Remember Sturgeon's Law: Ninety percent of everything is crap. Country music is an essential American art form, like the blues, or rock and roll or jazz. When real artists are working that vein it is as great as any music can be, and you shouldn't have to think too hard to come up with a list of practitioners that qualify as great. Hank Williams. Johnny Cash. Dolly Parton. Patsy Cline. Loretta Lynne. Willie Nelson. An emphatic "yea" for country music. People who dismiss it haven't given it a fair chance.
It depends. It seems a lot of it nowadays is what used to be called rock and roll. For instance, to me what Keith Urban is doing now is indistinguishable from what the Eagles used to do.
I enjoy older country music, especially the stuff I remember from my childhood in the '70s and early '80s, when there was a lot of cross-pollination between country and pop/rock, but not much of the current stuff. I think current country is suffering the same woes as current pop music: it's overproduced, narrowly targeted to a specific demographic, and basically not very memorable.
Songs that somehow incorporate trucks, corn and Jesus not awesome. Also songs that use fishing analogies for breakups: unless purposefully funny, not awesome.
(I recently drove through Ohio in a car with no CD player, so I have a strong opinion about this... :-) )
There is great country music being made today-- saying "I like older country" is nearly as much of a cop-out as saying you don't like it at all. Lucinda Williams. Laura Cantrell. Allison Krauss. Dwight Yoakam. Lyle Lovett. You know what's pretty great? There's a side called "All the Roadrunning" cut by Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris. Fantastic. Steve Earle is country. So is Rosanne Cash. I'm telling you, there's a wealth of it, and with services like Pandora or Spotify it is easy to find. Anybody who enjoys quality popular music-- and especially people who, for what ever reason, find most rock inaccessible, should try exploring the dusty back roads of country.
In my experience, what is usually heard on the big Country station in any large metro area is unlikely to be the good stuff that Bill cites. There IS a lot of great stuff being done in country, more in the interstitial spaces where Country is still hewing to its folk roots, rather than the more generic 'rock-a-billy' stuff you'll hear on the radio. A radio station where you can hear "Red Solo Cup" on a regular basis is not likely to be a good source for quality music.
I was lucky to have a father who liked to buy county records and sing along to them while driving. He taught me to harmonize with all the greats from Roy Orbison to Charlie Pride and Jim Reeves but NOT Conway Twitty. I hated Conway Twitty who started a country theme park that he called TWITTY CITY..how stupid is that?
Even the hokeiest country music features cats who can flat-out play. I found myself at the Grand Old Oprey once, and apart from the appalling politics of a couple of songs was totally knocked out. Like the place it is named for Country is big, and contains multitudes.
I've never been one for dismissing entire genres of music entirely. I like country music, though I'm not as plugged in to what's currently popular as I once was.
19 comments:
Mostly nay. Once in a while I hear something and think, "That's not bad." And I find Willie Nelson's voice strangely appealing.
Neigh.
Your query is too broad.
Nay! Verily and forsooth!
Your query is too broad.
Yay, but only in very small doses, and only a small set or artists.
Remember Sturgeon's Law: Ninety percent of everything is crap. Country music is an essential American art form, like the blues, or rock and roll or jazz. When real artists are working that vein it is as great as any music can be, and you shouldn't have to think too hard to come up with a list of practitioners that qualify as great. Hank Williams. Johnny Cash. Dolly Parton. Patsy Cline. Loretta Lynne. Willie Nelson. An emphatic "yea" for country music. People who dismiss it haven't given it a fair chance.
It depends. It seems a lot of it nowadays is what used to be called rock and roll. For instance, to me what Keith Urban is doing now is indistinguishable from what the Eagles used to do.
I enjoy older country music, especially the stuff I remember from my childhood in the '70s and early '80s, when there was a lot of cross-pollination between country and pop/rock, but not much of the current stuff. I think current country is suffering the same woes as current pop music: it's overproduced, narrowly targeted to a specific demographic, and basically not very memorable.
Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash are awesome.
Songs that somehow incorporate trucks, corn and Jesus not awesome. Also songs that use fishing analogies for breakups: unless purposefully funny, not awesome.
(I recently drove through Ohio in a car with no CD player, so I have a strong opinion about this... :-) )
There is great country music being made today-- saying "I like older country" is nearly as much of a cop-out as saying you don't like it at all. Lucinda Williams. Laura Cantrell. Allison Krauss. Dwight Yoakam. Lyle Lovett. You know what's pretty great? There's a side called "All the Roadrunning" cut by Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris. Fantastic. Steve Earle is country. So is Rosanne Cash. I'm telling you, there's a wealth of it, and with services like Pandora or Spotify it is easy to find. Anybody who enjoys quality popular music-- and especially people who, for what ever reason, find most rock inaccessible, should try exploring the dusty back roads of country.
In my experience, what is usually heard on the big Country station in any large metro area is unlikely to be the good stuff that Bill cites. There IS a lot of great stuff being done in country, more in the interstitial spaces where Country is still hewing to its folk roots, rather than the more generic 'rock-a-billy' stuff you'll hear on the radio. A radio station where you can hear "Red Solo Cup" on a regular basis is not likely to be a good source for quality music.
Yea, with the caveat that I agree with Bill. AND I liked the old stuff, while finding some of the 21st century stuff almost pop.
I was lucky to have a father who liked to buy county records and sing along to them while driving. He taught me to harmonize with all the greats from Roy Orbison to Charlie Pride and Jim Reeves but NOT Conway Twitty. I hated Conway Twitty who started a country theme park that he called TWITTY CITY..how stupid is that?
"If I could have a beer with Jesus"
you know you sing along when no one is looking so just admit it
Even the hokeiest country music features cats who can flat-out play. I found myself at the Grand Old Oprey once, and apart from the appalling politics of a couple of songs was totally knocked out. Like the place it is named for Country is big, and contains multitudes.
Yay to some of the more traditional style or bluegrass influenced stuff (though I will note, it's still not my absolute favorite genre)
Nay to the bland pop-country stuff that seems mostly to inhabit the airwaves these days.
I've never been one for dismissing entire genres of music entirely. I like country music, though I'm not as plugged in to what's currently popular as I once was.
Yay--but only if it's good.
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