The Best Country Albums of 1964, Part 2

David with 39 honorable mentions

I shared my “Best Country Albums of 1964” list on Wednesday. But there was so much more country music that year worth hearing beyond those 20 picks.

For “Part 2,” here are 39 more 1964 country albums earning Honorable Mentions. I say they’re all worth a spin and maybe even several. Thinking big tent, alphabetized by artist, with a brief comment and a recommended track or three, even a few links. Would love to hear what I’ve missed…

Roy Acuff and His Smoky Mountain Boys – Hand-Clapping Gospel Songs - Just what the title says. Outside his classic years, “Somebody Touched Me” is about as energized as Acuff ever got.

Eddy Arnold and the Needmore Creek Singers – Folk Song Book - Arnold had three 1964 albums: the easy listening-leaning Sometimes I’m Happy, Sometimes I’m Sad, the country pop-leaning Pop Hits from the Country Side, and the folk revival-leaning Folk Song Book. These are admittedly pretty narrow distinctions, but I prefer folk-song Eddy. Backing from the Needmores is a nice change up, too, in Hall of Famer Arnold’s somehow still too-little appreciated career. “Molly” (a No. 5 country hit) and “Blowing in the Wind.”

Brook Benton - On the Countryside - “He’s Got You,” “Anytime”

The Carter Family with special guest Johnny Cash – Keep on the Sunny Side - This desultory album rarely takes off like you’d hope. The plan seems to use the special guest’s fame to move some units for country’s first family and, hey fair enough. And in moments the harmony blend stuns. “Worried Man Blues”

Johnny Cash - Bitter Tears: Johnny Cash Sings Ballads of the American Indian -Bravely committed straight through to singing of the bigotry and betrayal faced by America’s native peoples, but a bit hit or miss musically (as Cash could be at his most earnest). But when it’s on… “As Long as the Grass Shall Grow,” “Apache Tears,” “The Ballad of Ira Hayes” (No. 3)

Nat King Cole - I Don’t Want to Be Hurt Anymore and Let’s Face the Music - Like so much of his music from around “Ramblin’ Rose” on, these LA-cut sets have a consistent Nashville Sounding vibe. On the former, check out: the title track and “Road to Nowhere.” From the latter: “Bidin’ My Time,” “Cold, Cold Heart”

The Dillards - Live!!! Almost!!! - “There Is a Time,” Bob Dylan’s “Walkin’ Down the Line,” Don Reno’s “Dixie Breakdown”

Fats Domino – Fats on Fire - Recording in Nashville with producer Felton Jarvis, the rock and roll founding father covers Elvis’ “Love Me,” Ted Daffan’s “I’m a Fool to Care,” and a Fats Domino/Big Al Downing co-write “Mary, Oh Mary”

Tony Douglas – His ‘n’ Hers - Title cut was a minor country hit from the year before. Don’t miss “Pig” Robbins throughout, clocking in for another day at work behind the piano—and just killing it.

Dave Dudley – Songs about the Working Man - His signature “Six Days on the Road” was a No. 3 country and a Top 40 pop hit, and “Last Day in the Mines” went Top Ten itself, back when blue-collar was still primarily a material condition, not just a lifestyle brand. “Bless Them Machines (Please Help the Working Man)”

Duane Eddy – Lonely Guitar - Eddy competes for the Percy Faith crowd and swamps his twang with strings. (For more on Eddy’s country connections, check out his entry in the “Country Style!” series.) “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Gunsmoke”

Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs – At Vanderbilt University – I prefer their live Carnegie Hall set from the year before, but this is Lester and Earl, with dobroist Josh Graves and fiddler Paul Warren, so you can’t go wrong. My favorites here are the gospel cuts, “Paul and Silas” and “No Hiding Place Down Here,” and Earl’s instrumental “Old Folks.”

