Is Country Music Dead, Asks Collin Raye

Well, sure.

That's not exactly news.

It's not that country music is dead, really. It's that "country music" is dead.

Country music is just different now. It's a whole different genre from what many of us used to call "country". I'm okay with that. I know that the music I like, those two words that used to trip off my tongue, is now called Americana. It just takes some getting used to. Old habits die hard.

I never wanted to become one of those old-timers, the ones who say, "In my day..." Because the people who say that are simply sugarcoating the past. I've been listening to country music since the sixties. Sure, there were some poetic songs - simple poetry like the kind Merle Haggard wrote, and the more literary stuff that Kris Kristofferson penned. But there was also a whole lot of junk - throwaways - kinda like most of the Top 40 songs of today. Those songs didn't set out to be timeless; they set out to make a buck - kinda like most of the Top 40 songs of today. Collin Raye is romanticizing the past, which is what all of us do.

However.

Taken as a whole, yes, the country music of yore was eons better than the country music of now. I agree with Collin that there's far too much of the "yee haw", pickup truck, redneck blah blah blah stuff on the radio today. C'mon people! You can't possibly be that shallow? Can you? People today still have "feelings", right? How about writing about that?

What? You're telling me that the whole "feelings" stuff can't get played on the radio? Well, shame on corporate broadcasting! You're making kids look like a bunch of possession-obsessed androids. Kids aren't really like that. I have kids, so I know.

But enough railing. It simply is what it is. What do I care, really? I have all the "good songs" on CD and safely tucked away inside my computer. I can listen to them anytime I want.

Nevertheless, if you would like to read what Collin Raye has to say on the topic, click on "Is Country Music Dead?"

I could have thrown in a bunch of awesome country music videos here, but really, you can just envision your own. Mine would be different from yours anyway.

I do want to add, however, that if you think Collin Raye doesn't know whereof he speaks, then you haven't heard "In This Life".

Oh, shoot. I have to include it here, since I just mentioned it:

Ray Price

If Ray Price wasn't the first country voice I ever heard, I can confidently say he was the second.

When I was a little, little kid, my parents owned exactly two record albums - Together Again/My Heart Skips a Beat by Buck Owens and Burning Memories by Ray Price. I had a little record player but I rarely had money to buy 45's, so I etched grooves in those two albums. I think, even today, I could reel off the track listings, in order, from Burning Memories.

On the album, released in 1965, Ray was beginning to teeter between his signature twin fiddle sound and the tinkling piano keys and sweet strings. The tracks were still clearly country, but it was evident then that Ray's sound was evolving. I wonder if the individual tracks were recorded several months apart, such was the dichotomy.

One of the best country songs ever was included on that album - Here Comes My Baby, written by Dottie West (track two, in case you're keeping score):

Being a little kid, I wasn't familiar with Ray's earlier work, but eventually I began to hear it on oldies hours and on reruns of syndicated country music TV shows. The twin fiddles were in rare form back then. For example, this song (extra points for the Nudie suit):

 And this song, written by Roger Miller (and Ray is coincidentally backed by Roger Miller on this performance!):

Time, of course, marched on, and I became a sullen teenager, slamming the bedroom door behind me to spin my Monkees 45's. Out of the blue one day, my mom came out of her bedroom holding an eight-by-ten glossy of Ray Price, swooning about how "handsome" he was. Handsome? That old guy? He must have been, I don't know, forty? Ray Price was the only entertainer my mom ever had a crush on, at least as far as I know.

By that time, Ray had shrugged off the twin fiddles completely and had adopted the countrypolitan sound. I wasn't a fan. Although I had one foot in tween pop and the other foot planted in country music, I still liked my country to sound country. I never actually voiced it, but I felt a bit betrayed by Ray. Now he was some guy wearing a smoking jacket, sitting in his den, sipping a martini. Frank Sinatra-lite.

But then I heard this song, which, I think, was the B side of one of Ray's current hits. I never admitted to anyone that I liked it, but it was pretty groovy.

Thanks to Willie Nelson:

Naturally, everybody knows Ray's biggest hit. It rolled around in the year 1970, written by some unknown Nashville hanger-on named Kris. Wonder if that guy ever wrote any other hit songs.

Here's Ray in his ostentatiously-decorated living room:

By the 1980's, Ray had either moved on or lost his record deal with Columbia, and he was considered too old for the "hip" country market, which, when you think about it, is an oxymoron. Country music was never hip. He and Willie did record a duet album of country standards, a lot of them old Bob Wills songs, and I bought it and I still have it...somewhere. Here's a taste:

Seeing as how Ray was "washed up" by the early 1980's, it's unimaginable that he kept going for another thirty-odd years, but that's exactly what he did.

Here's what Merle Haggard had to say about Ray Price:

"He was probably the first outlaw," Haggard said. "I think Willie (Nelson) will agree. He was out there fighting for what he believed and doing it his way, and being criticized and all that. I remember when he laid the guitar down and started hiring violin players and all that, and everybody thought he was crazy. Crazy like a fox. He knew what he was doing."

Story

My mom and dad saw Ray and his Cherokee Cowboys in concert at Panther Hall in Fort Worth, Texas. I don't think I was there. I wish I was. I can never hear a Ray Price recording without thinking about my mom and dad. They're forever intertwined.

