Wild days and rough times aplenty at the Dutton ranch highlighted the sixth episode of Season 4 of Yellowstone. Similarly, a trio of rootsy, rustic country songs played a vital role in the latest from Paramount+.
Ryan Bingham – Take It Easy Mama
Nearly 15-year old Ryan Bingham single “Take It Easy Mama” — like many tracks on the album — encompasses several traditional American and Mexican styles. Alongside this track, the album’s lead single, “Southside of Heaven,” was included in the score of an episode of the TV series ER. Regarding the track and that album, a 2007 review noted the following: Bingham’s history – growing up poor, years spent on the rodeo circuit – lends an authenticity to his words and his prematurely worn voice that keeps those familiar ideas from seeming like retreads.
The Panhandlers – West Texas in My Eye
The Texas indie super-quartet — Josh Abbott, William Clark Green, John Baumann, and Cleto Cordero — self-titled debut studio album yielded “West Texas in My Eye,” a track that uniquely features all four performers on vocals. Dust, wind, and tornadoes (“I’ve seen the thunderheads descend and rip into the ground/the twisted hand of heaven spreading terror all around”) define the narrative of “[not] crying, that’s West Texas in my Eye.” The super-group’s work feels inspired and mirrors the sociopolitical ties that bind West Texans together.
Gethen Jenkins – Bottle In My Hand
The three-year-old song from Marine Corps veteran Gethen Jenkins is a shuffling country track about a brokenhearted guy, down on his luck, sitting at a bar. At the time of its release, he noted to Billboard, “All the lyrics hold pretty true for what I’m going through right now in my life. I believe every word of it, that’s for damn sure. It leaves you falling off the barstool. It’s about a lot of people, when they’re going through heartache or a breakup or something like that, they find themselves in a bar drinking. Even though it’s the wrong thing to do…you have to get wrong before you get right sometimes.”