I was listening to Spotify tonight, and you know, it's really hard to think of artists to type into that search bar!
So, I listened to some Floyd Cramer (yes), and then, since, I had piano music on my mind, I thought, why not Jerry Lee Lewis?
I thus played a few of his classic rock songs, and then my mind wandered again, and I thought, here is my chance to listen to some modern country music!
I'm completely out of touch with today's country, so I wanted to educate myself a bit, without actually spending any money (that goes without saying).
I typed "today's country" into the search bar, and found someone's playlist, and the artists' names were ones that have been bandied about in the entertainment rags, so I thought, well, here I go ~ my modern country education.
The first song that came up was something about a big green tractor...I couldn't actually listen to the whole song, because it was so excruciatingly boring. And not to be hyper-critical, but what's with this guy's voice? It's so....annoying.
So, I clicked through a few other tracks, and then a few more tracks, but it never got any better.
Do these guys know what country music is?
Cuz this isn't it.
I'm feeling...embarrassed. Embarrassed that if I say I like country music, people will think that I mean this.
As I write this, I'm still clicking through. It's not getting any better.
I will say, to be fair, I found one guy who actually has a country voice ~ Blake Shelton. But his song choices are woefully lame. Just think if he had real country songs to choose from. He'd be pretty good ~ at least "Alan Jackson" good.
So, kids, here's the politically incorrect truth. The music you listen to is bad.
Maybe not bad if it was given its own genre. You could call it any number of things. You could call it Dishwasher Detergent Music (that's just off the top of my head).
Oh, wait! I just thought of it! Pop Tart Music!
It's quick; it's easy; it's uncomplicated; it's overly sweet. It fills you up with empty calories.
Just please don't call it country. I mean, c'mon. Do you have to steal our name? What's wrong with Pop Tart? You could start your own hall of fame...the PTM Hall of Fame. Kellogg's would happily sponsor your annual awards.
Seriously, think about it! It would give you your own identity; your own "cache".
And it would let us keep our country music pure and unadulterated.
Speaking of which, in a circuitous route, I finally have gotten to my Saturday Night Special.
As I said, I was listening to Jerry Lee Lewis on Spotify, until I got weirdly distracted for a moment that I can, sadly, never retrieve.
And I thought, you know, Jerry Lee is really a quintessential country singer.
Yes, he was a pioneer rock and roller. But he advanced. He moved on to country music in the seventies. Much like you, you PTM's, could actually have a future in music, give or take a decade or so. (I'll check back).
I had some good luck with the top hits from 50 years ago, so let's see if my luck continues.
I am not a huge fan of the seventies, music-wise, or I guess, culture-wise in general. But I'm hoping that the music will not disappoint.
So, let's take a look at some of the top hits from 1978.
As always, we like to start things off on a high note, so here is:
DON WILLIAMS - TULSA TIME
Don Williams may be the "Perry Como" of country music. You know, that old SCTV skit, with Perry Como so laid back that he's lying on the stage singing into his microphone.
But talent is as talent does, or some other mangled cliche. If you're as good a singer as Don Williams, I guess you don't need to jump around the stage. You just have to sing.
And now for something completely different:
JOHNNY PAYCHECK - TAKE THIS JOB AND SHOVE IT
Here's Johnny, in all his orange sartorial splendor, singing the timeless song that has inspired millions of people to repeat the song title on a daily basis.
To me, the title is actually better than the song itself. I'm not knocking Johnny Paycheck, because I am a fan. It's just that Johnny had better songs than this one.
And you'd think he could have afforded to replace that missing tooth. But maybe not.
WAYLON JENNINGS (MINUS WILLIE) - MAMAS, DON'T LET YOUR BABIES GROW UP TO BE COWBOYS
What a treat it is to see Waylon again.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a video of Waylon and Willie together doing this number, but this video is quite good! The sound quality is excellent.
I'm currently reading the biography of Willie, and I highly recommend it. I'm only about halfway through right now, and I'll be slapping up a review of it, once I'm finished, but, of course, Waylon is featured prominently in the book.
