Country Universe – A Country Music Blog

Single Review: Ashton Shepherd, “Where Country Grows”

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Y’all Y’all Country Pride Y’all.

Yee-Haw.

Grade: C

Listen: Where Country Grows

Single Review: Toby Keith, “Made in America”

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Rah Rah USA USA Rah Rah America America Rah Rah Rah.

Grade: C

Listen: Made in America

Retro Single Review: Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton, “The Last Thing on My Mind”

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

When the chemistry is there, it’s there from day one.  The pairing of Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton was electric, and all of the elements that made it work were clearly evident on their first single.

The harmonies on the chorus and the conversational verses were an instant blueprint for the rest of their work together.  They’d go on to release many great duets, but it rarely got better than “The Last Thing On My Mind.”

Their breezy, casual indifference as they claim they never meant to hurt each other is so much more powerful than a sincere delivery would’ve been.

Written by Bob Paxton

Grade: A

Listen: The Last Thing On My Mind

Retro Single Review: Shania Twain, “Dance With the One That Brought You”

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Her entire debut album has a retro feel, but “Dance With the One That Brought You” is the one track that sounds vintage without sounding dated.

The gorgeous tune is a perfect fit for Twain’s nuanced vocal, proving to anyone willing to listen that it was never Mutt Lange’s studio wizardry that made her voice shine.

A charming should’ve been hit that has made her debut album a worthy purchase for those few who discovered it at the time, and the millions more who discovered it once she was a superstar.

Written by Sam Hogin and Gretchen Peters

Grade: A

Listen: Dance With the One That Brought You

Retro Single Review: Alan Jackson, “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow”

Monday, June 27th, 2011

1990 | Peak: #2

Alan Jackson’s fourth single picks up the tempo in all the best ways. The tune is very memorable, thanks to an exuberant melody and decidedly country production, but the lyrics are anything but lightweight.

The song starts with his father’s lofty dream of hearing his baby boy on the radio someday and progresses to the point when the beginning of the dream is finally realized. The autobiographical single, sung with a humble innocence, exudes boundless gratefulness and optimism for a budding career. At the time of its recording and subsequent release, Jackson could not have known just how successful he would be at chasing the all elusive dream, but he correctly projects that he will.

Written by Alan Jackson and Jim McBride

Grade: A

Listen: Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow

Retro Single Review: George Strait, “Unwound”

Sunday, June 26th, 2011

George Strait has had access to top drawer material for almost three decades now.  But like any new artist, he needed a dose of luck to get a great song right off the bat.

“Unwound” was originally written with Johnny Paycheck in mind, but since he was in jail, Strait got the chance to record it instead.  Thus began a long and fruitful partnership with songwriter Dean Dillon, who has a knack for writing slightly offbeat songs that Strait brings into the mainstream.

This would be a great record just for the fiddle alone, but a very youthful Strait is still able to deliver the goods, and the band is so country that you can almost smell the sawdust when they let loose.   A remarkable start to a legendary career.

Written by Dean Dillon and Frank Dycus

Grade: A

Listen: Unwound

Retro Single Review: Tim McGraw, “Welcome to the Club”

Sunday, June 26th, 2011

1992 | Peak: #47

Tim McGraw’s debut single showcases his ear for a good song, even if his skills as an interpreter haven’t quite caught up with him yet.

He’s a bit too twangy, and the listless production behind him doesn’t do him any favors.  But the talent is clearly there, and if given this song again today, he’d knock it out of the ballpark. (Assuming that he doesn’t shoehorn in a vocoder.)

Written by André Pesis and Steve Seskin

Grade: B-

Listen: Welcome to the Club

100 Greatest Men: #87. Billy Walker

Saturday, June 25th, 2011

100 Greatest Men: The Complete List

Known affectionately as the Tall Texan, Billy Walker was a B-list hitmaker at radio, but an A-lister on the Grand Ole Opry stage and on syndicated television.

Born in Texas on the eve of the Great Depression in 1929, Walker was a professional musician by his late teens, joining the Dallas-based Big D Jamboree in 1949.   A brief stint at Capitol records wasn’t successful, though he achieved some notoriety performing as “The Traveling Texan, the Masked Singer of Country Songs”, performing with a Lone Ranger-style mask on his face.

But the early fifties put him on the map.  A new recording contract with Columbia Records dovetailed with him joining the Louisiana Hayride, and he had his first major hit in 1954 with “Thank You For Calling.”   His tenure with the label would last until 1965, with his peak success coming in the early sixties.  He joined the Opry in 1960, where  he would remain a member for the rest of his life, and he had his only #1 hit in 1962 with “(I’d Like to Be in) Charlie’s Shoes.”

Future success on record would include a stint on Monument Records in the latter half of the sixties, followed by a run on MGM in the seventies.  Moderate hits were produced on both labels.  But it was on television where he was most successful.  He starred on ABC’s Ozark Jubilee in the fifties, and headlined his own popular syndicated TV show, Billy Walker’s Country Carnival, in the late sixties.  He made frequent guest appearances on a variety of country music shows throughout the seventies, before being a regular on the televised portions of the Grand Ole Opry in the eighties and nineties.

Walker’s media reach helped him sustain a successful international touring career, and his ear for good talent led to him playing instrumental roles in the success of Elvis Presley as a singer and Willie Nelson as a songwriter.   Before his untimely death in 2006, he released his swan song, Thank You, Thank You Very Much, a 2003 collection on his own Tall Texan label that featured a return to the traditional sounds of his seminal work for Columbia.

Essential Singles:

• Funny How Time Slips Away, 1961
• (I’d Like to Be in) Charlie’s Shoes, 1962
• Cross the Brazos at Waco, 1964
• A Million and One, 1966
• When a Man Loves a Woman (The Way That I Love You), 1972

Essential Albums:

• Cross the Brazos at Waco, 1964
• Thank You For Calling, 1964
• A Million and One, 1966
• Portrait of Billy, 1969
• Thank You, Thank You Very Much, 2003

Next: #86. ?

Previous: #88. The Oak Ridge Boys

Retro Single Review: Alan Jackson, “Wanted”

Saturday, June 25th, 2011

1990 | Peak: #3

A really great country singer can take a mediocre song and make it sound great.  That’s what Alan Jackson does here.

What makes “Wanted” work is Jackson’s heartfelt vocal and sincere delivery.  If a lesser singer was at the mic, the sheer implausibility of the lyric would be nakedly evident, but Jackson will have you looking in the classified section, expecting the chorus to be there.

Written by Charlie Craig and Alan Jackson

Grade: B-

Listen: Wanted

Retro Single Review: Dolly Parton, “Something Fishy”

Saturday, June 25th, 2011

1967 | Peak: #17

If Parton hadn’t recorded this herself first, she could’ve pitched it to Loretta Lynn, who might’ve elevated this to something a bit above purely ridiculous.

As is, it’s a decent novelty record that’s good for a smile the first time around, but the charm wears off soon enough.

Written by Dolly Parton

Grade: C

Listen: Something Fishy