Archive for October, 2007
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007
Reader Roger Newcomb suggested a thread covering recent statements from John Rich of Big & Rich regarding homosexuality. The first comment was made on a radio show in Nashville, as Rich was discussing why he supports Fred Thompson for President:
“I think if you legalize [gay marriage], you’ve got to legalize some other things that are pretty unsavory. You can call me a radical, but how can you tell an aunt that she can’t marry her nephew if they are really in love and sharing the bills? How can you tell them they can’t get married, but something else that’s unnatural can happen?”
Wow.
After receiving some negative feedback over this comment, he issued the following statement:
“My earlier comments on same-sex marriage don’t reflect my full views on the broader issues regarding tolerance and the treatment of gays and lesbians in our society. I apologize for that and wish to state clearly my views. I oppose same-sex marriage because my father and minister brought me up to believe that marriage is an institution for the union of a man and a woman. However, I also believe that intolerance, bigotry and hatred are wrong. People should be judged based on their merits, not on their sexual orientation. We are all children of God and should be valued and respected.”
First, I have to ask how it’s possible that John Rich was brought up with the understanding that marriage is between a man and a woman, when gay marriage wasn’t even on the radar until the past few years. I was in college by the time people started talking about it, and I’m a lot younger than John Rich. So I don’t really buy what he’s selling there.
Second, a look back at our country’s history. Forty years ago, the state of Virginia was actually arguing in front of the Supreme Court that interracial marriage should be a crime. When they lost, the right of a man and woman to marry regardless of race was finally awarded to all citizens. That was only forty years ago, friends. What argument did the trial judge who convicted the couple eight years before that use to justify his decision to sentence them to a year in prison? This one:
Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.
Leon Bazile said that in the eighteenth century. It’s not as catchy as “God made Adam & Eve, not Adam & Steve”, but it does sound a heck of a lot like what John Rich and those of a similar mindset are saying today. I suspect that forty years from now, they’ll sound just as ridiculous to our grandchildren as Bazile does to us.
I’m sure even a casual fan of Country Universe knows how I feel on this one, so I’ll leave the debate over the sincerity of his apology and the merits of his original argument to you, readers. I’m sure you’ll keep the conversation respectful and thoughtful. Thanks again to Roger for tipping me off on this one. I hope he’s right about this being a good place for a discussion of this!
Sunday, October 28th, 2007
Porter Wagoner passed away today, and he leaves behind a unique void that I don’t believe can ever be filled. He was country music’s ambassador, the man who loved to rock a flashy Nudie suit, but never got above his raisin’. He was also the symbol of the Grand Ole Opry, capturing its spirit and representing its heritage more than any other artist on the show in the years after the deaths of Roy Acuff and Minne Pearl.
Tributes will abound, and they’ll all mention his mentoring of Dolly Parton, but he mentored Patty Loveless and scores of other acts as well. He brought country music into the living room before Hee Haw, made some of the best country gospel in history, and told a story song like no other, whether he was the patient in a rubber room or the cuckolded husband about to teach his cheating wife “the Cold Hard Facts of Life.”
From his first single, “Company’s Comin’” way back in 1954 through his stunning return to recorded music earlier this year with Wagonmaster, he was an indispensable part of country music for more than five decades. He was Nashville when it started to go a little bit uptown, then stuck around as an important reminder of the genre’s traditions when the music got a little too uptown.
When my friend text messaged me – “Porter Wagoner, R.I.P.” – all I could reply was, “Wow.” There will never be another one quite like him. What a sad day for country music. We’ve lost one of our best.
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I encourage readers to add their tribute to Wagoner in the comment thread. I’ll post highlights later in the week.
Also, check out The 9513 and iCF Music for their tributes to Wagoner.
Sunday, October 28th, 2007
There are a few great songs on Big Dog Daddy that are destined to be hits as soon as they’re sent to radio, and this is one of them. Relentless in his determination to drown his sorrows, Keith’s inner monologue is fast and furious. He knows he’s in the wrong, and he’s damn certain he’s going to regret the choices he makes throughout the night, but he’s gonna go all out tonight and survey the damage tomorrow. One of the best up-tempo romps in a career that’s been long on them in recent years.
Grade: A-
Listen: Get My Drink On
Buy: Get My Drink On
Sunday, October 28th, 2007
Who would’ve guessed that one of the most country things on Reba’s recent Duets project would be her collaboration with Justin Timberlake on a song that he wrote specifically for the occasion? He’s there as a harmony vocalist, rather than a full-blown duet partner, and the end result is far more effective than the forced line-sharing of her hit pairing with Kelly Clarkson on “Because of You.” “The Only Promise That Remains” will garner a tremendous amount of attention because of Timberlake’s involvement, and thankfully the song is worthy of it. Reba just sounds plain better when she’s going the understated route, and she does so here with wonderful results.
