Not Olympics-themed, per se, but delayed by 7 hours and featuring nearly as many questionable hairstyles.
Set your media player of choice shuffling and share your results below. Feel free to award gold, silver, and bronze medals to your three best songs.
1. Merle Haggard – Natural High (live)
2. Patty Loveless – I’m That Kind of Girl
3. Hank Snow – Confused with the Blues
4. Dallas Davidson – Keepers
5. Dwight Yoakam – Together Again (BRONZE)
6. Devil Makes Three – Cheap Reward
7. Merle Haggard – Natural High (non-live)
8. Buddy Holly – Oh, Boy!
9. Steve Earle – Meet Me in the Alleyway
10. Joe Nichols – Life Don’t Have to Mean Nothin’ at All
11. Josh Kelley – Two Cups of Coffee
12. Malcolm Holcombe – Baby Doll
13. T-Pain & Early (Squidbillies) – (I Like) Driving in My Truck
14. Willie Nelson – River Boy
15. Rick Shea – Shelter Valley Blues
16. Gretchen Peters – You Don’t Even Know Who I Am (SILVER)
17. Dolly Parton – Cash on the Barrelhead
18. Porter Wagoner – Life Rides the Train
19. Kathy Mattea – Green Rolling Hills
20. John Anderson – Black Sheep (GOLD)
Could you please just not sound so happy?
A freelance writer and humorist with an abiding love of country music, C.M. Wilcox's cutting, clear-eyed take on the genre has drawn the attention of Country Weekly, The Washington Post, and The Tennessean in the years since this site began. He lives near Sacramento and can be reached by email at CMW (at) countrycalifornia.com.
1. Dierks Bentley w/ the Punch Brothers – Rovin’ Gambler (SILVER)
2. Fall Out Boy – Chicago Is So Two Years Ago
3. Punch Brothers – This Girl
4. Brad Paisley – Time Warp
5. Prince & The Revolution – Kiss (GOLD)
6. Gavin DeGraw – Indian Summer
7. Sugarland – Genevieve
8. Josh Kelley – Ain’t Lettin’ Go
9. Jakob Dylan – We Don’t Live Here Anymore
10. Reba McEntire – How Was I to Know
11. Sublime – Same In the End
12. Lee Ann Womack – What I Miss About Heaven
13. Carrie Underwood – I Ain’t in Checotah Anymore
14. Kelly Clarkson – The Day We Fell Apart
15. Madness – Our House
16. Dierks Bentley – Wish It Would Break (Live) (BRONZE)
17. Blues Traveler – Hook
18. Kelly Clarkson – Just Missed the Train
19. Gavin DeGraw – Relative
20. Faith Hill – This Kiss
I’m not sure what to think about my list.
1. The Dixie Chicks – The Long Way Round
2. Keith Whitley – Girl From The Canyon
3. The Beatles – Think For Yourself
4. Kim Richey – I’m Alright
5. Marty Stuart – Porter Wagoner’s Grave
6. Mark Wells – French Pocket Dictionary
7. Those Darlins – Fatty Needs A Fix
8. The Kinks – Sunny Afternoon
9. The Jam – Start!
10. The Mavericks – That’s Not My Name
11. Sam Cooke – Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
12. David Bowie – Blue Jean
13. Old Crow Medicine Show – Tell It To Me
14. The Everly Brothers – Oh, True Love
15. Queen – White Man
16. Johnny Cash – John: Chapter One
17. Cannonball Adderly – I Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry
18. Morrissey – Best Friend On The Payroll
19. Ian Dury – Clever Trevor
20. John Hartford – Tishomingo Blues
I think I’d go GOLD to The Kinks, but after that it’s a tough pick.
