Johnny Cash
40 Greatest Hits

Country

Country music is about tradition, yet its simple form lends itself to endless variations on similar themes. Like blues -- the two genres often shared themes, melodies and songs -- country is a simple music at its core. Most of its songs are built around three chords and a plain melody, but these forms are so basic, they allow for many different styles, from the gritty sounds of honky tonk to the jazzy improvisations of Western Swing. Country music grew out of American Southern folk music, both Appalachian and blues, and old-time country was simple and folky, with just guitars and fiddles. As the genre progressed, old time music evolved into the rhythmic guitar-and-fiddle driven traditional country that became the foundation of modern country music, from honky tonk and Western Swing to the pop-oriented Countrypolitan and rock-inflected Bakersfield Sound.

Country Song Highlights

Title/Composer Performer Stream
Crazy Patsy Cline
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry Hank Williams
Coal Miner's Daughter Loretta Lynn
Folsom Prison Blues Johnny Cash
Rhinestone Cowboy Glen Campbell
Friends in Low Places Garth Brooks
That Don't Impress Me Much Shania Twain
He Stopped Loving Her Today George Jones
Your Cheatin' Heart Hank Williams
Deep in the Heart of Texas Gene Autry
Me and Bobby McGee Kris Kristofferson
Need You Now Lady A
Should've Been a Cowboy Toby Keith
She's in Love With the Boy Trisha Yearwood
Take This Job and Shove It Johnny Paycheck
Pancho & Lefty Townes Van Zandt
Don't Let Our Love Start Slippin' Away Vince Gill
Chattahoochee Alan Jackson
Boot Scootin' Boogie Brooks & Dunn
Man of Constant Sorrow The Stanley Brothers
Brand New Man Brooks & Dunn
Oh, Lonesome Me Don Gibson
El Paso Marty Robbins
Tumbling Tumbleweeds Roy Rogers
The Legend of the Rebel Soldier
The Country Gentlemen
Old Man at the Mill The Dillards
Foggy Mountain Breakdown Flatt & Scruggs
Blue Moon of Kentucky Bill Monroe
I Saw the Light Bill Monroe
Wabash Cannonball Roy Acuff
Cattle Call Eddy Arnold
Can the Circle Be Unbroken (Bye and Bye) The Carter Family
If You've Got the Money (I've Got the Time) Lefty Frizzell
(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers Merle Haggard
Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line Waylon Jennings
The Race Is On George Jones
Night Life Willie Nelson
Cryin' Time Buck Owens
Love's Gonna Live Here Buck Owens
Behind Closed Doors Charlie Rich
I'm Movin' On Hank Snow
Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind George Strait
Hello Darlin' Conway Twitty
It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels Kitty Wells
Stand by Your Man Tammy Wynette
King of the Road Roger Miller
Walking the Floor Over You Ernest Tubb
Wide Open Spaces The Chicks
Back in the Saddle Again Gene Autry
Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares) Travis Tritt

Country subgenres and styles [+]