The Best Country Music Is Still a Matter of Opinion
Growing up in Texas, I was exposed to a lot of country music. Artists like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and George Jones are household names where I come from, but there is a lot of debate among Texans, young and old, about what is the best country music.
If you ask most country purists, they will go back even farther than the guys I mentioned and say that the best country music was made by some of the pioneers of the genre like Ernest Tubb, Bob Wills, and of course, the illustrious Hank Williams.
I would agree that those artists were paramount to the development of country music and certainly fun to listen to, but if I am being completely honest, some of it is just a little bit hokey for my taste.
When you move up the country music timeline a bit, you arrive at such figures as Johnny Cash, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings. If you ask me, this was the best country music that ever existed.
To be fair, these were the performers that I heard as a young boy and grew up with, but they do seem to have something about them that makes them a bit more authentic than some of the more modern performers.
Among female artists, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tanya Tucker would be counted among that group, although Patsy might be a bit early for that era. Still, to me that was some of the best country music ever created.
Some of my younger friends lean more towards such singers as George Strait and Garth Brooks. These guys were definitely talented, in my opinion, and wrote some very good songs. I still would not put them quite on the level of some of the others I've mentioned, though.
The final group are those who argue for such groups as the Dixie Chicks, and performers like Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. These are generally teenagers who like more of the country-rock feel. There is nothing wrong with this type of music, but for me, it is not really country, and cannot be counted among the best country music of all time.
I guess the best country music of all time really is a matter of opinion and taste. I can like one era and try to convince people of why it is the best, but invariably, someone else will have just as many good reasons why his or hers is the best. It is an issue that is still up for debate, but in many ways, that his a nice problem to have.