Country Universe – A Country Music Blog

ACM Flashback: Album of the Year

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

The ACM Awards has traditionally been overshadowed by the CMA Awards, despite its longer existence. This is for several reasons.  First, the ACM originally existed to emphasize the West Coast country music scene, whereas the CMA Awards represented Nashville from the start.  The ACM has also been more commercially-oriented from the beginning, as the history of this category proves.  Eighteen of the last twenty winners in this ACM category are multi-platinum sellers, and the organization allowed greatest hits albums to compete for more than a decade.

Still, the ACM category has bragging rights of its own. Critically-acclaimed albums like Storms of Life, Trio, Killin’ Time and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend won at the ACMs but were overlooked by the CMAs.  Additionally, women have also been far more successful at this ceremony. Only five women have ever won the CMA Album trophy, and one of them was Sissy Spacek!  At the ACMs, women have dominated the category for the past three years, and the category has honored everyone from Loretta Lynn and Donna Fargo to K.T. Oslin and Shania Twain.

A special note about ACM flashbacks. Like the Grammys, the ACMs issue their award for a given year the following year, so the awards for 2009, for example, are given out in 2010.  For the purposes of the flashbacks, Country Universe notes the year the award is presented. While the ACM first presented awards in 1966, the Album category wasn’t introduced until 1968.

As with other flashbacks, we begin with a look at this year’s nominees:

2010

• Lady Antebellum, Lady Antebellum
• Miranda Lambert, Revolution
• Brad Paisley, American Saturday Night
• Carrie Underwood, Play On
• Zac Brown Band, The Foundation

Three previous winners – Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley, and Carrie Underwood – compete against the debut albums of two hot bands.  Lady Antebellum and Zac Brown Band each picked up a Grammy this year and are well represented on the rest of the ACM ballot.  This is a very competitive race. Even the sales-friendly nature of the ACMs doesn’t help much here, as four of these albums are platinum and Lambert’s just went gold.

2009

• Jamey Johnson, That Lonesome Song
• Montgomery Gentry, Back When I Knew It All
• George Strait, Troubadour
• Taylor Swift, Fearless
• Carrie Underwood, Carnival Ride

Taylor Swift became the third consecutive female artist to win in this category, a feat that would’ve seemed unthinkable earlier in the middle part of the decade, when country radio all but exiled women from radio.

2008

• Rodney Atkins, If You’re Going Through Hell
• Kenny Chesney, Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates
• Miranda Lambert, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
• Brad Paisley, 5th Gear
• Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift

A visibly shocked Lambert accepted the trophy for her critically acclaimed sophomore set.  While it did go gold, it remains an anomaly among ACM album winners. You have to go all the way back to 1979 (Oak Ridge Boys) to find another ACM album winner that didn’t sell platinum or higher.

2007

• Brooks & Dunn, Hillbilly Deluxe
• Vince Gill, These Days
• Rascal Flatts, Me and My Gang
• George Strait, It Just Comes Natural
• Carrie Underwood, Some Hearts

Carrie Underwood became the first solo female artist to win this award in eleven years with her 7 million-selling Some Hearts.

2006

• Gary Allan, Tough All Over
• Brad Paisley, Time Well Wasted
• Rascal Flatts, Feels Like Today
• Sugarland, Twice the Speed of Life
• Lee Ann Womack, There’s More Where That Came From

A strikingly strong lineup, with the victory going to Brad Paisley. Due to differences in eligibility between the two shows, there are two CMA winners in this category. Not only did Paisley repeat his victory the following fall, Womack won the CMA the previous year.

2005

• Kenny Chesney, When the Sun Goes Down
• Sara Evans, Restless
• Tim McGraw, Live Like You Were Dying
• Keith Urban, Be Here
• Gretchen Wilson, Here for the Party

Though he’s always been popular with the CMA and Grammy voters, Urban’s only Album award to date came courtesy of the ACMs. Oddly enough, they haven’t nominated him since.

2004

• Brooks & Dunn, Red Dirt Road
• Toby Keith, Shock’n Y’All
• Martina McBride, Martina
• Brad Paisley, Mud on the Tires
• George Strait, Honkytonkville

On an evening where he won several major awards, Keith picked up his second Album of the Year trophy from the ACMs for an album that included the #1  hits “American Soldier”, “Whiskey Girl”,  and “I Love This Bar.”

