What is good country music?

[DToTheJ]

Now Sugarland was a different matter entirely. I've never heard them do "real" country, though I like the lyrics on "Baby Girl" and Jennifer Nettles has a great voice, if only they would stay away from the pop-rock style instrumentals. Adding Beyonce was not a good move. She needed the gong.

Understand that Jen was doing a Beyonce song - and a pretty groovy effort, at that! She's already proven to adapt to AC with the Bon Jovi duet. I wouldn't be surprised to see her leave Sugarland and become the next crossover queen a la Faith Hill.

 

[RFLA]

Why would she have to leave Sugarland? They are already proving they can play with the sound to get it into a more of a a/c direction.. or at very least a AAA direction

 

[vchimpanzee]

Now Sugarland was a different matter entirely. I've never heard them do "real" country, though I like the lyrics on "Baby Girl" and Jennifer Nettles has a great voice, if only they would stay away from the pop-rock style instrumentals. Adding Beyonce was not a good move. She needed the gong.

Understand that Jen was doing a Beyonce song - and a pretty groovy effort, at that! She's already proven to adapt to AC with the Bon Jovi duet. I wouldn't be surprised to see her leave Sugarland and become the next crossover queen a la Faith Hill.

Actually, Jen sounded country to me on that song, and Beyonce sounded like Beyonce.

As for Faith Hill, Bon Jovi or anyone else that isn't country, I'm not interested.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Go to our website wlreradio.com anytime except 8 to 11 pm that time slot is not our show the rest of the time is. Click on the listen live link, see what you think of it. Yes we play some songs I don't care for myself but then i am not the only one listening to the station. We try to stay with real country sound.

Sorry, I don't have a computer at home. I'd also rather not deal with headphones or the possibility I could slow down what I'm doing where I do have the Internet.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Why would she have to leave Sugarland? They are already proving they can play with the sound to get it into a more of a a/c direction.. or at very least a AAA direction

Yes, which is exactly why beyond "Baby Girl", I have no interest in this group.

 

[Gatekeeper007]

I see a lot of opions on country music with different ideas. First off let me tell john77 you are looking at country music from a very very limited view, you need to grow some in your understanding of country music first. I was offered a job in Nashville a little over ten years ago at one of the larger recording companies on 16th Ave. I turned it down due to the deal they offered not allowing me any room to make a difference in country music and the direction it has headed in in the past few years, maybe a mistake who really knows. I see some people saying that people have always complaned about country music being to mainstream, well that is true but it always use to be just a small segment of the listening population, now it is more than 50% of the country listeners. Why? Money and ratings, country music didn't start as a big money or ratings industry it was a musical way of telling stories about poeples lives how they lived and what was important to them, people choose to listen for different reasons but one thing was always the same, it had that country sound. Now the big wigs mix country music with pop and rock to make some really crappy sounding music, Why? To pull in younger listeners since they are easer to brainwash and control into listening to the current fad of country music mix and spend that money and push those ratings, (it's the in thing to do). I don't go for fads they don't last, I like things that are real like real country music plain and simple.

 

[johnafter909]

I think it's inevitable that mainstream country is more rock-oriented these days. I work for a Classic Country station and that's where my personal tastes lie, but I DO understand the direction of mainstream country.
For one thing, just how much can people in their 20s and 30s really relate to inner city hip-hop, especially rural people? How much does it actually speak to them? On CHR, there is extremely little rock getting showcased these days so the disfranchised rock fans are naturally gravitating to mainstream country.
Also, it's only natural that young country artists are heavily rock influenced. How can they NOT be unless they were raised in a vacuum. The Classic Country artists didn't have so much, if any, rock and roll filtering into their sensibilities whereas today's young artists are bombarded with it and need just cut on their TVs and listen to the music that accompanies 95% of the commercials airing. We all are products of our environments and the music we soak up in our formative years plays a great part of our adult musical sensibilities.
I heard someone say the other day(did I read it here?):
mainstream country is rock and roll for Republicans while Americana is country for Democrats. Funny, but definately a grain of truth there.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I like "Get My Drink On" by Toby Keith.

 

[LTT]

There are lots of country atists areound today recording good traditional country but getting very little play on over-the-air radio. Artists like Amber Digby, Bobby Flores, Brian Burns, Buddy Lewis, Dan Stewart, Denise Rains, Dugg Collins, Erin Hay, Frank James, Ginny Mac, Jake Hooker, Jason Allen, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Jessica Hawthorn, Justin Haigh, Kelly Spinks, Kenny Watson, Liz Talley, Luann, Mile Siler, Pier Branch and Susan Raye to name just a few.

Never heard of any of them.

Actually I don't doubt that you've not heard of many of these artists. Here in Texas many of them are quite famous. I find that "Texas music" still has room for folks like Jake Hooker and Doug Moreland (who both play both kinds of music Country & Western) and female artists like Amber Digby and Brennen Leigh and Miss Leslie of Miss Leslie & Her Juke Jointers still can front a band (and play their own instruments too...not just wear miniskirts and look pretty). Jamie Richards is one of the finest real country songwriters around. He went to Nashville and was told he was "too country" - came back to Texas and now fronts a very good dancehall band. Bobby Flores is a Grammy winner who plays dancehalls all over the state. Dale Watson would be a superstar and Kenny Chesney would be selling sno-cones on a beach in a perfect country world. Jesse Dayton and Brennen Leigh just released a CD of duets that would have given George and Tammy a run for their money years ago. I highly recommend checking out some of these artists.