But to be honest, if we're talking "outlaws", Johnny Paycheck's got them all beat to hell. Just search the net for his prison record. I'm just sayin'.
Speaking of Willie, here is:
WILLIE NELSON - BLUE SKIES
I'm an admirer of Willie's singing style, but I'll admit, it had to grow on me. I used to HATE his voice. It's not a "country" voice. Let's just call it "country jazz". How's that?
And this is not a quibble at all, but have you noticed that the songs that were hits for Willie were almost exclusively remakes of old songs? I mean, you know, Willie actually wrote some pretty decent songs all on his own.
Not to leave out the women, here's:
BARBARA MANDRELL - SLEEPIN' SINGLE IN A DOUBLE BED
I can't tell you how much I HATE this song. This song represents everything that was wrong with 1970's country music.
Don't get me wrong. I actually LIKE Barbara. But not THIS song. Good lord, no.
I'm sorry it cuts off before it's done. Or AM I??
Now back to real country music. This isn't my favorite song by this duo, but it's still far superior to SSIADB (the Mandrell song).
THE KENDALLS - SWEET DESIRE
As much as I like Jeannie Kendall, I still can't quite reconcile her unusual wardrobe choices. She dresses worse than Johnny Paycheck!
But I like this song, and it, in some ways, captures that bluegrass sound that Jeannie does so well.
I like this next song. It's infinitely better than SSIADB. I'm just surprised it hit it big on the country charts. I mean, in 1978. Of course, it would (might?) hit it big on the country charts now. I wonder, though. Maybe it's too good.
BONNIE TYLER - IT'S A HEARTACHE
And I always wondered what Bonnie looked like! Maybe I knew at one time, but I forgot.
Bonnie must be the only example of a singer who had vocal problems that actually helped her career.
Here's one of my favorites. Because he has style. And attitude.
JERRY LEE LEWIS - MIDDLE AGED CRAZY
Oh, one of the greats of country music is coming up next. I've said it before, but it bears repeating. As far as entertainers are concerned, he's pretty tough to beat:
MARTY ROBBINS - RETURN TO ME
Here we get an added bonus, "Beyond The Reef".
I could watch Marty all day. Notice how he has the crowd in the palm of his hand.
Someday, I'm going to just post a bunch of Marty videos, and sit back and enjoy.
Well, dang. The only decent video I could find of this song is not embeddable. So, here's a link. This is (easily) one of the best songs from 1978, so I just couldn't leave it out.
Here's a singer who's cool in any decade. This song has a special meaning to me, because I have a recording of my best friend, Alice, singing this song. Alice is singing with the house band in heaven now.
EMMYLOU HARRIS - TO DADDY
Again, we have Willie. Craggy Willie. Doing a song written by Johnny Bush. No offense, Willie. I really do usually prefer your versions of songs, but I like Johnny Bush's version better. And Johnny wrote it. You kind of absconded with it, and now people think you wrote it.
It's a matter of taste, really. But to be perfectly honest, if I hadn't heard Johnny's version of the song, I'd kind of think the song sucked. No offense.
WILLIE NELSON - WHISKEY RIVER
I'll just end this reminiscince of 1978 with one of the hottest acts of that year:
THE OAK RIDGE BOYS - YOU'RE THE ONE
You might not recognize William Lee Golden without his long, flowing beard, but that's really him!
Duane Allen, of course, looks like your everyday boy next door, while Richard Sterban is trying to come across as a sex symbol (no offense, Richard, but it just looks really cheesy, especially with that slapping tambourine). Not to neglect Joe Bonsall and his afro.
So, there you have it. 1978. Not all bad; some good; some really good.
1978 wasn't the best year ever for country music. There were a lot of forgettable songs.
1978, for me personally, was a stellar year. Matt was born in December of 1978. So, who am I to quibble about that year?
What do I remember about the year, music-wise? I remember Emmylou, and I remember the Oak Ridge Boys. I remember that there were some really bad singles released in 1978, among them, songs by Crystal Gayle (who, let's face it, was really reaching by that time) and by Charley Pride (whose days on the charts were numbered).
