Music genre question

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Is there a name for the kind of songs that are sort of "country" inasmuch as they are pretty much just a singer with a guitar, but aren't country in that you wouldn't get up and line dance to them? I'm thinking of low-tempo songs like Wichita Lineman, or Everybody's Talkin'? I want to put just such a compilation together for a garden party and it will help searching for them if there's a genre?

[diggedy derek]

Inadequate as they are, I'd suggest singer-songwriter, or you might even try Laurel Canyon.

[Benjm]

Italo disco or Hi-NRG are what you're after, Rogin.

No need to check over the playlist before cueing it up; my word is my bond.

[Sits]

Don’t listen to Benjm, he’s just winding you up. It’s Screamo you need.

[ursus arctos]

At the time, they were called "soft rock" or "easy listening" over here, though the ones you name check all have have a definite "country" aspect to them.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that they made Wichita Lineman a sensation, most of Jimmy Webb's oeuvre would seem to fit, as would lots of Glenn Campbell's. Kris Kiristofferson also comes to mind.

[G-Man]

but aren't country in that you wouldn't get up and line dance to them

You think that's all country is?

Campbell and Kristofferson identified as country, and were at home in that genre. As KK said in introducing "Me And Bobby McGee": "If it sounds like a country song, then that's what it is: a country song."

[Toby Gymshorts]

Wichita Lineman is the greatest song ever written and Campbell's performance of it is transcendent.

I will fight anyone who says otherwise.

[caja-dglh]

This is a tricky question. In part, it is Rogin having a terrible idea that Country is all line-dancing tunes (which also puts him firmly in his age bracket). The flip is that there really isn't much distinction of what is and isn't in the Country genre (it is crazily broad), although "Old Town Road" officially isn't.

[HeavyDracula]

Americana, roots, outlaw country, alt.country, country rock...

[sw2borshch]

Yeah, the tracks you reference are probably Americana before it was called Americana, I reckon. Lee Hazelwood is sort of the same. Try his track 'New Box of People'.

[Jah Womble]

Americana, roots, outlaw country, alt.country, country rock...

Not sure. I've always thought of 'outlaw country' as being more connected with artists like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Steve Earle perhaps. I see the Campbell/Webb axis as more pop-country or maybe easy listening.

Which absolutely doesn't preclude Wichita Lineman as being one of the finest songs ever written.

[Aitch]

If you've got Spotify, there is a playlist called "Campbells Favourites", 195 songs, 12 hours and 32 minutes of Glen's bestest artists.

ETA: There's also a Glen Campbell radio

[diggedy derek]

The good news is, there's a book coming out about Wichita Lineman. The bad news is, it's by Dylan Jones.

[Stumpy Pepys]

People do sometimes go to elaborate lengths to persuade themselves the country music they like isn't actually country.

I have several country LPs and I'm not sure you could line-dance to any of them, with the possible exception of Dwight Yoakam.

[Benjm]

I saw a notification for an event with Dylan Jones which must have been linked to the book. I'm old enough to remember him as a music writer on Record Mirror back in the '80s but would have expected the intervening quarter century of puffing expensive suits, statement fountain pens and David Cameron to have eroded any currency that he might once have had in the field.

Maybe he'll tease out the links between Wichita Lineman's sense of yearning and distance and Cameron's lonely struggle to complete his memoirs in the £16,000 shed at the bottom of his Cotswolds garden.

[Jah Womble]

I always rather felt that those behind David Soul's music career were trying to emulate something of Campbell's 'lovelorn drifter'-persona.

Clearly, they achieved brief-but-measurable commercial success - but without ever coming close to scaling the same artistic heights.

[Sits]

You’ve clearly never listened to the epic, majestic Black Bean Soup.

[G-Man]

Not sure. I've always thought of 'outlaw country' as being more connected with artists like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Steve Earle perhaps. I see the Campbell/Webb axis as more pop-country or maybe easy listening.

Correct on all counts. Campbell was very much in the mainstream of country. The "outlaw" thing is quite fluid as well, and has less to do with music than with attitude and perspectives, and pot-smoking capacity. Willie Nelson or Waylon Jennings or Tompall Glaser could be both, outlaw and mainstream. Whereas mainstream people like Charlie Rich could never be outlaw.

Maybe this mix might offer a useful cross-section of country which wouldn't lead to sustained outbreaks of line-dancing. And if one wants to know more about the history of country, there are a couple of links in that post which might help. Or just get the free eBook of the Brief History of Country Music.

[treibeis]

Don’t listen to Benjm, he’s just winding you up. It’s Screamo you need.

I think Benjm and you are out of order. The man asked an intelligent question, you could at least have the decency to dignify it, and yourselves, with a proper answer.

Rogin, the term you're looking for is Guttural.

[WOM]

There's quite a bit of the California Country sound to what you're talking about. It's defo not outlaw country. Springsteen's new and wonderful album Western Stars is very much in this vein. Softer country with orchestral string touches.

[Patrick Thistle]

It depends on the way the genre listings are set up but I'd go for light country or classic country and see what came back. Also don;t neglect the & Western as C&W is the more traditional term for it and that would probably bring back older songs that fit in with what you are saying.

British stuff is quite good. The Country & South Western scene like Ward Thomas and The Shires.

[ursus arctos]

Is "Americana" actually a recognised genre over there?

I've never heard it used as such on this side of the pond.

[Wouter D]

Rogin, are you looking for things like this?

I'd shelve these under "alternative country". Neither of them are just a singer with a guitar, though. Willard Grant Conspiracy often has trumpets and violins, and Lambchop plays around with electronica.

[treibeis]

British stuff is quite good. The Country & South Western scene like Ward Thomas and The Shires.

And The Wurzels.

[Sits]

Robin are you familiar with The Jayhawks? Probably a bit boppy for your needs and I believe they fall under alt-country but their Best Of is a decent listen.