What about Country?

[ebk]

From last night on Letterman with Jason Isbell (formerly of the Drive-By Truckers) on guitar.

I really enjoyed this the other night. I couldn't help noticing how awkward he looks while playing...sort of endearing.

[Jahfin]

A few thoughts on David Allan Coe from the No Depression website:

In the early part of last year, I wrote a few blogs detailing historical artists whom I felt had been overlooked by the worlds of country music and Americana. Among those I highlighted were The Big Bopper and Rick Nelson. I sat down at the computer this morning with hopes of writing a review of one of the best rockabilly records I've heard in some time (I know there's not much competition in that regard, but...). Instead I got a song stuck in my head and realized it was time to talk about yet another important overlooked artist.

Before I reveal who it is, I want to remind all of you that if you heard the name Michael Jackson on June 24, 2009 it was probably as the punchline of a joke. The man was totally rejected by the music industry and was thought of as nothing but a washed-up R&B singer turned crazy eccentric. A day later he was being compared to Elvis Presley and the Beatles as the same media outlets who had helped tear him down sung his praises and new generation of fans literally came out of the woodwork.

I suspect a similar fate awaits the man who should be a proud member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame, a man who's average day should consist of fighting away producers hoping to be the next Rick Rubin or T Bone Burnett. I'm talking about a guy who charted six top 20 country hits, penned two of the seminal country songs of the '70s, appeared on stage and on record with numerous legends of country music, and has been blackballed by the industry for years due to a misguided attempt at shock value.

To read the rest of the article click here.

[Rock N' Rollin' Man]

Now Playin' country music

it ain't like it used to be

I'm so tired of this new stuff

they're tryin' to get me to sing

That ain't no country music to me

Well, you can only take so much

of putting people down

when you got the best,

that's tryin' to beat your back doors down

Well, I used to think that country

was out of Nashville Tennessee

but all I see in Nashville,

is a bunch of backstabbers takin' you and me

They don't care about the music ya see

Well, I used to think that country

was out of Nashville, Tennessee

I'd rather take my things and

go back to Texas ya see

Now, I would pack up

and I'd leave this dirty town

but they've done taken me for so much

that I can't get out now

Maybe one day but not right now

Well, I used to think that country

was out of Nashville, Tennessee

I don't think that country's here

'cause they killed it ya see

Well, I used to think that country

was out of Nashville, Tennessee

I'd rather take my things and

go back to Texas ya see

[Rock N' Rollin' Man]

Just got turned onto Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses will be seeing him nearby at the Ventura Theater in about two weeks.

[Janet]

For you country music aficionados - is Lucinda Williams considered a country artist?

I like "Can't Let Go" but I don't know how representative that is of her music.

[Jahfin]

For you country music aficionados - is Lucinda Williams considered a country artist?

I like "Can't Let Go" but I don't know how representative that is of her music.

I would most definitely consider her country but I wouldn't confuse her with any of the shit you see on CMT or hear on commercial country music radio. She was a guest on NPR's Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me this past weekend and as part of her introduction the host said, "if Taylor Swift were to record a Lucinda Williams song she'd burst into flames". Lucinda's the real deal which is why you're never hear her on commercial country radio stations. By the way, the album "Can't Let Go" comes from is probably her finest record to date, Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. Very highly recommended.

[Janet]

I would most definitely consider her country but I wouldn't confuse her with any of the shit you see on CMT or hear on commercial country music radio. She was a guest on NPR's Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me this past weekend and as part of her introduction the host said, "if Taylor Swift were to record a Lucinda Williams song she'd burst into flames". Lucinda's the real deal which is why you're never hear her on commercial country radio stations. By the way, the album "Can't Let Go" comes from is probably her finest record to date, Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. Very highly recommended.

Thanks, I will check it out!

[Jahfin]

Thanks, I will check it out!

I hope you enjoy it, it's a great record.

[Jahfin]

On the Lucinda tip, her sometime collaborator Gurf Morlix will be debuting a documentary about Blaze Foley (who Lucinda sings about on "Drunken Angel" from Car Wheels On A Gravel Road) called Duct Tape Messiah on his current tour. For Gurf's tour dates, check here. For more on the movie, check here.

[Rock N' Rollin' Man]

^^ I want to see that Blaze Foley documentary. There's also this Blaze Foley book out haven't read it though. It's called Living in the Woods in a Tree: Remembering Blaze Foley.

