Red Neck, Red Flag - Left Wing Country

[deeyo]

i thought i'd start a thread bout socialist/subversive/left wing rebellious country music. country's a broad church & this is supposed to be an inclusive thread, i won't mind some straw-grasping...

ideally both the artist & tune would be radical & somewhat known, but if anyone can provide proof that george jones was a card-carrying communist then it would perfectly fine to post 'finally friday' & if a band hardly known outside lubbock, texas recorded a cracking outlaw-country version of la lega, than thats fine too.
old, new, bluegrass, folk, americana, both country & western...

some tunes to (hopefully) start you off:



list-topping contemporary country stars paying tribute to the highwaymen with a female super group



james mc murtry of forth worth, texas.
brilliant musician, brilliant songwriter. good ole boy.




mean mary james from florida, follows in the footsteps of well known communist sergio leone with a western story showin that theres no stopping the wheel of history; we gotta figure out where to put our lever to change its course.. (really wanted to post safebreaker's daughter but this one's got a better video...)



mary gauthier of new orleans- always with a different take on things. drag queens in limousines, christmas in paradise, i drink, the ark... could've chosen any song. this one from an album made in collaboration with iraqi war vets.

 

[Humberto]

Loads by Guthrie but this a good 'un.

 

[zahir]

Not that he was left-wing but here's Merle Haggard being quite progressive for the time.

 

[Humberto]

 

[hitmouse]

Everything by Lavender Country:

 

[hitmouse]

Also, depends how you classify tunes about not liking cops/getting arrested, I suppose?

 

[zahir]

 

[hitmouse]

And the obligatory:

 

[BigMoaner]

and the poor white man is used in the hands of them all like a tool

 

[deeyo]

Also, depends how you classify tunes about not liking cops/getting arrested, I suppose?

broad church, inclusive thread - benefit of the doubt. points given for good motivations...

 

[Humberto]

 

[zahir]

 

[zahir]

 

[hitmouse]

broad church, inclusive thread - benefit of the doubt. points given for good motivations...

F'r instance:

 

[deeyo]

the wonderful iris dement, of paragould, arkansas.

 

[hitmouse]

 

[zahir]

 

[zahir]

 

[not henry]

 

[zahir]

 

[zahir]

 

[krtek a houby]

 

[flypanam]

Steve Earle

 

[deeyo]

zahir i think merle is an good choice for this thread, and an interesting person as well. i've always liked 'okie from muskogee' and i do believe it was written as a piss-take.
the man obvs didn't take him self too seriously, after all he played 'courage, mum' as himself in wag the dog...

Behind Merle Haggard's Contradictory Masterpiece

hazel dickens was unknown to me, thanks. seems to have been a amazing woman.

Hazel Dickens - Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum

here she talks & sings a capella bout her big brother, a coal miner who died of black lung with not enough money to cover the funeral cost.

 

[Lorca]

 

[deeyo]

wolfe tones are great, and they have recorded deportees , but do they belong in a country thread? please elaborate...

(even if it helps, you don't have to be be born the right side of the mason-dixon line to be on this thread. hank wangford obvs fits)

Hank Wangford: Country Music People

here he is, performing in strangeways, johnny cash style



here's his take on the infamous nazi attack on 'jobs for a change' in -84, covered in detail
here, and in the nearby pages
Beating the Fascists: The authorised history of Anti-Fascist Action

 

[hitmouse]

Aye, if we change the definition to include just any folk this thread'd be a lot easier. Does Lil Nas X count?

 

[krtek a houby]

Elvis and Ray Charles both did country albums, not sure how rebel they were, mind.

 

[zahir]

 

[zahir]