Recently a friend mentioned that the Beatles cover of Act Naturally was originally made famous by Buck Owens. He played it for me and I was very impressed. I had certainly heard of Buck was not familiar with any of his music. My friend is a country music die hard and specifically a big fan of something called The Bakersfield Sound. I have a rock background but I would like to broaden my horizons a bit.
He gave me a list of artists to check out:
Merle Haggard
Buck Owens
Don Rich
Brad Paisley
Rodney Crowell
Rickey Skaggs
Roy Buchanan
Jimmy Bryant
James Burton
Clarence White
Marty Stewart
Waylon and Willie of course
Brooks and Dunn
Guy Clark
Marty Robbins
Patsy Cline
Randy Travis
Roy Nichols for Merle Haggard
George Strait
Tammy Wynette and George Jones
Johnny Cash
Kris Kristofferson
Dolly Parton
Glen Campbell
Hank Snow
Eddy Arnold
Jim Reeves
Don Gibson
Skeeter Davis
Chet Atkins
Roy Clark
Alan Jackson
Loretta Lynn
Earnest Tubb
Flat and Scruggs
Charley Pride
Kenny Rogers
Reba McEntire
Emmylou Harris
Shania Twain
Hank Williams Sr./Jr.
Lefty Frizzell
Jimmie Rodgers
Roger Miller
Now I have certainly heard of a lot of these artists but I was looking to put together a pretty comprehensive list and make a deep dive. Been watching Ken Burns "Country" and it's pretty interesting but clearly leaves a lot out. With apologies to Bob's Country Bunker, where is the line between country and western?
Would Western be more restricted to say Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys or Gene Autry and Tex Ritter etc?
Anyway if I missed any significant artists in that list I would love to add to it. Thanks so much!