He wrote “You’re The Reason God Made Oklahoma,” which hit #1 for David Frizzell and Shelly West, and was also nominated for the CMA’s Song of the Year. He wrote “Home” with Mac Davis…
Maybe you’re not intimately familiar with the name, but you’re most definitely familiar with the licks he played, and the songs that he helped turn into country hits and standards over decades. One of the most prolific and respected session guitarists in country music history, Ray Edenton, has died.
The final half of the country music couple that was so revered and influential in the business they went by “Mr. and Mrs. Country Music” has passed on. Rose Lee Maphis, who along with her husband Joe Maphis, helped establish the Bakersfield Sound, died on Tuesday, October 26th.
While Nashville country was awash in strings and suffering under the oppressive thumb of producers such as Chet Atkins and Billy Sherrill, the dim lights, thick smoke, and loud loud music of The Bakersfield Sound was keeping boots shuffling and country twangy. Unheard Merle Haggard tracks and other rarities are included in new box set.
Prison and country music go together like peanut butter and jelly. No wonder a slew of country music albums have been actually recorded within prison walls—some for convicts, some by convicts, and some using convicts. And we’re not just talking about novelty releases either, but some iconic albums that have helped define country music over the years. Here are some of them.