POLL of Many Colors - ILM Artists Poll #117 - Women of Country Music

She does!

Rosanne Cash, classic or dud?

Best Song on Rosanne Cash's Hits 1981-1989

Rosanne Cash - The River & the Thread

A+ spelling on my part...thanks, Alfred!

We have had four votes thus far, and you all have just over one week to get 'em in.

― Indexed, Tuesday, March 7, 2023 5:43 PM

I keep forgetting there's an actual vote taking place lol

ha, no worries, Indexed! I've often added an e.

There are five more Jessi Colter tracks, incl. two duets w Waylon, added to the excellent 20th Anniversary Edition of Wanted! The Outlaws, released in 1996.
2006 brought her also **excellent** Out of the Ashes, and 2017 delivered The Psalms, featuring Lenny Kaye, and sounding like something Patti Smith could get into.

from my Nashville Scene comments on Out of the Ashes:

Comments: Jessi Colter, whose early songs are credited to Margaret
Eddy, from when she was married to Chuck's Uncle Duane, emerged for
me, a little bit in the lemon-scented penumbra of her first and
biggest Jessi hit, "I'm Not Lisa," and much moreso on the expanded
reissue of Wanted: The Outlaws, but was and is still a reserved
journeyman. An artist of poise and potential, a masterful student. Out
Of The Ashes is a startling breakthrough, yet she seems shadowy, not
furtive or coy, just driving her low, rumbling keyboard over high,
rocky desert roads. Just like a woman, or some of 'em, no matter how
much she tells you, there's a fair, if implied, warning, that there's
a lot more where that came from, and a lot of it may stay Over There.
For instance,there's a brief, vividly allusive, yet elusive critique
of a certain outlaw, but in passing, as he's passing. She seems wise
to have waited this long after Waylon's death to record again, to have
gained perspective, but she doesn't dwell on it, except insofar as her
home seems in motion: "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" and "Rainy Day
Women" aren't the best performances, but they both move along at their
and her own chosen speed, and they're both equally emblematic of her
sensibility (And His eye surely must have noticed how they stone ya,
counted by every one of Shooter's drumbeats on the collaboration
originally commissioned by M-M-Mel Gibson for the companion album to
The Passion Of The Christ, and must also have noticed that this
sweatlodge session abjures the exploitational aspects of the stone-Ya
in The Passion, or the similar sequence in On The Waterfront, while
being scarier than either, just because of such unblinking austerity).

Came back to that track in a Shooter feature:

In 2004, Shooter and Jessi co-wrote and recorded a song. "Please Carry Me Home" is about sweating yourself dry of temptation's power, cold turkey, and step by bare step. (Shooter's drums count out the cost, slowly, mercilessly). It's a disturbing song, because it implies the risk of losing desire along with temptation. Not a good idea, because, Smokey Robinson put it, "If you can want, you can care," and then (maybe), as long lost Southern Rockers Hydra put it, you can "care enough to survive." But Shooter and Jessi know this, and hearing is believing: although "Please Carry" is the only track he appears on, it's a fittingly dramatic climax to Jessi's new Out Of The Ashes (Shout! Factory), her first album, except for a couple of kiddie-song sets, in over 20 years. Out Of the Ashes may well be the best country album of 2006, and the rumble and flow of Jessi's gospel-schooled, piano-driven twists and turns may well have provided some of the juice for Shooter's new Electric Rodeo

Thanks for the links, Alfred. Maybe I've underrated KRS?

With all apologies to late Steely Dan and Ms. Ronstadt, King’s Record Shop is the finest studio-rock ever recorded; imagine songs as tough as Fleetwood Mac’s 1975 eponymous album, with playing to match, and Cash channeling Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, and Lindsey Buckingham and you get an idea of her achievement. She’s now a super-sponge, covering John Stewart, John Hiatt (turning “The Way We Make A Broken Heart” into a gauzy homosexual reverie) and Johnny Cash himself. Her singing has never been finer. Note the terrified way in which she whispers “I’m worried about you, I’m worried about me” in the big (country) hit “Runaway Train”; or how her dusky contralto won’t cede an inch to bathos on “I Don’t Have To Crawl.” With DeVito and the Mellencamp guitarist she can now afford (Larry Crane) injecting muscle and grit into Crowell’s tautest arrangements, the likes of “Somewhere, Sometime” and “If I Can’t Change Your Mind” register as intense psychodramas and great pop songs, depending on your tolerance. But “Rosie Strikes Back” wants it both ways: a spousal abuse number qua self-empowerment ode, in which the drums and guitars snap, slap, whip, and whirl in a furious simulation of the beat-up wife’s eventual exit.

