Single Review
Kenny Chesney, “The Boys of Fall”
by Kevin John Coyne
The lead single from Chesney’s upcoming album Hemingway’s Whiskey has his typical nostalgic theme, but with a sadder undercurrent than usual.
Album Review
Dierks Bentley, Up On The Ridge
by Leeann Ward
Bentley’s album is not as adventurous or strong as the Dixie Chicks’ Home, but it may be as close to the concept as any mainstream country album since that acoustic set.
Single Review
Darius Rucker, “Come Back Song”
by Tara Seetharam
I ask of you, lady readers: would you take back a man who apologizes with the words “my bad” and “get back,” or who laments the fact that he has to now sleep alone on his king-sized bed?
Single Review: Gwyneth Paltrow, “Country Strong”
July 30, 2010
A moment of honesty, please. Just by listening to “Country Strong”, would you have any idea that this was recorded for an upcoming film by a Hollywood-born star who grew up in New York?
There’s nothing substantively different about Paltrow’s new single and all of the other “country and proud of it” songs that are out there. If it was recorded by any other new female singer that didn’t have an established public persona, it wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow.
Carrie Underwood and Female Country Artists: A Historical Perspective
July 28, 2010
I’ve always been something of a chart junkie. While I don’t pay as close attention as I used to, I still have a pretty good handle on historical trends. One artist I’ve been keeping an eye on is Carrie Underwood. When each official country single from her first two albums peaked at #1 or #2, it caught my attention.
But I never expected the trend to continue, with three more #1 hits from the new album. The source of that belief was the history of women on country radio, especially in the twenty most recent years that were based on actual monitored airplay instead of radio playlists. Since that change, far less records have gone #1 or #2.
Recent Articles
400 Greatest Singles of the Nineties: #225-#201
July 28, 2010
As we reach the halfway point of the countdown, seventies stars like Tanya Tucker and Don Williams prove just as relevant to the decade as newbies like Terri Clark and and Clay Walker. But it’s eighties original George Strait that dominates this section with three additional entries.
400 Greatest Singles of the Nineties: #225-#201
#225
Passionate Kisses
Mary Chapin Carpenter
1992 | Peak: #4
A lightweight wish list/love ditty that somehow seems to tap into a deep well of truth. Credit Carpenter’s soulful vocal, which digs in and finds the cohesive character written between the song’s separate cute lines. – Dan Milliken
#224
Black Coffee
Lacy J. Dalton
1990 | Peak: #15
The electric guitar line sounds cribbed from The Police’s “Every Breath You Take”, but the sentiment couldn’t be much more different. Dalton is tense all over, as bad omens seem to stack on top of each other while she waits in anticipation of one big let-down. – DM
Discussion: Worst Album Titles?
July 27, 2010
We don’t do as many discussions as we used to at CU, and it’s possible that we already did this one. But seeing the title of this week’s #1 country album, I couldn’t resist:
Jerrod Niemann, Judge Jerrod & The Hung Jury
I’d call it juvenile, but I don’t think I would’ve laughed as a kid, either. But I’m sure some people found it funny.
Here are a few others that make me wince:
Pam Tillis, Above and Beyond the Doll of Cutey
I. Don’t. Get. It. “(You Just Want to Be) Weird”, indeed.
Twenty Minutes With Country Radio
July 25, 2010
Radio has never been my primary way of receiving country music. Growing up in NYC, we had a decent country station in 103.5 WYNY. But 24-hour CMT was better, back in the days when it played everything from the hot new artists to the legends to Canadian imports in roughly equal rotation. By the time that the station folded, I was heading to Nashville and attending college. By the time I was back to NYC, the internet had replaced the video outlets as my preferred method of discovering new music.
But radio is the way most country fans have discovered new music for generations now. So why not give it another try? Normally, I wouldn’t, but as we began an overnight drive up the east coast, I was growing weary of the easy listening station that was on. Air Supply will do that to you. So I went up to the next station, and the radio displayed that it was a country station.
Writers
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