By: Brian Berger

He was country when country wasn’t cool.

By: Devin McKinney

A convincingly defeatist song about the end of the world.

By: Jerrold Freitag

The ghost in Cash’s machine was Sturm und Drang Romanticism.

By: Brian Berger

Her energy, wit and lithe sexuality made her a star.

By: Jerrold Freitag

He made us wonder whether we’ll ever figure anything out.

By: Peggy Nelson

Toast is not on the menu.

By: Mark Kingwell

Without him there would be no Nashville scene.

By: Mimi Lipson

The sophist­ication of Jones’s voice has never dimin­ished its authen­ticity.

By: Matthew Battles

The African legacy of the father of country music.

By: Brian Berger

His nickname — pronounced “Hi-Lo” — honored his vocal range.

By: Brian Berger

“The greatest song hound of all.”

By: Brian Berger

Nobody in American music did more with less.

By: Joshua Glenn

A scene from TENDER MERCIES (1983)

By: Brian Berger

He fused old-timey vernacular, post-Dylan poetics, and orchestral pop.

By: David Smay

Forget HEE HAW — he was of the architects of the country sound.