Sheet Music

Heartaches by the Number: Country Music's 500 Greatest Singles

Vanderbilt University Press, 320 pp., $59.95

You can't please everyone, especially when you're writing a book as ambitious as this one. Surely David Cantwell and Bill Friskics-Warren knew this from the start -- that there would be those offended by various inclusions and omissions. That's where the number 500 comes in handy, offering a much-broader base of songs for the canon. What's more, the authors don't really care much; it's all entirely subjective, and they acknowledge that from the start. Actually, the authors' perspective is skewed strongly toward the early years of crossover country hits (the late Sixties and early Seventies), evidenced by "Help Me Make It Through the Night" by Sammi Smith at No. 1, which by itself is enough to draw howls of protest from purists. "I Fall to Pieces" by Patsy Cline at No. 466? "I Walk the Line" at No. 278? What's "If You Love Me (Let Me Know)" by Olivia Newton-John doing there at all? Or Los Lobos' "Will the Wolf Survive?" You get the idea. As contentious as a list like this might be, the authors do a great job of discussing each song (though it often feels more like deconstruction than discussion) and justifying its place on the list. Taking in everything from Roy Acuff's "Wreck on the Highway" and Webb Pierce's "Slowly" to Trisha Yearwood's "XXX's and OOO's," Heartaches by the Number is a meticulously researched and detailed undertaking that never reads like an encyclopedia or thesis. Even if you disagree with the rankings and conclusions, the authors' passion and love for the music shines through (the name, of course, being cribbed from the Harlan Howard-penned hit for Ray Price), and this is a provocative read for any country and roots music devotee.