Archive for December, 2007
Saturday, December 15th, 2007
“Workin’ For a Livin’”
Garth Brooks & Huey Lewis
Songwriters: Chris Hayes & Huey Lewis
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It’s not a good sign when you’re listening to a cover song and wondering, “What’s the point?” Garth Brooks revisiting a Huey Lewis & The News classic, trading off verses with Lewis himself. That doesn’t even sound interesting on paper, and it isn’t any better on record.
Paint-by-numbers covers don’t do much for me in the first place, and when you’re trying to make an eighties soft rock hit country, it’s even less effective to play it straight. My hope that Garth’s semi-retirement had rejuvenated him creatively is quickly fading. He might want to ask his wife for advice on how to keep making interesting music in the second decade of a career.
Grade: C
Saturday, December 15th, 2007
The second single from Carrie Underwood’s sophomore album is a bit better than the first. “So Small” was drenched in production, but “All-American Girl” keeps it simple. There’s fiddle instead of strings, and Underwood opts for cool vocal licks over power notes. The song itself doesn’t exactly break new lyrical ground, but it’s a cute enough celebration of the father-daughter relationship. It’s not as clever as “Cleaning this Gun (Come On in Boy),” but it’s not as nauseatingly sweet as “Stealing Cinderella,”
either.
It’s my belief that Carrie Underwood is going to have a long career ahead of her. This might not be one of the songs that she’s remembered for in the long run, but it’s an enjoyable single nonetheless. Hopefully in the new year, we’ll get “Just a Dream” and “I Know You Won’t” out there. No need to bring out the big guns yet, when the album’s still selling like hotcakes!
Grade: B+
Written by Ashley Gorley, Kelley Lovelace & Carrie Underwood
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Thursday, December 13th, 2007
‘Tis the season. With just about every 2007 release already in the marketplace, best-of lists have begun to roll in. Who doesn’t love these things?
True to their organized form, The 9513 has their Top Ten Country Albums of 2007 list up already, when I haven’t even started mine yet. Way to make me feel lazy, guys!
They pick some good albums, including some that I haven’t heard. Trisha Yearwood can be found at #1:
1. Heaven, Heartache, And The Power Of Love, Trisha Yearwood
With Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love, Mrs. Garth Brooks reasserted herself as a country powerhouse, delivering a string of captivating vocal performances over a core of wonderfully crafted, musically diverse songs. While most of her female contemporaries tried to find their niche market (and thus, their niche musical approach) in 2007, Yearwood’s 10th studio album shattered expectations by successfully drawing from many of the genre’s root influences. Western, Blues, Americana, this album brought them all together under the big-tent of country music, and the result was a rich, textured album that will be remembered and listened to for years to come. — Jim Malec
After checking out their consensus list, be sure to read the individual lists of each staff writer. Matt C’s list is a wonder, given that every album on it that I’ve heard is a contender for my year-end list. Now I have to listen to those I haven’t heard to make sure I’m not missing something great!
Also out now is the Rolling Stone annual list of the year’s best songs. There are three country entries, with Miranda Lambert the highest at #28:
28 “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”
Miranda Lambert
The title cut from the best country album of the year, this single found Lambert pushing the role of the rowdy Nashville lass to new extremes. Over bar-band stomp, Lambert narrates a rage-fueled encounter with her ex’s new girl, and both her big chorus and slice-of-life story are long on raucous energy and entertainment value.
Also acknowledged are tracks by Lucinda Williams and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. Essentially, just tracks from the country albums that you’d expect Rolling Stone to have a clue about.
Wednesday, December 12th, 2007
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I was reading this week’s Billboard when I came across an article about Nada Surf, the alt-rock band that had a big hit with “Popular” back in 1996, but hasn’t been played on the radio since. This quote caught my attention:
“We always put out singles, but I’m more interested in putting out songs that are hits. I don’t mean radio or MTV hits, but the type of hits that get lots of downloads or kids sing along to at every show.” – Matthew Caws, lead singer/guitarist of Nada Surf
For the last two decades, country hits have been labeled as such by radio play, with the country singles chart being the only major genre hit list based solely on airplay. But what if a song is popular in the way that Caws describes, but isn’t played on radio that much? Is it still a hit?
Martina McBride’s “Independence Day” and Johnny Cash’s “Hurt’ became signature songs, but the former missed the top ten and “Hurt” barely dented the chart. “I am a Man of Constant Sorrow” powered O Brother to eight million units sold, but it peaked in the thirties.
“Not Ready to Make Nice” is one of the few country songs to sell more than a million downloads, and the Dixie Chicks get their biggest ovation of the night when they play it, but it wasn’t a radio hit. “Life is a Highway” also sold more than a million downloads, but it’s the lowest-charting single for Rascal Flatts to date.
Then there are artists who have a signature song that peaked noticeably lower than their other singles from that time, like Reba McEntire (“Fancy”), George Strait (“Amarillo by Morning”), Kathy Mattea (“Where’ve You Been”) and Alabama (“My Home’s in Alabama.”) Those same artists have had #1 hits that are barely remembered today.
So my question is this: What is the definition of a hit?
Sunday, December 9th, 2007
A look back at the previous winners and nominees of the Best Country Album Grammy, updated to include the 2008 contenders.
The Grammys have been doing better in the country categories since they reintroduced the Best Country Album category in 1995, which had only been in existence for two years in the 1960′s. Prior to 1995, albums and singles were both eligible in the vocalist categories, so full albums would compete against single tracks in Best Country Vocal Performance, Male, for example.