1. Kenny Rogers – Don’t Fall in Love with a Dreamer
2. Dolly Parton – The Bargain Store
3. Ronnie Milsap – Happy, Happy Birthday Baby
4. Sara Evans – I Pray for You
5. Joe Diffie – John Deere Green
6. Merle Haggard – In My Next Life
7. Danni Leigh – 29 Nights
8. Tanya Tucker – If Your Heart Ain’t Busy Tonight
9. K.T. Oslin – Feeding a Hungry Heart
10. Diamond Rio – Mama Don’t Forget to Pray for Me (GOLD)
11. Alan Jackson – Drive (For Daddy Gene)
12. Faith Hill – The Way You Love Me
13. Martina McBride – Satin Sheets
14. George Strait – Carrying Your Love with Me
15. Dixie Chicks – Godspeed (Live)
16. Carlene Carter – Cry
17. George Strait – Ocean Front Property
18. Garth Brooks – The Thunder Rolls (Live)
19. Dwight Yoakam – Suspicious Minds (SILVER)
20. George Strait – The Seashores of Old Mexico (BRONZE)
1. Jason Boland & The Stragglers – Can’t Tell If I Drink
2. Zac Brown Band – Lance’s Song
3. Radney Foster and the Confessions – Second Chances
4. Connie Smith – I Don’t Believe That’s How You Feel
5. Reba McEntire – Just A Little Love
6. Kimberly Murray and Tony Booth – What My Thoughts Do All The Time
7. Dierks Bentley – Free And Easy (Down The Road I Go)
8. Merle Haggard – Don’t Give Up On Me
9. Joe Nichols – Size Matters
10. Diamond Rio – It’s All In Your Head – BRONZE
11. Tracy Byrd – Different Things – GOLD
12. John Anderson – Bad Weather
13. Mary Chapin Carpenter – Downtown Train
14. Mark Chesnutt – April’s Fool
15. Lorrie Morgan – Used
16. Sweethearts Of The Rodeo – You Look At Love That Way
17. John Conlee – Hopelessly Yours – SILVER
18. Marty Stuart – Walls Of A Prison
19. Larry Sparks – Momma
20. Tracy Lawrence – Say A Prayer
1. Trisha Yearwood – She’s in Love With The Boy (BRONZE)
2. Dale Watson – Ain’t A Cow in Texas
3. Sixwire – Look at Me Now
4. George Strait – Holding My Own
5. Johnny Paycheck – The Outlaw’s Prayer
6. David Lee Murphy – Pirate’s Cove
7. Ray Charles – Take These Chains From My Heart
8. John Hiatt – Just To Satisfy You
9. Johnny Cash – I Never Picked Cotton
10. Boyz II Men – Khalil
11. Kenny Chesney – Some People Change
12. Hank Williams – There’s A Tear in My Beer (GOLD)
13. Mark Chesnutt – Your Love is a Miracle (SILVER)
14. John Michael Montgomery – I Miss You A Little
15. Eli Young Band – On My Way
16. Willie Nelson – Happiness Lives Next Door
17. Radney Foster – Willin’ To Walk
18. Terri Clark – Easy From Now On
19. Marty Robbins – Utah Carol
20. The Little Willies – Remember Me
1. Gene Watson & Rhonda Vincent – “You Could Know As Much About a Stranger” (SILVER)
2. Sara Evans – “Some Things Never Change”
3. Chelle Rose – “Browder Holler Boy”
4. Kelly Clarkson – “Before Your Love”
5. Tammy Wynette with Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton – “That’s the Way It Could Have Been” (GOLD)
6. Alan Jackson – “All American Country Boy”
7. Patty Loveless – “The Night’s Too Long”
8. Lee Ann Womack – “Do You Feel For Me”
9. Joan Baez and Mary Chapin Carpenter – “Stones In the Road” (Live)
10. Collin Raye – “What the Heart Wants”
11. Alan Jackson – “Chattahoochee”
12. Ty Herndon – “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim”
13. Crystal Gayle – “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue”
14. Johnny Cash – “Sunday Morning Coming Down”
15. Switchfoot – “Gone”
16. LeAnn Rimes – “A Good Hearted Woman”
17. Jewel – “Painters”
18. Alison Krauss & Union Station – “Bonita and Bill Butler”
19. Ray Price – “For the Good Times” (BRONZE)
20. Paula Abdul – “Opposites Attract” (Not even going to lie – I rock out to this ALL THE TIME)
All over the map, as my shuffles often tend to be, but featuring enough great songs to make medaling choices very difficult.
I also like to skip ahead to see which songs just barely missed making the list. This time it was Roy Clark, Jason Eady, and Hank Snow.
