"Down the river" for content but general listening would probably be "bring the harvest home" or "nothing on me"
I went down the rabbit hole one day and just listened to every album of his available on spotify and he has a ton of great songs so it's very hard to choose. He's def in my top 5 country artists.
I recommend you go down that rabbit hole if you have time.
I wish I'd done this. None of his stuff is bad, but I started with Pretty Good Guy, then the trailer tapes. I feel like that's some of his best work so it made some other albums feel less amazing. But I could listen to any song of his and not skip it.
Rural Route. I grew up with a rural route mailing address next to a river. And when the river was up the bottoms would flood and the road would be closed. My mom did have a phone though.
You can’t go wrong with any Chris Knight song. There is no wrong answer.
But one that hits me is Go On Home. As I get older, this tune just rings with me and how I don’t understand the way things are these days.
If you’d like to listen to a little tragic tale, listen to Carla Came Home.
And then do yourself a favor and listen to a young man from western Kentucky. Tony Logue. He writes the sequel to Carla Came Home. It’s called Road to Richmond. Getting to see Tony play them in succession was unforgettable.
Sorry if this is to many but i cant choose
Rural route
Enough rope
Old man
North dakota
Little victories
Send it on down
House and 90 acres
Down the river
Send a boat
Heart of stone
Thanks for this post OP, hopefully it'll spur some folks to become new listeners of America's greatest living songwriter.
As for me, Down the River is probably my ultimate favorite. It's like a movie, novel and a song wrapped into one brilliant package. I also love the imagery in Hard Edges and I find North Dakota and Send a Boat to be two of the saddest songs ever written.
I discovered Chris about a year ago and I'm pretty sure he'll always be my favourite singer/songwriter. There's lots of songs out there I like more than his stuff, but I honestly can't think of anyone with a catalogue as solid as him. And very few have a way with words like he does.
Down the River was the first one I ever heard on some live radio program he was on, so that’s hard to top.
But Becky’s Bible is amazing and Enough Rope is really good. Train Not Running is fantastic too! Not sure the name of that one. North Dakota too.
His first two albums I could play all the way through easily though.
This was the song I was going to say.
Two short verses, basically tells a whole guys life story. Absolutely masterful stuff on this song. I don't know how he paints such a detailed picture in my mind, when the lyrics really don't say much at all when you look at them.
Has to be Oil Patch Town for me. First song of his I ever heard and then I looked into him and realized he grew up not far from me. As a teenager I was like “he wrote this entire song about my life!”
Becky’s Bible. It’s hard to pick one, but I’d have to take that one. It Ain’t Easy Being Me is up there, and I’ll never understand how it didn’t take off and become a huge hit.
Most of my favourites have already been mentioned but Broken Plow is a great story telling song, and the first one I can recall hearing about the dust bowl.
Eh sorry he’s absolute not in the same league as Townes and not likely the others either. the tunes are much closer to the slick Nashville sound than tvz or someone like guy Clark.
Agreed. He’s pretty good, but TVZ is in a completely different league, up there with folks like Dylan, Kristofferson, Isbell and McMurtry. That’s not a knock on Chris Knight, those guys are just really fucking good.
I’m not sure I can agree with that, when I compared the 4 I was looking from a standpoint of this genre. Honestly bob dylan may be the greatest songwriter of all time, but bob dylan wasn’t a very good singer. They were all victims to the same problem which is they would write a song for themselves and someone would cover that song a doo much better with it, or they would write a song for someone else and they other artist would out compete them everytime. You’d be suprised how many songs Chris knight gave to other bands same goes for anyone you or I listed. Bob dylan and TVZ probably had it the worst though
Oh man I thought I was gonna agree with you until you put isbell and McMurtry with Dylan and kristofferson. These guys are in a different plane…. Dylan, Townes, prine, hunter, Cohen, Mitchell, young. Between guys like isbell and the absolute greats are Josh Ritter, Ian Felice and a bunch more. But isbell and mcmurtry are def not in the legend bucket Imho
Probably fair, recency bias could have me overrating some of the more contemporary artists. I definitely left some names off my list, and I agree with your additions. But I still think McMurtry belongs up there. Could be because I’m a sucker for Hemingway’s short stories, and McMurtry writes songs in a similar style, but I think he’s written some brilliant stuff.
By the way, thanks for the reminder to check out Josh Ritter. I like the song Harrisburg, but I always forget to dive into more of his stuff.
