What happened to Country Music?

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 08 Oct 06 - 09:21 PM

"What happened to Country Music?"

Like Jeb, it packed up and moved to the City...

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: GUEST,Arkie
Date: 08 Oct 06 - 06:58 PM

Country music is still there.   It just can't be heard on the radio.   I have not heard Josh Turner's latest CD but hopefully it will be in the same vein as the first.   Also Elizabeth Cook and Heather Myles have recorded some first rate country stuff on the order of Snow & Jones, etc.   Down under Kasey Chambers has some great recordings.   Did not care that much for her latest though.

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 08 Oct 06 - 11:46 AM

I was listening to some proper Country music just yesterday....


West Country that is.. Good old Adge Cutler.

LTS

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 08 Oct 06 - 11:45 AM

It's not like 'popular' is a new concept....

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 08 Oct 06 - 11:41 AM

Clinton: I agree that there is a lot of talented people active in the Country music scene - and Nashville has lots! But, there is another side; the side of the industry that is only interested in artists if they are under 40, and with the correct image. However, the internet is the perfect place to seek out the talent that wasn't of interest to the major recording companies. I'm a big fan of CdBaby which is a great place to find artists that you won't find in your local record shop.

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 08 Oct 06 - 11:28 AM

Just another old fart, pissing and moaning about how things are no longer like they were in the Olden Days....

Sad....

There's tons of damn good music out here....

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 08 Oct 06 - 11:25 AM

Hell, we know both kinds here, Country AND Western!

LTS

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: Ron Davies
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 06:13 PM

As was pointed out earlier "Murder On Music Row" speaks to this--"while drums and rock'n roll guitars are mixed up in your face."

"Country", on US radio, at any rate, is now 70's rock under another name.

Some of it is still good--at least the part that shows a sense of humor "What Part of No Don't You Understand?", "I'm Living Up To Her Low Expectations" etc.

Even Toby Keith shows an amazingly self-deprecating sense of humor--in "I Ain't As Good As I Once Was, But I'm As Good Once As I Ever Was"--which is a great song, because on top of everything else, this title really means nothing. The video is even better--yes, "country music" videos are BIG business. In the video, among other things, he tells 2 girls "If you're up for a rodeo, I'll put a big Texas smile on your face"--then turns to the camera, and pops a Viagra.

There are a lot of songs sung aggressively by women--like " Redneck Woman"--that I like.

As long as you take it on its own terms, parts of it are fine--but, as in any kind of music--there's a lot of dross---and the music sure really ain't country.

And the sappy stuff--and there's an awful lot of it--has no value at all---but fortunately, there are lots of musical choices these days--particularly if you have broad taste..

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: Bill D
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 05:34 PM

well,"Old Timey" music took pains from its early days to NOT be lumped in with "country"...they are sort of cousins - but 2nd cousins - whereas Country is 1st cousins with Bluegrass.

Old Timey, by virtue of taking a clearly different name, managed to at least maintain an identity, if not a huge following.

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: Peace
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 04:45 PM

Ah. I would guess it's about cash. We see the Grand Old Opry drag out the odd old timer to do some tunes, more like they're curiousities than real musicians/writers. Sad. I'd guess the money's in electric stuff and people want to make money. Sure doesn't have much to do with music anymore. Or maybe it's just that times have changed.

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: The Shambles
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 04:40 PM

I suppose what I mean is when why has the wonderful (folk/country) music that is now mostly called Old Time been left out of the category of Country Music?

For it is not that such music is no longer being made.

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: Peace
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 04:29 PM

Some of the new stuff is better than some of the old stuff. Just the way it is.

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: GUEST,taxijohn
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 03:07 PM

Like several other posters have said, its still out there. What is promoted by the big us labels & comercial radio is very comercial country/pop, but there are artists out there doing their own thing, but the term country covers a huge band of music & it largely depends on personal taste. For me the big names include Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Billy Joe Shaver, Lucinda Williams, Guy Clark, Hank Williams 111, But like i say its personal taste, but it is out there if you look. Happy hunting.

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: pdq
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 03:06 PM

"How about an individual somewhere?"

How about Mike Cross, Joe Ely, Robert Earl Keen, Jr., or Guy Clark? It's more a matter that these folks are not promoted as much as Tim McGraw and Martina McBride, because the latter have proven they can "ship tonnage". Nothing to do with origionality or quality, really.

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: the one
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 02:49 PM

well just been to indiestore.com on front page they recommend pip &merry quote'As we type it's late at night and our attention is drifting. We are much more interested in staring out the window at the rain and orange glow of street lights and listening to 'Evermore' over and over again.Powerfully lovely, proper country music'.

