Tunes of Cheatin' and Drinkin': 3 Locals' Honky-Tonk Essentials

Sunday, September 9, 2007

"Honky-tonk" is not just the name of a place. It's also a type of music played by D.C. musicians (and Washington Area Music Award winners) J.P. McDermott of J.P. McDermott and Western Bop, Ruthie Logsdon of Ruthie and the Wranglers and Diana Quinn of Honky Tonk Confidential. We asked them to articulate what makes a honky-tonk song:

They agreed it must be danceable and its lyrics should tell a story about drinking, cheating, loving, losing love and/or living the hard life.

We also asked the musicians to come up with a list of honky-tonk essentials. Five songs appeared on more than one of the lists: Webb Pierce's There Stands the Glass , a lyrically austere tribute to the palliative abilities of alcohol; Ernest Tubb's Walking the Floor Over You , considered the first mainstream honky-tonk hit; Lefty Frizzell's If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time , whose singer wants a date who has cash to burn; Kitty Wells's It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels , a woman's musical response to Hank Thompson's "The Wild Side of Life," a lament of female infidelity; and Ray Price's Crazy Arms , a song about loving someone who's about to marry someone else.

Here are the rest:

Logsdon's List

Mama Tried , Merle Haggard. "If you haven't heard Haggard, you haven't heard country music."

She Thinks I Still Care , George Jones. "George is one of the most well-known country performers of our time."

Stand by Your Man , Tammy Wynette. "A classic song almost every budding female country singer strives to perform."

Don't Come Home a Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind) , Loretta Lynn. "The first female country singer to tell it like it is."

Guitars, Cadillacs , Dwight Yoakam. "Through his own amazing style, he adopted the Bakersfield sound originally started by Buck Owens and His Buckaroos."

Hello Walls , Faron Young. "Another of the great honky-tonk singers."

After the Fire Is Gone , Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn. "Duets were popular in the '50s and '60s and helped many artists make their way to stardom, including Conway and Loretta, Tammy Wynette and George Jones, Dolly Parton and Porter Wagner."

I'm Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home , David Frizzell. "It tells the story of a woman who threatens to decorate her house like a honky-tonk so her husband will stay home more."

McDermott's List

Pick Me Up on Your Way Down , Charlie Walker. "A good heartbreaking song you can dance to."

Honky Tonk Hardwood Floor , Johnny Horton. "A good example of how close rockabilly and honky-tonk are."

Wine Me Up , Faron Young. "This tune has it all: a good fast shuffle beat, great vocal performance and a tricky little twist in the self-pitying lyric 'Wine me up, turn me on and watch me cry for you.' "

Heartaches for a Dime , Wynn Stewart. "A classic number written by Harlan Howard, king of the honky-tonk songwriters. The lyric makes it clear that back in the 1950s you could make a phone call or play a song on the jukebox for only 10 cents, and either one could break your heart."

Honky Tonk Blues , Hank Williams. "I like this one because it's more about the dancing than the drinking: 'I went to a dance and I wore out my shoes/Woke up this mornin' wishin' I could lose/Them jumpin' honky-tonk blues.' "

Swinging Doors , Merle Haggard. "This one is stripped right down to the essentials: 'I've got swinging doors, a jukebox and a bar stool. . . . I'm always here at home till closing time.' "

Quinn's List

In the Jailhouse Now , Webb Pierce. "The guy singing the song goes out on the town with a girl and they 'took in every honky-tonk in town,' but they're 'in the jailhouse now.' "

Your Cheatin' Heart , Hank Williams. " The icon of country music and big daddy of honky-tonk music. He died at age 29, and that helped fuel the legend."

Heartaches by the Number , Ray Price. "A clever song about unrequited love."

Honky Tonk Man , Johnny Horton. "It's about a guy who likes pretty gals, wine and honky-tonk music: 'I'm a honky-tonk man and I can't seem to stop/I love to give the girls a whirl to the music of an old jukebox.' "

Walking After Midnight , Patsy Cline. "She is known more for her fabulous country pop songs like 'Crazy,' 'Sweet Dreams,' 'She's Got You' and 'So Wrong,' but 'Walking After Midnight' was the song that made her an international superstar."

The Race Is On , George Jones. "He's known as 'The Possum' -- don't ask me why -- and sings this wonderful, witty tune using a horse race as a metaphor for lost love."

-- D.Z.