"The Gilded Palace of Sin" by The Flying Burrito Brothers (February, 1969)

Brad's Take:

The Flying Burrito Brothers... Immediately, the band's name caught my attention as I have an insane love for burritos. I also have a love for terribly ugly clothing so this album's cover is great. We're off to a good start so let's hope the music is up to par.

First, a little back story: Musician Gram Parsons joined the popular pop/rock band The Byrds in February, 1968 (exactly a year before this album was released) and upon joining, he helped the band (or hindered, depending on how you want to look at it) change their sound from pop music to country. Parsons and found Byrds member Chris Hillman both bonded over country music so it's no surprise that the change happened, or that the two left The Byrds to focus even more on writing country rock jams with each other.

Gram Parsons "flew the coup" the night before The Byrds were to go out on a tour. And just a few weeks later, so did his country-lovin' pal Chris Hillman. Together, they got a few more musicians rallied up and then released their debut album The Gilded Palace of Sin.

This album wasn't really a struggle for me to get through, but I didn't feel any emotional connection to anything on it, unfortunately. Maybe it's because this 60s folk/country music isn't generally my cup of tea, as we've all heard from me a million times already throughout this blog. To me, this just doesn't sound too much different than previous late-60s country music we've reviewed other than it sounds a little bit more full, production-wise.

Each song has cool enough arrangements and production to make them fun to listen to, even if you don't like the style of the songs. The band plays their instruments like pros and there's no denying that the band has lots of talent, which makes it no surprise that they inspired other folk/country artists like The Eagles, Dwight Yoakam, Elvis Costello, and Wilco, among many others.

Personally, though, this isn't a burrito that I'll think about ordering again anytime soon.

Dad's Take:

What can I say about The Flying Burrito Brothers besides that they had one of the best name ever?

For one thing, it's really difficult to look at that early country-rock like this from today's standpoint. Truth is, nowadays, it's hard to hear the "rock" in much of this album. It sounds almost like straight country. But that's really a testament to the album's influence. In 1969, country music sounded much different than it does now. It was pretty much all twang and Hee-Haw. It was about breakups, jail sentences, and the world is going to Hell in a handbasket and only country folk can preserve whatever was good.

Then along come all of these hippies and they start taking some of the country sounds and combining them with modern attitudes to create a new sound.

That new sound is what you hear on country stations even today, although some of the subject matter doesn't seem to have changed much. Most of today's country music sounds like it owes more to The Flying Burrito Brothers than to Loretta Lynn and Lynn Anderson and Buck Owens. It's more of a rock-light that borrows, sometimes, the old lyrical themes.

So the influence of this record is obvious and undeniable. It sounds very much like modern country has sounded for decades, so it's easy to forget that this is a new and almost revolutionary sound.

The problem is, like Brad, I was not especially engaged by the songs. The sound and production might have been new and revolutionary, but the songs themselves don't really say much. Maybe they are a deliberate attempt to break away from the artsy or bluesy or heavy or downright crude iconoclasm of late sixties rock, and so as revolutionary a fusion of genres of rockabilly was in the fifties, but they are not particularly relatable. They rarely speak to me.

I can listen to the album and have a pleasant enough experience, but I look back at it without remembering the songs very well. I don't feel like I've been pulled in by the record at all. It might be a good album. It might be a very good album. It might have forever changed popular music through it's influence on many of the key artists of the seventies and the people those artists influenced.

But on a personal level, it doesn't do much for me. It's an album I can pull out now and then for background music, but it's not one that calls to me. I don't crave it like I do many albums, sometimes even some that are not particular favorites. Nice enough to listen to now and then, but not much, if any, personal connection.

"Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" by Ray Charles (April 1962)

Dad's Take:

Country music has never had this much soul. As much as I like Ray Charles, I've never given this album its due because Ray is at his best when singing gospel-tinged soul. Well, the laugh was on me. These might be country songs, but Ray still delivers his trademark sound.

You know the title of the album is a little misleading as soon as you hear the opening notes of Ray's take on the Everly's classic "Bye, Bye Love." The highlight for me is the final track, where Ray takes that old standard, "That Lucky Old Sun," and lifts it up among the best of Negro spirituals. Good luck finding a more moving version of that song.

Nobody sings like Ray Charles, and these soulful, brassy, bluesy renditions of country songs are about as soulful as music gets. This is a great album, despite a kind of lame title and less-than-exciting cover.

How can you not share the pain of "I Love You So Much It Hurts"? And who doesn't get a thrill when listening to the classic "I Can't Stop Loving You" and the almost-identical "You Win Again"? This record moves country music out of the honky tonks and into the smoky bars of the "colored" neighborhoods, improving the songs in the process. Even Hank Williams's "Hey, Good Lookin'" becomes a soul classic. As the civil rights movement heated up, I'm sure the rednecks were thrilled to see their music taken over by the guys at the back of the bus. This is a ballsy record, and it works amazingly well. Maybe Ray couldn't eat at the same restaurants, attend the same schools, or drink from the same water fountains, but he could take the most white music of all and give it gospel-tinged soul. And guess what? The whites ate it up. This record was number one for 14 weeks and remained on the chart for almost two years, falling only three weeks short of that mark.