Living in the Woods in a Tree is an intimate glimpse into the turbulent life of Texas music legend Blaze Foley (1949-1989), seen through the eyes of Sybil Rosen, the woman for whom he wrote his most widely known song, "If I Could Only Fly." It captures the exuberance of their fleeting idyll in a tree house in the Georgia woods during the countercultural 1970s. Rosen offers a firsthand witnessing of Foley's transformation from a reticent hippie musician to the enigmatic singer/songwriter who would live and die outside society's rules. While Foley's own performances are only recently being released, his songs have been covered by Merle Haggard, Lyle Lovett, and John Prine. When he first encountered "If I Could Only Fly," Merle Haggard called it "the best country song I've heard in fifteen years."

In a work that is part-memoir, part-biography, Rosen struggles to finally come to terms with Foley's myth and her role in its creation. Her tracing of his impact on her life navigates a lovers' roadmap along the permeable boundary between life and death. A must-read for all Blaze Foley and Texas music fans, as well as romantics of all ages, Living in the Woods in a Tree is an honest and compassionate portrait of the troubled artist and his reluctant muse.

"Living in the Woods in a Tree comes at a time when music fans are hungry to know more about Blaze Foley. There are no books that compete with Rosen's, and it's quite unlikely that any ever will. Rosen's time with him (and her deft telling of that time) reveals so much about the man and the music."--Peter Cooper, The Tennessean

"Poetic and gripping, this beautifully written book ends up being about Blaze, the author, the times, and the creative journey. This book will appeal to anyone who enjoys strong writing and great story telling, who is interested in Blaze Foley or Texas music. An impressive work in every way!"--Louis Black, editor, Austin Chronicle and executive producer of Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt

[spidersandsnakes]

Roseanne Cash.........like daddy like daughter:)

[Rock N' Rollin' Man]

Jimmie Dale Gilmore, this guy is good recommended through last.fm. Apperently has done a few Townes' covers in some of his albums always a plus in my book.

BTW Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses will play on the Jay Leno show on the second of February.

[Jahfin]

Jimmie Dale Gilmore, this guy is good recommended through last.fm. Apperently has done a few Townes' covers in some of his albums always a plus in my book.

I'm a big fan of Jimmie Dale Gilmore's. I can't find a YouTube clip of it but 10,000 Maniacs and David Byrne do a pretty fucking cool cover of his song "Dallas".

BTW Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses will play on the Jay Leno show on the second of February.

Thanks for the heads up, I'm not a huge fan but I have liked a few songs of his I've heard here and there.

[Jahfin]

For you country music aficionados - is Lucinda Williams considered a country artist?

I like "Can't Let Go" but I don't know how representative that is of her music.

Here's the first single from her new album, Blessed, which is due March 1st:

[spidersandsnakes]

Getting into the next best deal in country rock.....the JjaneDear Girls:)

By blackglove at 2011-02-08

[Jahfin]

From The Tennessean:

Peter Cooper: Country boys are wearing out calling cards

Peter Cooper is the senior music writer and columnist for the Tennessean.

by Peter Cooper

To most every male country singer I’ve heard on the radio this morning.....

First, I’m on your side. I’m rooting for you.

I think we’ve got a lot in common. We probably like a lot of the same music.

But I don’t believe you.

All day, you’ve been singing rock songs to me about how country you are. And even country songs about how country you are. It’s been “dirt road” this and “back road” that, and “party in the woods” this and “redneck, hillbilly” that.

Then there’s been some stuff about fishing with cane poles, and skinny-dipping in the lake with some two-named girl. Was it Betty Sue? Wanda Lou?

And I don’t believe you were on the dirt road to the barn party with your redneck, hillbilly friends. I don’t believe the story about the lake. I don’t even believe anyone under the age of 30 is named Wanda.

I know there are probably exceptions, but I will not be considering them on a case-by-case basis. I don’t know why we’re so adamant about all of this, anyway. Why should I be interested that you’re so proud of where you say you’re from? Wasn’t it kind of an accident of birth?

Anyway, I like where I’m from just fine, but it wasn’t exactly my idea. It just sort of happened that way. And I could write a song about where I’m from — the Palmetto State of South Carolina — and make it chock-full of country references and stuff about the cradle of the Confederacy and the buckle of the Bible Belt, about tobacco fields and whacky politicians (I guess I’d leave out that last part).

But the truth is, you and I are from exactly the same place. We’re from the home pretty near the interstate exit. You know the exit: The one with the Waffle House and the Sonic and the Applebees, close to the big box retail store.

