Saturday, September 8th, 2007
Today’s country music is heavy on stars but light on icons. Dolly Parton, my friends, is an icon. Her new single, “Better Get to Livin’”, is one of the best singles of the year, sharply written with lyrics that both comfort and challenge its listeners. So much of her spirit, charm and worldview are captures in this performance that it is instantly a definitive record, deserving of a wide audience.
Dolly has been making some of the best music of her career in the past few years, and “Better Get to Livin’” proves she can return to a mainstream country sound and still blow all of the competition out of the water. Do yourself a favor and get to listenin’. This one’s a keeper.
Grade: A+
Listen: Better Get to Livin’
Buy: Better Get to Livin’
Saturday, September 8th, 2007
Similar in theme to the recent Big & Rich single “Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace”, but stronger in execution. The “prodigal son” theme has been done before, but by weaving in a believable storyline, it doesn’t sound like a pointless retread.
My biggest criticism of the Big & Rich single was its plodding pace. Thankfully, Halfway to Hazard don’t make the same mistake. “The Devil and the Cross” is lifted up by strong vocals and punchy production. Given the chance, this might be the breakthrough at radio that this young duo needs.
Grade: B
Listen: The Devil and the Cross
Buy: The Devil and the Cross
Sunday, September 2nd, 2007
Since their merger a couple of years back, Sony BMG has been combining their budget title lines. Originating with Sony, the 16 Biggest Hits series has been intended to provide a good career overview of major country acts. With six more tracks than the Super Hits series, it’s been a good way for consumers to pick up the big tracks by legendary Sony artists like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Tammy Wynette, and also provided excellent hits compilations for boom years acts like Ricky Van Shelton, Joe Diffie and Collin Raye.
The line has recently been expanded to include some core BMG acts, both legends and superstars still with the label. Also, with the departure of Patty Loveless from Sony, the first attempt to do a compilation of her fruitful years with the label has been released.
When grading a compilation, the following criteria must be considered: selection of tracks, value for the price, and how it compares to other compilations already on the market. Here’s a look at how the recent 16 Biggest Hits releases measure up:
Alabama
16 Biggest Hits
Track Listing: Mountain Music/Song of the South/Love in the First Degree/If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)/Born Country/Feels So Right/The Closer You Get/She and I/Fallin’ Again/Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)/Jukebox in My Mind/Down Home/I’m in a Hurry (And Don’t Know Why)/Can’t Keep a Good Man Down/Southern Star/High Cotton
The endless string of recent Alabama compilations makes this particular entry a little less necessary. The track selection treads much of the same ground as the 2004 release Ultimate Alabama, with that collection boasting four more tracks, including the essential hits “Forty Hour Week (For a Livin’)” and “Tennessee River.” The big problem with cataloging Alabama using the “hits” standard is that it ends up excluding their signature track “My Home’s in Alabama”, which wasn’t a huge chart hit but remains one of their most beloved songs. If those three tracks had been used in place of some of the lesser-quality hits here, you’d have a collection that was a lot closer to indispensable. As it is, this one is still a good value, but it isn’t the definitive single-disc set that the band deserves.
Diamond Rio
16 Biggest Hits
Track Listing: How Your Love Makes Me Feel/Walkin’ Away/Holdin’/Meet in the Middle/Unbelievable/Beautiful Mess/One More Day/Love a Little Stronger/Oh Me, Oh My, Sweet Baby/Mirror Mirror/You’re Gone/Nowhere Bound/Norma Jean Riley/In a Week or Two/This Romeo Ain’t Got Julie Yet
One of the tricky things about a series like this is it imposes a framework that each artist must fit into. That would be great if every artist had exactly 16 big hits, but that’s rarely the case. Diamond Rio, however, had just the right amount of success to be anthologized this way, with the only major omission here being “Mama Don’t Forget to Pray For Me.” I’d also have liked them to stick with the chronological approach that used to define this series, but these are minor quibbles. This is instantly the most complete Diamond Rio collection on the market.