I'm pretty sure this is the only Ray Charles album on our list, and it deserves to be there. This record contains everything good and soulful about Mr. Charles's music, no matter what the title might lead you to believe.

Brad's Take:


When I saw that this was next on our list, I got really excited. I've never listened to a full Ray Charles album before, but I've always wanted to. I didn't know where to begin so I guess this is a good place to start, with a "classic."

The first song, "Bye, Bye Love", kicks the album off with a bang. It's a fast rockin' 2 minute song, made popular by the Everly Brothers. That song leads right into the slower "You Don't Know Me" and this song really shows what this album's all about. It's a mid-tempo song with more soul than a pair of shoes.

Reading about the recording process, it's interesting how Ray picked the songs to do. Apparently, he was given about 250 songs from popular country artists from the time, and then Ray listened to each one to decide which ones he wanted to remake, giving it that Ray Charles flavor.

I never realized how great Ray Charles actually was. I've always known him as a classic artist, but I've never given him a real chance myself. I love his voice on this album. He sounds young and full of raw emotion and soul. Some songs are better than others, but overall this is a solid 3 and a half stars from me.

"The Sound Of Fury" by Billy Fury (May, 1960)

Brad's Take:


I'd never heard of Billy Fury before this so I was curious to hear his debut album, "The Sound Of Fury." As soon as I hit play, I immediately thought, "I didn't know Elvis impersonators actually got record deals..."

After doing a little bit of research, I discovered that he kind of was Elvis, but the UK's version of Elvis. His vocal styling and energy is almost identical, and he even dressed and moved like The King.

On "Turn My Back On You," Billy Fury does his best Buddy Holly impression by doing the stuttering vocal style that Buddy was well known for.

Since our book is from the UK, it makes sense for Billy Fury to be in it. The UK needed an Elvis and a Buddy Holly so this kid probably made lots of people (especially girls) happy until the real came over from the states.

Putting the similarities to other artists aside, Buddy, I mean Billy Fury nailed it on this album. He stuck to the same blues/rock/country formula that was popular in the US and brought it to the UK, and he succeeded. His voice and energy were great, and he was a good looking guy. I'm sure the English girls swooned over him all day and night. It's not a surprise that a life size bronze statue of him (doing an Elvis impression) was eventually built in Liverpool in his honor in 2003.

Dad's Take:

This is one of a few British-only releases on our list. It's a British book, so that's to be expected. It's also interesting, because it ensures that we'll hear some albums that we've never heard, but that influenced the great British bands. Billy Fury, as an early leader in the Liverpool rock and roll scene, undoubtedly played a more important role than we Yanks are likely to recognize. Interestingly, according to one source, one group that auditioned to be Fury's band was a little band called the Silver Beetles. They were turned down when they refused to fire their bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe, thus missing out on a £20 per week job.

If you listen to very much 1950's rockabilly, you'll hear a number of Elvis imitators of varying quality. Billy Fury is actually pretty good. The songs are good, and the performances are strong. As Brad mentioned, you hear the obvious influence of people like Elvis and Buddy Holly, as well as Carl Perkins and other rockabilly greats, especially Eddie Cochran.

Fury had the chops to pull off some really good rockabilly, as well as the voice for ballads. He didn't have quite the same energy level as Elvis or Buddy. His music isn't especially original, but he was one of the early architects of British rock and roll, and as such deserves a spot on our list.

Bottom line, though, is that it's just a fun record. Songs like "Don't Say It's Over," "That's Love," and several others on this record deserve to be better known stateside. I found "Since You've Been Gone" with its bizarre tempo changes and stuttering "baby baby baby" delivery to be especially interesting. It's not the best song on the record, but it's unusual and fun in its weirdness. If you like good old rock and roll, and especially rockabilly, look for this record. It's good stuff if you like this kind of thing. And I do.

"It's Everly Time," by The Everly Brothers (April, 1960)

Dad's Take:

The Everlys' country-flavored harmony pop is one of the signature sounds of the period. By the time this album came out, many of their biggest hits were behind them, but they put together a solid record. The Everlys helped to fill the void in rock and roll music in the time after Buddy Holly died and Elvis went into the Army, and the onslaught of the Brits. They were a huge influence on later harmony groups like Simon and Garfunkel, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Bee Gees, and the Hollies.

The best-known song in this set is the opener, "So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)." Other songs sound familiar, though, because the Everlys never stray far from what you expect of them. I would have liked to see them welcome the sixties by trying something new on a song or two, but I can't complain about an album that is everything I expect from Phil and Don: some light rock and roll, country, easy ballads, and even a touch of country blues.

Not every song is a hit, but every song is a quality recording. It's a good, strong album.