Looking over the history of this fairly young category, you can see trends emerge, with certain acts clearly being favorites of NARAS. You see the same trend with the CMA’s, just with different people. What is clear with the Grammys is that radio and retail success will only carry you so far. For awards based on artistic merit, that’s how it should be.
As with the CMA Flashbacks, we’ll begin with a look at this year’s nominees, then discuss previous year’s in reverse chronological order. Winners are in bold.
2008
- Dierks Bentley, Long Trip Alone
- Vince Gill, These Days
- Tim McGraw, Let it Go
- Brad Paisley, 5th Gear
- George Strait, It Just Comes Natural
Since this award was reintroduced in 1995, only two men have won: Lyle Lovett in 1997 and Johnny Cash in 1998. With five male artists nominated this year, a new name will be added to that list for the first time in ten years. His eighteen previous Grammy wins and presence in the general field Album of the Year category make Vince Gill the presumptive favorite, but Tim McGraw and Dierks Bentley have a stronger presence in the genre races, so they are serious contenders as well. Of course, the Grammys are rarely predictable, so George Strait or Brad Paisley winning their first award could also happen. Stay tuned.
2007
- Dixie Chicks, Taking the Long Way
- Alan Jackson, Like Red On a Rose
- Little Big Town, The Road to Here
- Willie Nelson, You Don’t Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker
- Josh Turner, Your Man
The Chicks became the first artists in Grammy history to win four genre Best Album awards, breaking their tie with Eminem, who has won three Best Rap Album trophies. This was one of five trophies they took home at the February 2007 ceremony, and the album returned to #1 on the country chart and back to the pop top ten on the strength of those victories.
2006
- Faith Hill, Fireflies
- Alison Krauss & Union Station, Lonely Runs Both Ways
- Brad Paisley, Time Well Wasted
- Gretchen Wilson, All Jacked Up
- Trisha Yearwood, Jasper County
With the exception of Wilson’s lackluster second set, this is a great lineup. Yearwood is a perennial nominee in this category – every studio album she has released since the category was created has been nominated – but she’s never won. This year, it went to Alison Krauss & Union Station, which was Krauss’ 20th Grammy win.
2005
- Loretta Lynn, Van Lear Rose
- Tim McGraw, Live Like You Were Dying
- Tift Merritt, Tambourine
- Keith Urban, Be Here
- Gretchen Wilson, Here For the Party
After its surprising exclusion at the CMA awards, Loretta Lynn’s tremendous comeback was acknowledged – during the live telecast, even! – at the Grammys in 2005. Van Lear Rose won over excellent albums by Hill and McGraw, but as the return to greatness of one of country’s most important singer-songwriters, who can argue with the call that NARAS made?
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Sunday, December 9th, 2007
Josh Turner
Everything is Fine
Josh Turner’s talent may not be very broad, but it sure as hell runs deep. From the start, the man has been the master of the traditional country music performance. With his third album, Everything is Fine, Turner solidifies his status as the premier traditionalist of the new generation of country music artists.
What’s most exciting about Turner, however, is his ability to make traditional country music without carbon-copying the music from the past. There is something current and vibrant about this entire record, and I couldn’t help but think of the Patty Loveless records from the mid-nineties, which I refer to as “progressive traditional country music.” It may seem like a contradictory term, but when I hear a song like “Firecracker”, which pulsates with a rock energy without even a hint of anything but country in its arrangement, it makes the staple country music sounds new again. When contrasted with the paint-by-numbers country-pop that populates country radio today, it’s refreshing to listen to.
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Saturday, December 8th, 2007
Holy early eighties, Batman. Tim McGraw revives a smooth ballad from the catalog of Urban Cowboy deity Eddie Rabbitt with satisfying results. It’s not exactly difficult to imagine McGraw suspecting that every guy in the room wants to steal the woman on his arm, and his vocal performance oozes with insecurity. The arrangement is true to the original, so it can’t help sounding a bit dated, but it’s charming in a very retro way.
Grade: B+
Listen: Suspicions
Buy: Suspicions
Saturday, December 8th, 2007
Kenny Chesney singing about the monotony of shiftwork, and it still manages to end up a song about getting drunk in the Caribbean. Strait’s presence livens things up a bit, and the “big ol’ pile of shiiiiiftwork” wordplay in the chorus is funny. It doesn’t hold up much on repeated listenings, however.
If you’re looking for an interesting song on the same subject, check out the compelling Lori McKenna-penned “I’m Workin’”, on the latest Tim McGraw album. If you’re in the mood for yet another island song, then this is for you. Of course, if you fit the latter description, you probably already have the Chesney album this is pulled from.
Grade: B-
Listen: Shiftwork
Buy: Shiftwork
Saturday, December 8th, 2007
This is smart, in a nineties grunge kind of way. It has a melancholy undercurrent that pulsates throughout the track. There’s almost a Rubber Soul quality to the melody, and the vocal goes for authenticity rather than perfection. It’s not often I go right to iTunes to buy a single after the first listen, but this one’s in my personal collection already. I’m really digging it.
Grade: A
Listen: When it Rains
Buy: When it Rains
Saturday, December 8th, 2007
I like the driving beat and the tight vocals. The grammar in the chorus (“Not a day go by”) makes me shudder. This is the kind of radio filler that never goes out of style, but doesn’t resonate after the record ends. They seem to be marketed as bad boys, but “Make You Mine” is just a Lonestar record minus the pleading earnestness.
Grade: B
Listen: Make You Mine
Buy: Make You Mine
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