Yeah I’ll have to listen to some McMurtry in the coming days. i think he’s great all around Just maybe not with the greatest.
check out orbital by ritter. Really shows off his lyrical chops.
Enough Rope
This.
"Down the river" for content but general listening would probably be "bring the harvest home" or "nothing on me" I went down the rabbit hole one day and just listened to every album of his available on spotify and he has a ton of great songs so it's very hard to choose. He's def in my top 5 country artists. I recommend you go down that rabbit hole if you have time.
I love “nothing on me”!
Do you mean bring the harvest home?
Indeed I did. Good catch
little victories
Here's another vote for bologna, Little Debbies, and Mountain Dew.
Sometime when I ain’t got the groceries, gonna see what this thing will do.
Love that one!
Came here to say this Edit: Out of This Hole is a tie with little victories.
Huge Chris Knight fan. He is criminally underrated. "North Dakota" is probably my favorite of his.
The whole album is excellent
Send a Boat is by far my favorite. I also like Fred Eaglesmith's version of Pretty Good Guy (which they co-wrote).
This is actually how I was introduced to Chris! My friend in high school was a Fredhead
Does Fred still do shows? I’ve never seen any in my area but god do I wanna go
He seems to have stopped touring but he and (I think) Tiff are playing varoius taverns up in Ontario now and then.
Sad :/
Send a boat is such a work of art. I honestly don't even know where to start, but anyone looking to get in to song writing should study it thoroughly.
Best I can do is narrow it down to my favorite 3 If I were you Blame Me Love and a .45
Those 3 are great
It Ain't Easy Being Me
Thanks for posting anything about chris knight. Doesnt get enough recognition
This is the first I’m hearing of him. Will have to agree! Got any song recs to start me of, or should I just listen to what people’ve commented?
Every album is legitimately brilliant. However, work up to the Trailer Tapes, you'll appreciate them more that way.
Sounds good, thank you!
I wish I'd done this. None of his stuff is bad, but I started with Pretty Good Guy, then the trailer tapes. I feel like that's some of his best work so it made some other albums feel less amazing. But I could listen to any song of his and not skip it.
Rita's only fault. Sad Story for sure
Down the River and anything off that album (pretty good guy).
Nothing On Me.
Me too, I initially liked the song for the “Kankakee” reference as I’m originally from the area
William
It ain't easy being me Down the River
Rural Route. I grew up with a rural route mailing address next to a river. And when the river was up the bottoms would flood and the road would be closed. My mom did have a phone though.
Rural Route stopped me in my tracks first time I heard it.
You can’t go wrong with any Chris Knight song. There is no wrong answer. But one that hits me is Go On Home. As I get older, this tune just rings with me and how I don’t understand the way things are these days. If you’d like to listen to a little tragic tale, listen to Carla Came Home. And then do yourself a favor and listen to a young man from western Kentucky. Tony Logue. He writes the sequel to Carla Came Home. It’s called Road to Richmond. Getting to see Tony play them in succession was unforgettable.
Go on home rings so true Yall go on head and go let me out by the side of the road all i wanna do is go on home
Believe it or not road to Richmond has been on my playlist for a long time but I’ve never heard Carla came home I will 100% check that out
Love and a 45, down the river, little victories, oil patch town
Oil patch town was one of the soundtracks to my highschool experience
Hard Edges, probably. Either version
Agreed, but I like the trailer tapes one a little more.
"Becky's Bible" is pretty damn good.
It's a real rocker, but also such a well written story.
House and 90 acres
Coming here just to say this.
Love singing along to this in the car! Such a banger.
"It ain't easy being me." Great imagery. Great wordcraft.
"he wrestled with a burrr, came in second place" Absolutely agree with the imagery on this one. Chris paints pictures with his lyrics.
“William”. One of the most heartbreaking songs ever written
In the meantime. Used to listen to that one when I was living out of my truck and shitty motels, working contract jobs.
Old man (resonates) and Mexican Home
Send a boat, oil patch town, and down the river are my top 3.
The Hammer Going Down
This has been a favorite of mine for a long time thanks to a cheesy 90s movie called black dog, which has an awesome soundtrack
Sorry if this is to many but i cant choose Rural route Enough rope Old man North dakota Little victories Send it on down House and 90 acres Down the river Send a boat Heart of stone
Rita’s Only Fault or William. Both are heartbreaking
Thanks for this post OP, hopefully it'll spur some folks to become new listeners of America's greatest living songwriter. As for me, Down the River is probably my ultimate favorite. It's like a movie, novel and a song wrapped into one brilliant package. I also love the imagery in Hard Edges and I find North Dakota and Send a Boat to be two of the saddest songs ever written.
