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Now They're Killing Country
- Thread starter landtuna
- Start date
FYI: That song is 25 years old.
Cover of a George Strait song that came out in 2000. Nothing new here.
There's an audience for traditional country, pop country, country rap, alternative country and country rock, and artists recording in all those genres today and drawing crowds and moving product (mainly downloads and streams for all but the superstars). Country radio only scratches the surface.
Social media- fact free since 1995
Facebook is a scourge.
Back when this song came out, it became sort of a statement piece where traditionalists insisted that it get performed on the CMA Awards (which it did) and that it get nominated for CMA Awards (which it won). But the fact of the matter is that it didn't really change anything or make any difference. You can't force people to like certain music. Everyone has a right to like whatever they like. No one has a trademark on what can be called country music. For years, popular country stars such as Kenny Rogers, Ronnie Milsap, and even Jimmy Dean were kept out of the Country Music Hall of Fame because some hardliners didn't think they were country enough to qualify. Ultimately all three got in. This song had its time, some radio stations played it (probably because of the star power of George Strait & Alan Jackson singing it), and it peaked in the 30s. That was good enough to qualify the song for various awards. But almost 25 years later, people are still complaining about today's country music.
Those of you who have read my past posts on the state of modern pop/rock music already know that IMHO today's music is nowhere as good (however you measure it) as it once was. There are many people on both sides of this discussion. Although not a great Country fan I have felt much the same way about Country music. Today I heard the referenced song for the first time as my Country music listening has declined greatly over the past several decades. It may be 25 years old but it still speaks true.
Seems the only genres not significantly affected are B/EL, Classical and some forms of Jazz.
Seems the only genres not significantly affected are B/EL, Classical and some forms of Jazz.
Only because you don't know them. You don't know country either.
Bill Monroe and Hank Williams were seen as revolutionaries in their time. Hank & Cash were kicked out of the Opry.
People in their time said they were killing country music. Now if you don't sound like them, you're not country.
Beautiful/Easy Listening is as dead as Sanskrit. It's not being affected by anything now. As for classical. the Vermont Public Classical network is making a conscious effort to incorporate new classical music, especially by persons of color and women. There are influences at work in much of it that probably wouldn't meet your standards for "good" change. The standard classical repertoire, of course, has largely weathered anywhere from 100 to 1000 years virtually unchanged. No comment on jazz, as I don't even pretend to to know more than the absolute basics about the genre and don't care to listen to a lot of it.
Hank was kicked out for missing an appearance due to his drinking. It had nothing to do with his music. Countless Opry members and guests have stepped into the circle and sung Williams' songs since his firing.
His music was also considered too pop for the Opry. The use of steel guitar wasn't accepted at the time. They didn't allow drums on the Opry stage. Hank's wife Audrey did a lot to change his image after his death. She was the one who got others to record his songs and get him inducted in the Hall of Fame. Those things didn't happen by accident. There's a campaign to have his membership in the Opry reinstated in the 100th anniversary of his birth. Not everyone is on board with this.
In terms of classical or jazz, every innovator was seen as the person who killed the genre. Today we think of Gershwin as a classical composer. In his time, he was a pop writer from Tin Pan Alley, writing music for Broadway and the movies. He was Irving Berlin with strings. Aaron Copeland ruined classical music. So did Leonard Bernstein. Because they didn't just do things the way they had been done before. AND they became popular, which is their biggest sin. One of my favorite examples was Terry Riley, who composed something called "In C." It's an orchestra playing one note non-stop. They called it "minimalist."
In jazz, there are lots of examples. Miles Davis killed jazz when he released Bitches Brew that incorporated electric instruments. Prior to that, jazz was acoustic. Bitches Brew opened the door for something called jazz fusion, with Weather Report. That led to smooth jazz and Kenny G. All of these things killed jazz. But once again, they were breaking the mold and doing things that hadn't been done before.
Every genre of music has revolutionaries. Every genre of music has traditionalists. The traditionalists want the music to stay the same. Artists can't be forced in a box. They must create and innovate. When they do, the traditionalists say they killed the music.
Those are all dead genres. Jazz hasn't evolved in 30 years, and if you listen to jazz radio it will be the same stuff you remember from Dave Brubeck, Pat Metheny, and Stanley Turrentine. It's to the point that there are almost no record labels selling jazz. Universal still has Blue Note and Verve, but they mostly distribute classic records.
The problem there is the innovation stopped. The last big innovation was smooth jazz. That went on for 20 years, and then everything sounded the same. That's kind of what happened to rock and alternative. Nothing really innovative, they play basically the same three riffs, and that's about it. The same thing could have happened to country, but somehow they keep finding ways to change things up. When they do, the traditionalists claim there's been a murder on music row. But there's a big machine that keeps moving things forward. That's what other genres need to keep their music alive.
this thread is nothing but classic "I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was, now what i'm with isn't it and what's it seems weird and scary to me, it will happen to you" complain post about the sound of Country no longer being the it that the OP of this thread that they used to be with.
I think we can all agree Billy Carter couldn’t sing country…. 😀
I’m familiar with that quote.
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