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