When I found out that my dad had died, I was living far away. A couple of nights before we set out to travel to my dad's funeral, I sat in the rocker in my bedroom and played this song over and over, and I cried:

Soft rain was falling
When you said goodbye
Thunder and lightning
Filled my heart inside
A love born in heaven
Had suddenly died
And the soft rain was teardrops
For the angels all cried

c: Ray Price

 

I'm feeling pretty melancholy knowing that Ray Price has passed away, but I feel sort of happy, too. I think he's putting on a concert right about now, and my mom is in the front row, swooning, and my dad is beside her, singing along.

Tigirlily

As you know, I don't listen to modern country. I figure, there's only so many minutes in a day - I can't waste 'em on stuff that's just going to annoy me. (Trust me, when you get to be my age, you'll understand the "only so many minutes in a day" thing.)

As you may also know, I'm from North Dakota. Yea, it's actually one of the fifty states, and no, North Dakota doesn't have snow twelve months out of the year. And yes, it does have electricity. (North Dakota had MTV years before New York City did, so bite me, geography snobs.)

That said, a song titled, "North Dakota" probably isn't going anywhere. There's an inherent bias against anything that contains the word "north", because, you know, North = Cold.

If the title was simply "Dakota", then sure. The Dakota Apartments was where John Lennon lived, after all.

I wonder if people hear "South Dakota" and think, boy, I bet it's hot there. After all, it's in the south.

Anyway, there's this band (if two people can be called a band) called Tigirlily, and they're from North Dakota. Now, right off the bat, I have a problem with the spelling of their name. Maybe it's a play on words. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, because if it's not a play on words, then it's just dumb.

I don't know anything about these girls except that they're from North Dakota, and well, that's good enough for me. And, to my ears, they sound about as good as anything else country radio pukes out (no offense).

The first thing I noticed when watching this video that MY BRIDGE is in the background in some of the scenes. Yes, that's MY BRIDGE. I lived right across the river, on the west side of that bridge.Sure, it means nothing to you, but I've been away from home for fourteen years. Seeing that bridge is like seeing home again.

I did chuckle at this line:

We're from the north, but we're not Canadian.

That's kinda cheesy! However, as a songwriter, I know that sometimes you just have to give up and throw in a line that rhymes. Still makes me laugh, though.

So, if you want to check out "tigirlily", their website is here

We don't get a lot of famous people from North Dakota. We have Lawrence Welk and Angie Dickinson and Roger Maris. Oh, and that actor - what's his name? Josh Duhamel (he's married to Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas). If my friend Alice hadn't died young, she would have been a huge Nashville star. You can read about her in my book that's over there --> in the margin.

So kudos to anybody who's from North Dakota who has even a smidgeon of talent. To be fair, though, North Dakota's population is teeny tiny compared to those other forty-nine no doubt frigid states.

Thinking Good Thoughts for Randy Travis Today!

The man who almost single-handedly saved country music.

We love ya, Randy!

Album Review ~ Old Yellow Moon ~ Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell

For those who read my blog regularly, you know that I don't buy music anymore.  That is partially my fault and partially the music business's fault.

I will take the blame for being stuck in the past, but in my defense, if good music was being made, do you think I wouldn't buy it?

To me, an artist has to prove themselves.  I didn't buy Billy Ray Cyrus's album in 1992, and history has proven me correct.  BR was a one-hit wonder.  I'm not going to squander my hard-fought dollars on a flash in the pan.

Emmylou and Rodney, though, I know.  I've known them since the early nineteen seventies.  Okay, I didn't know that Rodney was "Rodney".  I just knew he was "that guy who sang backup for Emmylou", and he apparently (my liner notes told me) wrote a bunch of the songs she was singing.

Elite Hotel was a wondrous thing.  A country music album for music lovers who had been left in the dust by leisure-suited hipsters who were entranced by the likes of Dave and Sugar.

Rodney stepped out on his own a bit later; a decade or so later, actually. 

Apparently, Rodney liked to do things in a big way, because his 1988 Diamonds and Dirt produced five consecutive number one singles; and is, to me, one of the best country albums of all time.

So, when these two decided to get back together, lo these many, many years later, I was intrigued.

Old Yellow Moon was a birthday gift. 

Emmylou has white hair now; and Rodney probably does, too; under that hat.  But it bears repeating:  chronological age does not render one useless and hapless.   True talent triumphs.

So, I listened to the album tonight.

Is it sacrilegious to say that my favorite tracks were not written by Rodney Crowell?

My absolute favorite track is a song that I loved back when Waylon recorded it; and what could be better than hearing two of my favorite artists singing it?

I was surprised to learn that Allen Reynolds had written "Dreaming My Dreams".  What I remember about Allen Reynolds is that he wrote a bunch of pop-tart songs for Crystal Gayle; but I guess I sold him way short.  Dreaming My Dreams is a gorgeous song.  I'm just glad that Crystal Gayle didn't make a hit of it.

You may or may not know that Vince Gill was also one of Emmylou's backup singers; way back when.  Here he is, introducing Emmylou and Rodney; in an admittedly poor quality video; singing another of my ultimate favorite country songs, "Invitation to the Blues"; which was written by Roger Miller:

Oh, but it's not just old songs.  Nay.  This album contains many good tracks, including "Spanish Dancer", "Back When We Were Beautiful" (written by the great Matraca Berg); "Here We Are"; actually written by Rodney!  And the title track, "Old Yellow Moon":

 I give this album a solid B+.

But you know me; I'm a sucker for the old (or new) tried and true.

They Placed a Wreath Upon His Door

I thought George Jones would always be around.  He was always around ~ for my whole life.

