I'm in shock over CMT greatest bands

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 16 Apr 2005 8:24 pm

I just watched CMT's show on the "20 Greatest Bands in Country Music".

I thought for sure being a CMT production that the top five would be "Little Texas", "Rascal Flatts", "Ricochet", "Sawyer Brown", and "Alabama". Yet I was WRONG!

They actually picked country bands for this show, imagine my surprise.

Webb Kline · Post by **Webb Kline** » 16 Apr 2005 10:35 pm

What were they?

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 16 Apr 2005 11:20 pm

What were they?

I was going to let everyone watch the show to find out.

There were a few on the list that are higher than I would have put them and a few bands that I thought should be on the list that aren't. It's still much better than their other "Greatest" list so far.

More "Bluegrass" and "Bluegrass influenced" bands than I was expecting. That's not so bad.

For those that don't want to watch, here is the list:

20) The Del McCoury Band

19) The Mavericks

18) Charlie Daniels Band

17) The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

16) Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

15) The Flying Burrito Brothers

14) Ernest Tubb & The Texas Troubadours

13) Willie Nelson & Family

12) Flatt & Scruggs and The Foggy Mountain Boys

11) The Dixie Chicks

10) Alabama

9) Alison Krauss & Union Station

Hank Williams and The Drifting Cowboys

7) Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys

6) The Carter Family

5) Bill Monroe & The Blue Grass Boys

4) Merle Haggard & The Strangers

3) Johnny Cash & The Tennessee Two

2) Buck Owens & The Buckaroos

1) Emmylou Harris and The Hot Band

Larry King · Post by **Larry King** » 17 Apr 2005 3:04 am

'Course , you never know who did the voting but I'd replace a few of those with "bands" like the 'Po Boys' , the Brazos Valley Boys , the Cherokee Cowboys , etc...those were 'stand alone' bands who were fully capable of holding a crowd without the 'star' boss being on stage. Dickens has had some great bands as had Faron.

Tom Morrell's Time Warp Top Hands are a better 'band' than half of those nominated..I mean , come on ,Alabama?Mavericks?Tennessee Two? a "band"????!!!!

Oh well, I'm headed to church......things are bound to be better.

Keith Cordell · Post by **Keith Cordell** » 17 Apr 2005 4:43 am

I like about half that list, and am surprised as well that some of the less Nashville friendly groups are on there; Emmylou! Cool.

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 17 Apr 2005 4:51 am

Wow,

And here I thought I didn't like country music that much: 16 of those 20 are some of my favorite bands.

Janice Brooks · Post by **Janice Brooks** » 17 Apr 2005 5:08 am

Looks like a good list to me.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 17 Apr 2005 6:31 am

Let's see, ummm, first, second, third, and fourth place will go to AK, DC, DM and CD, (maybe TM), since they're the only ones recent enough for half the audience to even know.

D Schubert · Post by **D Schubert** » 17 Apr 2005 8:46 am

Good list. A pleasant surprise from CMT...for a change.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 17 Apr 2005 8:47 am

I suspect that a whole lot of CMT employees are like late-stage junkies, pustulent sores draining on their threadbare mattress as they reach, hands a-quiver, for just one last fix: They know that what they're doing now is a load of crap, but they just can't remember how to get back to the good times....

Rick Garrett · Post by **Rick Garrett** » 17 Apr 2005 8:51 am

Tom Morrell's Time Warp Top Hands are a better 'band' than half of those nominated..I mean , come on ,Alabama?Mavericks?Tennessee Two? a "band"????!!!!

Larry I'm with you on this one. When my dad played with the Brazos Valley Boys they had Roy Clark and Merle Travis. That band was as tight as Dicks hat band. Those live albums they did in the early 60's were absolutely incredible. Alabama! Comon!!

Rick

Larry King · Post by **Larry King** » 17 Apr 2005 9:09 am

I apologize for leaving The Statesiders off my list...sorry Terry...and I'll see you next weekend down here....Siloam

Chuck Cusimano · Post by **Chuck Cusimano** » 17 Apr 2005 10:32 am

My list would be a LITTLE different for sure, but as mentioned above, I'm tickled to some "REAL COUNTRY" bands mentioned.

I realize it's all a matter of opinion. In my list there are some there I wouldn't have wasted ink on, and some great ones that didn't make the top twenty.

I aggree with "The Statesiders". They need to be near the very top of this list!

I guess it's a good thing M T V didn't get to list their top twenty country bands. It probably would have started with Kid Rock, and included Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Big and Rich, and some of the other crap that keeps my hands from touching top forty country radio stations.

Billy Carr · Post by **Billy Carr** » 17 Apr 2005 11:15 pm

If a group doesn't have a steel guitar then I usually don't bother watching or listening. I certainly won't vote on the call in lines for different groups or singers that don't use steel guitar. No offense intended for groups w/o steel. I just support "Steel Guitar" 100%!