I remember that Waylon had become an "outlaw".
The rest is really a blur.
Wikipedia lists a lot of songs that were hits. A lot of them, frankly, I couldn't identify if a gun was held to my head. And I was listening to country radio then.
Just goes to show you that songs are like quicksilver. Catch 'em while you can.
Okay, fifty years ago - really? Geez, it seems like only yesterday, or maybe 20 years ago at the most. Okay, it doesn't really seem like yesterday, because I was only 3 years old in 1958, so I hardly remember these songs when they were hits.
I thought it might be fun to see what was hitting the charts, lo those 50 years ago. And to contrast the country music of then to the country music of now.
Well, we all sorta know where country music is now, and it's not pretty.
I think this quote from Jennifer Nettles (of Sugarland) in the latest Entertainment Weekly pretty much sums up the general attitude in Nashville today:
At the very least, Nettles sees Nashville changing.
"What is country anymore?" she asks. What, indeed? The article goes on to call Sugarland's third album "an unusually diverse CD that attempts to expand the template of mainstream country by embracing old-school R.E.M, Marvin Gaye, even hair metal.
"We've earned the space to express ourselves," says (Kristian) Bush. O-kay! So, now we know, I guess.
So, let's cleanse our palates with some offerings from the year 1958.
This first video is one of many hits for Johnny:
JOHNNY CASH - BIG RIVER
"We've earned the space to express ourselves". Give me a break.
Ray Price had a bunch of hits in 1958. Here's one of the best:
RAY PRICE - INVITATION TO THE BLUES Recognize the harmony singer? Look closer. Why, it's the songwriter himself, ROGER MILLER!
Well, here is one of my all-time favorite singers:
FARON YOUNG - ALONE WITH YOU
Here is someone you don't see anymore (well, he's passed away, but you know what I mean.) Don Gibson had FOUR number one hits in 1958. Here's one:
DON GIBSON - OH, LONESOME ME I think this song was covered numerous, numerous times by many artists. Good for Don.
Remember this? Yes, this is not the 1958 performance. Conway did re-record this song a few years after he made this song a HUGE hit. The 1958 performance was grainy and had poor sound quality. The one here will just make you dizzy (sorry). But I still like the sound better on this one:
CONWAY TWITTY - IT'S ONLY MAKE BELIEVE
You know, people tend to forget Webb Pierce, but there was no one bigger in country music in the late 1950's. Not to cast any aspersions, but he did insist on a co-writing credit for any song that he recorded. But I guess it was a win-win situation for all. At least Mel Tillis holds no hard feelings about that (I read his autobiography). I guess either you accepted Webb as a "co-writer", or you didn't get your song recorded at all. Not a hard decision when you have a family to feed.
Here's one written by Mel:
WEBB PIERCE - TUPELO COUNTY JAIL
Again, not a video from 1958, but still worth watching! Yea, I'm a huge Marty Robbins fan. Here he is, singing:
THE STORY OF MY LIFE
Well, this is not a 1958 rendition of this song (because Hank Locklin wasn't old and bald in 1958), but you have to give this guy credit! Much like Ray Price, even at an advanced age, he's still going strong!
HANK LOCKLIN - SEND ME THE PILLOW THAT YOU DREAM ON
Interestingly, a lot of artists we think of as "rock" actually had big hits on the country charts in 1958. Elvis, for one. I can't find any of those videos, but his hit songs from that year were:
Hard-Headed Woman
I Beg Of You
Wear My Ring Around Your Neck
Don't
By the same token, the Everly Brothers were major country stars that year:
All I Have To Do Is Dream
Devoted To You
And this one:
(No, this video is not from 1958. The one from '58 was very poor quality.)
THE EVERLY BROTHERS - BIRD DOG Oh yea, there was one other guy who seemed to have racked up a bunch of hits that year. He was sort of country, then rock, then country again.
Let's have a gander, shall we?
Oh yea, and THIS one:
One more time:
Okay, so where were we? Oh yea.
"We've earned the space to express ourselves."
Ha ha ha ha!
