Earlier this week, I’d planned on talking about an Iris Dement track for this weekly discussion thread. Then some poking around on iTunes led me to discover something else entirely.
I love iTunes because it helps me find random tracks by my favorite artists that I had no idea existed. One of the names I throw in the search engine from time to time is Olivia Newton-John, the first artist that I remember actually liking as a young child. Little did I know she’s been recording country music again, apparently for a television version of the Sordid Lives movie she was in a decade ago.
I’ve never seen the flick, but I picked up the movie soundtrack a while back. It included a stunning and heartfelt acoustic performance of the Carter Family classic “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”
Tonight’s recommendation comes from the television show’s soundtrack, and while this song may not be a country classic yet, it certainly deserves to be. In fact, I’d like to see Carrie Underwood cut it for her next album.
At just twenty-three years old, Adam Gregory has built a following in Nashville based on a soulful vocal style and a strong dose of melody. His first single, “Crazy Days,” dinted the charts, and now he’s expected to release his first full-length album on Big Machine in early 2009.
“What It Takes” is a smooth ballad that hints at Gregory’s potential, but only scratches the surface of it. Lyrically and melodically, it’s very similar to most of the content on country radio, and its theme is similar to Rascal Flatts’ “Take Me There.” The character dares to delve into the past of his potential flame, and he expresses a desire to do “what it takes to be (her man).” Gregory possesses an expressive, gritty voice that takes ownership of the song, and although ”What It Takes” isn’t rocket science, it is vastly improved by his sense of presence on record. Stronger material and a little seasoning could prove successful for the Canadian singer, but this single is just a taste of his talent.
Grade: B
Written by Lee Brice, Greg Crowe, Adam Gregory, Kyle Jacobs and Joe Leathers
A breakneck, banjo-riffic hoedown with a commanding vocal, seamless chorus, brilliantly minimalistic lyric, and friggin’ sweet instrumental break. That’s the closest I can come to explaining this wonder of a record, which marries the art of traditional country to the musical libido of rock ‘n’ roll and ends up with something that is just carelessly, audaciously cool.
The relentless pace is more than a little jarring at first, which threatens to make the piece sound less controlled than it is, and the story sure isn’t going to change anyone’s life – but when frivolity is this much fun, who the heck cares? I’ve dismissed Hank III as gimmicky in the past, but will gladly eat those words right now; what he’s written here is easily one of the most infectious singles of the year, and a sure indication that his musical merit stretches well beyond the pedigree.
Written by Shelton Hank Williams III
Grade: A-
Listen:Six Pack of Beer (Note that the clip quality is especially poor, so if it sounds like something you might like, try Rhapsody or just take the plunge and buy it to get the real experience).
Meh. Old Crow have become a cult favorites by way of raucous roots revivals that often bulldoze the boundaries of proper content and delivery, but you probably wouldn’t get that just from this record. Sure, the whole thing is blatant sexual innuendos, and that’s pretty amusing the first time or two, but the boys sound like they’re reciting the filth rather than relishing it. There’s still a lot of tight, interesting musicianship on display, of course – check out that winding guitar part in the interludes – but the thrill is gone.
Ah, developing niches. Newbie McComb had an solid debut playing the passively frustrated lonely guy in “This Town Needs a Bar,” and now he reprises the role in this buzzed-about follow-up. Fair enough.
The song is what I imagine we’d get if Rob Thomas decided to “go country” and took the now well-worn approach of simply adding a few twangy flourishes to his established pop style. We open with a dramatic vocal busting out of a slow-building piano part, then we get a quick little pre-chorus, and then – BAM! – big, instant hook in the chorus that gets repeated a lot, just for good measure. And just as with much of Thomas’ writing, the lyrics framing that catchy hook – and honestly, that’s probably all they’re here to do – are vague as all get-out, speaking exclusively in cryptic, oft-used expressions of romantic interplay (“Something ’bout the way you move me / Is telling me that you’re still crazy for me”).
So make no mistake: it’s a pop song. In the purest sense of the term. But let’s look at the strengths here: though McComb is still finding his voice, he sings this thing with a Troy Gentryish rock gusto that keeps the record lively, and that hook is unstoppable, though I imagine it might get annoying if this song gains traction at radio. So all-in-all, it’s not an unpleasant listen – but if this kind of song is your thing, you’d be better off digging up your old Matchbox Twenty CDs and revisiting “Bright Lights.”