Ah, the stuff of great country songs. Perhaps I’ll write an up-tempo number, bragging about how I’m from one of the toughest suburbs in Columbia, S.C. Folks, you didn’t want to mess with the Gardendale boys if you crossed over the wrong side of Pine Forest Trail.

Anyway, you and I, if our necks are red, it’s not from plowing the fields, it’s from leaning out the driver’s window on a hot summer day to place our onion ring order at the Sonic.

There exists a grand country music tradition of writing about southern lifestyles, about good country people and bad country people and about the ways that common men and women bide their time, mourn and celebrate. I dig Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya” and Mel McDaniel’s “Louisiana Saturday Night” and Jason Aldean’s agrarian rumination, “Amarillo Sky.”

But this morning, most every male country singer on the radio, your antics have grown tiresome.

I’d rather be hit by a can of your favorite domestic beer than hear you name-check that beer one more time when you’re singing about the party in the woods that you know darn well the three people who wrote the song in a metropolitan Nashville office absolutely, for sure, did not attend.

I’m sorry, I’m unduly irritated. Truth is, I’m a little hung over from the big party out in the woods, down the dirt road. I don’t even remember the ride back home, so it’s a good thing Wanda Lou had the keys.

But I’ve heard your albums, most every male country singer. And I know you can deliver songs of substance, songs that speak even to the 99.9 percent of the earth’s population who would not describe themselves as rednecks or hillbillies. I know that you sing things that make people think and feel, that make people feel connected to each other by more than beer brands.

I also know that the hillbilly redneck party down in the country song is trending well on the radio stations these days. It’s summertime, and the youngsters are out of school (We remember those days, don’t we, most every male country singer?) and all over the South, radios are blaring and pickup trucks are gathering and the redneck kids are kicking it country-style.

In the parking lot.

At the Sonic.

Reach Peter Cooper at 615-259-8220 or pcooper@tennessean.com

[Jahfin]

Here, Shooter Jennings calls out the very thing that is mentioned in Peter Cooper's article above as well as Waylon soundalikes such as Jamey Johnson and Whitey Morgan, all delivered in the same cadence of many of today's country hits. Oh, and it wouldn't be a Shooter Jennings song without a mention of his Dad. While I may not be a huge fan of Shooter's, I find it hard to disagree with the sentiment of the song, despite it's obvious shortcomings.

[Deborah J]

Hi Jahfin! I just put this DVD on

Waylon Jennings -The Lost Outlaw Performance

[Jahfin]

Nice read here from the folks at The Huffington Post:

The New Sound of Nashville

[MadScreamingGallery]

That 70’s Show

Forty years ago, Willie, Waylon, Jerry Jeff, and a whole host of Texas misfits grew their hair long, snubbed Nashville, and brought the hippies and rednecks together. Country music has never been the same.

by John Spong

April 2012

http://www.texasmont...-01/feature.php

[Jahfin]

Thanks for posting. When I first saw this earlier this week you had to have a subscription (or sign up for one) to read the article. Now, you don't.

[MadScreamingGallery]

You're welcome. Some of my favorite music and musicians are included in this article. I'm glad they've given everyone access to it - the author describes the music, history and roots far better than I ever could.

[Jahfin]

Rare, vintage performance from John Prine shot at a roast for Sam Phillips in April of 1984. Joining in on the fun are Billy Swan, Cowboy Jack Clement and Johnny Cash.

[Jahfin]

CELEBRATING THE MUSIC OF JOHNNY CASH: WE WALK THE LINE! | Highlights | PBS

In honor of what would have been Johnny Cash's 80th birthday year, this spectacular all-star concert tribute features some of the biggest artists in the music industry, including Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Sheryl Crow, Pat Monahan of Train, Ronnie Dunn, Lucinda Williams, Jamey Johnson, Shooter Jennings and Shelby Lynne. Music legends celebrate Cash's legacy with once-in-a-lifetime performances of songs like "Walk the Line," "Folsom Prison Blues," "Long Black Veil" and "Ring of Fire."

Premiering August 2012 on most PBS stations (check your local listings at pbs.org/tvschedules). Support your local PBS station now -- you make it possible for your PBS station to offer amazing performances and the opportunity to discover something new every day, whether on TV or online. To donate to your local PBS station, visit http://www.pbs.org/support

[yeldd]

Rascal Flats

Ricky Skaggs

Loretta Lynne

George Strait

Elvis Presley

Got to say its delivered some of the worse music that for me just sounds a bit hoedowny, along with alot of Jazz its devils music...although I do like the guitar solos on some of the Carpenters songs and those solo's always sounded country ish. My opinion of course.