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David Cantwell

Reconsidering rock's dark ages

One of pop music's most beloved myths is the one about how the Beatles brought rock 'n' roll back from the dead. It goes something like this... Rock 'n' roll passed away on or about February 2, 1959, when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and

Jerry Lee Lewis - Country Songs For City Folks/Memphis Beat Another Place Another Time/She Still Comes Around The "Killer" Rocks On/Boogie Woogie Country Man

A friend tells me there are moments when he's all but convinced that Jerry Lee Lewis is the greatest country singer of them all. To champions of Connie Smith, say, or of Merle and George, or of Marty, Hank and Lefty, such a conclusion probably sounds a little

Iris Dement - All that living will allow

Singers celebrate the human voice. Their lyrics are words. But animated by voice those words are subsumed into sounds....In most songs the drama or tension results from the fact that the singer moves between word (sense) and note (song). At one moment the song simply "says" something.

Waylon Jennings - Waylon Live: The Expanded Edition

When released in 1976, Waylon Live instantly joined the short list of great country concert recordings, alongside Hank Thompson's At the Golden Nugget, Johnny Cash's At Folsom Prison, Charley Pride's In Person (Live At Panther Hall), and not very many others. But what we

Patty Loveless - On Your Way Home

Patty Loveless has been creating great country music for so long it's easy to take her for granted. It's been fifteen years now since her first big record (a cover of the 1967 George Jones hit "If My Heart Had Windows"), and damn near

Willie Nelson - The Essential Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson - The Essential Willie Nelson

William Hughes Nelson, who turned 70 in April, has made his most lasting contributions to country music via three artistic personas. There's "W. Nelson," the songwriter; "Shotgun Willie," the single and album artist; and just plain "Willie," the celebrity. These categories don&

Jeannie Kendall - Of missing persons

Jeannie Kendall is seated in a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Branson, Missouri, and she's nervous. A moment ago she announced she wasn't hungry. Now, confronted by a waitress, she orders two scrambled eggs, two strips of bacon, and a biscuit. "They have pretty good biscuits