Fans of country music have been living in rich times, at least when it comes to reading material. Last year saw the publication of “Don’t Get Above Your Raisin’: Country Music and the Southern Working Class,” the fantastic book by dean of country music studies Bill C. Malone, as well as an updated edition of his foundational “Country Music U.S.A.”
Now 2003 delivers “Heartaches By The Number: Country Music’s 500 Greatest Singles” (CMF/Vanderbilt), an astounding achievement from journalists David Cantwell and Bill Frisckics-Warren.
Chronicling the choicest slices of country-based music, Cantwell and Frisckics-Warren have created an engrossing and endlessly readable examination of this great music (as well as what makes it great).
Any project like this will, of course, inspire debate, but anyone who takes issue with the selections the authors choose (and those which they don’t choose), as well as their placement in the overall 500, must at least admit the solid reasoning behind each choice.
(This journalist, for one, disagrees heartily with the song ranked number one, but there is no doubt that Cantwell — who wrote that song’s entry — makes a very good case for it and forever changes the way the song will sound for this listener.)
“Country music” is defined broadly, as singles from artists as wide-ranging as Los Lobos and Otis Redding are included along the usual suspects. Of course, the usual suspects are also well-represented, as numerous prime examples of the deep and unique artistry of legends like George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and many others are present throughout the book’s pages.
Apart from the sheer breadth of the work, which is impressive enough to warrant special attention (as well as many, many trips to the record store), Cantwell and Frisckics-Warren employ a writing style that both keeps the emphasis squarely on the music while also negotiating the larger contexts (cultural, social, economic and political) that inform a broader understanding of these great records.
The essays accompanying each entry are always informative and engaging and have always-appropriate touches of pathos, passion and humor spread throughout.
Western swing stands side-by-side with rockabilly, 1990s megastars and urban cowboys with singing brakemen and the chroniclers of the truck driver’s blues. Apart from creating a soundtrack of country music history that absolutely begs for audio accompaniment, Cantwell and Frisckics-Warren, much like Bill Malone, keep their discussions of this music based entirely in both respectful and complicated terms.
Never present are simplistic or primitivist approaches to this music or its creators, and neither are they subject to an over-intellectualized analysis; actually, the latter is probably the greater accomplishment.
A beautiful balance exists in “Heartaches By The Number” that speaks to the realities of the artists and recordings; never do Cantwell and Frisckics-Warren attempt to gloss over or romanticize areas of the culture that are not entirely positive (whether it be country’s occasional entanglement with racism or the development of slick pop-country), but they also allow the geniuses that “Heartaches” aims to honor with the utmost praise and celebration.
Although no fan of Loretta Lynn needs anyone to tell him about how great she is, the way she is written about in this book only further defines that greatness.
“Heartaches By The Number” is specifically modeled after Dave Marsh’s classic “The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made” in both tone and structure, and the authors are unashamed to name-check Marsh’s work in influencing their book’s framework. With this book, David Cantwell and Bill Frisckics-Warren have created an equally memorable work, one which stands at equal prestige with its predecessor.
Grade: A