2003

• Kenny Chesney, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems
• Dixie Chicks, Home
• Alan Jackson, Drive
• Toby Keith, Unleashed
• Trick Pony, On a Mission

If you think all of those 2009 nominations for Heidi Newfield were surprising, check out Trick Pony’s presence in this category among four albums that sold more than 4 million copies each.  Alan Jackson picked up his third trophy in this category for the album that included “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” and “Drive (For Daddy Gene)”.

2002

• Brooks & Dunn, Steers & Stripes
• Toby Keith, Pull My Chain
• Tim McGraw, Set This Circus Down
• Soundtrack, O Brother, Where Art Thou?
• Travis Tritt, Down the Road I Go

Big comeback albums for Brooks & Dunn and Travis Tritt were nominated, but it was no surprise to see the victory go to the landmark soundtrack that sold more than eight million copies in the end.

2001

• Johnny Cash, American III: Solitary Man
• Billy Gilman, One Voice
• Toby Keith, How Do You Like Me Now?!
• Brad Paisley, Who Needs Pictures
• Lee Ann Womack, I Hope You Dance

Even Keith was a veteran in comparison to Gilman and Paisley, who were nominated with their debut albums, but the biggest surprise was the nomination of Cash for his third project with Rick Rubin. Even the CMA didn’t recognize those collaborations until the fourth volume and “Hurt.”

2000

• Asleep at the Wheel, Ride With Bob
• Dixie Chicks, Fly
• Faith Hill, Breathe
• George Jones, Cold Hard Truth
• Tim McGraw, A Place in the Sun

An impressively eclectic lineup is unsurprisingly represented by the consensus choice Dixie Chicks, the one act that everybody used to agree on.

1999

• Garth Brooks, Double Live
• Dixie Chicks, Wide Open Spaces
• Faith Hill, Faith
• Jo Dee Messina, I’m Alright
• George Strait, One Step at a Time

For the fourth time in the nineties, the trophy went to an artist’s breakthrough album.  After their shocking win at the Grammys a few weeks earlier, this Dixie Chicks victory wasn’t quite as surprising.

1998

• Garth Brooks, Sevens
• Patty Loveless, Long Stretch of Lonesome
• Tim McGraw, Everywhere
• George Strait, Carrying Your Love With Me
• Shania Twain, Come On Over

Strait’s third victory in this category tied him with Alabama for most wins.  It was also his first album to top the overall Billboard 200, a feat he’s repeated with three additional albums.

1997

• Brooks & Dunn, Borderline
• Tracy Lawrence, Time Marches On
• Patty Loveless, The Trouble With the Truth
• LeAnn Rimes, Blue
• George Strait, Blue Clear Sky

Strait’s victory came with an album that featured the #1 hits “Blue Clear Sky” and “Carried Away”, along with the rodeo-themed “I Can Still Make Cheyenne.”

1996

• Brooks & Dunn, Waitin’ On Sundown
• Patty Loveless, When Fallen Angels Fly
• Tim McGraw, All I Want
• George Strait, Lead On
• Shania Twain, The Woman in Me

Although Loveless won the CMA award the previous fall, the ACM sided with the Grammy winner for Best Country Album, Shania Twain’s landmark set, The Woman in Me.

1995

• Garth Brooks, In Pieces
• Mary Chapin Carpenter, Stones in the Road
• Vince Gill, When Love Finds You
• Alan Jackson, Who I Am
• Tim McGraw, Not a Moment Too Soon

McGraw’s only victory in this category came with his first nomination. This set remains his top-selling to date, thanks to the presence of the massive hits “Don’t Take the Girl”, “Indian Outlaw”, “Down on the Farm”, and the title track.

1994

• Brooks & Dunn, Hard Workin’ Man
• Billy Ray Cyrus, It Won’t Be the Last
• Vince Gill, I Still Believe In You
• Alan Jackson, A Lot About Livin’ (And a Little ‘Bout Love)
• Various Artists, Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles
• Dwight Yoakam, This Time

Alan Jackson picked up his second victory in this category with an album that included “Chattahoochee”, which would remain his biggest hit for nearly a decade.

1993

• Garth Brooks, The Chase
• Brooks & Dunn, Brand New Man
• Mary Chapin Carpenter, Come On Come On
• Billy Ray Cyrus, Some Gave All
• Wynonna, Wynonna

These are some big selling albums. Wynonna and Mary Chapin Carpenter both sold five million and they are tied for last place among the nominees.  It’s easy to forget how fresh the Brooks & Dunn sound was when it first arrived on the scene.  Five hits, including the classic title track, “Neon Moon”, and “Boot Scootin’ Boogie”, helped power them to a win.