http://web.archive.org/web/20140330025039/http://stylusmagazine.com/reviews/rosanne-cash/seven-year-ache-kings-record-shop-interiors.htm

lol at my hyperbole 17 years ago

That's good---and dusky contralto, yeah, the sensuous depth-weight can do a lot when she lets it, like "Tell Heaven" is theme worthy of Douglas Sirk and Frederick's of Hollywood catalogs because she's so deadpan brave and tendah with it---also brings flattens some twee lyrics while bringing out melodic muscle of "Biloxi," like Jesse Winchester's original vocals don't (he's always got that little oh-my-goodness! tremolo).
The List is a good covers album: when she told her father she was thinking of going pro in country, he questioned her, was disturbed by her ignorance, brought her a list of songs, some of which she very eventually recorded.

also *flattens*

Charlie McClain anyone?

It's too late to love me now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CqRIndoXOA

Spotify playlist for tracks — I’m definitely not going to have enough time to explore albums I don’t know. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2B4LdLMbhBNRsJ2wNACJEc?si=zg1p5rQySD6lmL-iPTwupg

― The land of dreams and endless remorse (hardcore dilettante), Sunday, February 26, 2023 3:50 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

Really enjoying this playlist -- thank you again for keeping it updated! A few additions I'm considering:

- Iris DeMent - Let The Mystery Be
- Gillian Welch & Alison Krauss - I'll Fly Away
- Bonnie Raitt - Angel from Montgomery

My Life definitely makes my list. Tough call on Bonnie because her albums cover a lot of roots, not just country, but her first three would be the ones I'd pick.

considering:

- Iris DeMent - Let The Mystery Be
- Gillian Welch & Alison Krauss - I'll Fly Away
- Bonnie Raitt - Angel from Montgomery

All great

If you’re waffling about including Gillian Welch on your artist list, this is from their amazing BBC 2004 is worth checking out. Fierce.

Gillian Welch - Caleb Mayer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nugXkgd_-84

How do they make so much music with just two guitars and two voices? Best ever.

I was fortunate enough that a friend took me to one of their live sets years ago. I barely knew their music at the time and left the theater with my jaw on the ground.

Would love to see a few more ballots come in today...

Anyone voting for Olivia Newton-John? Would appreciate any recommendations on where to start with her 70s country catalog, as I'm a total neophyte.

ballot submitted

Got it, thanks!

I have just 5 ballots so far and would feel really good if we hit 20.

You all have 3 days to get yours submitted.

Just rushed one in. Heavy on a few alt-country faves so better get one in if you want to counteract that.

I just submitted mine.

i filled out the "vote here" link at top but it didn't lead me to a place to actually put down a ballot or anything. . .i'm a bit daft yeah but still what's the deal?

Looks like you "voted" but didn't fill out the ballots. There are three ballots each with small gray text that say "Your Answer." You type your ballot in there, such as:

Dolly Parton
Loretta Lynn
Kitty Wells
etc.

Then select whether each of your three ballots is weighted/unweighted/mixed. Then click submit.

If you can't figure it out, I can email you at the address you submitted and get your ballot that way.

lol i'll get back to it and try again when i have the chance. thx, Indexed

Also if I could plug the spreadsheet one more time, I am keeping it updated with anything mentioned in the thread or that anyone votes for, so it's a bit of a pseudo noms list.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wZG8IgHCDheS-83yJpnIQC0pu-cdciuZ9suKwPs0Q4E/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks.

I am still thinking.

I'm late to the party so doubt you'll have time to put any of these into your playlist, but think of them as tracks nominations. (LOL at trying to find them on Spotify anyway.)

To call my knowledge of country music "spotty" is to overestimate the number and size of the spots and to underestimate the vast amount of blank space. But last June when Tom's Peoples Pop Polls were doing 1966, I did a kind of dive for country music, especially looking for country women to toss into the Suggestions Box.

In the meantime here's one from 1985:

Lacy J. Dalton - Over You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlcl4WCml4o
Deep burnt voice, makes me want to hear more.

Hmmm. Was trying not to embed; thought putting URL tags around the link would take care of that. Let's see how this works (another track from 1985):

Louise Mandrell - Devil In A Fast Car
Sounds more Flashdance than her sister.

zero female posters itt, bums me out

Hey indexed I voted for He’s Everywhere by Sammi Smith but it got retitled as Help Me Make It Through The Night and it looks like someone voted for it under that name so they should count as votes for the same album!

