Someone once suggested that country songs about heartache and lost love sound the same as country songs about good times and happy days. Is it just the wailing fiddle intro often referred to as the “fiddle kickoff” that neutralizes the emotional jar of joy or grief that causes a reaction like that? Or is it just country songwriting is geared towards the simple task of expressing emotions in the terms of everyday life? No matter the reason, we’ll be taking on a country-themed collection of songs about heartaches this week in the show. We’ll do this by walking through some of the golden greats from the Golden Age of Country Music where the ways of the heart were a common theme and, thus, the heartache was an easy rhythmic mark for the country songwriter. We’ll share the Walkers’ Charlie and Billy, Jimmie Skinner, Buck Owens, Lefty Frizzell, Patsy, George and Stonewall among a couple dozen others, all with a message that speaks to country heartaches; and may we also say that there was plenty of fodder to draw from. Drop in…and don’t forget the hankies.
No.
1
Artist
Title
Album
Buy
2
Lefty Frizzell
I Never Go Around Mirrors (I've Got a Heartache to Hide)
Life's Like Poetry (Disc 9)
3
Buck Owens
Excuse Me (I Think I've Got A Heartache)
Classic Country Vol. 15 The Sixties Legends Disc 2
4
Dwight Yoakam
The Heartaches Are Free
Tomorrow's Sounds Today
5
Wynn Stewart
Heartaches For A Dime
Come On – Gonna Shake This Shack
6
Rose Maddox
Sing A Little Song Of Heartache
Swing West 1: Bakersfield
7
Leon Russell
Heartaches By The Number
Best Of Hank Wilson
8
Little Jimmy Dickens
Happy Heartaches
Four Classic Albums Plus Singles 1954-1962
9
Buddy Miller
Looking For A Heartache Like You
Cruel Moon
10
Patty Loveless
Looking For A Heartache Like You
On Your Way Home
11
Jimmie Skinner
100 Proof Heartaches
One Dead Man Ago
12
Carl Butler
If I Could Spend My Heartaches
The Chronogical Classics 1954-1958 (Warped 5592)
13
Hawkshaw Hawkins
A Heartache to Recall
22 Greatest Hits
14
Billy Walker
Headin' For Heartaches
Whirlpool – Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight
15
Charlie Walker
Who's Giving You Heartaches Now
1952-1958 (Warped 5230)
16
The Everly Brothers
A Brand New Heartache
Bob Dylan: Radio Radio – Theme Time Radio Hour, Vol. 5 [Disc 4]
17
Elvis Presley
That's When Your Heartaches Begin
Elvis Presley (8 Classic Albums Plus Bonus Singles)
18
Guy Mitchell
Heartaches By The Number
The Sweetest Memories (Newsound)
19
Patsy Cline
Heartaches
20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection – Classic Patsy Cline
20
Bobby Lewis
Doggone This Heartache
30th Anniversary Collection Disc 2
21
Stonewall Jackson
If Heartaches Were Wine (I'd Be Drunk All the Time)