Connie Francis and Hank Williams, Jr. - Connie Francis & Hank Williams Jr. Sing Great Country Favorites – I wouldn’t call this a good album, but it is a weirdly interesting one, as Jr. (in the same year he did the Your Cheatin’ Heart soundtrack) avoids his dad’s songbook while trying to figure out how to keep up with Connie Francis, the clearly superior vocalist at this point in their careers, amidst busy pop settings. “Blue, Blue Day”

Lefty Frizzell - Saginaw, Michigan – Frizzell can sing anything and make you glad you were there to hear it, but he’s best when the songs are best and except for the iconic title track, that’s rarely the case here. What really pops, for me, is the glorious work of Frank Jones, Don Law and the A-Team. A great sounding album. “Saginaw, Michigan,” “Stranger,” Merle Kilgore’s “There’s No Food in This House”

Mickey Gilley – Lonely with Wine – Gilley pretty well nails his cousin’s “It’s country! No, it’s rock! No, it’s country!” sweet spot. “Down the Line,” “Turn Around”

George Hamilton IV – Fort Worth, Dallas or Houston - The title cut went Top Ten country, but if he normally went as darkly philosophical as “The Little Grave,” or if flat country-rocked as hard as “If You Want Me To,” I’d want to listen to Mr. Hamilton more often.

Jake Hess & the Imperials – Jake Hess & the Imperials – Southern gospel legend Jake Hess left the Statesmen to start this group, and you can hear part of his motivation straight out the gate with a cover of Dorothy Love Coates’ “That’s Enough” that includes pop-friendly drums and sanctified… saxophone?

Al Hirt – Sugar Lips and Cotton Candy – The best Al Hirt is Top 40 Al Hirt, which is to say Chet-Atkins-producing-the-A-Team-with-Anita-Kerr Al Hirt. Play “Sugar Lips” (Pig Robbins on organ!) and “Cotton Candy” loud.

Homer & Jethro - Fractured Folk Songs – You know a trend has passed its expiration date when it begins to be relentlessly parodied. Homer & Jethro drive a nail in the folk revival’s coffin in just the ways you’d expect. Their “Little Maggie” “looks so cute… wearin’ high-heeled sneakers and a topless bathing suit.” Their “So Long (It’s Been Good to Know You”)” begins “We’ll sing you a song, and here’s the first verse, it’s gotta get better, it can’t get no worse.” A little of that sort of thing can go a long way, but I never get enough of their picking.

Burl Ives – True Love – Burl Ives grants such a warm, good-humored vibe to his Popular Front folkie pop that he really can sing anything. He’s never flashy and his instantly identifiable voices encourages to hum along behind lead. Bonus: He’s working with Owen Bradley, the A-Team and Anita Kerr. “Four Initials on a Tree,” Harlan Howard’s “Beautiful Annabel Lee,” “The Deepening Snow”

Wanda Jackson – Two Sides of Wanda Jackson – Wanda’s first side is her rocking one, the second her sad country ballad one. Call it draw. “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Don’t Let Me Cross Over”

Jim & Jesse – The Old Country Church – If you already have a good anthology of the bluegrass McReynolds brothers, plus their Chuck Berry tribute, then maybe track down this gospel set next. “Kneel at the Cross,” “This World Is Not My Home,” “Are You Washed in the Blood”

George Jones – George Jones Sings Like the Dickens – A fine tribute album but treat yourself and track down the Little Jimmy Dickens versions. “Take Me As I Am,” “My Heart’s Bouquet”

Brenda Lee - By Request – No. 12 pop “As Usual,” plus lesser hits “My Whole World Is Falling Down,” “The Grass is Greener,” and Cecil Gant-penned “I Wonder”

Jerry Lee Lewis - The Golden Hits of Jerry Lee Lewis - When Jerry Lee signed with Smash, the first order of business was to recut all his old hits in new Nashville versions. Not as sound-alikes, understand, but in fresh, distinctive arrangements. They may not rock as hard as the Sun originals, but I’m here to tell you they roll harder and could’ve been hits themselves. Here and there Jerry Lee even shouts for “a little guitar now,” and an anonymous Nashville picker holds his own against the Killer’s pumping piano.