1. Cary Ann Hearst – The Hardest Thing
2. JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound – Want More
3. Eleven Hundred Springs – Some Place Else to Be
4. The Dirty Guv’nahs – Don’t Give Up On Me
5. Skid Row – Subhuman Race
6. JEFF the Brotherhood – Staring at the Wall
7. The Gourds – Eyes of a Child
8. Van Halen – Ice Cream Man (SILVER)
9. Punch Brothers – Flippen
10. Sam Sliva and the Good – Your Kind
11. Alice in Chains – Junkhead
12. Stoney Larue – Dresses (GOLD)
13. Matchbox 20 – Last Beautiful Girl
14. Adam Hood – Moving Mountains
15. Son Volt – Straightface
16. Hank 3 – Dyin Day
17. John Moreland and the Dust Bowl Souls – Young Love Lost in a Flood
18. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Sweet Hitchhiker (BRONZE)
19. Jason Eady – Lying to Myself
20. Dave Matthews Band – Warehouse
1. Lucero – Drink ’til We’re Gone (BRONZE)
2. Easton Corbin – Leaving a Lonely Town
3. Doug Stone – Little Houses
4. Justin Townes Earle – Turn out My Lights
5. Roger Wallace – Everloving Sunday
6. Glen Campbell – Wichita Lineman
7. Neil McCoy – Let Me Be Your Hero
8. Lorrie Morgan – Watch Me
9. Colin Raye – Little Rock
10. Rodney Adkins – Watching You
11. Jake Owen – Barefoot Blue Jean Night
12. Hank Williams – Your Cheatin’ Heart (GOLD)
13. Joe Diffie – In Another World
14. Bobby Bare – Greasy Grit Gravy (team medal for including Willie, Waylon, Shel Silverstein and Dr. Hook)
15. Montgomery Gentry – Self Made Man
16. Johnny Cash (w/ June Carter Cash) – Jackson (Live) (SILVER)
17. Lucero – Nights Like These
18. Cory Morrow – Lord, You Devil
19. Joe Nichols – The Impossible
20. John Prine – Spanish Pipedream
A pretty 90s heavy grouping. Gold and silver were easy if we’re talking about ‘best’ song, but bronze was harder, because I like the JTE song a lot also.
Also, if you were this gymnast, wouldn’t you have to perform your floor routine to Kenny Chesney’s latest single. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktoria_Komova
Ha.
1. “Barton Hollow” – The Civil Wars
2. “On the Road Again” – Bob Dylan
3. “Lingala” – SF Jazz Collective
4. “Crime in the City” [live] – Neil Young
5. “If Only You Knew What the Lost Soldiers Did to Me” – A. Armada
6. “Ballad of a Thin Man” – Bob Dylan
7. “It’s Easy When You Smile” – Lori McKenna
8. “Gold on the Ceiling” – The Black Keys
9. “Lights” – Ellie Goulding
10. “Cocaine” – Eric Clapton
11. “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)” – The Isley Brothers
12. “She Belongs to Me” – Bob Dylan
13. “Changing of the Guards” – Bob Dylan
14. “Sound of Your Voice” – Barenaked Ladies
15. “People Talkin’” – Lucinda Williams
16. “Don’t Do Me Like That” – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
17. “Romeo and Juliet” – Dire Straits
18. “Jukebox of Steel” – Son Volt
19. “Imitation of Life” – R.E.M.
20. “Prime of Life” – Neil Young
GOLD: “Crime in the City”
SILVER: “Ballad of a Thin Man”
BRONZE: “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)”
1. Tout Ca Qui Reste – Bluerunners
2. Don’t Build Your World Around It – Jim Lauderdale
3. Missing You – Desert Rose Band
4. Punch and Judy – Little Thief
5. So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad) – The Everly Brothers
6. Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes – Jimmie Dale Gilmore
7. Yellow Submarine – The Beatles (SILVER)
8. Catch You Alive – The Damnations TX
9. Where Do I Go From Here? – New Grass Revival
10. Quiet Little Voices – We Were Promised Jetpacks
11. Speed Of The Whippoorwill – Chatham County Line (BRONZE)
12. Gone Pecan – Sonny Landreth
13. Who Taught You To Live Like That? – Sloan
14. Paid The Price – Jo-El Sonnier
15. Guilty As Sin – Kasey Chambers
16. Little Miss Magic – Jimmy Buffett
17. No Key, No Plan – Okkerville River
18. Woman – Maurice Kirya
19. Fins – Jimmy Buffett
20. Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley (GOLD)
And the last entrant comes along and swipes the Gold, knocking Sonny Landreth out of medal contention. A decidedly non-country shuffle this time around.
