Larry Sparks - I'd Like to Be a Train

Get it here: I'd Like To Be A Train

Larry Sparks is like a white soul singer who sings bluegrass.  It sounds weird when you say it that way, but its actually really great. 

This song is actually isn't the best example of what people think of when they think Larry Sparks.  For that, try this one: John Deere Tractor.  But what this song is is a really fun, fast bluegrass song sung by a guy with an A caliber voice, which unfortunately is a little rare.  Whenever you hear somebody with a voice this good singing traditional bluegrass or bluegrass honky tonk, buy everything you can. 

Killer Line - "Cause trains don't have no heart to break, and they don't feel no pain"

Gary Stewart - Drinkin' Thing

Get it here:  Drinkin' Thing

I don't think Gary Stewart gets enough play among casual country music fans, but he's not a secret by any means to critics.  He had a technically weak vibratto voice, and frankly the vast majority of his stuff didn't really connect with me.  But goodness gracious when he hit one out of the park, he really did.

This song has the exact same subject matter as most of his really great ones.  He's got a drinking thing to keep from thinking about his wife or girlfriend cheating on him.

You can tell his voice really strains on this song, but somehow that just makes it sound even better.  You never hear a voice more perfectly suited to a song than with Gary's big hits.

These songs to me sound like a weird combination of super hardcore honky tonk and late 70's early 80's pop.  I ready somewhere that he actually didn't like these songs but was forced to do them by the record label guys.  If that's the case, then its another example of what I think is a rule in hillbilly music: To be any good, it needs to be hardcore, but it also needs to be commercial. 

Killer Line - "I've got this drinkin' thing, to keep from thinkin things"

If you like this one, a couple more greats are here:

1.  Out Of Hand

2.  She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)
 

Jimmy Martin - Drink Up and Go Home

You can listen to a sample on Disc 3 here.

Apparently I'm not the only person who thinks Jimmy Martin is one of the greatest hillbilly artists ever, right up there with other greats like Hank Williams and George Jones.  He is called the King of Bluegrass, after all.  (Although I think he may have started that himself - he was a big self-promoter.)

For my birthday last year my in-laws got me a big Bear Family box set with a lot (I don't think all, but I may be wrong) of his material between 54 and 74.  Its not a greatest hits set - its supposed to be comprehensive.  But it sure seems like a greatest hits set.  Just song after song of great hillbilly music.

I don't think its accurate to call him a bluegrass singer.  A lot of this is what I call honky tonk with a banjo, which is a real sweet spot for me.  And his voice is just nuts - seriously Jimmy Martin sounds as good as George Jones to me.

This is one of many surprising songs for me in this box set.  Strangely I'd never heard it.  I say its strange given that from a google search it seems like tons of people have covered it.  It was originally done by a guy named Freddie Hart apparently just a few years before Jimmy did it.  I don't know anything about Freddie Hart, other than that he doesn't sound like he sings my kind of music.

Anyway, back to this song, its kind of funny to hear Jimmy Martin telling people not to cry in their beer about their troubles.  He made a career out of singing about crying over your troubles!  But the delivery on this song is just awesome.  And every time he wails out the line below, I just about can't help doing the same thing myself.

Killer Line - "I'm fresh out of prison, six years in the pen, lost my wife and family, no one to call friend"