Puttin' Country into Rock Music

The staff at my workplace is being force-fed country music 24/7 via the PA system. It's brutal. And I'm talking about the "New Country" stuff, too. I can appreciate some of the older country and western as played by legends like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, and Emmylou Harris. I quite like The Gambler by Kenny Rogers, Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys by Waylon Jennings, and even Crazy by Patsy Cline. John Denver caught my attention with Country Roads, just one of his many fine tunes. I can hear the talent not just in the instrumentation, but also in the fine crafting of sweet and memorable songs. 

Gunslinger? Nope, country singer

Merle Haggard.

The music of this genre works best for me when it evokes the mood or images of the Old West - or maybe even the not-so-old west. But the modern day tunes that are so formulaic, commercialized and rock'n'roll-ized are a complete turn-off for me. I grow annoyed with the put-on nasal twang in the vocals and the overuse of steel guitar (which can sound great when played with tasteful restraint) in pretty much every single New Country song I've heard. And through my recent "research" at work, I've realized that trucks are the most sung-about topic in country. Seriously? Trucks and whisky, over and over and over again. 

Give me something more honest and heartfelt, something more rustic and folksy. 

Having said all that, I am simply not a fan of the genre. Yes, I can get into some of this stuff if I am good and ready and in the mood for something along these lines. But my heart belongs to rock and metal.... gimme some early Van Halen or Megadeth, and I'll be happy. 

And that got me to thinking about rock bands who sang songs about country music themes. Thin Lizzy did it successfully with their Cowboy Song... in a rock style but with hooks and an approach that does make you think about a desert campfire and rattlesnakes in your saddle blanket. 

Bon Jovi used Old West metaphors on their hit singles Wanted Dead Or Alive and Blaze of Glory. Aerosmith had that rockin' oldie Back in the Saddle. There's Desperado and Doolin-Dalton by The Eagles... mind you, those guys mined extensively the western mythology for many of their songs. Poison sort of did it with Every Rose Has Its Thorn. 

The Eagles as outlaws.... desperados

Townes Van Zandt sang about Pancho and Lefty (beautifully covered by Emmylou Harris), while Frankie Laine cranked out the classic Rawhide, which most of us know from The Blues Brothers. While both fellows did work for the country realm, they were known foremost as singer-songwriters whose work spanned many genres. So I'll let them slip by here. 

Billy Joel wrote and performed The Ballad of Billy the Kid. Brian Wilson of the Beachboys came up with Rio Grande.... no surfboards there. Cheap Trick did Ghost Town, which may be a "western" in title only. One of my favourites is the blues-rock gem La Grange by ZZ Top, that l'il ol' band from Texas. 

CCR famously sang about The Midnight Special... watch out for that sheriff. Oh, and don't forget about the song I Shot the Sheriff, originally by reggae king Bob Marley and later revitalized by bluesman Eric Clapton. Gold Dust Woman by Fleetwood Mac may not be an obvious western-themed track, but its title and the music itself imply a frontier setting. Similarly, Led Zeppelin's got Gallows Pole. How a Brit band came to write a prospecting/Gold Rush song, I'll never know. 

Oh, and even Van Halen dabbled in some old-timey tunes on their Diver Down album. They covered the classic Happy Trails acapella-style, and penned a funny ditty called Big Bad Bill. Halen also rocked out on Hang 'Em High, an homage to the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western movie. 

Canada's Neil Young brought us Are You Ready for the Country... a foot-stompin' little tale of an outlaw. Chris Isaak delivered a romantic rendition of South of the Border (Down Mexico Way). I have always felt that The Monkees' Last Train to Clarksville had a country flair... it made me think of old steam trains crossing America on freshly laid railroad tracks. 

Catch your train....