When it comes to certain genres of music, there are just some albums every music fan must own. The staples. They’re the records that boast hits and history. They’re windows into the roots of the musical style and also represent just a fun time with a number of songs. Lyrically they’re great, musically they’re great, and they’re simply essential.
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Here below, we wanted to explore three such examples in the genre of country music. A trio of albums that every fan new and old, beginner and experienced, should have. Indeed, these are three essential country albums every fan should own.
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At Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash (1968)
In the late 1960s, Johnny Cash entertained a prison full of inmates with songs about shooting men, drinking booze, and everything in between. While this may be a bit adult for the young country fans out there, it’s a record everyone has to listen to at some age at least. So, get it now and put it on a shelf if your burgeoning Cash fan is still preteen. That aside, hearing Cash’s deep voice amidst the roars of the prisoners is somehow everything you’ve always needed. He’s practically one of them, an outlaw that is for some reason allowed to leave the prison when it’s all done. Riveting.
Jolene by Dolly Parton (1974)
Can I interest you in these songs: “I Will Always Love You” and “Jolene”? Yes? Well then this 1974 record by the one and only Dolly Parton will surely land well with you, too. Those are two of the noteworthy tracks on the LP but there are others like “River of Happiness” and “Early Morning Breeze” that will get the hair on the back of your neck standing up. Parton was in some kind of place when she was putting this record together.
Coal Miner’s Daughter by Loretta Lynn (1970)
Cash and Dolly are probably on the Mount Rushmore of country music. They’re crossover hits, worthy of Oscar-winning movies. Loretta Lynn, though, is at the center of the center of the country music aesthetic. If you were to distill the sound down to one person, Lynn may be the one you land on. She has heart, melody, and a tongue unwilling to compromise. She’s loving and biting. And her signature LP Coal Miner’s Daughter is a great place to start to get to know her music.
Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
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