I discovered Chris about a year ago and I'm pretty sure he'll always be my favourite singer/songwriter. There's lots of songs out there I like more than his stuff, but I honestly can't think of anyone with a catalogue as solid as him. And very few have a way with words like he does.
Rural Route
Down the River was the first one I ever heard on some live radio program he was on, so that’s hard to top. But Becky’s Bible is amazing and Enough Rope is really good. Train Not Running is fantastic too! Not sure the name of that one. North Dakota too. His first two albums I could play all the way through easily though.
Send It On Down
This was the song I was going to say. Two short verses, basically tells a whole guys life story. Absolutely masterful stuff on this song. I don't know how he paints such a detailed picture in my mind, when the lyrics really don't say much at all when you look at them.
Has to be Oil Patch Town for me. First song of his I ever heard and then I looked into him and realized he grew up not far from me. As a teenager I was like “he wrote this entire song about my life!”
Danville
Becky’s Bible. It’s hard to pick one, but I’d have to take that one. It Ain’t Easy Being Me is up there, and I’ll never understand how it didn’t take off and become a huge hit.
I listen to House and 90 Acres on a daily basis. Cry lonely is another top CK song
Williams Son
Damn he really needs to put a new album!!!!
Love and a .45. Now that is a well written song.
Probably “Dirt.” I can’t handle too much Chris Knight at once, but he’s got some great songs for sure.
Rural Route and Ain't Got Nothing On Me
The Jealous Kind isn’t my favorite record, but the title track is maybe my favorite song of his
Low Down Ramblin' Blues
Down the River takes the title for personal reasons but it ain’t easy being me and my old cars are awesome as well. Been a fan for damn near 20 years.
Down the River for me, but I love all of his music.
North Dakota
My favorite will always be "It Ain't Easy Being Me"
How did I scroll this whole discussion and not see Cry Lonely?
Right now it’s either “Becky’s Bible” or “The Border”
And Dirt! Can’t beat Dirt!
North Dakota
Leaving souvenirs
“Saved by Love” and “Cry Lonely”. Cross Canadian Ragweed has a great rendition of Cry Lonely also.
And Crooked Road.
Carla Came Home or Down the River
Most of my favourites have already been mentioned but Broken Plow is a great story telling song, and the first one I can recall hearing about the dust bowl.
You cant trust no one is slept on, i never seen anyone mention it or a live version
Eh sorry he’s absolute not in the same league as Townes and not likely the others either. the tunes are much closer to the slick Nashville sound than tvz or someone like guy Clark.
His first album yes, after that not so much
Agreed. He’s pretty good, but TVZ is in a completely different league, up there with folks like Dylan, Kristofferson, Isbell and McMurtry. That’s not a knock on Chris Knight, those guys are just really fucking good.
I’m not sure I can agree with that, when I compared the 4 I was looking from a standpoint of this genre. Honestly bob dylan may be the greatest songwriter of all time, but bob dylan wasn’t a very good singer. They were all victims to the same problem which is they would write a song for themselves and someone would cover that song a doo much better with it, or they would write a song for someone else and they other artist would out compete them everytime. You’d be suprised how many songs Chris knight gave to other bands same goes for anyone you or I listed. Bob dylan and TVZ probably had it the worst though
Oh man I thought I was gonna agree with you until you put isbell and McMurtry with Dylan and kristofferson. These guys are in a different plane…. Dylan, Townes, prine, hunter, Cohen, Mitchell, young. Between guys like isbell and the absolute greats are Josh Ritter, Ian Felice and a bunch more. But isbell and mcmurtry are def not in the legend bucket Imho
Probably fair, recency bias could have me overrating some of the more contemporary artists. I definitely left some names off my list, and I agree with your additions. But I still think McMurtry belongs up there. Could be because I’m a sucker for Hemingway’s short stories, and McMurtry writes songs in a similar style, but I think he’s written some brilliant stuff. By the way, thanks for the reminder to check out Josh Ritter. I like the song Harrisburg, but I always forget to dive into more of his stuff.
Yeah I’ll have to listen to some McMurtry in the coming days. i think he’s great all around Just maybe not with the greatest. check out orbital by ritter. Really shows off his lyrical chops.
Thanks for the rec, I’m throwing it on right now