My friend Alice and I, when we were tweens, religiously attended whatever cavalcade of stars was playing at the World War Memorial Building.  And, because we were kids with nothing much to do, we always managed to snag front-row seats, because we showed up a couple hours early and plopped ourselves down in the seats of general-admission honor.  In 1968, the same year we encountered Merle Haggard (in more ways than one), we also saw a package show with a new girl singer named Tammy Wynette and a bunch of other people we'd never heard of, including Tammy's husband, Don Chapel.  We liked Tammy ~ she'd had a few hits by then; Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad; Take Me To Your World; I Don't Wanna Play House.  She seemed unnaturally shy for a performer, though.

The star of that show, however, was George Jones.  As the closing act, he took the stage with his Jones Boys band (who'd actually been on stage the whole time, because they were the backup for...everybody), and kicked off hit after hit after hit.  White Lightning, The Race is On, Love Bug (I always preferred George's up-tempo numbers); Walk Through This World With Me, She Thinks I Still Care.  George, with his outdated crew cut, was energetic; having fun.

Midway through his set, George called Tammy back onto the stage.  The two of them sang some duets, and wow!  Tammy loosened up!  Now, she, too, seemed to be having fun.  The two of them locked eyes and sang to one another.  All of us were just bystanders by then.

A few weeks later, we heard a couple of disc jockeys joshing around on the air.  

"D'ja hear that Tammy Wynette is divorcing her husband to marry George Jones?"

"And get this; her next single is called D-I-V-O-R-C-E!"

Har har har har har.

Yep, George Jones definitely had an influence on Tammy.

It seems that George Jones had an influence on a lot of people.  Alan Jackson, for one, idolized him.  Keith Richards was a big fan.  It's said that Neil Young wanted to stop by backstage and meet George after one of his concerts, but George said no, because he'd never heard of the guy.

George had a lot of nicknames:  Possum, No-Show Jones, The Singer's Singer.

George was a stylist.  He didn't have a voice like George Strait; nor did he have a voice like Merle.  What George did have was a way to break your heart.

His instrument was like a rubber band stretched taut.  It dipped and it soared, and it dipped back down again.  George could turn one syllable into three or four; just by climbing that stairway and then descending it.  The reason people liked him so much was because the pain in his voice hit everybody in the gut.  It sounded real.

As I said, when I was a kid, I liked George's up-tempo numbers.  Like these: 

George Strait covered this one:

George, of course, had ballads, too, in the nineteen sixties.  Like this one:

My favorite from the late sixties came from the album surprisingly titled, "Good Year for the Roses".  Here's a remake; a duet with a silly-looking Alan Jackson:

And, naturally, there were the duets with Tammy:

And one many years later (they sure could make beautiful music together):

 

George recorded this one with James Taylor.  Sadly, there is no video of the two of them performing the song:

 

I've always contended that, no matter what anybody said, this next song is more gut-wrenching than, you know, that other one.

I saw George Jones live once again, three decades later.  He was on a bill with Vince Gill and Conway Twiitty.  I'd come to see Vince Gill.  George could still bring it, though; boy.  I didn't go to that show with Alice.  Time had passed and lives had splintered.  I don't know if Alice was in the audience that night.  If she was, she, too, was probably there to see Vince.  Vince was the headliner, and his career was glowing hot.  Alice most likely didn't remember the night in 1968 when we watched a romance blooming from the first row.  Life marches on, relentlessly.

Rest in peace, George Jones.  A whole slew of people are never going to forget you.

My dad loved this song...

He stopped loving her today

They placed a wreath upon his door

And soon they'll carry him away

He stopped loving her today

 
 

 



 

Bobby Bare Inducted into Hall of Fame ~ Thanks to Me!

(Don't let the alien-creature eyes on the right scare you!!)

I'm being (semi) facetious, really.

However, the fact remains that I have been lobbying for Bobby Bare since 2007.  If you don't believe me, check this post.

And this post.

And this post. 

And this post.

And this post.

Therefore, I was stunned when I read the news this week that Bobby has been named one of the three Country Music Hall of Fame inductees.  He was elected in the Veterans category (you think?)

But let's start at the beginning.  Speaking of veterans, "Cowboy" Jack Clement was a producer and engineer at Sun Records in Memphis, when he discovered this guy:

Jack also worked with the other big three at Sun:  Johnny, Roy, and Carl; and he wrote this song for Johnny:

Later, Jack moved to RCA in Nashville, and produced a bunch of hit records for artists such as Bobby Bare, Charley Pride, and Waylon Jennings; and wrote more hits too, such as:

This is my favorite song written by Jack Clement:

That video brings back happy memories.  I remember watching the Porter Wagoner Show on Saturday afternoons, and liking his new unknown girl singer a lot.

Kenny Rogers ~ what can one say?  If one was alive in the nineteen seventies, she knows Kenny Rogers.  His wild popularity in that decade cannot be underestimated.  He was the singer of the decade.  Kenny started out as a rock singer, with a group called the First Edition.  They played on all the network variety shows in the sixties:  Ed; the Smothers Brothers...I don't know ~ Laugh-In?  Maybe not Laugh-In; but you couldn't turn on your TV and not see this group singing, "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)".  Kids would basically buy any song whose title was slapped across the label of a 45 record back then.

Kenny had his big breakout moment when the group, now called Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, released this single (written by Mel Tillis):

You probably can't tell from the video, because Kenny is wearing giant wire-rims, but his eyes actually looked humanoid during this period.