1992

• Garth Brooks, No Fences
• Garth Brooks, Ropin’ the Wind
• Alan Jackson, Don’t Rock the Jukebox
• Ricky Van Shelton, Backroads
• Travis Tritt, It’s All About to Change

In perhaps the most bizarre moment in this category’s history, Garth Brooks competed again with No Fences, which won the same award last year. Alan Jackson emerged victorious with his sophomore set.

1991

• Alabama, Pass it On Down
• Garth Brooks, No Fences
• Vince Gill, When I Call Your Name
• Alan Jackson, Here in the Real World
• Ricky Van Shelton, RVS III

No Fences includes the Garth Brooks classics “Friends in Low Places”, “Unanswered Prayers”, and “The Thunder Rolls”. It remains his highest-selling album to date, and second only to Shania Twain’s Come On Over among all single-disc country albums in history.

1990

• Clint Black, Killin’ Time
• Rodney Crowell, Diamonds and Dirt
• Kathy Mattea, Willow in the Wind
• Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Will the Circle Be Unbroken? Vol. II
• Randy Travis, Old 8×10

The winning album demonstrates why Clint Black was the head of the Class of ’89, even though he’d soon be overshadowed by fellow newbie Garth Brooks.

1989

• Vern Gosdin, Chiseled in Stone
• K.T. Oslin, This Woman
• Ricky Van Shelton, Loving Proof
• George Strait, If You Ain’t Lovin’ You Ain’t Livin’
• Dwight Yoakam, Buenos Noches From a Lonely Room

K.T. Oslin dominated the awards circuit in 1988 and 1989, with her final victories coming at the ACM Awards.  Her Album of the Year winner included the #1 hit “Hold Me”, along with the top five hits “Hey Bobby” and the title track.

1988

• The Judds, Heart Land
• Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris, Trio
• George Strait, Ocean Front Property
• Randy Travis, Always and Forever
• Hank Williams Jr., Born to Boogie

The classic project by legends Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris also won a CMA for Vocal Event and a Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

1987

• The Judds, Rockin’ With the Rhythm
• Ricky Skaggs, Live in London
• George Strait, 7
• Randy Travis, Storms of Life
• Dwight Yoakam, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.

The neo-traditionalist movement at its peak, with a win by its standard-bearing artist with his standard-bearing debut album.

1986

• Alabama, 40 Hour Week
• Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson, Highwayman
• The Judds, Why Not Me
• George Strait, Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
• Hank Williams Jr., Five-O

The only #1 hit from this album was the title track, but “The Fireman” and “The Cowboy Rides Away” have since become signature songs for the legendary artist.

1985

• Alabama, Roll On
• Earl Thomas Conley, Don’t Make it Easy On Me
• Ricky Skaggs, Don’t Cheat in Our Hometown
• George Strait, Right or Wrong
• Hank Williams Jr., Man of Steel

Their third victory in four years came on the strength of the hits “Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)”, “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)”, “(There’s a) Fire in the Night”, and “When We Make Love.”

1984

• Alabama, The Closer You Get…
• John Anderson, Wild & Blue
• Merle Haggard, Going Where the Lonely Go
• Merle Haggard & Willie Nelson, Pancho & Lefty
• Ricky Skaggs, Highways & Heartaches

Over a field of traditionalists old and new, the pop-country supergroup Alabama won their second Album award. In addition to the hit title track, The Closer You Get… included the hits “Lady Down on Love” and “Dixieland Delight.”

1983

• Alabama, Mountain Music
• Willie Nelson, Always On My Mind
• Kenny Rogers, Love Will Turn You Around
• Ricky Skaggs, Waitin’ For the Sun to Shine
• Don Williams, Listen to the Radio

Nelson’s biggest single powered the album of the same name to victory. It also included a pair of #2 hits: “Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning” and “Let it Be Me.”

1982

• Alabama, Feels So Right
• Rosanne Cash, Seven Year Ache
• George Jones, Still the Same Ole Me
• Oak Ridge Boys, Fancy Free
• Dolly Parton, 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs

With the exception of George Jones, all the nominees here enjoyed significant pop success with these projects. Alabama won their first trophy in this category with Feels So Right, which included the hit title track, “Old Flame”, and their biggest crossover hit, “Love in the First Degree.”

1981

• Charley Pride, There’s a Little Bit of Hank in Me
• Kenny Rogers, Greatest Hits
• Soundtrack, Coal Miner’s Daughter
• Soundtrack, Urban Cowboy
• Don Williams, I Believe in You

For all that it’s been maligned, the Urban Cowboy soundtrack does have a lot of classic hits on it.  Some of them were recycled, like “Devil Went Down to Georgia” and “Lyin’ Eyes”, but some were introduced on the soundtrack, most notably Anne Murray’s “Could I Have This Dance” and Johnny Lee’s “Lookin’ For Love.”

