Forgotten Country: 4 Albums From Legends of the 1960s You Need to Experience

Many country music fans think of the ‘70s as the golden age of country music. After all, that was the decade that produced the Outlaw Country movement. At the same time, it saw artists like Kris Kristofferson, John Prine, and Guy Clark releasing their debut albums. The ‘70s also saw the rise of Bakersfield artists like Buck Owens. As a result, many great country albums from the 1960s have been largely forgotten.

Outlaw Country heroes like Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson were still in Nashville making what labels considered commercially viable music during the decade. Additionally, Merle Haggard was just getting warmed up and Johnny Cash was becoming one of the genre’s biggest names. Here are four forgotten 1960s albums from country legends.

1 Jewels—Waylon Jennings (1968)\

When most fans think of Waylon Jennings, they think about his output in the ‘70s and beyond. Albums like Honky Tonk Heroes, Dreaming My Dreams, Ladies Love Outlaws and more dropped during the decade. That era of his career was so successful that many of his albums from the 1960s were largely forgotten.

Jewels is a hidden gem in Jennings’ discography. It was one of the last albums he released before he started pushing back against the executives and producers at RCA. Additionally, it contains songs penned by legends like Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Harlan Howard, Mel Tillis, and Hank Cochran.

2 Country Favorites Willie Nelson Style—Willie Nelson (1966)

Much like his longtime friend and collaborator, most fans know Willie Nelson for his later work. However, he released a stack of great albums before he became the Red-Headed Stranger that country fans know and love today. Many of those albums were released in the 1960s and have been largely forgotten by fans.

Country Favorites Willie Nelson Style is a top-notch hidden gem in Nelson’s discography. It was his fourth studio album and the first to chart, peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. As the title suggests, the album features Nelson’s take on a dozen classic country songs. The tracklist includes “San Antonio Rose,” “Fraulein,” “Columbus Stockade Blues,” “Go on Home” and more.

3 Story Songs of the Trains and Rivers—Johnny Cash (1969)

While many of the albums have been largely forgotten, country icon Johnny Cash released some of his finest work in the 1960s. For instance, the decade brought his classic live albums recorded at Folsom Prison, San Quentin, and Madison Square Garden. It also saw him recording with June Carter.

Story Songs of the Trains and Rivers sees Cash dipping into the folk tradition of story songs. It includes Cash originals like “Big River” and “Hey Porter” and the Hank Williams-penned classic “I Heard That Lonesome Whistle” as well as the all-time train song “The Wreck of the Old 97.”

4 The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde—Merle Haggard (1968)

The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde was Merle Haggard’s sixth studio album. While the album has been forgotten by many fans, it was among the most significant releases for the country legend in the 1960s. More than anything, it put Haggard’s songwriting on full display. The song “Today I Started Loving You Again” became a standard that has been recorded hundreds of times since its initial release on this album.

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