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 18 Apr 2005 12:44 am

If a group doesn't have a steel guitar then I usually don't bother watching or listening. I certainly won't vote on the call in lines for different groups or singers that don't use steel guitar. No offense intended for groups w/o steel. I just support "Steel Guitar" 100%!

WOW, That means that you only listen to about .00001% of all the music there is in this world!

Thats just sad.

Alan Harrison · Post by **Alan Harrison** » 18 Apr 2005 4:19 am

They have not only taken the country out of CM, they have taken the music out of it. It may be only .0001% but I guess thats what I'll listen to.

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Joe Alterio · Post by **Joe Alterio** » 18 Apr 2005 5:28 am

The Tennessee Two may have been an influential "band" but they don't even merit a spot in the Top 20, IMO.

I'm surprised to not see the Desert Rose Band.....John Jorgenson, Jay Dee Manness, Chris Hillman....talk about a supergroup.

Also surprising.....the Burrito Brothers make the list, and Poco does not? The Burritos were VERY rough as a band, whereas the Poco boys were polished. Tight harmonies, top-notch guitar and steel/dobro picking....I don't get it....

Joe

Tim Harr · Post by **Tim Harr** » 18 Apr 2005 7:16 pm

"Ace in the Hole Band"? G. Strait

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 19 Apr 2005 6:10 am

Well I watched it for a bit yesterday and although I have no issues with any of the bands selected, they don't match the title of the show.

EXAMPLE:
When discussing Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder , which is 100% Bluegrass...there was a noted comment by Chet Atkins on how Ricky Skaggs 80's band (post Hot Band)you know, the band with Ray Flacke and Bruce Bouton, may have saved Country Music!

But that band is NOT considered one of the best bands in Country Music and the new Kentucky Thunder Bluegrass band is ..I don't get it..

The Tenn 2..now with all due respect for Johnny..I can't imagine anyone assuming that this was one of the top BANDS in CM..

The show was fine, I just think that the title was wrong...

t[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 19 April 2005 at 07:10 AM.]

John Steele (deceased) · Post by **John Steele (deceased)** » 19 Apr 2005 8:55 am

I would have chucked the Tennessee Two, and inserted the Cherokee Cowboys instead.
I've had the opportunity to hear some early 60's live bootlegs of that band, and man, they swing ferociously.
All a matter of opinion, I suppose.
-John

Jennings Ward · Post by **Jennings Ward** » 19 Apr 2005 10:07 am

SAD, VERY SAD INDEED.....JUST FOES TO PROVE THAT FOR THE MOST PART, ALL OF OUR EFFORTS TO PLAY GOOD MUSIC AND THE UNTOLD HOURS OF STUDY AND PRACTIC IS FOR NAUGHT, WHEN JONNY CASH AND THE TENNESSE TWO ARE MENTIONED WHILE TRYING TO MAKE A LIST OF TOP COUNTRY BANDS.....ITS A SHAME SOMEONE CAN BE SO IGNORANT..... MAKES ME AS MAD AS H***.... EVEN MAKE MY POSSUM TASTE BAD. SUCH A DIS GRACE..........JENNINGS......

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EMMONS D10 10-10 profex 2 deltafex ne1000 pv1000, pv 31 bd eq, +

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 19 Apr 2005 10:46 pm

I've been thinkin' about the "Tennessee Two" after watching the show, and I do believe they deserve to be on the list. Maybe not in the top five, but they are important.

First off, if any guitar player stands on a stage and plays that Luther root-five click rhythm, just about anyone in the world instantly thinks of Johnny Cash. Now I don't know about you possum eaters, but to me that's dang impressive. When after 50 years someone can just play a measure of a lick and people get an image of a band or singer in their head just from that. That's "music immortality" and impressive!

The other thing they did was that they were one of the first bands to focus on the rhythmic aspect of their sound. Every one was a part of the rhythm sections, in fact they really didn't even have soloist in terms of someone playing the melody line. If you listen to the early Sun recordings there are no fills and the guitar solos are basically rhythmic bass lines. Every now and then Luther would do an occasional solo like on Folsom Prison that was kind of Mother Maybelle's lead/rhythm style.

Third thing they did was making the song about the story and centering the listener into the story with the singer (Johnny) as the narrator of the story.
They didn't have three or four soloist doing fills and improvising solos and twin parts all over the song, they were just a rhythm section that made the lyrics of the song the most important part of the song. For better or worse that was an influence on popular music. That made the idea of folk singers and the singer/songwriters possible in pop and country music radio. Would guys like Roger Miller, Kris Kristofferson , Guy Clark, and Jerry Jeff have made it if Johnny Cash and The Tennessee Two hadn't of paved the way?

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 20 Apr 2005 3:39 am

...what Alvin said...

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 20 Apr 2005 9:33 am

I sure like that list...
what a great surprise.