1980

• Larry Gatlin, Straight Ahead
• Emmylou Harris, Blue Kentucky Girl
• Waylon Jennings, Greatest Hits
• Willie Nelson, Willie Sings Kristofferson
• Kenny Rogers, Kenny

Those of you wondering how on earth Larry Gatlin was the winner in this field should know that this was actually a platinum-selling album. Perhaps its big hit, “All the Gold in California”, endeared the project to west coast voters.

1979

• Ronnie Milsap, It Was Almost Like a Song
• Anne Murray, Let’s Keep it That Way
• Willie Nelson, Stardust
• Oak Ridge Boys, Y’All Come Back Saloon
• Kenny Rogers & Dottie West, Every Time Two Fools Collide

They had made several albums as gospel stars, but it was their first big country hit that fueled this win for Album of the Year.

1978

• Waylon Jennings, Ol’ Waylon
• Dolly Parton, Here You Come Again
• Elvis Presley, Moody Blue
• Kenny Rogers, Kenny Rogers
• Conway Twitty, Greatest Hits Vol. II

This self-titled album was renamed “Lucille” in later pressings to capitalize on its biggest hit.

1977

• Mickey Gilley, Gilley’s Smokin’
• Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser, Wanted! The Outlaws
• Loretta Lynn, Somebody Somewhere
• Marty Robbins, El Paso City
• Conway Twitty, Now and Then

Gilley’s winning album features his most well known hit, “Don’t the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time.” It’s the most recent album in the category’s history that hasn’t reached at least gold status.

1976

• Glen Campbell, Rhinestone Cowboy
• Freddie Fender, Before the Next Teardrop Falls
• Merle Haggard, Keep Movin’ On
• Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty, Feelins’
• Willie Nelson, Red Headed Stranger

This shared award is the only Album trophy that either Lynn or Twitty won from the ACM or CMA, though Lynn did go on to win Best Country Album three decades later at the Grammys.

1975

• John Denver, Back Home Again
• Merle Haggard, Merle Haggard Presents His 30th Album
• Loretta Lynn, They Don’t Make ‘Em Like My Daddy
• Cal Smith, Country Bumpkin
• Bob Wills, For the Last Time

Denver’s biggest country album, it spent thirteen weeks atop the country album chart. The title track topped the chart, and “Annie’s Song” became a wedding standard.

1974

• Merle Haggard, I Love Dixie Blues…so I Recorded “Live” in New Orleans
• Loretta Lynn, Love is the Foundation
• Charlie Rich, Behind Closed Doors
• Johnny Rodriguez, Introducing Johnny Rodriguez
• Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn, Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man

Rich’s classic set has sold four million copies, an unheard of tally for a country album from this time period. It didn’t hurt that the title track and “The Most Beautiful Girl” were crossover hits, with the latter actually topping the pop singles chart.

1973

• Mac Davis, Baby Don’t Get Hooked On Me
• Donna Fargo, The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.
• Merle Haggard, The Best of the Best of Merle Haggard
• Merle Haggard, It’s Not Love (But It’s Not Bad)
• Merle Haggard, Let Me Tell You About a Song
• Freddie Hart, Bless Your Heart

Donna Fargo triumphed in a field of six albums, half of which were recorded by Merle Haggard! The Fargo set produced two million-selling singles – the title track and “Funny Face”.

1972

• Merle Haggard, Hag
• Merle Haggard, Someday We’ll Look Back
• Freddie Hart, Easy Loving
• Ray Price, I Won’t Mention it Again
• Charley Pride, Charley Pride Sings Heart Songs

The title track was a massive hit, helping Hart’s Easy Loving reach gold status and spend nine weeks atop the country albums chart.

1971

• Glen Campbell, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Album
• Merle Haggard, The Fightin’ Side of Me
• Merle Haggard, A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (or, My Salute to Bob Wills)
• Ray Price, For the Good Times
• Charley Pride, Charley Pride’s 10th Album

Who knows how many times Haggard could’ve won this award if he wasn’t nominated against himself? This year, Ray Price’s For the Good Times was the victor, thanks to the Kristofferson-penned title track.

