Country Jukebox Essentials

The Rock-Ola Model A jukebox was introduced in 1935. In the years since, country music has reinvented itself again and again, but no matter what changes, its singers have remained enthralled with the almost mystical power of the device: its ability to say the words you want to say and play the song you want to hear—or, in some cases, the one you don’t. Moe Bandy may have said it best: “So many disappointments, that’s what makes the jukebox play.” This playlist is loaded with honky-tonk stars like Bandy, such as Johnny Paycheck, packing all the drama of a full dime novel into a three-minute song, and George Jones, singing with a voice that could cut through the din of even the most crowded bar. Cue up some country classics, hear the steel guitar wail, and let the good—or bad—times roll.