There are a handful of common story threads that run through classic country songs. I’m not talking about trucks, beer the ‘merica that seems to have overwhelmed modern so-called country with autotune and synth pop. The heartbreak of cheating situations that were among the most common storylines in the Golden Age of country at a time when family unity was of paramount importance. It was country music’s frank portrayal of infidelity that offered a counterpoint which was both relatable and controversial. Cheating songs became a central theme, reflecting the complexities and emotional intensity of love, betrayal, and heartbreak. Dave will share as many as will fit in two hours in this week’s episode with early tearjerkers from Kitty Wells, The Louvin Brothers, Billy Walker, Bonnie Owens and George Jones. There will also be the very best of the classics from Charley Pride, Dolly Parton, and Loretta Lynn to take us into the 70s and beyond. . .

No.	Artist	Title	Album	Buy
1	Hank Williams	Your Cheatin' Heart	24 Greatest
2	Patsy Cline	Your Cheatin' Heart	20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection – Classic Patsy Cline
3	Charlie Walker	Cheaters Never Win	1952-1958 (Warped 5230)
4	Billy Walker	One Heart's Beatin' One Heart's Cheatin'	1949-1952 (Warped 4960)
5	Hank Thompson	I Find You Cheatin' on Me	1946-1949 (Warped 4660)
6	Lee Elliott	Cheaters Never Win	Country & Western Nuggets
7	Jerry Lee Lewis	She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye	The Definitive Collection
8	Sanford Clark	A Cheat	Chills & Fever: The Dot Records Story 1955-1962
9	The Rockin' Saints	Cheat On Me Baby	That'll Flat Git It, Vol. 6 (Us Decca, Vol. 2)
10	Bonnie Owens	How Can Our Cheatin' Be Wrong	1968-1971 (Warped 6947)
11	The Louvin Brothers	While You're Cheating On Me	Close Harmony [Disc 4]
12	Kitty Wells	Cheated Out of Love	Lonely Street/Dust On the Bible
13	Kitty Wells	Cheatin's a Sin	The Complete Country Hits
14	George Jones	The Window Up Above	George Jones The Absolutely Essential 3 CD Collection
15	Loretta Lynn	You Ain't Woman Enough	Loretta Lynn Legendery Country Singer
16	Billie Jo Spears	The Cheating Kind	Country Greats #2
17	Crystal Gayle	Talking In Your Sleep	Superstars Of Country: Easy Loving [Disc 1]
18	Dolly Parton	Jolene	Dolly [Disc 3]
19	Charley Pride	Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger	Golden Age of Country Volume 4: Honky-Tonk Man [Disc 1]
20	Gary Stewart	She's Acting Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)	Superstars Of Country: Good Ol Songs [Disc 2]
21	Del McCoury	Cheater's in the Soup	1975-1976 (Warped 7553F)
22	Ricky Skaggs	Don't Cheat In Our Hometown [Album Version]	Country Gentleman: The Best Of Ricky Skaggs
23	T.G. Sheppard	Last Cheater's Waltz	Contemporary Country: The Late '70s Pure Gold
24	Moe Brandy	I Cheated Me Right Out Of You	Contemporary Country: The Late 70's – Hot Hits
25	Moe Bandy	It's A Cheating Situation	The Late '70s
26	John Prine With Dolores Keane	It's A Cheating Situation	In Spite Of Ourselves
27	John Anderson	She Just Started Liking Cheatin' Songs	Anthology
28	Dale Watson	Cheatin' Heart Attack	Cheatin' Heart Attack
29	Mickey Gilley	My Baby's Cheatin' On Me	Boppin' By The Bayou – Made In The Shade
30	Dwight Yoakam	King of Fools	Reprise Please Baby: The Warner Bros. Years Disc 2
31	Porter Wagoner	The Cold Hard Facts of Life	The Essential Porter Wagoner
32	Emmylou Harris	The Last Cheaters Waltz	Songbird: Rare Tracks & Forgotten Gems Disc 1
33	Kenny Rogers	Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town	20 Great Years
34	Kitty Wells	Hey Joe	Cheatin's a Sin

We’re heading on over to the Alibi Room, or Red’s Recovery Room, or whatever your local watering hole might be named and we’ll be doing so with the idea that the hair of the dog is what’s in order this Friday morning, recalling if we can the previous night’s bar hop celebrating country music’s favorite songs of cigareets, whiskey and wild wild women. Songs about whiskey and the glasses on the bar where stories and faces go from long to bright as the jukebox fires up. We’ll hear some classic songs from Webb Pierce, George Jones, Roger Miller and Merle Haggard alongside some contemporary sounds from the late Bill Staines, Chris Stapleton, and Dale Watson, all celebrating Johnnie Walker, Jim Beam, and Maker’s Mark…alongside a little bit of scotch and rye…neat or on the rocks. The honky tonk joints we’ll visit will likely have sawdust on the floor and a well-worn bar. Tune for the very best from the past century with your host, Dave Stroud, on KOWS Community Radio.