1970

• Glen Campbell, Live
• Johnny Cash, At Folsom Prison
• Merle Haggard, Okie From Muskogee
• Charley Pride, Best of Charley Pride
• Tammy Wynette, Greatest Hits

Haggard’s only victory in this category was for a live album. Incidentally, he won over two other live albums and a pair of greatest hits sets.

1969

• Glen Campbell, Wichita Lineman
• Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell, Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell
• Merle Haggard, The Best of Merle Haggard
• Merle Haggard, Mama Tried
• Buck Owens, Best of Buck Owens

Campbell won for the second year in a row, this time sharing the victory with Bobbie Gentry of “Ode to Billie Joe” fame.

1968

• Glen Campbell, Burning Bridges
• Glen Campbell, Gentle on My Mind
• Merle Haggard, Branded Man
• Merle Haggard, I’m a Lonesome Fugitive
• Wynn Stewart, It’s Such a Pretty World Today

California favorite Glen Campbell won the first ACM trophy in this category, and he’d remain a favorite of the Academy over the next decade.

Facts & Feats

Multiple Wins:

• (3) – Alabama, Alan Jackson, George Strait
• (2) – Glen Campbell, Dixie Chicks, Toby Keith

Most Nominations:

• (17) – Merle Haggard
• (12) – George Strait
• (7) – Garth Brooks, Glen Campbell, Willie Nelson
• (6) – Alabama, Tim McGraw
• (5) – Loretta Lynn, Brad Paisley, Kenny Rogers

Most Nominations Without a Win:

• (4) – Vince Gill, Waylon Jennings, Charley Pride, Ricky Skaggs
• (3) – Johnny Cash, Kenny Chesney, The Judds, Patty Loveless, Ricky Van Shelton, Hank Williams Jr., Dwight Yoakam

Albums that won the ACM Award and the CMA Award:

• Merle Haggard, Okie From Muskogee
• Charlie Rich, Behind Closed Doors
• Willie Nelson, Always on My Mind
• Alabama, The Closer You Get
• George Strait, Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
• Garth Brooks, No Fences
• George Strait, Blue Clear Sky
• George Strait, Carrying Your Love With Me
• Dixie Chicks, Fly
• Soundtrack, O Brother Where Art Thou?
• Alan Jackson, Drive
• Brad Paisley, Time Well Wasted
• George Strait, It Just Comes Natural
• Taylor Swift, Fearless

Albums that Won the ACM award and the Grammy for Album of the Year:

• Soundtrack, O Brother Where Art Thou?
• Taylor Swift, Fearless

Albums that Won the ACM award and the Grammy for Best Country Album (only presented in 1965-1966 and 1995-present):

• Shania Twain, The Woman in Me
• Dixie Chicks, Wide Open Spaces
• Dixie Chicks, Fly
• George Strait, Troubadour
• Taylor Swift, Fearless

Meet Exciting Singles Now Courtesy of CU Favorite Paul Burch

Friday, March 26th, 2010

Acclaimed Nashville artist Paul Burch, whose recent Still Your Man landed at #13 on our Best Country Albums of 2009 list, is taking an innovative approach to distributing new music this year. The Asides/Besides project he launched earlier this month will hook fans (or hip, curious newbies) up with twenty singles released steadily throughout the year, with varying affordable price packages to accommodate varying levels of Paul Burch appreciation.

The official lowdown:

On March 1st Paul Burch & WPA Ballclub began the streaming and sale of an A side/B side single every month throughout the rest of the year. For a one-time fee of only $5 fans can join the Paul Burch Record Club which allows them to subscribe to the entire year-long series. For $10, in addition to receiving all 20 tracks in mp3 form, Paul Burch Record Club members will receive, at the end of the year, a CD of the singles with custom artwork. An additional $15 level will get fans all the mp3s, a CD at the end of the year, and a personalized thank-you note from Paul!

To subscribe to Asides/Besides or sample some of Burch’s fine wares, visit PaulBurch.com.

Single Review: Bucky Covington, “A Father’s Love (The Only Way He Knew How)”

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

As someone who enjoys a relationship with a warm father who’s always been quick with support and affirmation, it’s a testament to a good song that I can feel an emotional connection to Bucky Covington’s latest single, “A Father’s Love (the Only Way He Knew How)”, which depicts a father with less demonstrative sensibilities than mine.

The song’s narrator describes his father’s penchant for showing his love by doing rather than saying. Instead of having a “heart to heart talk” before his son leaves for college, he does some last minute maintenance on the car that will be taking him there. Likewise, rather than telling his son that he likes his first, new home, he immediately pulls out the tool box in order to fix what he can in the house.