I forgot about this post, been wanting to add my entrants.
1. Guy Love -Scrubs Musical
2. If I Ruled The World -Big Time Rush
3. Share The Love -Big Kenny
4. Slow Motion -Big and Rich
5. The Good Was Great -Terri Clark
6. Iron Man -Black Shabbath (Silver)
7. Baggage Claim -Miranda Lambert
8. I’m Taking The Wheel -SheDaisy
9. If I Die Young -The Band Perry
10. Whatever It Is -Zac Brown Band
11. Hannah -Robert Downey Jr (Gold!)
12. Sell A Lot Of Beer -The Warren Brothers
13. Address In The Stars -Caitlin and Will
14. Twang Thing -Terri Clark
15. Jack Johnson -Upside Down
16. Saved -Big and Rich
17. Country Boy Song -Granger Smith (Bronze!)
18. Loud -Big and Rich
19. Troubadour -George Strait
20. Tearing up my Heart -NSYNC
“I Hold The Bottle, You Hold The Wheel” – Reckless Kelly
“Worried Man Blues” – George Jones
“The Calm and the Crying Wind” – Trampled By Turtles
“I’m A Ramblin’ Man” – Waylon Jennings (GOLD)
“Butch Cassidy” – My Morning Jacket
“Pastures of Plenty” – Scott H. Biram
“Junita” – Sheryl Crow (BRONZE)
“Moonshiner’s Life” – Hank III
“Kaw-Liga” – Hank Williams Jr.
“It’s Not Suppose To Be That Way” – Willie Nelson (SILVER)
1) Carrie Underwood- Blown Away
2) John Mellencamp- John Cockers
3) Kenny Chesney- Reality
4) Clint Black- We Tell Ourselves
5) Miranda Lambert- Somewhere Trouble Don’t Go
6) Rosanne Cash- Like A Wave
7) Zac Brown Band and Sonia Leigh- Bar (Live)- BRONZE
8) Keith Urban- Jeans On
9) Vince Gill with The Time Jumpers- Buttermilk John
10) Guy Clark- Dublin Blues- SILVER
11) Chris Cagle- Country By the Grace of God
12) John Hiatt- I Love That Girl
13) Dave Berg- It Might Be
14) Todd Snider- Lookin’ For A Job
15) Lee Ann Womack- What I Miss About Heaven
16) Cake- Walk On By
17) Lucinda Williams- He Never Gave Enough Love
18) Highway 101- Somewhere Tonight
19) Alabama- She and I
20) Emmylou Harris- Leaving Louisiana In the Broad Daylight- GOLD
Mary Charpin Carpenter – “On and On It Goes”
Alan Jackson – “Just Forget About It, Son”
Mandy Barnett – “Planet of Love”
Tanya Tucker – “I Love You a Thousand Ways”
Wynonna Judd – “Dance and Shout”
Dolly Parton – “It’s My Time”
Garth Brooks – “Maybe”
Sugarland – “County Line”
Reba McEntire – “You Must Really Love Me (Live)”
Alseep at the Wheel – “Big Balls In Cowtown”
George Jones – “I’ve Been Known to Cry”
John Anderson – “I Wish I Could Have Been There” (BRONZE)
Kenny Chesney – “When I Think About Leaving”
The Kendalls – “Don’t Let Me Cross Over”
Lorrie Morgan – “Another Lonely Song” (GOLD)
Dwight Yoakam with Maria McKee- “Bury Me” (from dwightyoakamacoustic.net)
Easton Corbin – “Don’t Ask Me ‘Bout a Woman”
Rosanne Cash – “Big River”
Clint Black – “Burn One Down”
Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn – “The Letter” (SILVER)