As for country radio playlists these days - I always give this answer when asked in an interview to describe country music today. "Country radio is the Top 40 of our day. It's pop and country and a bit of everything. Anyone who can't make it in a defined genre of music goes to the country music industry because if they can "sell you" they will accept you."

 

[Gatekeeper007]

LTT how can I get copies of the recordings your talking about, I would like to hear them.

 

[vchimpanzee]

"Small Town Southern Man" by Alan Jackson.

Since we can't edit here, I'm putting together my fantasy iPod on another site where I use the name Kyle X-El. Fans of Superman on this other site often use names ending in -El because Superman is Kal-El, his father is Jor-El, and his uncle is Zor-El. Kyle was originally Kyle XY but ABC couldn't be bothered to air more than a couple of episodes last summer. I like Kyle Chandler on "Friday Night Lights".

So here is a link to my fantasy country iPod, a work in progress. It's not complete.

http://lounge.cwtv.com//showthread.php?p=4592503

 

[vchimpanzee]

I noticed someone wants to bash the country format, as defined by big FM stations in urban areas.

Here's a good place to do it.

 

[radioboy]

Guess this is the thread that will live on...

While going through my station's music library recently, I came across these...

Love Don't Grow on Trees - Jerry Reed
No Another Time - Liz Anderson
Rock Me Back to Little Rock - Jan Howard
Happiest Girl in the Whole USA - Donna Fargo
Gotta Quit Lookin' at you Baby - Dave and Sugar
We Need A Lot More Happiness - Wilburn Brothers
Satin Sheets - Jeanne Pruett
A Good Love is Like a Good Song - Skeeter Davis
Standing Room Only - Barbara Mandrell
Treat Me Like A Lady - Sherry Bryce
Sawmill - Mel Tillis
Pour Me Another Tequila - Eddie Rabbitt
Your Good Girls's Gonna Go Bad - Tammy Wynette
Cross the Brazos and Waco - Billy Walker
Love Sure Feels Good in My Heart - Susan Raye
Down to Earth Woman - Kenny Dale
Soul of a Honky-Tonk Woman - Mel McDaniel
Let Me Be There - Olivia Newton-John
Unbelievable Love - Jim Ed Brown
Chapel of Love - Jeris Ross
Listen to a Country Song - Lynn Anderson
On My Knees - Charlie Rich/Janie Fricke
Take Me Back - Charly McClain
Where Did the Sunshine Go - George Jones
Together Always - Porter Wagoner/Dolly Parton
Houston Solution - Ronnie Milsap


..and that's just for starters. I don't mind some of today's pop country when old stuff like this gets mixed in.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Guess this is the thread that will live on...

There's no reason for this thread to ever stop.
..and that's just for starters.

I don't mind some of today's pop country when old stuff like this gets mixed in.

I used to feel that way when I would let my 8:30 clock-radio stay on after it would come on for Paul Harvey. Turning it off meant risking that it wouldn't come on the next time. Not that I would forget, but if I'm late coming in from outdoors or whatever, I might miss something.

I can't imagine how I ever put up with some of that garbage.

It was WFMX's format change that caused me to come here, because I did a search for ranting about it and this site is what I found.

Now Paul Harvey is on the one standards station in my area. I tried it once when it was soft AC/oldies/standards, but the music included a lot of garbage and of course they didn't have Paul on Saturday at 8:30 and WFMX did. After WFMX changed, I found out the other station had as well and I'm so happy.

Now if I could pick up the country legends station in the house ...

 

[vchimpanzee]

Oh, while I'm thinking about it, here's my fantasy pop vocals iPod. It's somewhere on the standards board, but I'll have an easier time finding it here. There's no country here because I moved everything that could possibly be considered country, except for some Carpenters, to the other post.

http://lounge.cwtv.com//showthread.php?p=4537688

Here's my fantasy instrumentals iPod. It includes a few country songs.

http://lounge.cwtv.com//showthread.php?p=4537686

 

[vchimpanzee]

We are officially in the Twilight Zone.

Miley Cyrus doesn't like today's country. She likes traditional country such as Faith Hill and Shania Twain.

Say WHAT????

 

[BlueHen]

Miley Cyrus doesn't like today's country. She likes traditional country such as Faith Hill and Shania Twain.

Shania's early material was decent country ("Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under"), but what happened... "Man, I Feel Like A Woman"??? I don't remember anything by Faith Hill that was remotely country.

Well, it's all relative... Faith & Shania to Miley might be like Kenny & Dolly a generation ago, and country music purists would scoff at that.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Shania's early material was decent country ("Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under"), but what happened... "Man, I Feel Like A Woman"??? I don't remember anything by Faith Hill that was remotely country.

Well, it's all relative... Faith & Shania to Miley might be like Kenny & Dolly a generation ago, and country music purists would scoff at that.

I do like "Whose Bed", and "Any Man of Mine" was mostly good. Also "No One Needs to Know" appeals to me, and I can't find anything wrong with "Love Gets Me Everytime". "Honey I'm Home" is very country when it's country, but it switches back and forth from country to extreme synthesized pop.