While the son would have appreciated some affection or words of affirmation, he learned to understand that his father demonstrated his love by verbs rather than adjectives: “I didn’t hear it then, but I hear it now/He was sayin’, ‘I love you’ the only way he knew how.”

With a pleasant production that does not shy away from the steel guitar, Covington’s performance is both believable and emotive. Moreover, “A Father’s Love” proves that a song that neatly fits into the mainstream’s typical song structure is also capable of feeling authentic instead of calculated. Furthermore, it is sweet without being overtly cloying thanks to a moral payoff that is employed in such a way that the song does not jump the shark to reach for a manufactured happy ending.

It can be done.

Written by Liz Hengber, Thom Shepherd & Steve Williams

Grade: B+

Listen: Bucky Covington, “A Father’s Love”

Single Review: Blaine Larsen, “Chillin’”

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

What to make of a single that does Kenny Chesney better than Kenny Chesney does these days?  Sure, it’s derivative and completely unnecessary, but I’d rather hear this than “Ain’t Back Yet.”

I like a lot of the lines, too, particularly the imagery of “got my thinkin’ cap hangin’ on a scarecrow.” But hearing the song as a whole makes me wish I was listening to “Beer in Mexico” instead.

Actually, that’s a lie. Hearing this sent me in a completely different musical direction, one that goes a little something like this:

Ok then, chillin’, chillin’, mindin’ my business
Yo, Salt, I looked around, and I couldn’t believe this
I swear, I stared, my niece my witness
The brother had it goin’ on with somethin’ kinda…uh
Wicked, wicked – had to kick it
I’m not shy so I asked for the digits

Oh, Salt n Pepa. You really knew how to make a summertime anthem.

Grade: B-

Listen: Chillin’

2-in-1 Single Review: Alan Jackson and George Strait

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

“It’s Just That Way” (Alan Jackson)

Written by Vicky McGehee, Kylie Sackley, and Keith Stegall

“I Gotta Get to You” (George Strait)

Written by Blaine Larsen, Jim Lauderdale, and Jimmy Ritchey

Just because you can sing the phone book doesn’t mean you should.

Grade for Both:  C

Listen: It’s Just That Way ; I Gotta Get To You

Single Review: Kellie Pickler, “Makin’ Me Fall in Love Again”

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

Kellie Pickler has quietly become one of the most played female artists on country radio, the unthinking man’s alternative to fellow top twenty regular Miranda Lambert.  She’s done it largely with fluff, but there’s no real shame in that. Sylvia made a whole career out of it an won a Female Vocalist trophy along the way.  Granted, it was from the ACM, but a mantle decoration is a mantle decoration.

So the question is, how good is this fluff? As the man who trashed both “Red High Heels” and “Best Days of Your Life” but eventually added them on to my favorites playlist, I say with caution that it’s mediocre. I can’t see this one growing one me. Just not enough of a hook. It’s like they got the color and the texture right but forgot to put the sugar in the cotton candy.

This is the fourth single off an album that has extended her career beyond what seemed possible when lead single (and quite excellent) “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful” stopped at #21.  So even if radio passes, she’ll probably be back with something sticky and sweet by before state fair season comes to an end.

Written by Karyn Rochelle, James T. Slater, and Shane Stevens

Grade: C

Listen: Makin’ Me Fall in Love Again

Forgotten Hits: Sammy Kershaw, “Yard Sale”

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Yard Sale
Sammy Kershaw
#17
1992

Written by Larry Bastian and Dewayne Blackwell

Great country songs can find heartache in the most mundane places.  For George Jones, it was “a lip print on a half-filled cup of coffee that you poured but didn’t drink.”  For Sammy Kershaw, a nineties star heavily influenced by the Possum, it was a family picnic table of discounted items.

“They’re sorting through what’s left of you and me,” he sings, and like in the Jones classic “A Good Year For the Roses,” it’s the steady observation of sights and sounds that tell the story.  As he notes that there must be half the town on the grass and on the sidewalk, he muses, “Ain’t it funny how a broken home can bring the prices down?”

It’s casually revealed that his departed love didn’t even bother to finish the laundry, as one customer picks up “two summer dresses in the backyard on the line.”  And with one more quick sale revealed – “There goes the baby’s wind-up, and the mirror down the hall,” we learn that he’s been left behind by a full family, not just a wife.

It could be maudlin in lesser hands, but Kershaw’s understated delivery matches the restraint that he must be forcing upon himself. Can’t cry in front of your customers, but the pain is evident as he notes that his very reason for being is just a good bargain to everyone else around him “paying yard sale prices for each golden memory.”