Brad's Take:


I've listened to The Everly Brothers many times growing up, but never have listened to a full Everly Brothers album. At least not knowingly. But after listening to this one, I want to get all of their stuff and check them out.

I love the super catchy country pop sound they have on "So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)," I love the slow songs like "Sleepless Nights" and I love the blues influenced style they had on "What Kind Of Girl Are You?" Each song sounds like The Everly Brothers, but the album has a nice variety of styles so it isn't monotonous at all.

It's just a great and solid fun record. 

Memorial Album by Hank Williams (September 1956 UK)

Dad's Take:

I don't care who thinks we're silly
You be daffy and I'll be dilly
We'll order two bowls of chili
Settin' the woods on fire

This album was assembled and released a couple years after Williams died too young in the back seat of a Cadillac. I couldn't find a US release date, other than "1955" (with two more songs), but our book lists a September, 1956 UK release date, so we're going with that release.

I'm not a country music fan, but I like Hank Williams and some of the other old-school country artists. Williams might not have invented western music, but he brought a new emotion and heart to the genre. This is back when there wasn't a lot of difference between country & western and folk. It's American roots music, and it lies at the bottom of nearly everything that came after in rock 'n' roll, whether it's Buddy Holly (and by extension, The Beatles), Bob Dylan, CCR, or the Eagles. Without Hank Williams, today's popular music, whether country, rock, or whatever else, would be a very different place.

This is a fine collection of eight Hank Williams classics. It might have been a mistake to follow "Your Cheatin' Heart" with the nearly identical "You Win Again," to open the album, but other than that, I have no complaints.

Every drawn-out word is a hillbilly cry, every bit as sad as Sinatra was in the wee small hours. Sinatra cried in a city bar, where Williams sat alone by the fire out on the ranch, but both lamented their plight. When Williams is cheerful, as in "Settin' The Woods On Fire," "Hey, Good Lookin'," or "Jambalaya" (which was apparently on the 1955 release but not on the only one we could find, and which is very much missed on this record), the joy fills his voice just like the cries of the sad stuff.

Bottom line for me is, whether you like country music or not, no American popular music education is complete without a good strong dose of Hank Williams. This album is as good a place as any to start.

Brad's Take:


This isn't a style that I usually listen to on my own, but I enjoyed this memorial album. The tempo and guitar style to some of the songs aren't much different than the Chet Atkins album we reviewed before this, but with vocals and a band, it makes it different enough.

If you have this on as background music, you'll think it's all upbeat and cheesy fun country songs, but when you pay attention to the lyrics, you hear that Hank had his ups and downs in relationships:

If you missed me half as much as I miss you
You wouldn't stay away half as much as you do
I know that I would never be this blue
If you only loved me half as much as I love you

Like my dad said, whether you're a fan of country music or not, Hank Williams would definitely have to fit into the curriculum of The History Of American Music. Artists like Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash might have never gotten as popular as they did without Hank Williams' success.

Finger-Style Guitar, by Chet Atkins (September 1956)

Dad's Take:

Chet Atkins was an innovator of country-style guitar playing, they tell me. And it may have been true. I don't know enough about that genre prior to this album to be able to comment on that.

All I know is, innovator or not, every song on this album makes me think of roller rink music or the samples for guitar lessons. There is some good picking here, but every song is played at the same roller skating tempo. Whether it's an upbeat number like "Gavotte in D" or a gentle ballad like "Unchained Melody," nearly every song is played at pretty much the same tempo, a tempo that reminds me of what you might hear when you walk into a chapel.. It doesn't help that there are no gaps between tracks. (You wouldn't, after all, want gaps of silence in your skating rink.) When songs are played pretty much the same and run together, there's no avoiding monotony. Occasionally, there's a song that promises a little more excitement, like "Malaguena," but by the end, even those songs drop back into the all-too-familiar tempo.

I'm going to have to leave it to my guitarist son to comment on the technical virtuosity of Atkins's playing. Truth is, whether this album is really innovative, and whether it is an influential disc, it's not something I find particularly entertaining. I'm afraid this is a one-time listen for me.

Brad's Take:

When I first started guitar lessons way back in the day, my teacher mostly taught me acoustic finger picking techniques. At the time, I hated it. I just wanted to play rock music. In the last few years though, I've opened my mind a bit more and I wish I had paid more attention and practiced more often during that first year of guitar lessons. I would love to be able to finger pick like Chet Atkins.

Fun fact: This album was recorded in only one day, which is pretty impressive. Then again, it's only a guy and his guitar, for the most part. If you're good enough (which he obviously is) then it shouldn't take very long to record a whole album in one day. I wonder how many takes each song took though.

There's no doubt that this guy is incredibly talented. The album went by really fast for me. I enjoyed it a lot. As my old man said, the tempo to each song is pretty much the same, at least in the first half of the album. The songs remind my dad of roller skating, but they remind me of the ending credits to Spongebob Squarepants. We definitely grew up in different eras.