Well, it wasn't long after that Kenny struck out on his own, now having earned some unsought country music cred.  Thus, the First Edition was cast to the winds; I'm guessing never to be heard from again. 

Before Kenny eventually shed his cloak of faux-country authenticity, he was lucky enough to record two songs which shall live in...well, not "infamy".  The opposite of infamy ~ "famy"?

These songs were:

Without a doubt, "Lucille" is a catchy song; an earworm, if you will.  Not a lot of three-quarter-time songs are written, which is a shame, because that rhythm pattern is indigenous to human beings; it is akin to being rocked in the cradle as a baby.  My only quibble with the song is that it takes too long to get to the chorus ~ too much setup.  It should have been shortened; compacted.  I bet people turned the dial the first couple of times they heard it.  "Too boring", they no doubt said to themselves.  It was only after hearing the chorus one day (when they were not in control of the radio knob) that people said, Hey!  This is good!  And, on the plus side, I can sing along with it!  Ta-DA!  A hit.

Kenny's next cyclonic hit was an inferior song; but still catchy ~ again, because of the chorus.  How many people, even today, utter the words (in some random situation), "You gotta know when to hold 'em; know when to fold 'em"?  Well, there you go!

Kenny went on to record hits by such country luminaries as Lionel Ritchie. 

I saw Kenny in concert once in the seventies.  Granted, he was a teeny, tiny speck, but I can still say I saw him.  I was on vacation with my mom and dad and my two little boys, and we discovered that Kenny was in town for a concert at the town's cavernous auditorium.  We managed to snag tickets in the very top row.  Kenny was a good entertainer.  Oh, he was no Marty Robbins, but he still put on a good show.

I don't remember if he performed this song during the concert, but it is my favorite Kenny Rogers record.  The only performance video available is one in which he incomprehensibly ratchets up the tempo, which basically ruins the song; so I decided to go with this static photo and the song performed in its original (good) version:

  

Naturally, I cannot leave the topic of Kenny Rogers without acknowledging this 1983 hit, written by the renowned country songwriter, Barry Gibb; and recorded as a duet with that unknown girl singer from the Porter Wagoner Show.  

Let me just say, here and now, that if you had a radio in 1983, you couldn't outrun this song.  Every freakin' time I got in my car to drive somewhere, this song was playing.  It got far more radio play than the song warranted.  Yes, yes, it was catchy....the first million times I heard it.  Then it just got annoying as all hell.  AND it made no sense; but why should I quibble?

Here ya go, and don't say I didn't warn you:

Congrats, Kenny.  Can't say you didn't earn it.

Bobby Bare

Why have I thought, since forever, that Bobby Bare deserved to be in the Country Music Hall of Fame?

I don't know that it's anything I can put my finger on, exactly.  Bobby sort of seeped into my consciousness, like a shadow in the night.  I always knew he was there.  I even bought his first greatest hits album (on RCA) back when I was a pre-adult.  He was even there when I was a nine-year-old kid, and was creating my famous comic book with my cousin, which you would have to read about in my book (ha ~ snuck another plug in there, didn't I?) 

I guess it just struck me one day that, wow, Bobby Bare has recorded a bunch of great songs!  And why hasn't anyone formally recognized that?

In doing a (trust me, condensed) retrospective of Bobby's career, this blurb struck me as funny, and sort of typical of Bobby's life and the humor with which he's conducted his career:

Bobby also had a hit in the pop field, "The All-American Boy," released under the name Bill Parsons. He was drafted before he could tour with the hit, and the record label hired another singer to be Bill Parsons and cash in on its success. 

Let's go back a (long) ways, shall we?  To the early nineteen sixties:

And on..... 

And, well, you knew this one was coming (another song written by Mel Tillis ~ I guess both Bobby and Kenny Rogers can basically thank Mel Tillis for their careers)...

Bobby left RCA in 1970 and went to Mercury Records, where he had some monstrous hits, like:

And this (sorry, no performance video):

Both of the above songs were written by a little-known songwriter named Kris Kristofferson.  Did I mention that Bobby was a wiz at discovering new, great talent?

Bobby tripped on back to RCA in 1973; long enough to record this song, which merits a chapter all it own in Rich Farmers (I only write about the important stuff, you know):

And, just for fun, he also recorded this song on RCA (and it's fun ~ c'mon!):

Wikipedia says this about Bobby Bare:

In nearly 50 years of making music, he has made many firsts in country music. Bare is credited for introducing Waylon Jennings to RCA. He is also one of the first to record from many well- known song writers such as Jack Clement, Harlan Howard, Billy Joe Shaver, Mickey Newbury, Tom T. Hall, Shel Silverstein...and Kris Kristofferson.

Deserving?

More like "way overdue deserving". 

I want to say, thanks, Bobby Bare, for almost fifty years of great music.

And, I'm sure if Bobby knew me, he would thank me, too, for getting him inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

It's the least I could do, really.  After all, he hung in there with me for practically my entire life.

 

There Goes My Everything

The first year the Country Music Association rewarded anyone was 1967.  The CMA's would not be televised until the following year, but Jack Greene could boast that he was the first ever recipient of Male Vocalist of the Year.  He also won in the Single of the Year and Album of the Year categories.  And Dallas Frazier won song of the year, by penning Jack's big hit, "There Goes My Everything". 

Jack began his career as a drummer with Ernest Tubb's Texas Troubadours, but by 1966, he had a Decca Records contract, and the hits began.

