Archive for May, 2008
Saturday, May 31st, 2008
100 Greatest Women
#30
Lorrie Morgan
There are many second generation country stars that build on the legacy of the famous parent that came before them. Lorrie Morgan is one of the few that actually eclipsed her famous parent, becoming one of the most popular female country artists during the nineties gold rush.
Of course, she’d been chasing the dream long before that. She was born the daughter of George Morgan, an Opry member who had his biggest hit in 1949 with “Candy Kisses.” Morgan has described herself as an “Opry brat,” a kid who grew up backstage of the venerable institution. She was 13 when she made her own Opry debut, garnering a huge ovation for her rendition of Marie Osmond’s “Paper Roses.” Three short years later, her father died suddenly. Still a teen in high school, she dedicated herself fully to pursuing her own singing career, both to carry on her father’s legacy and help pay the bills he left behind.
To say things went slowly would be an understatement. She was nineteen when she released her first single, the Eddy Raven-penned “Two People in Love” on ABC Records. After that stopped at #75, she put out the Liz Anderson-penned “Tell me I’m Only Dreaming” on MCA, which also failed to capture an audience. A third single in 1979, “I’m Completely Satisfied With You,” was a studio-spliced posthumous duet with her late father. It stopped at No. 93.
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Saturday, May 31st, 2008
Editor’s Note: This is the first guest commentary in the history of Country Universe. Please join me in welcoming Paul Edward, who e-mailed me this passage and graciously allowed me to share it here. – K.
Why I Love Country Music
Guest Commentary by Paul Edward
Wednesday night my friend Stuart and I attended a concert by country music superstar Kenny Chesney at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Stuart bought my ticket as a surprise birthday gift for me.
Actually, the night turned out to be full of pleasant surprises.
For starters, LeAnn Rimes opened for Kenny and sang her most popular songs. It’s been 15 years since LeAnn burst onto the country music scene with her strong vocals reminiscent of Patsy Cline, but, if anything, time has just made her a better performer. She belted out the tunes, hitting every note flawlessly.
Then Kenny came on. Wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and old blue T-shirt, he seemed dressed more for a backyard barbeque than for a concert in a sold-out Staples Center. But that’s the thing about country music: The songs are so often about real-life situations that the music can make a cold, concrete concert venue feel like a summer’s day at a good friend’s home.
For those of you not familiar with Kenny’s music, he is a gifted storyteller in the tradition of Jimmy Buffett or Johnny Cash. His songs combine memorable lyrics with catchy tunes that carry you away into whatever world he sings about. In “Big Star,” you watch a young girl go from singing in local bars to performing in big-city concert halls. In “Better As a Memory than As Your Man,” you become the proverbial fly on the wall as a deeply saddened man tells his former lover why she is better off without him. Kenny’s music doesn’t just move you emotionally, it transports you into this vivid, multidimensional life experience that he creates.
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Saturday, May 31st, 2008
100 Greatest Women
#31
Rose Maddox
She was only ten years old when her big brothers pulled her into their band, needing a female singer on the spot to land a regular performing gig on the radio in Modesta, California. She quickly learned as many songs as she could, and joined her brothers to form The Maddox Brothers & Rose, one of the most influential hillbilly bands of all-time.
Her family had moved to California during the Dust Bowl, and her brothers loathed the idea of manual labor for a pittance of pay. They found a dedicated audience willing to pay their bills for a few songs in return, and they toured the west coast, hopping from rodeo to rodeo and club to club, playing for nominal fees plus tips. Another act playing the same circuit was Woody Guthrie, and Rose caught his show when she was only twelve. She heard him perform “Philadelphia Lawyer,” and she helped make the song a country classic through her performances of it.
The Maddox Brothers & Rose won a California State Centennial contest in 1939 that landed them their own syndicated radio show. The act’s popularity spread beyond their California home base, and their career seemed unstoppable until national events intervened.
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Friday, May 30th, 2008
100 Greatest Women
#32
Lynn Anderson
She was the daughter of songwriters Casey and Liz Anderson. Raised in California, she witnessed the West Coast country music scene when it was most vital. But in her early years, she was as likely to perform with a horse as she was with a microphone, winning the California Horse Show Queen title in 1966.
At that time, her mom was scoring some hits on the country charts, so daughter followed mother into the music business. She recorded for the small label Chart, and found success quickly. After scoring hits with “If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away)” and “Promises, Promises”, she was named the then-regional ACM’s Top Female Vocalist in 1968. Her album Promises, Promises went to #1, and in 1969, just missed the top spot with her single “That’s a No No.”
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Thursday, May 29th, 2008
100 Greatest Women
#33
Lee Ann Womack
When she released her debut album in 1997, she was widely hailed as the great hope for traditional country music, a much-needed counterpoint to the pop crossover sounds that were beginning to dominate the genre. With time, Womack would prove that she wasn’t so easy to pigeonhole.
She grew up in Texas, the daughter of a country radio disc jockey. Her dad turned her on to the sounds of classic country music and she was smitten. When the time came for college, she attended South Plains Junior College in Texas, since it was the only school she could find that offered a major in country music. She took the next logical step and moved to Nashville after that, attending Belmont University for a brief time.
