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. | Artist | Title | Album | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lefty Frizzell | I Never Go Around Mirrors (I've Got a Heartache to Hide) | Life's Like Poetry (Disc 9) |  |
| 2 | Buck Owens | Excuse Me (I Think I've Got A Heartache) | Classic Country Vol. 15 The Sixties Legends Disc 2 | |
| 3 | Dwight Yoakam | The Heartaches Are Free | Tomorrow's Sounds Today | |
| 4 | Wynn Stewart | Heartaches For A Dime | Come On – Gonna Shake This Shack | |
| 5 | Rose Maddox | Sing A Little Song Of Heartache | Swing West 1: Bakersfield | |
| 6 | Leon Russell | Heartaches By The Number | Best Of Hank Wilson | |
| 7 | Little Jimmy Dickens | Happy Heartaches | Four Classic Albums Plus Singles 1954-1962 | |
| 8 | Buddy Miller | Looking For A Heartache Like You | Cruel Moon | |
| 9 | Patty Loveless | Looking For A Heartache Like You | On Your Way Home | |
| 10 | Jimmie Skinner | 100 Proof Heartaches | One Dead Man Ago | |
| 11 | Carl Butler | If I Could Spend My Heartaches | The Chronogical Classics 1954-1958 (Warped 5592) | |
| 12 | Hawkshaw Hawkins | A Heartache to Recall | 22 Greatest Hits | |
| 13 | Billy Walker | Headin' For Heartaches | Whirlpool – Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight | |
| 14 | Charlie Walker | Who's Giving You Heartaches Now | 1952-1958 (Warped 5230) | |
| 15 | The Everly Brothers | A Brand New Heartache | Bob Dylan: Radio Radio – Theme Time Radio Hour, Vol. 5 [Disc 4] | |
| 16 | Elvis Presley | That's When Your Heartaches Begin | Elvis Presley (8 Classic Albums Plus Bonus Singles) | |
| 17 | Guy Mitchell | Heartaches By The Number | The Sweetest Memories (Newsound) | |
| 18 | Patsy Cline | Heartaches | 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection – Classic Patsy Cline | |
| 19 | Bobby Lewis | Doggone This Heartache | 30th Anniversary Collection Disc 2 | |
| 20 | Stonewall Jackson | If Heartaches Were Wine (I'd Be Drunk All the Time) | Warped 6742 – Stonewall Jackson – 1966-1967 | |
| 21 | George Jones & Melba Montgomery | Multiply The Heartaches | Vintage Collections | |
| 22 | Sonny James | Somebody Else's Heartache | Singles | |
| 23 | Mason Dixon | Queen of My Heartaches | Country & Western Nuggets | |
| 24 | The Mavericks | Excuse Me (I Think I've Got a Heartache) | From Hell to Paradise | |
| 25 | The Time Jumpers | This Heartache | Kid Sister | |
| 26 | Rosie Flores & Ray Campi | A Little Bit Of Heartache | A Little Bit Of Heartache | |
| 27 | Jesse Dayton & Brennen Leigh | Brand New Heartache | Holidin' Our Own | |
| 28 | Jimmie Dale Gilmore | Don't Look For A Heartache | Don't Look For Heartache | |
| 29 | Patsy Cline | That's How A Heartache Begins | The Patsy Cline Collection | |
| 30 | BR5-49 | Heartaches By The Number | One Long Saturday Night, Plus | |
| 31 | Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers | Heartache | Loved Wild Lost | |
| 32 | Johnny Tillotson | Suff'rin' from a Heartache | The Tillotson Touch | |
| 33 | Cyndi Lauper | Heartaches By the Number | Detour | |
| 34 | Dane Stinit | Heartache Catches Up with Me [Take 15] | Original Sun Recordings | |