This single wasn’t a huge radio hit, but it helped power his debut album to gold and eventually platinum.  There was simply too much good stuff in 1992 competing for those radio slots.  But it’s stood the test of time more than the other three hits from his debut album, all of which charted higher. It’s worth rediscovering,  or discovering for the first time if you missed it.

Words to Live By

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Earlier this week, Tara Seetharam posted about songs that resonate for reasons beyond the lyrics.  This got me thinking about something close to the opposite: What about songs that stand out because of a particular lyric, a line that takes on a life of its own beyond the song?

I first heard “Too Many Memories” on the Patty Loveless album Long Stretch of Lonesome. It was later recorded by Hal Ketchum.  It’s a good song, no doubt, but the kicker that ends the second verse has grown into words to live by for me:

What makes you grow old is replacing hope with regret.

I’ve used that quote countless times, and as I get older, it gets ever more true.

Is this just me, or do any of you also have lines from songs that are words to live by?

RFD-TV: The Best Thing Ever?

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

Like many country fans who discovered the genre in the nineties, CMT and TNN were central to my experience of discovering music.  When CMT shifted to non-music programming, GAC quickly became the channel of choice.   But as that channel grew in popularity, it shifted its emphasis to only mainstream country music, losing the diversity that defined it in its early years.

When moving late last year, I switched cable companies. Initially, I thought the best country-related channel I’d gotten in the switch was CMT Pure, which plays only music. Unfortunately, older videos are limited to a 1/2 hour of programming called “Pure Vintage”, a pale comparison to the three-hour early morning extravaganza “CMT Classic” that once ran on CMT proper in the wee hours of the weekend.

By a fluke, I discovered RFD-TV, which bills itself as “Rural America’s Most Important Network.” I could care less about the horse and agriculture shows, but with country music, this channel has hit the jackpot.

Currently airing regularly: vintage episodes of The Porter Wagoner Show, Pop Goes the Country, and Crook & Chase. It’s like going back into the seventies and eighties with the benefit of DVR! To see Don Williams appear as a young artist just getting his start, all skin and bones and sideburns. To see Dolly Parton at the peak of her songwriting talent, expressing it through the confines of the “girl singer” slot on Wagoner’s classic show, outshining everything else by such a wide margin it’s a wonder they didn’t turn the whole show over to her. Or even just to see the legendarily slow-talking Ralph Emery interviewing stars in his youth, and learning that his slow pace wasn’t a product of aging – he’s always talked that way.

I’ve even seen a female artist I didn’t recognize. That’s right, the guy who wrote this didn’t know who this woman was:

That’s Susan Raye, by the way, doing her best to sing a song of seduction while buttoned up from neck to toe. I’d read about her, but there’s no way I would’ve heard this #53 hit “Saturday Night to Sunday Quiet” if not for RFD-TV.  Much like I never would’ve asked for the Emmylou Harris box set for Christmas if I hadn’t seen the “High-Powered Love” video on CMT, a song that made it to #63 at radio.

Concert Review: Martina McBride and Trace Adkins

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

By Guest Contributor Cory DeStein.

Over the river and through the snow to the ‘Shine All Night Tour’ we go…On this particular Saturday night a friend and I traveled through the snow and ice to attend the Martina McBride and Trace Adkins tour stop at the Peterson Event Center, here in Pittsburgh.  This is the third time I have been fortunate enough to experience a Martina tour, along with the ‘Timeless’ and ‘Waking Up Laughing’ tour, and like those performances the country diva did not fail to deliver.

In front of a black back drop Trace kicked off the show, much to the delight of fan club section nestled quite noticeably to the right of the stage, rose onto the stage with his opening number “I Got My Game On” one of the many novelty songs he charmed the audience with throughout his one hour set.

Trace has one hell of a powerful voice, but he sadly didn’t go out of his way to show it throughout the show. He rather focused more on hits like “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk,” “Hot Mama,” “Swing,” and “Rough and Ready” along with other similar tunes.  Towards the end of his set, he introduced his recently crowned ACM Song of the Year, “You’re Gonna Miss This.”

Just in case fans had forgotten the true potential he returned to the stage to entertain the enthusiastic crowd with “Muddy Water” and “Higher Ground” joined by a 7 member gospel choir for his encore. The 6 ft something cowboy exited the stage handing his Stetson hat to a young  fan in the front.