No.	Artist	Title	Album	Buy
1	Cal Smith	The Lord Knows I'm Drinking	20 Hits
2	Ernest Tubb	Two Glasses Joe	Ernest Tubb: The Definitive Collection
3	[dialogue]	…People Condemn Whiskey…	Heartworn Highways
4	Johnny Bush	Whiskey River	Country USA 1972
5	Dale Watson	Whiskey or God	Blackjack
6	Merle Haggard	The Bottle Let Me Down	The Lonesome Fugitive: The Merle Haggard Anthology 1963-1977 [Disc 1]
7	Bill Staines	Rye Whiskey Joe	Just Play One Tune More
8	Misisipi Mike Wolf	Whiskey Warm and Mellow	The Cold Hard Facts of Mike
9	Marty Stuart/Travis Tritt	The Whiskey Ain't Workin'	Compadres: An Anthology of Duets
10	Willie Nelson	Whiskey River	Shotgun Willie
11	Chris Stapleton	Tennessee Whiskey	Traveller
12	Tex Ritter	Rye Whiskey	High Noon
13	Merle Haggard	I Think I'll Just Stay Here And Drink	20 Hits
14	Webb Pierce	There Stands The Glass	20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best Of Webb Pierce
15	Jerry Garcia & David Grisman	Whiskey in the Jar	Shady Grove
16	Blue Mountain	Little Stream Of Whiskey	Roots
17	Osborne Brothers	Hey Hey Bartender	1963-1965 (Warped 6361)
18	Dale Watson	Hair Of The Dog	A Collection Of Drinking Songs
19	Dale Watson	Wine Don't Lie	A Collection Of Drinking Songs
20	Roger Miller	Chug A Lug	20 Hits
21	Hank Thompson	Scotch And Soda	A Collection Of Drinking Songs
22	George Jones	Tennessee Whiskey	Legendary Country Singers
23	Hayes Carll	Knockin' Over Whiskeys	Trouble In Mind
24	The Bootleg Honeys	Little Whiskey	Paint It Red
25	Emmylou Harris	Bottle Let Me Down	Pieces Of The Sky
26	Joe Ely	Whiskey And Women And Money To Burn	New Country January 1995
27	Red Ingle & His Natural Seven	Cigareets, Whiskey and Wild Wild Women (Smoking)	Bob Dylan Presents: Radio Radio, Theme Time Radio Hour, Vol. 3
28	Jerry Lee Lewis	It Was The Whiskey Talkin' (Not Me)	A Half Century Of Hits: Rockin' My Life Away [Disc 3]
29	David Luning	Whiskey Bottle	Just Drop On By
30	Hank Williams Jr.	Whiskey Bent And Hell Bound	Contemporary Country: The Late '70s Pure Gold
31	Asleep at the Wheel	Chug-A-Lug (feat. Huey Lewis)	King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller
32	Chris Stapleton	Whiskey Sunrise	Starting Over

Country music started genre-life out as something different. Searching for a term more palatable than simply ‘folk’ or, more so, ‘hillbilly’, or ‘western’ music, music industry marketing found the term ‘country’ or ‘country and western’ a much smoother alternative. It softened the fiddle and accordion sounds and, at the same time, tempered the fears of human de-evolution through cultural disappropriation. Although what passes for country music today is more a caricature of itself, the Golden Age of country, running through the decades of the fifties, sixties and the early seventies built a solid foundation with some of the great songwriters and performers that weren’t from the big east and west coast hubs. And their music would often be heard ‘peeking through’ the pop charts in a big way, reinforcing the notion that it was, and always had been, a common cultural denominator. Our show this week features some of the very greatest of the latter. Join us!

No.	Artist	Title	Album	BuyEddy Arnold	The Cattle Call (1)	Eddy's Song: The Cattle Call	Hank Williams	Why Don't You Love Me	Fifty Years Of Hits – Vol 11	Hank Snow	I'm Moving On	The Essential Hank Snow	Hank Thompson	The Wild Side Of Life	30 Years Of No.1 Country Hits 1/4	Hank Williams	Your Cheatin' Heart	24 Greatest	Tennessee Ernie Ford	Sixteen Tons	Classic Country	Johnny Cash	I Walk The Line	Classic Country	Marty Robbins	Singing the Blues	Fifty Years Of Hits – Vol 8	Jimmie Rodgers	Kisses Sweeter Than Wine	Heatin' Up	Marty Robbins	A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)	A Lifetime of Song (1951-1982)	Patsy Cline	Walkin' After Midnight	Country Legends	Ferlin Husky	Gone	Ferlin Husky Singles	Don Gibson	Oh Lonesome Me	A Legend In My Time	Jim Reeves	He'll Have To Go	Classic Country	Johnny Horton	The Battle Of New Orleans	Classic Country	Marty Robbins	El Paso	Columbia Records' 125th Anniv.	Patsy Cline	Crazy	Country Music: A Film By Ken Burns – The Soundtrack [Disc 1]	Wanda Jackson	Right or Wrong	Golden Age of Country Volume 6: Hillbilly Heaven	Skeeter Davis	The End of the World	Red, White & Rock Disc 2	Johnny Cash	Ring Of Fire	Columbia Country Classics – Volume 4: The Nashville Sound	Roger Miller	King Of The Road	Classic Country	Jeannie C. Riley	Harper Valley P.T.A.	Superstars of Country Easy Loving [Disc 2]	Jerry Reed	Amos Moses	The Essential Jerry Reed	Glen Campbell	Galveston	Greatest Hits	Tammy Wynette	Stand By Your Man	Columbia Country Classics – Volume 4: The Nashville Sound	Loretta Lynn	Coal Miner's Daughter	Loretta Lynn Legendery Country Singer	John Denver	Take Me Home, Country Roads	70s Music Explosion – Miracles	John Denver	Rocky Mountain High	Singers And Songwriters 1972-1973 [Disc 1]	Charlie Rich	The Most Beautiful Girl	Feel Like Going Home: The Essential Charlie Rich	Charlie Rich	Behind Closed Doors	Country: The American Tradition [Disc 2]	Johnny Cash	One Piece at a Time	16 Biggest Hits	Waylon Jennings	Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)	Classic Country 1975 – 1979	The Oak Ridge Boys	Elvira	The Best Of Classic Country 80's	Willie Nelson	On The Road Again	Superstars of Country Easy Loving [Disc 2]