Granted, it was more than 45 years ago when Jack Greene began topping the charts, but just because things aren't new doesn't mean that they are inconsequential. The penultimate lounge lizard, Engelbert Humperdinck, covered "There Goes My Everything", and glommed onto Jack's country music success with the song; creating a crossover hit that the blue-haired ladies swooned over.  But Jack did it first, and he did it right; the way Dallas Frazier intended.

Jack formed a duo with classic songwriter Jeannie Seely in the 1970's.  I bought their singles.  Their voices fit together just right.

In his later years, his chart success long behind him, Jack Greene continued performing on the Grand Ol' Opry.  Seems that some people still remembered. 

Jack had more hits besides "There Goes My Everything".  There was also "All The Time".  The man knew how to spot a hit song.

One song, though, while not garnering any rewards, will be the song that I, and probably most classic country fans will remember (later covered by Ricky Van Shelton, although a cover is never quite as good as the original):

 Statue of a Fool (written by Jan Crutchfield)



I read that Jack had Alzheimer's Disease.  Anybody who knows me knows that AD is something very personal to me ~ I lost my dad to Alzheimer's. 

I liked Jack Greene.  Jack Greene was country music when country music was perhaps a bit more innocent; and not jaded.  A Jack Greene song reminds me of a cold winter's eve, bundled up with a blanket in my room, listening to WSM crackle on my AM radio; Ralph Emery's warm voice introducing the song. 

Jack's passing makes me a bit misty.

RIP, Jack Greene.  Thank you for Statue of a Fool.

Why Did They Name It Country Music?

I, of course, realize that the roots of country music lay among the fields of corn and cotton and whatever other crop one chooses to romanticize (never potatoes, though; ever notice?  What's wrong with fields of potatoes?)

And, I suppose, back in the dark ages, barn dances were the happenin' thing.

But surely, people who lived in towns and big cities liked the music, too.   I think they should have named it something else.

When I was a kid listening to country music, if anybody found out about it, they were likely to stick a piece of straw between their lips and drawl something about hillbillies and rubes (sort of the same thing, I guess).

Just because I listened to the music, that didn't make me Junior Samples.  My taste in music got a bad rap because of its name.

Growing up, there were all kinds of country music.  There was the countrypolitan sound, which was mostly dreadful.  There was the Bakersfield sound, which was mostly delightful.   There was the twin fiddle sound of Ray Price (before he went all countrypolitan on us), Faron Young, Johnny Rodriguez.

I would have preferred they call it Heartbreak Music, or Honky Tonk Music.  Everybody likes honky tonks.  One doesn't even have to be a rube to enjoy them.  Dancing; drinking; laughing.   And everybody's had their heart broken.  Who can't relate to that?  Those monikers would have desribed the music much better than "country".  Besides, I've lived in the country.  It's really nothing like the music; it's just the way people who are unfamiliar with the country imagine the country to be.

Alas, I guess it's too late.  We can't go back in time and make Hank Williams call his music "lonesome". He probably didn't have a say in the matter anyway.  Buck's gone, so there's no chance that he can rename his music "twang".

I do wish, though, that we had just called it what it was from the beginning.  It would have saved kids like me a bunch of "heartache".

Kitty Wells ~ A Good Life

Kitty Wells, the queen of country music, died Monday, July 16.  She was 92 years old!

It's hard, now, to imagine a country music world without female singers, but there was a time.  1952, to be exact.

To say that Kitty Wells opened doors for women singers is an understatement.  Without Kitty, there would be no Loretta, no Tammy, no Dolly, no Shania; certainly no Carrie or Taylor.

Apparently, in the world of country music, in 1952, women weren't only to be seen and not heard, they weren't even supposed to be seen!

Kitty only recorded her signature song in order to earn the $125.00 that the recording session paid.  She was a wife and a mom, and was looking forward to getting off the road, and staying home.

If only she'd known.


How many girl singers have covered that song?  Which ones haven't?

This is my favorite cover.  Why?   Well, there are four legends on this recording (sorry, no video to be found):



Tonight, I thought I'd let a couple who have followed in her footsteps pay their own tributes to Kitty:






Rest in peace, Kitty.  What an admirable life.

The Music Cycle

I distinctly remember, around 1980 or so, desperately searching for some good music. Anything!

1980 was kind of a seminal year for me, because it was shortly after this time that I just finally GAVE UP on country music. I mean, gave up. I think Charley Pride did it. (Thanks, Charley!)

I remember house-sitting for my parents when they took their trip to Vegas. I had my four-year-old, and my two-year-old, and me just hanging around, kind of faux-housecleaning, and tuning the stupid console stereo to the country station, and longing...yes, LONGING for one, just ONE, decent country song.

I had gotten the Thorn Birds from the library, so that was a nice distraction, but something was still missing. And that missing piece was some decent country music.

You see, there was no such thing as DECENT country music in 1980.

You can look back now, and pinpoint some classic songs, but truthfully, if one is honest, it was all Crystal Gayle and Sylvia, and others. And this chart will point the way.

It was a sad, demoralizing time for country music.

I just scrolled through the chart, and I don't even recognize most of these songs. That's how bad it was.

Sure, I can pick out some good ones. But that really doesn't give you the flavor of 1980.

I would hate to be someone who charted in that year, because, well, if you were still doing concerts, you'd have approximately three people show up for your show, and two of them would have been dragged by their wives, just to keep peace in the family.

Country music in 1980 deserved what it got.

I wonder sometimes about cycles in popular music, and what causes them. Is it societal? Does the culture dictate what kind of music is created?