Grade: B+
Listen: The Only Promise That Remains
Buy: The Only Promise That Remains
Sunday, October 28th, 2007
This is featured on the latest studio albums from both artists. It’s a high point on the Bon Jovi set, where Rimes injects some needed vibrancy with her soaring vocals. Tacked on the end of Rimes’ Family, however, it’s a low point, an unnecessary addition to a personal and fully satisfying collection of her own compositions. I get the whole synergy thing, and it’s a pretty good single, but when a masterpiece like “What I Cannot Change” is waiting in the wings, it seems such a waste of Rimes’ limited radio space to spend it on this duet.
Grade: B
Listen: Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore
Buy: Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore
Friday, October 26th, 2007
Gary Allan
Living Hard
Country music is long on love song singers but short on philosophers. Too many albums released feature interchangeable romances and ruminations, tales of love gone wrong, love gone right and everything in between. How refreshing it is to hear one of the genre’s strongest voices, the inimitable Gary Allan, focus on the lessons learned along the way instead.
Living Hard is Allan’s first studio album since 2005’s Tough All Over, a modern classic recorded in the wake of harrowing experiences in his personal life. Two years later, the raw ache of that record’s emotions has faded, and Allan is beginning to put things into perspective. On the album’s strongest tracks, he’s passing on his hard-earned wisdom to anyone wise enough to listen.
(more…)
Thursday, October 25th, 2007
Way back when I was a freshman in college, my theology professor made an observation that still resonates with me today: “If you’ve never had doubt, you don’t really have faith.” This is a song about doubt – not that there actually is a God, but whether he intervenes on the behalf of those petitioning Him. What’s really going on here is the conflict created by free will, as Ronnie Dunn sings a long list of horrible problems being created by men, for the most part, and the frustration that God isn’t stepping in to make sure we make the right choices.
It’s made even more effective by an aside that says if God was listening, “He’d bring you back to me,” which rather than trivializing the much bigger problems mentioned in the song, makes the point that our daily heartaches can feel just as overwhelming as the major ones facing the world – and we can feel just as helpless in the wake of them.
Grade: A
Listen: God Must Be Busy
Buy: God Must Be Busy
Friday, October 19th, 2007
On the scheduled performance of Rascal Flatts with Jamie Foxx next month at the CMA awards:
“This is destined to be the sort of one-of-a-kind performance the CMA Awards are known for,” said Tammy Genovese, CMA Chief Operating Officer. “When there is a meaningful and tangible connection between artists from seemingly diverse musical styles, bringing them together on the CMA Awards creates magical moments that resonate with our audience and expand awareness of the format.”
I can’t name one such magical moment in CMA history. Can you?
Thursday, October 18th, 2007
Sorry for the delay in posts lately, but here’s something for you to read. Entertainment Weekly scored an in-depth interview with Carrie Underwood on the eve of her sophomore album release. Carnival Ride, according to EW, is a “country record through-and-through”, unlike her debut album which featured some pop-leaning songs.
Read the whole thing, but here’s the exchange that jumped out at me:
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: At next month’s CMA Awards, you have three nominations, but not Entertainer of the Year, the biggest prize. In the last six years, no women have been nominated for that. Why do you think that is?
CARRIE UNDERWOOD: Um, I don’t know. And frankly, I get mad when I think about it. I feel like we have to work three times as hard as the guys just to be almost where they are. I don’t think it’s fair, and I don’t think it’s right, and I’m hoping I can do something about that.
I’ve heard people say it’s because that award is primarily about touring, and the guys are the ones who play the big arenas.
‘Cause they get the opportunity! People like Martina McBride, it’s not like they’re singing in front of 25 people — they’re singing in front of thousands and thousands of people every single night. Someone like that should be nominated.
Way to represent for the ladies! I think it’s pretty clear that Underwood has the best shot at getting some estrogen back in the Entertainer lineup, though don’t discount Reba if she tours to back up her breathtakingly successful duets project.
Earlier in the interview, she also talks about her refusal to remix songs for pop radio:
Is it true that your label asked you to record pop versions of some of the country tracks on Some Hearts, like ”Before He Cheats,” and you said no?
I didn’t have to put my foot down, thank goodness. I hate it when country artists do that. You’re listening to a song on one station and you turn it and you hear a different version? It’s like, ”All right, it’s not good enough for everybody this way, so let’s change it to make it good enough.”
Underwood is the first country artist to make the cover of Entertainment Weekly since Gretchen Wilson and Big & Rich shared the front in 2005. Only two other country acts – Dixie Chicks (2003) and Alan Jackson (2002) – have been on the cover of the influential entertainment magazine this century, putting Underwood in some elite company. Anyone think she might score a Rolling Stone cover to boot?
Saturday, October 13th, 2007
Putting aside the fact that Alanis Morissette did the same thing with a lot more flair nine years ago on “Unsent”, Brad Paisley’s put out one of the better singles of his career, a welcome reprieve from his recent attempts at humor. He’s able to speak as an adult to his seventeen year-old self with wisdom and intelligence, making this an intriguing, self-probing exploration.
How appropriate that in a letter to himself at a younger age where he reveals how much greatness he has ahead of him, Paisley proves his adult self is telling the truth about all of his personal strengths.
Grade: A-
Listen: Letter to Me
Buy: Letter to Me
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