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: freightdawg
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 12:45 PM

One problem is that "country" is being defined by a bunch of stuffed shirts sitting behind desks and not the talent on the stage. I agree with Tunesmith 100%. Randy Travis is truly one of the very, very few original artists recording today, and unfortunately, he does not record near enough. All it takes to be mass marketed now is a t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off, some bluejeans with a lot of holes in them, and a grimy hat worn by someone who wouldn't know which side of a horse to put the saddle on.

More than anything, country artists of yore were unique individuals with unique styles - Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Charlie Pride, Don Gibson - and the ladies - Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, et. al.

Now, its all about sameness - same sound, same dress, same lyrics.

How about an individual somewhere?

Freightdawg

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: Bill D
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 11:56 AM

like the word 'folk', the word 'country' got hijacked by those who found it a handy term to cover anything they wanted to do. Now the Nashville music managers are pandering to a very different audience, and using glitz, 'themes' and merchandising to promote stuff.

You gotta look in corners...

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: GUEST,obie
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 11:24 AM

An earlier related thread:

thread.cfm?threadid=58487#926182

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: GUEST,obie
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 11:14 AM

I think that Larry Cordle's song "Murder On Music Row" tells the story rather well. I find it both ironic and hopefull that modern stars like Allan Jackson and George Strait had the guts to sing it in duet at the CMA's. Prehaps all is not yet lost!

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: GUEST,Scoville at Dad's
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 10:25 AM

It moved to Austin and went back to small venues.

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: paddymac
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 10:13 AM

Obie's right. It got hijacked by Nashville. But, Kevin is also correct. There's lots of the old stuff, and old style new stuff, still out there, but you're not likely to hear it on the media controlled outlets. I fear that what that really means is that lots of it will die as the local performers pass on. It is a vibrant folk tradition that needs top be recorded and documented. That kind of work might come to have the same stature as the "Child Ballad" collection has today in another few centuries.

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: NormanD
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 07:50 AM

By my reckoning, country music changed into country-pop music from the mid/late 1950s. The producers and studios took over, making lotsa money for the major record labels which had their own country "rosters".

From the late 1940s a lot of country (I mean real country) songs became massive pop hits when covered by non-country singers - such as Tony Bennett's international hit with Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart".

Some record producers developed a particular studio sound that gave commercial success, so they were extensively copied: Owen Bradley, Billy Sherril, for example. Their sounds were really syrupy and sickly (to my ears) - female choruses, soaring strings, the mandatory steel guitar....

Country music became big business, with writers pitching songs to producers for their labels' singers, rather than singers writing for themselves, and singing them the way they'd want to.

So, in conclusion, it's all been about money. Some country singers really shone through, in spite of all this, although invariably they became a product of their record label, being told what to sing and what could be released. Willie Nelson was one of the first to break this mould (and mold). There's a lot of REAL country still around today. All of today's "hat" acts are just the Anti-Hank.

Norman D

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 07:30 AM

As obie says, it is - to a large degree - a matter of perspective. In 1930, The Carter Family may have been "real" country; in the 40, Ernest Tubbs; by 1950, it would have been Hank Williams, and 10 years later Don Gibson - or maybe Jim Reeves ( two very different artists); in 1970, it could be Waylon Jennings BUT, somewhere, I believe there has to be some link to the past in all, so-called, country music; interestingly, my all-time favourite country music artist is an singer/som#ng-writer who emerged in the 1980s:Randy Travis. He has a fabulous voice; has written/co-written some classic songs, and has recorded a wide range of music within the country music genre.

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 07:25 AM

Isn't the truth actually that there's still just as much good music being played out there, but probably a lot more crap in the foreground that gets in the way?

Subject: RE: What happened to Country Music?
From: GUEST,obie
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 07:17 AM

I suppose that depends on your perspective, but for me there was a major downturn in the middle 1970's. I suppose the earlier introduction of "the Nashville sound" a decade earlier started the trend, but there was a lot of good stuff still turned out and the older stars still had some control of their recording. After that the recording industry and the radio stations combined to try and control what the public should hear, rather than responding to what they wanted to hear. That left stars like Cash and Jones outside the box and they got a lot less airtime. This airtime was then filled with the industry created new stars as the older music was squeezed out.

Subject: What happened to Country Music?
From: The Shambles
Date: 07 Oct 06 - 07:02 AM

When and why did the real country music in what is now called Country Music start getting left behind?