis, California" here? We may not have seen it in the episode, but you know that right down Main Street, a few blocks south of Mabel's Diner and the police station and right next to the Sky-Top Lanes Bowl-o-Rama, there's a roadhouse with a big pine bar and perfectly-restored Wurlitzer, and it's cranking out exactly this playlist. On his quiet nights, even the Sherriff stops by. *G*
Tracklist:
01. Mama Tried - Merle Haggard
02. Don't Tell Me What To Do - Pam Tillis
03. Rose Colored Glasses - John Conlee
04. Lovesick Blues - Patsy Cline
05. She Thinks I Still Care - George Jones
06. Sad Eyes - Trisha Yearwood
07. Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
08. Tell Me About It - Delbert McClinton & Tanya Tucker
09. Don't Think Twice, It's Alright - Bob Dylan
10. My Heart Skips a Beat - Buck Owens
11. You Don't Know Me - Ray Charles
12. Modern Day Bonnie & Clyde - Travis Tritt
13. Sunday Morning Comin' Down - Shawn Mullins
14. Just Thinking - Lari White
15. City of New Orleans - John Prine & Steve Goodman
16. A Fool Such As I - Anne Murray
17. Play Guitar Play - Conway Twitty
18. I'm On Fire - Bruce Springsteen
19. On The Road - Tom Dean
20. Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues - Waylon Jennings
21. When Love Came Around - Grievous Angels
22. Whiskey River - Willie Nelson
23. He'll Have To Go - Jim Reeves
24. Help Me Make It Through The Night - Kris Kristofferson
25. Runnin' With The Fools - Two Dollar Pistols
26. I Know One - John Prine & Emmylou Harris
27. If You Belonged To Me - The Traveling Wilburys
28. Fairytale - The Pointer Sisters
29. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Hank Williams
30. Me & Bobby McGee - Waylon Jennings
[.zip with all songs & artwork]
If the link is problematic or if anyone wants individual tunes, let me know and I'll whip 'em up!
...so, this is my shameful secret: I'm in dark, dirty luuurve with 1950's -1970's era country & western music. *G* Mind, I was born in the 1960s and I spent lots of time around relatives in a tiny Canadian Maritimes province that was very into the C&W scene, so I basically grew up on a steady diet of this music. And as you can see from my other fanmixes, I definitely play in lots of other musical sandboxes, but when I get tired of all things rock/pop/emo/classical/etc., I invariably wander back to my honky-tonk tunes.
Before you go "ick!" and hit the back button, I should mention that if you equate "country" with Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, and "The Dukes of Hazzard," this is seriously different stuff.
My personal take on the classic honky-tonk genre is that it's much more of a spiritual cousin to Delta blues than to current country music. There's a despair and a darkness to the lyrics of some of the earlier songs that wouldn't be out of place in anything sung by Leadbelly or Muddy Waters: imagine "Folsom Prison Blues" or "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" without the guitar twang, notice the rawness in Ray Charles' voice during the chorus of "You Don't Know Me," and you'll see what I mean. Even offerings from the smoother-voiced, more "traditional" Nashville artists like Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline are best savored in a smoky room while nursing a beer and a broken, bitter heart.
Honky-tonk roughened its edges and hit its peak of popularity in the late '60s and early '70s, when Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and their contemporaries shocked proper Nashville society with their hippie clothes and up-yours, in-your-face lyrics that dealt with drug use ("Sunday Morning Comin' Down"), casual sex ("Help Me Make It Through The Night"), and disconnection with society in general ("Me and Bobby McGee," which is probably my all-time favorite song and which has been covered by a huge number of singers in many different genres, from Janis Joplin to The Grateful Dead to Jennifer Love Hewitt). The movement both inspired and took inspiration from many big names and big voices in the folk, rock and R&B genres -- Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and the Pointer Sisters all recorded songs that fit surprisingly well with the likes of Merle Haggard and George Jones.
The honky-tonk style has been pretty much abandoned on today's airwaves in favor of the fluffy, pop-inspired kind of tunes that keep getting trotted out for "country theme night" on "American Idol." But the genre isn't dead by a long shot -- you have to dig around a little bit (Audiolunchbox.com is a veritable treasure trove), but you can still find current keepers-of-the-faith like Tom Dean, Shawn Mullins, Two Dollar Pistols and Grievous Angels. As long as there's a roadhouse with a jukebox and a bar, there'll be an audience to sing along with tales of whiskey, prison, lost love and the lure of the open road.
*cough*...Oh, yeah, fandom stuff, right.
C'mon, what doesn't say "Otis, California" here? We may not have seen it in the episode, but you know that right down Main Street, a few blocks south of Mabel's Diner and the police station and right next to the Sky-Top Lanes Bowl-o-Rama, there's a roadhouse with a big pine bar and perfectly-restored Wurlitzer, and it's cranking out exactly this playlist. On his quiet nights, even the Sherriff stops by. *G*
Tracklist:
01. Mama Tried - Merle Haggard
02. Don't Tell Me What To Do - Pam Tillis
03. Rose Colored Glasses - John Conlee
04. Lovesick Blues - Patsy Cline
05. She Thinks I Still Care - George Jones
06. Sad Eyes - Trisha Yearwood
07. Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
08. Tell Me About It - Delbert McClinton & Tanya Tucker
09. Don't Think Twice, It's Alright - Bob Dylan
10. My Heart Skips a Beat - Buck Owens
11. You Don't Know Me - Ray Charles
12. Modern Day Bonnie & Clyde - Travis Tritt
13. Sunday Morning Comin' Down - Shawn Mullins
14. Just Thinking - Lari White
15. City of New Orleans - John Prine & Steve Goodman
16. A Fool Such As I - Anne Murray
17. Play Guitar Play - Conway Twitty
18. I'm On Fire - Bruce Springsteen
19. On The Road - Tom Dean
20. Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues - Waylon Jennings
21. When Love Came Around - Grievous Angels
22. Whiskey River - Willie Nelson
23. He'll Have To Go - Jim Reeves
24. Help Me Make It Through The Night - Kris Kristofferson
25. Runnin' With The Fools - Two Dollar Pistols
26. I Know One - John Prine & Emmylou Harris
27. If You Belonged To Me - The Traveling Wilburys
28. Fairytale - The Pointer Sisters
29. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Hank Williams
30. Me & Bobby McGee - Waylon Jennings
[.zip with all songs & artwork]
If the link is problematic or if anyone wants individual tunes, let me know and I'll whip 'em up!