If we're feeling complacent, and not challenged, is the music complacent and unchallenging? The answer must be yes.

But what about music now?

One would think that the times we're living in would create angst and disharmony. Instead, it's blase. Maybe everyone has just given up.

In the sixties, everyone was ticked off. They were all mad about the war and about this and that, or at least they pretended to be mad, when they weren't prancing around with flowers in their hair. And look at the music of the sixties. It was great!

1980? I don't know. I'm thinking, we were at the tail end of that "long malaise" that the guy in the White House told us we were in. Way to buck everybody up, there, Jimmy! Such inspiring words!

And thus, the music on the radio was still malaise-ackal, as well. The music said, "Really, we just don't care. Don't listen to us ~ we're hideous! Just like the economy!"

Amazingly, after 1980, the music started looking up! Coincidence? I think not.

The nineteen eighties were really some of the best times country music has ever seen. If you don't believe me, check out these songs and artists.

So, maybe if things get better, the music will get better? There's always hope.

Like I said earlier, you can pick out the good songs from any year, even a crummy one. And that's what I'm going to do.

I don't feel like depressing myself, or you, and as you know, my motto is, music should be fun.

So, no Sylvia; no Crystal; no Charley Pride (sorry, Charley).

EDDIE RABBITT



THE OAK RIDGE BOYS



MERLE HAGGARD Sorry about the re-route. I don't know what's up with that, but at least this video works!



One of the best country voices EVER ~ GENE WATSON



EMMYLOU HARRIS



Sorry, no performance video available of this song, but I still feel it needs to be included:

JOHN ANDERSON



RONNIE MILSAP



It's becoming an unfortunate pattern that I am not finding performance videos of some of the best songs of 1980, but to leave them out would be unthinkable:

ROY ORBISON & EMMYLOU HARRIS



I honestly didn't even remember that this song charted on the country charts in 1980, because this isn't a country song. Is it? Yes, to me, it's an homage to Roy Orbison, so I guess, since Roy charted on the country charts, why not JD SOUTHER? Plus, I love this song! So, fine by me!



My son probably wouldn't admit it, but he was obsessed with this TV show in 1980. Remember, he was four.

So, we had to rush home on Friday nights (from Happy Joe's Pizza Parlor) to tune in to CBS to watch Bo and Luke. This was one of the worst shows I was ever forced to watch (ha!), but I did it for my kid.

By the way, my son, Chris, thought the sheriff's name was Roscoe PEE-Co-Train, when, in fact, it was Roscoe P. Coltraine. I'm sure he knows the difference now.

Here is WAYLON JENNINGS (at least here are his hands):

(Note to YouTube posters ~ you can "disable embedding by request" all you want. One can find ANYTHING on the internet. It wasn't hard, really. And by the way, who is requesting that you disable embedding? CBS? This show was 32 years ago, for God's sake! Do you (CBS) think someone is going to steal your "intellectual property"? C'mon).



So, here we are. The best songs from a bad, bad year in country music.

Yes, you think, well, these are pretty good! Sure! I cherry-picked them! Just check out my Wikipedia link to see all the bad ones! You know, ten songs, out of all the records released in a year, is a woefully bad percentage.

WOEFULLY bad.

Just trust me on this ~ it was a bad year. I was there.

Yes, I know what you're thinking. Aren't you forgetting one, oh Sage?

No, I didn't forget it.

Here's the deal. When anybody says, "This is the best song EVER. The best song that mankind ever created", well, I kind of bristle at that. The truth is, there is no such thing as the best song ever. There could be a best song today. A best song that you like a whole lot, because you heard it on the radio when you were driving to work, and you forgot how much you liked it, but now you think you should get home and download it, because it's the best song EVER. At least, that's how you feel today. Tomorrow, there will be a new best song.

So, I like Bobby Braddock's and Curly Putman's writing a lot. They wrote a ton of classic country songs.

And this is a good song. No doubt. But is it the best country song ever? No.

Because there is no such thing.

But no, I'm not going to leave out GEORGE JONES.



So, eleven. Eleven good songs from 1980. And you could quibble about whether a couple of them are even country songs. That's a bad average.

I guess, though, you could take any year and dissect it, and find that there weren't a whole lot of good songs. But music is meant to be taken in its entirety. Our brains don't sort songs by year (leave that job to me ~ ha).

I do find it interesting, however, that when you take even a bad year like 1980, the usual suspects pop up ~ the classic artists ~ Merle, Gene, Emmylou, Ronnie, George, Roy (of course), Waylon. There aren't any one-hit wonders (and JD Souther, by the way, wrote some classic songs for the Eagles, so no, he's not a one-hit wonder, either).

The cream rises to the top. Even in 1980.

Looking for a New Kind of Music

My husband is a CD collector. He has about three record stores he visits on a regular basis, looking for used CD's.

Today, I went with him, just to go with him, basically. I didn't even look at the CD's in the racks. I looked at some posters and some curios that the store had for sale. I glanced at the music biographies on the shelf (although I no longer buy physical books. I am on a mission to clear my life of clutter).

That's part of the reason I'm not interested in browsing the CD's for sale. I really don't want to buy any more physical CD's. My shelves are overflowing with CD's, when, in fact, all the music I want, I've already uploaded to my computer.