Although I was entertained during his set, filled with one liners, and music video clips, I can’t say that I would see Adkins as a headliner in concert. He has much better material than what he sang that night, and never ventured off the beaten path of radio favorites. I would have been just as happy sitting at home watching him on CMT, than venturing out for the live experience. The live excitement was missing.

After a quick bathroom break and a check on the weather, we were back at our center stage row 13^th row seats for the main attraction. A techno remix of some of Martina’s biggest hits began to spin. In front of a white sheer scrim a group of young girls, including all three McBride children danced and launched t-shirts and glow sticks into the crowd.

The girls exited the stage just as a techno remix of “Ride”  played and a slowly growing disco ball began growing in the distance. For a moment I felt I may have been at Cher’s farewell show with remixes and color effects. Martina’s seven member band rose from the stage and as the disco ball gained its full size Martina appeared launching into “Ride.”

Without losing momentum they leapt into hits such as “When God-Fearing Women” “Happy Girl” and her first number one,  “Wild Angels”. The four time CMA Female Vocalist’s voice is just as flawless in concert as on record, if not better.  McBride went into one of her oldest hits with “My Baby Loves Me”  straight into her newest “Wrong Baby Wrong” a upbeat tune on good friends and wine.

Martina took a moment to highlight her 7 piece band, with their rendition of “Lean On Me” complete with vocal highlights from the band mates.

For a quick trip back to Timeless,  Martina and her highly talented band mates gathered center stage for a stunning rendition of Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It through the Night” followed by her inspiring “Anyway”.

Martina never let the excitement fail with note after note nailed, and the special effects rolling. A highlight of the evening was following the solo of McBride’s new fiddle player on the far left wing of the stage,  on the white scrim that had covered the set a city scene was displayed under the stars.

With the steel guitar in the background the moon rose over the city scene dancing across the sky to the left, as the moon set on the city, McBride rose from the stage sitting in a neon blue crescent moon while serenading the heartbreaking “Concrete Angel.”

The moon flew across the audience and right over my head, reaching a second stage directly behind my seats. Fans rushed the stage for a brief front row seat as Martina introduced an album track that she loves, but claims probably won’t be a single: “I’m Trying.” In classic McBride fashion, she dropped to her knees for the climax of the tale of an alcoholic man and the unrelenting love of his wife. From her mini stage she sang a combined mix of “Loves the Only House” and “Blessed.”

She exited the stage belting out “This Ones For the Girls” as she met with many of the fans on her way back to the stage through the aisles of the venue.

Once back at the main stage and after another album cut “You’re Not Leaving Me”  it was time for what the power house was truly known for, hitting notes that few artists dare tackle. Switching out “Where Would You Be” for a rare treat and one of my personal favorites “Whatever You Say.”

With plenty of fluids and and just pure talent Martina reminded every member of the audience what she can do with “Broken Wing” The final note rang out for what felt like an eternity and the crowd went wild. She couldn’t leave the city without the one that took her to all new levels.

“Independence Day” was delivered with full blown emotion and McBride’s now signature mic stand throw she brought down the house. With all the excitement and the feeling of my heart beating out of my chest, I was ready to drag her out for a encore myself when finally reappeared  with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” and Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69” complete with a Ben Roethlisberger jersey, a nice touch for any Pittsburgh show.

When all was said and done, and I was walking back to my car I gained an immense appreciation for what I saw put on. The concert was completely over the top and spared no expense, it was something id expect for a artist at the peak of their fame to put on, but Martina and her band still pulls out all the stops and  gives it everything they got for what I truly believe is for the fans. I highly recommend you experience for yourself if they ‘Shine’ their way into your city, and look forward to my next chance.

Trace’s Set List

“I Got My Game On”
“Swing”
“Songs About Me”
“Hillbilly Rich”
“Marry for Money”
“What’s the Big Deal?”
“Chrome”
“Rough and Ready”
“You’re Gonna Miss This”
“Hot Mama”
“Ladies Love Country Boys”
“Honky Tonk Badonkadonk”
ENCORE: “Muddy Water” and “Higher Ground”

Martina’s Set List

“Ride”
“When God Fearin’ Women Get The Blues”
“Happy Girl”
“Wild Angels”
“The Way That I Am”
“Wrong Baby Wrong”
“Lean on Me”
“Help Me Make it Through The Night”
“Anyway”
“Concrete Angel”
“Love’s the Only House/Blessed”
“I’m Trying”
“This One’s For The Girls”
“You’re Not Leaving Me”
“Whatever You Say”
“Broken Wing”
“Independence Day”
ENCORE: “Don’t Stop Believin’” and “Summer of ’69″