Earlier today, the Academy of Country Music announced that George Strait would be its Artist of the Decade. Only four other acts have been honored as artist of the decade: Marty Robbins in 1969, Loretta Lynn in 1979, Alabama in 1988 and Garth Brooks in 1998. The annual ACM Awards show is scheduled for Sunday, April 5, with Reba McEntire hosting for the 11th time.
Long live King George, of course, whose popularity has now encompassed three decades. His consistent chart success and critically-acclaimed work satisfies Strait’s more mature fans while also capturing the attention of the genre’s newer audience. I have a hard time arguing with the choice of Strait, although I would lean towards Alan Jackson instead. The highlights in Jackson’s decade include a number of contemporary classics (“Where Were You,” “Drive,” “Remember When,” “Monday Morning Church,” “Small Town Southern Man”), a trophy cabinet full of awards (nine CMA awards, seven ACM awards and a Grammy), a popular touring schedule and even detours into gospel (Precious Memories and sophisticated country-pop (Like Red on a Rose). Meanwhile, he stands as the ambassador for what many feel that country music is and should be.
Miranda Lambert & Blake Shelton
Star of the Desert Arena
Primm, NV October 14, 2008
In the better late than never category, on October 14, in between two of the craziest weeks ever, I made the trek to the middle of nowhere—Primm, Nevada—to watch two of my favorite mainstream country artists—Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton—perform together at the Star of the Desert Arena. Excellent separately, I was curious whether the sum of the whole would be greater than its individual parts. The answer is currently no, but the potential exists.
Country music history is rife with stellar male/female duos, among them Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner. Lambert and Shelton are not in this category, but clearly inspired by these pairings and having dated for the past year, they decided to take their home act on the road and introduce audiences to an entirely different concert format. With no opening act, Lambert took the stage first and performed a short set of six songs with her full band. Shelton followed with his own short set, before the two took the stage to perform an entirely too short acoustic set together. They ended the evening with two more short individual sets, and then a crazy amalgam of songs to end the show together.
The format was engaging, but not used as effectively as possible. The duo aspect of the evening was short-changed. Shelton and Lambert’s voices work extremely well together—a combination of spice and honey. However, during their short acoustic set together, instead of performing duets, they primarily used the time to perform their own numbers. You couldn’t begrudge Lambert performing a gorgeous version of her latest single of “More Like Her,” but the only true duet was a Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn song that played to the strengths of neither singer. Perhaps the bigger problem lies in the fact that, as Shelton pointed out, the two rarely agree on music. Before they tour together again, I suggest they work that out, as the potential exists for some truly memorable duets.
#9: Dolly Parton & Randy Travis
Male Vocalist of the Year presentation
1988
Dolly Parton had a little fun with her presentation of the Male Vocalist of the Year award in 1988. First, she flirted with nominee George Strait and asked if he’d went out and rented the prettiest girl in town, referring to Strait’s wife, Norma. Parton, comfortable as any entertainer in front of an audience, then sat down in Travis’ lap and proclaimed that if she were a younger (and single) woman, she would be interested in the singer. The crowd erupted with laughter as she playfully teased the star with her “big hair and big ideas.”
There are few things more entertaining than browsing through old country music clips on YouTube. While preparing my review for the new Reba McEntire collection, I found this chestnut from 1987:
I’ve always been a huge fan of “One Promise Too Late.” Good stuff.
But I know our readers can do better. Post a link to your favorite classic country clip!
For an artist who has been so consistently successful for so many years, Reba McEntire’s MCA catalog has yet to be effectively gathered in a comprehensive set. Until now. While her three hits compilations and two-disc #1′s collection fell short, 50 Greatest Hits delivers, collecting every essential McEntire single of the past quarter-century and painting a definitive picture of the music she has made over these years.
The main reason this approach is so effective for McEntire is that she’s always been a singles artist, despite having a handful of excellent albums to her credit. The three-CD format of this set correlates nicely with the three phases of her MCA career: the traditionalist era with Jimmy Bowen, the country-pop era with Tony Brown, and the post-superstar era, where she stopped being a dominant force at radio but emerged as a star of television and stage.
McEntire had already scored a handful of hits, including two #1′s, with Mercury Records before she moved over to MCA in 1983. Her first album for the label, Just a Little Love, was Urban Country dreck, but scored a hit in the title track and “He Broke Your Memory Last Night.” Those songs are omitted, however, as MCA chooses to begin the first disc with a pair of #1 hits from her landmark My Kind of Country album, “How Blue” and “Somebody Should Leave.”
Earlier this week, I’d planned on talking about an Iris Dement track for this weekly discussion thread. Then some poking around on iTunes led me to discover something else entirely.
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