 | Jolene by Dolly Parton
Buy used from: $2.88 Forget about what you know about Dolly Parton. This is amazing music. The earlier stuff with Porter Wagoner is also great (Mission Chapel Memories is a great comp from this time).
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 | Stand by Your Man by Tammy Wynette
Buy used from: $2.88 At this price, just buy it. Her voice is unreal.
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 | High, Low And In Between/Late Great by Townes Van Zandt
Buy new: $11.94 / Used from: $9.18 A good introduction to Townes. Absolutely unique. There is no one who can write a song as deceptively simple and passionate as Townes Van Zandt. All the early studio albums are excellent.
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 | Branded Man by Merle Haggard
Buy used from: $11.66 Why is this remastered CD so cheap? Good intro to Merle Haggard (ex-conservative pot smoker).
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 | Bitter Tears/Blood, Sweat And Tears/Ring Of Fire by Johnny Cash
Buy used from: $28.70 These three CDs packaged together might be the best way to get into Johnny Cash.
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 | Together Again/My Heart Skips a Beat by Buck Owens
Buy new: $13.98 / Used from: $6.00 Feel good music with a ton of soul.
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 | 16 Biggest Hits by George Jones
Buy new: $7.98 / Used from: $2.97 It seems the original albums are out of print on CD, but this seems like a good collection of these unbelievalbe duets.
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 | Lucinda Williams by Lucinda Williams
Buy used from: $29.87 How can this be out of print? A perfect album.
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 | Country Willie: His Own Songs by Willie Nelson
Buy used from: $9.87 Crazy: The Demo Sessions also definitely worth hearing (as are just about all his albums).
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 | The Ultimate Collection by Patsy Cline
Buy used from: $9.32 The best Patsy Cline collection other than the complete box set.
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 | The Definitive Collection by Loretta Lynn
Buy new: $10.97 / Used from: $7.48 The single-disc Loretta Lynn collection to get, but to really get all the hits get the Honkey Tonk Girl box set.
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 | John Wesley Harding by Bob Dylan
Buy new: $7.98 / Used from: $5.98 I almost put down Nashville Skyline, which is also very good and probably more country.
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 | Old No. 1/Texas Cookin' by Guy Clark
Buy used from: $5.03 A truly great songwriter's first two albums on one CD.
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 | Sweetheart of the Rodeo by The Byrds
Buy new: $7.98 / Used from: $4.74 With Gram Parsons. Probably my favorite Byrds album (a band I think of as equally experimental and creative as the Beatles or the Rolling Stones).
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 | Kristofferson by Kris Kristofferson
Buy new: $7.98 / Used from: $4.24 It's hard to get my mind around how great these songs are.
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 | Luxury Liner by Emmylou Harris
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $3.55 It's hard to pick one Emmylou Harris album.
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 | Revival by Gillian Welch
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $7.71 Effortlessly "rootsy." An album I listen to again and again.
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 | 25 Number Ones by Conway Twitty
Buy used from: $10.00 A haunting singer who never sounded better than on his duets with Loretta Lynn.
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 | The Best of Doug Sahm & the Sir Douglas Quintet 1968-1975 by Doug Sahm & The Sir Douglas Quintet
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $4.50 The Beatles with a lot of county twang. Great musicians, great songwriter.
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 | Wanda Jackson by Wanda Jackson
Buy new: $5.98 / Used from: $1.70 Might as well get this too to really get the party started.
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 | Live 1973 by Gram Parsons & the Fallen Angels
Buy new: $12.99 / Used from: $5.65 Everything Gram Parsons's touched is worth acquiring. Get this in addition to his two solo albums (available on one CD), the Flying Burrito Brothers, and the International Submarine Band.
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 | More a Legend Than a Band by The Flatlanders
Buy new: $16.98 / Used from: $9.98 A country power trio plus a suble saw player. Explosive country sound. Long-lost debut of Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock.
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 | Comes a Time by Neil Young
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $5.36 A beautiful country album as good as any album Neil Young has put out.
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 | The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark/Through the Morning, Through the Night by Dillard & Clark
Buy new: $14.98 / Used from: $6.25 Collaboration between ex-Byrd Gene Clark and ex-Dillards Doug Dillard. Sublime progressive country songwriting.
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 | The Essential Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton by Porter Wagoner
Buy new: $7.98 / Used from: $4.67 The best comp available from this undeniably great singing duo.
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 | Train a Comin' by Steve Earle
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $4.52 This great songwriter has never sounded better than this as he returns from the hell of heroin and prison. In my book both one of the greatest country albums - and rock albums - ever recorded.
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 | Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. by Dwight Yoakam
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $2.36 Undeniably passionate music disguised (at least at first listen, maybe) as pop country. Similar feel to Steve Earle's Guitar Town, which is another great album.
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 | Ain't Living Long Like This by Rodney Crowell
Buy new: $12.98 / Used from: $7.94 |
 | Doug Sahm and Band by Doug Sahm
Buy new: $11.99 / Used from: $7.64 |
 | Live in London...England! by Dale Watson
Buy new: $9.98 / Used from: $6.33 All the Dale Watson albums are great, but for me he's best live.
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 | The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy/Once Upon a Time by David Allan Coe
Buy new: $26.97 / Used from: $11.08 |
 | Night Life by Ray Price
Buy new: $11.98 / Used from: $8.48 |
 | The Sun Years by Johnny Cash
Buy new: $9.98 / Used from: $1.42 |
Listmania!