I make an exception for approximately four artists: Dwight Yoakam, George Strait, Mark Chesnutt, and Marty Stuart. Why? Well, with George, it's a matter of honor, really. I have every one of his CD's, and I don't want to break the chain. For Marty and Mark, the truth is, they don't sell music like they used to, sadly. I don't know why. Time marches on? Nobody wants good music anymore? Real country music is passe? Therefore, I buy their physical CD's to show that I, at least, still appreciate them.

With Dwight it's just that......well, it's DWIGHT. He possesses a couple of attributes that I subscribe to: GOOD MUSIC, HONEST MUSIC....Oh, and he never disappoints. I never have to weigh the options in the store (and by "store", I mean Amazon.) I never have to turn the CD over in my hand, checking out the names of the tracks, looking for the songwriters credits (most of which will be "Dwight Yoakam" anyway). "Hmmm, will this be worth my money? What if I don't like it? What if I only like two songs?" Those questions never factor in. I WILL like it.

My problem is, after those four artists (and to be frank, George Strait has been falling down on the job for a few years now), where do I go? Some artists are "good", but they can't seem to pick good songs. As for newer artists, well, I really just don't like the sound. I don't mean the singer, I don't mean the songs (okay, I guess I do mean the songs), but what I'm talking about is the sound of the recordings. That manufactured sound that comes out of Nashville these days.

To be frank (and this is not meant to be self-centered at all), I'd prefer to listen to Red River's music (except my own) than this artificially sweetened stuff that's playing on the radio, because at least I know that Red River's stuff is honest.

So, what I am really looking for is a new kind of music.

I've thought about it, and these are my requirements:

1. Melodic!

You know, they call it "music" for a reason. If it wasn't for music, it would just be dull poetry. Music should make your heart fly, or make your soul mourn. I grew up hearing the barbs about "maudlin country music". The crying steel guitar, and all that. Well, yea, I like a crying steel guitar! And twin fiddles? They get you right in the gut. That's why I just can't relate to the modern music listener. What are they getting out of this stuff? Seriously, I would truly like to know. I find nothing melodic about modern music. Do they just not really like music? Is it just some background noise to keep them from thinking about other things? I don't know, and I never will. I'll just chalk it up to a mystery that I can't solve.

2. Honesty.

But not that self-pitying crap. I hate that stuff. There's nothing worse than a whiny crybaby. It's not all about you, you know. There's a fine line between coming off as a spoiled brat and singing about something universal. How about singing about life, and the trials and tribulations that we all go through? You know, something relatable. I used to hear, "he's singing my song". I don't really hear that anymore.

3. Interesting, surprising instrumentation.

No more paint-by-numbers arrangements. Throw in something unexpected. A cello there? Wow, never expected that, but it works! Listen to that guitar riff! So original! Everything, to me, now sounds dirge-like; even the up-tempo numbers. So boringly predictable.

4. Hit me with something I'm not expecting.

Way back, sometime in the nineties, my kids used to tease me every time I would turn this song up on the radio, or punch it in on the CD player. And I'll admit, I enjoyed driving them crazy with this song. Because they hated it. But you know, I really liked it. And the reason I liked it was because of the opening chorus:



Who ever sang a line like that? Nobody. I wasn't expecting it, and therefore, I liked it. It made my senses perk up and say, "Hey! What the heck? This is cool."

So, to sum up, what I'm looking for is an honest, melodic, surprising song.

Is that too much to ask? After all, I can't just listen to Ashokan Farewell exclusively.

CMT Video Awards?

Okay, I heard ("read") that the CMT Video Awards were broadcast this past week. Ho-hum?

Yes, as far as I know, CMT is a video channel. So, I'm certainly not going to hold it against them that they hold awards to self-promote. Where would this great land of ours be without self-promotion?

I'm so on the periphery of this phenomenon that I only learn about it from reading Entertainment Weekly, the arbiter of all things that really need to be known.

That said, EW really hooks you. They rave about something, or some video, or some incident that occurred that you really, if you want to remain relevant in this world, really need to see, or else you're just useless.

So, yes, I did search out some videos, based upon EW's recommendations.

The first thing that caught my attention was, Shania and that girl, Taylor, doing a take-off of Thelma and Louise. Well, I'm always up for a good parody, so I was eager to find a clip of this one.



Not completely impressed, I have to say, but that's mainly due to the fact that they had some "odd" (in the kindest sense of the word) stand-in for Brad Pitt, and that scruffy Kid Rock was also in the scene. Nice touch on Kenny Rogers standing beside the road, but overall, not really up to par. Sorry.

And yea, I heard that Shania fell down, but really? Give the woman a break. Who wouldn't fall down in that circumstance? I know I would.



They also mentioned Sugarland having the best performance of the night. So, I searched out and found a video of that one, but frankly, when I saw some girls hoist themselves up upon the stage to start waving a white flag with some indiscernible writing on it, I clicked off. Ack! Political correctness on a so-called country music broadcast? Thanks, but no. I guess I'll never know if the performance was good or not good. Stop preaching to me! I'm really not in the mood, and if I want to know what the politically correct line of the moment is, I'll switch on cable news.

I also heard that some kid called Justin Bieber was there, for some ungodly reason. I don't know. I'm completely perplexed.

I really, really would like to watch these awards (no doubt found on Hulu, where I watch all my favorite shows), but my self-respect tells me, no. Don't do it.

Let me just soothe myself in the misguided notion that country music is still country music. No, I'm not stuck in the nineties (well, maybe I am, but I do know what's hot; what's happening now, to a very miniscule degree).

Let me ask, where the hell was Alan Jackson? Where was George Strait? I think those guys are still charting, or am I completely off the mark?