Alan Jackson
16 Biggest Hits
Track Listing: Chattahoochee/Gone Country/It Must Be Love/Midnight in Montgomery/Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow/Don’t Rock the Jukebox/Mercury Blues/Here in the Real World/Pop a Top/That’d Be Alright/I Don’t Even Know Your Name/Gone Crazy/I’ll Go On Loving You/Little Man/Who’s Cheatin’ Who/Summertime Blues
It’s a tough call to make, given that every track here ranges from very good to legendary, but Alan Jackson already has two excellent Greatest Hits collections on the market, with a stunning 20-track first volume that covers his early career and a second volume with another 18 hits. Sure, this is the first compilation that covers both eras, but it doesn’t do it particularly well. Five of these sixteen songs are covers, which is far too many for a collection by one of the genre’s best singer-songwriters. And they didn’t have the courage to really include all of the biggest hits: “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)”, “Drive (For Daddy Gene)”, “Livin’ on Love”, “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” and “Remember When” would be needed for this live up to its title.
Patty Loveless
16 Biggest Hits
Track Listing: Timber I’m Falling In Love/Chains/Blame it On Your Heart/You Will/How Can I Help You Say Goodbye/I Try to Think About Elvis/Here I Am/You Don’t Even Know Who I Am/Halfway Down/You Can Feel Bad/A Thousand Times a Day/Lonely Too Long/She Drew a Broken Heart/You Don’t Seem to Miss Me/That’s The Kind of Mood I’m In/Lovin’ All Night
It’s disappointing that MCA’s Definitive Collection for Patty Loveless is more thorough, given that it was her years with Sony that have made her a serious contender for the Hall of Fame. Sony was nice enough to give MCA “You Can Feel Bad” and “Lonely Too Long” to tack on to their Loveless collection, which ended up with 22 tracks. MCA returned the favor by allowing “Timber I’m Falling In Love” and “Chains” to be used on this collection, but that’s a net loss for two reasons: one, Tony Brown’s dated eighties production sounds out of place next to Emory Gordy’s flawless work with Loveless in the nineties; and two, that leaves room for only fourteen more tracks from the Sony years.
That said, this is now the most complete overview of her years with the label, and it includes six hits that were left off of Classics, her first hits compilation with Sony. However, because of the MCA tracks being squeezed on, there’s no room for “Nothin’ But the Wheel”, “On Your Way Home”, “My Kind of Woman/My Kind of Man”, “To Have You Back Again”, “The Boys are Back in Town” or “The Last Thing on My Mind”, any two of which would’ve made this a better collection. Actually, picking three and leaving off the mediocre “You Will” would’ve been even better! Here’s hoping Loveless get the two-disc Essential collection that her years at Sony warrants.
Dolly Parton
16 Biggest Hits
Track Listing: Here You Come Again/9 to 5/Jolene/Islands in the Stream/I Will Always Love You/Coat of Many Colors/The Seeker/Two Doors Down/Single Women/All I Can Do/Heartbreak Express/Don’t Call it Love/Love is Like a Butterfly/Rockin’ Years/Why’d You Come In Here Lookin’ Like That/Romeo
Like the Alabama and Alan Jackson collections, this gives enough of the big hits to look like it’s going to be definitive, but then decides to go for the filler instead of finishing the job. This could have been a perennial catalog smash for Sony BMG like the Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings entries are, but they decided to go cheap in the end. This starts off with one huge hit after another, and then…”Heartbreak Express”? “Don’t Call it Love”? “Romeo”???? Are you kidding me?
I actually love “Single Women”, an often-overlooked gem, but most of the rest of this collection will leave even a casual fan wondering what happened to the hits. I give them credit for using the definitive 1974 version of “I Will Always Love You”, but in the end, consumers have much better options to get their Dolly fix, even on a tight budget.
If you’re a casual fan wanting a career overview, you can get the 20-track Ultimate Dolly Parton from iTunes for only $8.91, less than they’re charging for this set. But if you’re serious about getting the very best of this legendary artist, the way to go is the two single-disc, 20-track Essential Dolly Parton collections released by RCA in the mid-nineties, which are $9.99 each at iTunes. Not to be confused with the double CD that was released last year, these two collections are the only significant collections of her RCA years (until they finally do a real box set.) Strangely, Vol. 1 covers the eighties crossover era, while it’s Vol. 2 that delves into her far more significant traditional country work in the 60′s and 70′s. Buy the second volume first!