While at the school, she interned at MCA Records. She was a dedicated follower of George Strait, and it was his label where she wanted to record. By the early nineties, she had settled down in Nashville with a husband and young child, while building up her songwriting catalog and putting on showcases. Tree Publishing caught a showcase, heard her demo and signed her. She scored some cuts on albums by Bill Anderson and Ricky Skaggs, but her stint as a staff writer was short-lived. Decca, an imprint of MCA, signed her to her own recording contract, and she started work on her debut album.
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Thursday, May 29th, 2008
100 Greatest Women
#34
Jean Shepard
The Grand Lady of the Grand Ole Opry.
Jean Shepard has been entertaining fans of classic country music for fifty years with her honky-tonk stylings and brass delivery. At her peak, she was the one of the strongest female forces in country music, a salty counterpoint to the timid balladeers and lush pop divas she shared the charts with.
She was originally from Oklahoma, but her family moved out west when she was a child, settling in California. She got her musical start in Bakersfield, forming The Melody Ranch Girls. The band developed a strong local following. One night, Hank Thompson caught one of their performances and was blown away. Through him, Shepard secured a record deal with Capitol. She was still a teenager when she signed with the label.
On record, Shepard turned in a honky-tonk sound that rivaled the grit of all of her male contemporaries. She had her breakthrough in 1953 with “A Dear John Letter”, a duet with Ferlin Husky that topped the charts. She followed it up with two big solo hits in 1955, “Beautiful Lies” and “A Satisfied Mind”, the latter of which was also a big hit for Porter Wagoner.
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Thursday, May 29th, 2008
After nearly three decades, George Strait continues to remain a force to be reckoned with on the country music charts. Strait’s newest single, “Troubadour”, comes from the heart. As he has said in several interviews to promote the album of the same name, the song resonates deeply with him because he sees himself as a troubadour of sorts.
With subtle background vocals by Vince Gill, Strait provides a seemingly somber, yet accepting, outlook of the fate of a traveling singer: “Sometimes I feel like Jesse James/Still trying to make a name/Knowing nothings gonna change what I am/I was a young troubadour when I rode in on a song/and I’ll be an old troubadour when I’m gone.”
Unfortunately, while this song may very well be a personal anthem for Strait, the song still seems as though it’s lacking. The lyrics seem to be reaching for poignancy, Vince Gill’s voice (surprisingly) doesn’t blend well with Strait’s and the melody is less than inspiring.
Written by Monty Holmes & Leslie Satcher
Grade: B-
Listen: Troubadour
Buy: Troubadour
Thursday, May 29th, 2008
Rebecca Lynn Howard’s voice can easily be classified in the same league as Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Faith Hill and Carrie Underwood. Like these women, Howard possesses the vocal power and soul that demands attention and respect.
In her latest song, “Sing ‘Cause I Love To”, Howard explains how her musical upbringing influences her current drive to sing. She admits that she loves to sing so much that if she wasn’t getting paid, she would still sing for free.
While this mid-tempo song doesn’t match the lyrical or vocal depth of “Forgive”, it’s an autobiographical gift that her fans will surely be thrilled to receive. Furthermore, she delivers an impressibely strong vocal performance that makes us grateful that she loves to sing so much.
Written by Radney Foster & Rebecca Lynn Howard
Grade: B+
Listen: Sing ‘Cause I Love To
Thursday, May 29th, 2008
In an unconventional move, Keith Urban has chosen to release a song from his second album, Golden Road, rather than a new song from an upcoming album. While people could easily go back and listen to the original version that already exists on that CD, Urban is, apparently, giving us the chance to hear this fan favorite on the radio as well. Nevertheless, “You Look Good In My Shirt” is a catchy, up-tempo song that possesses just the right energy and Urban charisma to cause people to crank up their stereos.
A couple reconnects by spending the night together after a break up for an unknown reason. While he admits that he cannot guarantee that their differences won’t resurface at some point, he does not regret that she has spent the night: “Well now I’m not saying that we solved overnight/Every way that we went wrong/Oh, but what I’m seeing I’d sure love seeing/Every morning from now on/And maybe it’s a little too early/To know if this is gonna work/All I know is you’re sure looking good in my shirt.”
Okay, it’s a silly song, but one that I’m happy to add to my playlist.
Written by: Mark Nesler, Tony Martin & Tom Shapiro
Grade: A-
Listen: You Look Good in My Shirt
Buy: You Look Good in My Shirt
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
100 Greatest Women
#35
Pam Tillis
She grew up the daughter of a country music icon. As a baby, she’d nap in his guitar case. But Pam Tillis resisted her musical heritage for many years before finally embracing it and producing some of the best country music of the past two decades.
Growing up in Nashville, Tillis lost interest in country music once she discovered the Beatles. She had a taste for the country-rock of the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, but felt no connection to the scene of her father, Mel Tillis. Quite the wild child in her teen years, she was nearly killed in a car crash when she was still in high school, and needed multiple reconstructive surgeries on the road to recovery.
Tillis sang backup sometimes for her dad, but she was more interested in exploring other genres of music. She moved out to San Francisco and performed at jazz clubs around the city. Her talent was soon noticed by pop labels, and in 1981 she released her first single, “Every Home Should Have One.” Around the same time, her songwriting started getting noticed, and she had cuts from pop artists like Chaka Khan and Gloria Gaynor.
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