Country comebacks

[Runrigger]

You don't see too many of them. Granted you don't see many rock comebacks but rock or even AC acts that lasted any number of years seem to always have a place to go even if you hear about them only when they're on tour. Reba & Strait are really the only acts that began in the 80s & are still consistent hit-makers. Others have fallen by the wayside. Billy Dean seems to be a new exception, but we'll see how long this lasts.

There just seems to be a falling-out-of-grace point with some acts that are good enough to remain viable & able to change. Where are The Bellamy Bros, Earl Thomas Conley, Lacy J Dalton, & many others? Are they recording for smaller labels, touring only, etc? I know Lacy probably alienated some going with more of a rock sound, but there's still probably a long list of people whose music wouldn't sound out of place today that are just not heard anymore.

 

[clichemoth]

> There just seems to be a falling-out-of-grace point with
> some acts that are good enough to remain viable & able to
> change. Where are The Bellamy Bros, Earl Thomas Conley, Lacy
> J Dalton, & many others? Are they recording for smaller
> labels, touring only, etc? I know Lacy probably alienated
> some going with more of a rock sound, but there's still
> probably a long list of people whose music wouldn't sound
> out of place today that are just not heard anymore.
>

Most likely playing Branson (think the Bellamys own a venue there, actually) or the Indian casino circuit.

It's better for an artist to be able to put together a good live set and make money for themselves playing smaller venues than to continue to release mediocre albums nobody really cares for (like most hard rock and urban artists).

Of course, another factor that allows country artists to retire and take a step back v. rock and urban artists is that they generally didn't blow anywhere near as much of their album revenues on hard drugs and actually saved some money.

 

[John1]

urban artists).
>
> Of course, another factor that allows country artists to
> retire and take a step back v. rock and urban artists is
> that they generally didn't blow anywhere near as much of
> their album revenues on hard drugs and actually saved some
> money.
>

That may be true of some newer artists, but in the past many country singers were known for blowing their money on drugs, alcohol, other presonal demons, and cons and bad investments as much as their musical counterparts from other genres, from Hank Williams to Johnnys Cash & Paycheck, Dottie West, George Jones, etc.

 

[wd45]

I know the Bellamys have recorded some albums in recent years on their own label, and they still (last I knew) did some touring. As for ETC, I was PD of a small station in Indiana until early this year, and in 03 & 04, we did receive a couple of single releases from him on a small label, but sadly, they weren't very good at all. His voice has really gone south over what it was, which is a shame, because I really liked much of his music during the 80's. As for Lacy, can't tell you anything about her.

You mentioned comebacks, there have been some over the years. You mentioned Billy Dean. Some others that I can think of; I'd consider Randy Travis' "3 Wooden Crosses" a couple of years back a comeback, as he had not had any big hits for 2-3 years prior. Also, I think back to the early 90's when John Anderson came back after several years away. There are some others, that I'm not recalling, right now. We actually did a feature on our station, once, about comebacks. There were actually many more than I had realized, not just in the modern era, but even back into the 1960's.

Mike

> You don't see too many of them. Granted you don't see many
> rock comebacks but rock or even AC acts that lasted any
> number of years seem to always have a place to go even if
> you hear about them only when they're on tour. Reba & Strait
> are really the only acts that began in the 80s & are still
> consistent hit-makers. Others have fallen by the wayside.
> Billy Dean seems to be a new exception, but we'll see how
> long this lasts.
>
> There just seems to be a falling-out-of-grace point with
> some acts that are good enough to remain viable & able to
> change. Where are The Bellamy Bros, Earl Thomas Conley, Lacy
> J Dalton, & many others? Are they recording for smaller
> labels, touring only, etc? I know Lacy probably alienated
> some going with more of a rock sound, but there's still
> probably a long list of people whose music wouldn't sound
> out of place today that are just not heard anymore.
>

 

[Runrigger]

> I know the Bellamys have recorded some albums in recent
> years on their own label, and they still (last I knew) did
> some touring. As for ETC, I was PD of a small station in
> Indiana until early this year, and in 03 & 04, we did
> receive a couple of single releases from him on a small
> label, but sadly, they weren't very good at all. His voice
> has really gone south over what it was, which is a shame,
> because I really liked much of his music during the 80's.
> As for Lacy, can't tell you anything about her.

I just bought a 20-song Lacy anthology & it revived my interest in her. She has a new CD out but I haven't been able to find it. According to her website it may be promoted to triple-A stations, which I can understand, since she was sounding like a female Mellancamp towards the end. She's also involved in some foundation to save the horses.

 

[Daveradio]

ABC Radio has a satellite format called "Real Country," which we run here in Upstate NY. They play 3 currents and 1 recurrent and hour, and play older stuff even back as far as the 50's! So all the artists mentioned in this thread get regular airplay. The Bellamys get played very often. The format leans heavily on the 70's thru the 90's.