Hank Locklin – Hank Locklin Sings Hank Williams – Genuinely first-rate tribute set. A boot-scooting “Why Don’t You Love Me,” a lustrous “You Win Again,” a funky little “Long Gone Lonesome Blues”

Loretta Lynn - Loretta Lynn Sings – Lynn’s debut album includes hits “The Other Woman” and “Success,” both of which remain among the bests records she ever made, but don’t sleep on “The Minute You’re Gone” and “I Walked Away from the Wreck”

Jimmy Martin – Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys Sing Widow Maker – Top 20 title track and a couple other trucker numbers. Plus, “Foggy Old London,” “The Old Man’s Drunk Again.”

Buck Owens and His Buckaroos – I Don’t Care – What with Tele man Don Rich and bassist Doyle Holly singing leads on “Dang Me” and “Understand Your Man” respectively, with Rose Maddox duetting with Buck on “Loose Talk,” and with the Buckaroos bouncing through their “Buckaroo Polka” and “Bud’s Bounce,” this feels like a bit of a hodge podge—but a delightful one. No. 1 “I Don’t Care,” “This Old Heart”

Johnny Rivers – At the Whisky A Go Go – The first of his live “At the Whisky” trio sets. “Memphis, Tennessee,” “Oh Lonesome Me”

Jean Shepard – Lighthearted and Blue – “The Big Wheel,” “Half a Mind”

Carl Smith – There Stands the Glass – By this point in Carl Smith’s great career, hits were in the rearview, but his albums were as strong as ever. This particular LP is a Webb Pierce tribute album, and he makes each old Pierce hit sound like it surely must have been one of his own. “Love, Love, Love,” “How Do You Talk to a Baby”

The Stanley Brothers (with George Shuffler) – Hymns of the Cross – Ralph and Carter Stanley tweaking their sound with trio harmony, courtesy guest guitarist George Shuffler. “I Just Dropped By,” “How Beautiful Heaven Must Be,” a fantastic band version of “Oh Death”

Ernest Tubb – Thanks a Lot – Ernest singing the brand of Texas honky tonk he invented and perfected, backed by what his biographer Ronnie Pugh dubbed “The Great Band”: drummer Jack Greene, bassist Jack Drake, lead guitarist Leon Rhodes, rhythm guitarist Cal Smith, and pedal steel guitarist Buddy Charleton. No. 3 hit “Thanks a Lot,” “Your Side of the Story,” Ivory Joe Hunter’s “I Almost Lost My Mind”

Porter Wagoner – In Person – Cut live in West Plains, Missouri, Porter’s hometown. Porter’s band, the Wagonmasters, are captured in particularly strong form, and the entire show’s all here: “girl singer” “pretty Miss Norma Jean,” on “Head Over Heels in Love with You” and “Private Little World”; fellow West Plainsmen Speck Rhodes cutting up and singing “Sweet Fern”; plus a gospel number and a couple fiddle tunes from Jack Little. Yay.

Billy Walker – Thank You for Calling – Walker sometimes sounds a little like Slim Whitman, sometimes a little like Marty Robbins, which either way sounds good to me. This LP gathers a pair of Top Tens (the title track and “Circumstances”), plus, a quartet of lesser country-chart makers (“Morning Papers,” “Heart Be Careful,” “It’s Lonesome,” and “Forever”).

Kitty Wells – Country Music Time – Includes Miss Kitty’s two great but non-canonical Top Tens (two of her last), “This White Circle on My Finger” and “Password.”

Slim Whitman – Country Songs, City Hits – Whitman singing a dozen country hits, in all his quivery, falsetto glory. “Ramblin’ Rose,” “I Can’t Stop Loving You”

Faron Young – Country Dance Favorites – A collection of other people’s hits that Faron Young makes fresh simply by singing them like Faron Young. “Release Me,” “Dance Her By Me (One More Time),” “Save the Last Dance for Me”

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