Sunday, September 2nd, 2007
Ya gotta love the CMAs. It’s the most politically-motivated award show the genre offers up, but at the same time, factions in its membership can tilt the balance and deliver some surprise nominations and dark horse victories. The bloc voting is an open secret, as is the publishing of voter lists so that members can be lobbied for votes. But here’s the cool thing: there are just enough people in the voting membership that aren’t beholden to the powers that be to make some pretty interesting music sneak in there every once in a while. It’ll never be as “music first” as the Grammys, where only those who actually create the music are allowed to vote, but the CMA’s are also less susceptible to the crass commercialism and radio worship of their glitzy counterparts, the ACM’s.
One of the main differences between the Grammys and the CMAs is that when good stuff breaks through at the CMA Awards, it tends to be very traditional, whereas the Grammys have a tendency to lean towards the alt-country scene. Thankfully, 2007 is one of those years where the traditionalists made their voices heard. More on that will follow as I go through the highlights of this year’s ballot, starting with…
George Strait
5 Nominations: Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Single, Album, Musical Event
I had a feeling this year would be good to him, given the warm reception that his latest studio album has received. Last year, the nominees were announced and I thought the big story would be Strait being shut out for the first time in more than a decade…until they announced his induction into the Hall of Fame. I was especially happy to see his nomination for “Wrapped”, instead of “Give it Away”, which won at the ACM’s.
Alison Krauss
4 Nominations: Female Vocalist, Vocal Group, Musical Event (twice)
I was cautiously optimistic that she’d return to the Female Vocalist race, which received a major shake-up this year. Last year, it was a no-brainer for me to root for Carrie Underwood, who I expect to repeat her 2006 victory this fall. With Krauss and Miranda Lambert now up against her, though, it’s hard for me to pick a personal favorite. I suspect I need only play “Away Down the River”, “Jacob’s Dream” and “Simple Love” to remind me which nominee made the music I’ve loved the most this year.
Miranda Lambert
1 Nomination: Female Vocalist
I suspect that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend will be near the top of my list of favorite studio albums this year, and I’m thrilled that the CMA gave her a nomination for Female Vocalist. Lambert’s one of those rare artists who can be simultaneously cool and appealing to the mainstream: her sales numbers are a hell of a lot closer to Martina than they are to Lucinda. Good to see the CMA sees the light, as radio continues to slowly lift its head out of the sand!
Brad Paisley
5 nominations: Entertainer, Single, Album, Male Vocalist, Music Video
I think that’s three years in a row as the top nominee! He’s scored five this year, after scoring six the previous two. I’ve been predicting a big night for him for a while now, but looking at the ballot, he has more competition than I thought he would. He didn’t get a nomination for Song, which surprised me, since the CMA has always loved his jokey numbers. As of this moment, I’m still thinking he’s this year’s Male Vocalist and possibly Entertainer, but I’d be a lot more comfortable in that prediction if he wasn’t up against Strait’s comeback and Turner’s breakthrough.
Josh Turner
1 Nomination: Male Vocalist
I went with my gut feeling and predicted he’d be nominated for this award, and suggested he’d take Alan Jackson’s slot. Why did I think that would happen? Jackson made a pop-leaning album, and Turner continued to carry the traditionalist torch this year. There’s a tremendous amount of support for this kind of country music among CMA voters. That sometimes goes unnoticed because so little music like this is actually released into the mainstream. He’s got a shot at winning this because he’s been very successful with very traditional country music. Hell, I’m not even a purist, and he’s my personal choice this year.
(more…)
I realize that I’m supposed to be swept away by the charm of this story, a young man asking a father for his daughter’s hand. All I could think of listening to this, besides this being a reprise of “I Loved Her First”, is that this Dad has way too many pictures of his daughter in the living room. Throw in a sugary sweet vocal and it’s just a little too much for me.
All of the fiery fiddle and the production magic can’t create enough of a distraction from the problems with this record: the song is terrible and the vocals are even worse. That this is a new band on Arista Nashville is just the latest dismaying evidence of how far the label’s standards have dropped since becoming a BMG imprint.
on 
on 
on 
on