Country Club - John Doe & The Sadies (2009)

When I decided I would “listen to more country,” I put together a quick list of some highly-rated country albums of the 21st century from AOY and other places. I hadn’t realized what a selection bias there would be in doing that. I’ve ended up largely with a list of what people who don’t listen to country think are the best country albums, which is tilted heavily towards things that don’t sound like country or are done by non-country artists. I don’t think you could argue that what John Prine did wasn’t country, but it was also definitely in the “singer songwriter that the kids love” tradition of cool kids listening to old artists and somehow thinking it’s ironic.

This one has at least part of that problem. John Doe was in the LA punk band X in the 80s, and moved to more country-flavored material as an older solo artist. He’s teamed here with The Sadies, who are firmly in the Americana and roots rock categories without really being what most country fans would probably call country.

The thing that makes it work, though, is the excellent selection of classic country songs made famous by the likes of Patsy Cline, Hank Snow, Merle Haggard, and Mel Tillis. They mix in a handful of originals, but the timelessness and quality of the songs really make this worth the listen.