Fine, you guys. If you want to co-opt my music, have at it. But could you call it something else? I would like to remember country music when it was country music, without having to spew out the words like I had a mouthful of cotton constricting my airway.

Call it sort-of-country-if-you-really-squint-hard-and-imagine-what-it-would-sound-like-if-it-was-country-music. I'm fine with that.

Wynonna, why don't you show those buffoons (even Kid Rock got it eventually), what country music is:

2011 CMT Music Awards - Bawitdaba/Till My Dying Day - Kid Rock - Kid Rock Videos

American Idol Finale - Yee-Haw!

I used to watch American Idol. But after the debacle that was season nine (Lee who?), I decided that was it. Most boring season ever, and that's saying a lot, considering Taylor Hicks! But at least Taylor's season had Chris Daughtry.

So, this year, even with all the hype about the new judges (boring), I gave up on old AI. Sure, I still read about the show on Entertainment Weekly's website, but I really had no idea who anyone was.

About midway through the season, I thought I'd watch one installment, just to see for myself these people that I was reading about. That particular episode featured that little Scotty guy, singing, "I Cross My Heart". I thought he was pretty good, but didn't have a chance in heck of winning.

You see, whenever anyone on TV (or on radio, for that matter) calls an artist "country", they usually mean something like "Taylor Swift country", or "Rascal Flatts country". Not country country. This kid was country country. Who'd buy into that act, in this day and age?

Okay, I'm sure it didn't hurt that the kid is seventeen, and really, it's the teens and tweens that are doing all the voting on AI. And they don't really vote for the music, per se. They vote for whoever is "cute".

Regardless, I'll take that as a win. I think little Scotty is going to bring back something that's sorely missing from country music: COUNTRY MUSIC.

You know, sort of like Randy Travis did.

Plus, he's shopping for songs! All you country songwriters out there, dust off those lyrics that everybody told you were too corny; those chord progressions that everybody said were too old-fashioned. Yee-haw! A resurgence of real country music....maybe?

So, all in all, even though I didn't watch this season (always a day late and a dollar short, naturally), I'm thrilled by the outcome. And he's such a nice kid, they should have given him the title for that reason alone.

Now, to veer off topic just a bit, I did watch the American Idol finale. You see, I always like a big show. Like all AI finales, it had its good stuff, and its really bad stuff. This one also had some funny stuff, particularly (for me) the bit about which elimination was the most shocking. I also enjoyed every other thing that Casey Abrams was involved in. This kid has a future in the movies or TV. A natural entertainer.

My very favorite part of the finale, however, was the male contestants doing the following (and yay, Tom Jones!) Oh, for the days when entertainment was entertaining.

Here it is, in two segments, unfortunately (which kind of messes with the flow, but what can you do?)......





Oh, and one more thing: Welcome back to country music.

Shania

I've learned over the years to trust my instincts.

Sure, back in the nineties, everyone was decrying Shania Twain as the downfall of country music. I don't know; I liked her songs.

Shania didn't steer country music down a wayward path. That feat had been accomplished years before, by the likes of Barbara Mandrell and Reba McEntire. In fact, I think Shania actually brought country back.

She certainly didn't deserve the disdain of music critics, any more than Dwight Yoakam did (not that Dwight was actually the recipient of any disdain; I'm just citing him as a comparison).

The reason that Shania is on my mind is that I'm currently reading her autobiography, and let me say, it is fascinating! What a crummy life she had, growing up. You think you had it bad? Read her story.

The first song I heard from Shania was this one. She got a lot of flak from the critics about "sexing up" her videos, but when you watch this, where exactly does the flaunting come in? The video is, in reality, humorous. And if this isn't country, at least my idea of country, what exactly is?




I was going to include a bunch of commentary here, but I think I'd rather just post Shania's videos.









There is no official video of this song that features both Shania and Bryan White, but that's the way I first heard the song, and that's the way I remember it, so here is a fan-created video, with Shania and Bryan:



Again, no official video, but I like this:



Sorry for the ad preceding this video, but it's the only one available:



Okay, if you love Robert Palmer's "Addicted To Love" video, you gotta love this homage:







I admire Shania's artistry, and I don't really care what the critics say (or said, back then). I'm thinking they're eating their words right about now, as they contend with the glut of today's faux country acts.

I had the chance to see Shania in concert once, but I didn't go, and I've been kicking myself for that decision ever since.

I will say that I'm happy today to know that my instincts were correct. This is one class act, and if you have any doubts, buy her book.

Man! I feel like this post is over!

Mel McDaniel

Funny how some things go unnoticed, or at least unreported.

Mel McDaniel passed away on March 31, and I only found out about it from reading Entertainment Weekly, of all places. Those guys at EW have no idea who Mel McDaniel was, but at least they reported it!

Mel was the king of feel-good, have-fun Saturday nights. In the days when I would sometimes frequent a honky tonk on a Saturday night, one of my all-time favorite local bands would open their first set with this song:



Mel had a bunch of great songs, including this one:



Unfortunately, those are the only two actual videos of Mel that I could find that are embeddable, but I wanted to include some other great Mel songs, so watch the nice pictures as you listen to these:



(There actually is a video of Mel singing, "Blue Jeans", but it's not embeddable, but here is the link.



Here's a link to Let It Roll (great song!)

So, maybe not a lot of people took notice, but Mel, you showed a whole lot of people a good time with your music, and since it's Saturday night, what could be more appropriate?

Thanks, Mel. God bless you.