Chewbaccer's 10 most underrated country singers of all time

[Chewbaccer]

10. Tom T Hall

Never ranked among the greats, left off CMT's list of 40 greatest men in Country music, and mostly forgotten these days.


9. Eddie Rabbitt

Maybe it's because he was a yankee from New York, maybe it was because he was sort of an inbetweener. He didn't fit the outlaw mold that was dominant in country music at the time, but he was a damn good singer and songwriter

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-C2Pt_94io"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-C2Pt_94io[/ame]

8. Johnny Rodriguez

Country music's first latino. Largely forgotten this day and age, and when he is mentioned, his troubled personal life is what's brought up more times than not, but I'm a fan.


7. Doug Stone

One of the few bright spots in Country music from my home state of Georgia. He came along in the late 80's and early 90's when there were so many great artists overshadowing Mr Stone.


6. Earl Thomas Conley

Like many, he's overshadowed these days by others from his era. One of my first concerts was ETC at a small venue in Coal Mountain, GA called Lanier Land

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DArOKcgq-Zs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DArOKcgq-Zs[/ame]

5. John Conlee

Great voice, puts on a great live performance, he gets radio play, but for some reason he gets passed over in the all time rankings.


4. Gene Watson

True blue country, sings from the heart, great voice, very talented, called the singer's singer. Most people couldn't name one song by the man. Should be a lock for the Country Music HOF, but I doubt he'll ever get in.

 

[Chewbaccer]

3. Don Williams

The Gentle Giant. Great voice, great songwriter, great man in general. He was just a tradition country singer in an era of change. Maybe he's overshadowed because of his last name.


2. Mark Chesnutt

This guy made my all time top 10 list, and IMO he was the voice of the 90's. Don't get me wrong, I love Alan Jackson, but I just don't see how Mark never got the same recognition.


1. Kris Kristofferson

People refer to him as the 4th member of the Highwaymen, but he's probably the smartest musician ever, he's a Rhodes Scholar for cryin out loud. IMO, he's the greatest songwriter to ever grace this planet. A lot of people don't appreciate his unique voice and singing style, but he ranked pretty high on my top 10 list.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-J7mLyD3yc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-J7mLyD3yc[/ame]

 

[cezero]

gram parsons
townes van zandt

 

[GNG]

 

[broncosmitty]

As a Yankee, I do like Eddie Rabbitt a lot.

 

[GNG]

 

[Chewbaccer]

Johnny Horton - All For The Love of A Girl - YouTube

Johnny Horton was great, and maybe a bit underrated, but he does get mentioned a lot and gets a lot of play on classic country stations, and the story of him marrying Hank Williams Sr's widow and predicting his own death have kept him from falling into obscurity.

 

[Chewbaccer]

RAY PRICE - For The Good Times - YouTube

Not a Ray Price fan, but Kris Kristofferson's great songwriting is on display in that song.

Not really a fan of many early 60's, late 50's country singers other than George Jones, Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton, Buck Owens, Hank Thompson, etc.

Guys like Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves, Sonny James, Ray Price, Patsy Cline, etc just weren't my style.

 

[Chewbaccer]

gram parsons
townes van zandt

Great choices, but Townes Van Zandt gets a lot of mention and recognition for his work.

 

[cezero]

Great choices, but Townes Van Zandt gets a lot of mention and recognition for his work.

van zandt gets a lot of acknowledgment for his songwriting, but not quite enough for his voice, imo. that's why i mentioned him.

same with parsons, though he's not the same caliber songrwiter as van zandt.

 

[Chewbaccer]

van zandt gets a lot of acknowledgment for his songwriting, but not quite enough for his voice, imo. that's why i mentioned him.

same with parsons, though he's not the same caliber songrwiter as van zandt.

Very true.

I have a tough time categorizing guys like Van Zandt, Parsons, Jerry Jeff Walker, Guy Clark, Ray Wylie, Hubbard, etc. I'm a huge fan of their work, but I tend to leave them off because I'm not sure how to categorize them.

 

[cezero]

Very true.

I have a tough time categorizing guys like Van Zandt, Parsons, Jerry Jeff Walker, Guy Clark, Ray Wylie, Hubbard, etc. I'm a huge fan of their work, but I tend to leave them off because I'm not sure how to categorize them.

depends on the album for most of them.

and what drug they were on at the time.

 

[Chewbaccer]

depends on the album for most of them.

and what drug they were on at the time.

Very true. There were many times where I'd call TVZ a blues singer.

I think it was him that said, "There's only two kinds of music, the blues and zip a de do dah and I don't write a lot of zip a de do dah."

 

[GNG]

 

[obxyankeefan]

One of my favorites has always been Clay Walker

 

[Chewbaccer]

One of my favorites has always been Clay Walker

He's decent, but during his time he was one of the most played artists, maybe just hasn't aged as well as a few others from the timeframe. Shame his MS is starting to take ahold of him though.

 

[Chewbaccer]

OH LONESOME ME ~ Don Gibson 1958.wmv - YouTube

I wouldn't call Don Gibson very underrated. He gets a decent amount of recognition.

 

[GNG]

Gotta love this....

 

[outofyourmind]

Jerry Reed

Lynn Anderson

Charlie Rich

Freddy Fender

 

[Chewbaccer]

Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed The Legend - YouTube

Lynn Anderson
Lynn Anderson -- Rose Garden - YouTube

Charlie Rich
Did you happen to see the most beautiful girl n the world - YouTube

Freddy Fender
FREDDY FENDER "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" - YouTube

I wouldn't call any of them underrated.

Jerry Reed is one of the most recognized Country artists by non Country fans due to his role in Smokey and the Bandit, an episode of Scooby Doo and The Waterboy. Plus he was known for his novelty songs. Kind of like a Ray Stevens.

Lynn Anderson was more of a pop singer.

I like Charlie Rich, but I think history has him ranked about right. He had a song in the top 10 on CMT's 100 greatest songs of all time with Behind Closed Doors, and I don't think people have forgotten him burning that fruit, John Denver's award selection card.

And Freddy Fender is considered Country's second greatest minority.