From hither and yon. Yes, I can find a way to put hip-hop into a country poll!
The Forester Sisters - Crazy Heart
More heart than crazy, but the guitars mince some garlic over in the cutlery section of Bed Bath & Beyond.
Faith Hill - One
Keep forgetting how good Faith Hill is. This is quiet storm, basically, that doesn't forget to get a little noisy.
Bonnie Guitar - Hello, Hello Please Answer The Phone
Question, what genre has the most telephone songs? Think country's a contender.

Norma Jean - The Gambler And The Lady
You're either on the boat or you're off the boat.
Haley Georgia - Becky
"Becky" is blissful and buoyant and one of the great songs of 2017 and when all the online creeps kept telling Haley it was shit she must've listened, 'cause it's been wiped off the Internet except for this snippet.
LeAnn Rimes - Family
Saw a live clip of this where LeAnn says "And just admit you have a dysfunctional family" and she raises her hand really high.
LeAnn Rimes - No Way Out
And she didn't know a way out.

Taylor Swift - You're Not Sorry
Taylor Swift - Lose Yourself
SHeDAISY - Lucky 4 You
Carrie Underwood - Jesus Take The Wheel
Allison Moorer - Dancing Barefoot

Sarah Buxton - Space
Laura Bell Bundy - Giddy On Up
Sarah Darling - Whenever It Rains
Cassadee Pope - Wasting All These Tears

Amazing how many of these aren’t on Spotify.

I don’t think anyone mentioned 16th Avenue by Lacy J Dalton yet, maybe it’s too obvious but it’s still all-time for all that

Submitted and not gonna think about everything I left out

having a tough time but will get a ballot of some sort in.

Sent!

Awesome, 11 ballots in, so we are over halfway to my goal of 20 with about 36 hours left to vote. Judging by the commenters in this thread I think we might get there. Vote!

If it wasn't obvious from the spreadsheet, everyone has a different favorite Emmylou Harris album!

I'm not a fan except as a background vocalist/harmonist :(

zero female posters itt, bums me out

xpost Emmylou. I voted for Wrecking Ball. Not her most country lp but I like what Lanois added to her sound.

Most of the cows have left the barn already, but here's 1966. Among my surprises and discoveries when diving into '66 was how much country was still wrestling with rock 'n' roll and, for the women, wrestling with the girl group sound. For instance, Dolly Parton's "Don't Drop Out," produced by Ray Stevens, was going for a Spector/Shadow Morton/Shangri-Las sound. This is while, out on the pop charts, the girl groups were either disappearing or – in the case of the Supremes and the Marvelettes – morphing into mid '60s soul.

Of course, the country acts were not trying to absorb or meld with the (barely yet named) "rock" genre. Lots of country acts covered "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'," but they got no closer.

One happy surprise, though, was hearing Bonnie Guitar and Margaret Whiting veer towards the art-pop of Petula Clark, say, or Burt Bacharach. Bonnie Guitar (see upthread) is especially interesting – I'd never heard her, but she's terrific. She sounded as at-home on Bacharach type stuff as on Carter Family type stuff, and I could imagine her singing a Bond theme. If you can tell me more about her, I'd be grateful. In the Suggestions Box I was also posting for someone who couldn't figure out how to post, and I ran his choice of Scott Walker's "Mrs. Murphy" right into Bonnie's "Grey Rain Years."

I made a couple of Sixties playlists with a bunch of stuff incl. these and some male-sung country tracks; the second playlist includes the Bonnie-Scott merger. And the first playlist's got my Suggestion Box segue from Norma Jean's "The Shirt" to the Rolling Stones' "Mother's Little Helper." This segue is one of the meanest things I've done in my life.

As much as I love the '66 country tracks, after 10 of them in a row I feel like I'm in an airless closet. If I'd been a kid in a country-listening family, I would've seized on the Stones as a giant bear claw to claw my way out.

In the '00s I wrote that country should change its genre name to "Resentment." For the '60s you could call the genre "What A Drag It Is Getting Old." –An interesting exception was Wanda Jackson; not that she's better than the others, but in going all Jimmie Rodgers she was arriving like a breeze of air and space.

In my actual 1966 – a mostly unhappy year for me – I was trapped in a room not with country but with the Rolling Stones. But since the Stones sounded like they were trying to claw their way out of themselves, I was able to ride with them.

To sum up, though, I'm impressed at the extent that country '66 was willing to engage with other people's present.