Top 10 Old Crow Medicine Show Songs

"Gloryland" is a stand-out track from Old Crow's new album, Paint This Town. Founding member Chris "Critter" Fuqua, who officially left the band in 2020, penned this track with Secor. The lyrics describe feeling "locked out at the gates of Gloryland" while the rest of the world is "scenes of ruination everywhere I go." It's hard not to see the parallels between "Gloryland" and "Knockin' On Heaven's Door." Dylan is a prominent influence on the band, after all. Even as the track nods to the past, the song is still very much rooted in the present. One can hear Old Crow's zeal as the band head into its third decade.

Old Crow's time living in the holler shaped more than just the band's sound; it also influenced the stories they tell and the believability behind the words.

"Methamphetamine" is a dark, blues-country look inside the pilage of Appalachia. It's sung with the wary knowing of someone who's seen too much. Secor collaborated with Americana great David Rawlings for the track. It was Rawlings who completed Secor's chorus with the keyword, "Methamphetamine."

In 2017, Old Crow released 50 Years of Blonde on Blonde: a live album of the band covering Bob Dylan's iconic 1966 double-album track-by-track. The album was recorded live at the CMA Theatre at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn.

While the live album is essential listening for anyone who loves Old Crow (and Dylan), "Visions of Johanna" is a standout track. It's full of instrumental depth and richness and a fine example of how Old Crow honors its musical influences while also bringing its unique spirit to any given track (cover or not).

"Sweet Amarillo" is not the first time that Old Crow built a song using the bones of a Dylan bootleg, but it is the most recent. Secor told CMT how the song took shape: "Bob... sent a demo and said, “Here’s a song that I never really finished. It was recorded a few days after ’Rock Me Mama.’ Give it a try. We’d like the boys, the Old Crows to give it whirl.”

Dylan first sang the song in 1973 during a recording session for the Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid soundtrack. Donna Weiss and Brenda Patterson were also present at the session. Weiss was the first person to flesh out lyrics for the complete song. Then, in 1974, Patterson recorded the track. However, Patterson's recording and Old Crow's are vastly different. Under Old Crow's care, "Sweet Amarillo" is the wistful tune sung from the heart of a lonesome drifter.

"James River Blues" was released in 2006, but its lyrics and instrumentation could convince an unknowing listener that the song was created over 100 years prior. The song captures the woes of workers put out of the job due to industrialization: "James river blues / That train came on through / And the worlds gotten slow / So wheres a boat man to go?"

Of course, the song's reach extends beyond the James River and connects to the larger story of America. It resonates with anyone who's ever seen an industry move on without them, be it the automobile industry or coal.

Old Crow recorded "Down Home Girl" for its 2006 album, Big Iron World. However, the song was first recorded in 1964 by New Orleans-based Alvin “Shine” Robinson. It was written by Jerry Leiber and Artie Butler. The song has been recorded many times over by music legends, including Taj Mahal and the Rolling Stones. Still, Old Crow's country-blues version of "Down Home Girl" competes with the best.

For Woody Guthrie's centennial celebration, Old Crow took the stage at the Kennedy Center to perform Guthrie's classic, "This Train is Bound for Glory." The band was joined by an all-star assembly of musicians: Ani DiFranco, Dan Gellert, Donovan, Jackson Browne, Jimmy LaFave, Judy Collins, Lucinda Williams, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Rosanne Cash, Ry Cooder, Sweet Honey in the Rock, The Del McCoury Band, Tim O'Brien, Tom Morello, and Tonya Trischka. The result is joyous, jubilant, and gloriously fun.

Dark story songs are at the heart of traditional country music. On "My Good Gal," Secor proves he can write them just as well as the greats. The somber, acoustic-driven track starts with a lament of love gone wrong. Secor sings, "Well she drug me down / Tossed me 'round / Slammed my name all over town / My good gal ain't no good to me / She makes true love more like misery."

By the end, the misery has turned deadly. Secor sings, "Because I drove her out of town / And I shot her down / And I left her there in the cold, cold ground." The emotive outro is marked by a wailing harmonica and strings that communicate wordless pain.

Released on Old Crow's second studio album, "Tell It To Me" captures the essence of the band's early busking days. The rowdy, jaunty, jug-band-influenced track has since become one of the band's most famous songs. Its infectious, fun chorus likely has something to do with it. The group sings, "Now won't you tell it to me / Tell it to me / Drink the corn liquor let the cocaine be / Cocaine's gonna kill my honey dead."

Most songs don't take twenty-five years to get written. Then again, "Wagon Wheel" is not most songs. Today, the track is ubiquitous. But once upon a time, it was just a forgotten chorus an old Dylan bootleg from his Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid sessions. The old tape fell into the hands of Critter when he was just a kid, and he eventually shared the tape with Secor. It was Secor who completed the song's verses about the hitchhiking gambler trying to make his way back to his true love in Raleigh. When Secor approached Dylan for permission to record the song, Dylan agreed. The two men share 50/50 writing credits.

When Darius Rucker came along and recorded "Wagon Wheel" in 2013, it became a smash hit on the country charts. However, the cover's platinum success doesn't eclipse Old Crow's original charm.