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

Age Ain’t Nothin’ But a Number

Monday, November 9th, 2009

While Taylor Swift mania continues to grow, there’s another impressive accomplishment being achieved by two veterans of country music on the opposite end of the age spectrum.

Contrary to what is commonly believed, there has always been a ceiling on how old you could be and still get country airplay. This year, both George Strait and Reba McEntire have been working steadily to shatter that ceiling.

Take a look at the age of country legends when they earned their most recent top ten solo hit:

1. Eddy Arnold, 62
2. Kenny Rogers, 61*
3. Conway Twitty, 58
4. George Strait, 57
5. George Jones, 57**
6. Marty Robbins, 57
7. Willie Nelson, 56**
8. Ray Price, 56
9. Reba McEntire, 54
10. Waylon Jennings, 53
11. Merle Haggard, 52
12. Alan Jackson, 50
13. Charley Pride, 50
14. Johnny Cash, 49
15. Ernest Tubb, 49
16. Ronnie Milsap, 48
17. Loretta Lynn, 47
18. Webb Pierce, 46
19. Garth Brooks, 45
20. Dolly Parton, 43**
21. Hank Williams Jr., 41
22. Tammy Wynette, 40

* Kenny Rogers was the lead singer for his final top ten hit “Buy Me a Rose”, with harmony vocalists Billy Dean and Alison Krauss credited on the single

** George Jones, Willie Nelson, and Dolly Parton returned to the top ten in later years through duets with younger artists

It’s also worth noting that Alan Jackson, at 50, isn’t too far away from passing several legends on the list.

So George Strait remains in heavy rotation at the age of 57, outpacing all but three stars in country music history. Among the ladies, McEntire is a full seven years older than her nearest competitor Loretta Lynn was when she enjoyed her last top ten hit.

Thoughts?

Bargain Hunter: The Rodney Crowell Collection

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

When Rodney Crowell had his gold-selling commercial breakthrough with the album Diamonds & Dirt, his previous label was quick to capitalize on his success. Usually, pre-hit cash-in CDs are little more than a curiosity, but Crowell’s is the exception.

There is a smorgasbord of great material here, including early versions of songs that Crowell would see other artists have success with the same songs.

Some of Crowell’s strongest compositions are here, such as:

• “‘Til I Gain Control Again”, a #1 hit for Crystal Gayle that was recorded earlier by Emmylou Harris
• “I Ain’t Living Long Like This”, a #1 hit for Waylon Jennings that was recorded earlier by Emmylou Harris
• “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight”, a #1 hit for the Oak Ridge Boys that was recorded earlier by Emmylou Harris
• “Ashes By Now”, a top five hit for Lee Ann Womack that was recorded earlier by Emmylou Harris
• “I Don’t Have to Crawl”, a minor hit for Emmylou Harris that was later recorded by Rosanne Cash
• “Shame on the Moon”, a top fifteen country hit for Bob Seeger
• “Victim or a Fool”, a top forty hit for Crowell that was also recorded by Crystal Gayle
• “Stars on the Water”, later covered by George Strait and Jimmy Buffett

How good was this guy’s ear? Even the songs he didn’t write went on to become hits, with Ricky Skaggs taking “Heartbroke” to #1 and Juice Newton scoring a massive pop hit with “Queen of Hearts.”  The only thing missing here is “Elvira”, which Crowell also recorded first.

This has always been a budget collection, but now it’s incredibly affordable – twelve tracks for $5.49.  Given that Warner is asking for $9.90 for the far inferior Pam Tillis Collection, which includes only ten tracks, this one’s a steal.

Create A Super Group

Friday, July 17th, 2009

In 1985, four country music rebels/icons came together to form a larger-than-life group that people wouldn’t have even dared dream about before their actual union. Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson formed the country super group, The Highwaymen. The four highly revered friends recorded three albums worth of material, much to the delight of the astonished public. While all of the members were extremely successful in their own rights, their potential egos were set aside to make music as a cohesive unit. They sounded like a polished group, not just some people thrown together as a marketing gimmick.

Then, in 1988, the rock world hit the jackpot when superstars George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Jeff Lynne formed The Traveling Wilburys. Again, these immensely famous, talented and respected people formed a super group that still seems too good to be true to this day. Their unbelievable union created two albums that were repackaged in 2007 with bonus material, which sold surprisingly well for a reissue. Like The Highwaymen, their voices blended amazingly well together as if they were meant to be a group.

Dolly Parton has been a part of two dynamic trios: one with Linda Rhonstadt and Emmylou Harris and the other with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette. Both trios consisted of women equally as talented as the super groups previously discussed, which also provided us with excellent albums as a result.

And of course, anyone who has read anything that I’ve written in the past year or so should instinctively know that my pet super group is The Notorious Cherry Bombs, which was comprised of Rodney Crowell, Vince Gill, Tony Brown, Hank Devito, Richard Bennett, Michael Rhodes, John Hobbs and Eddie Bayers.

As I think of the competitive climate of the music industry today, I’m discouraged to think that such super groups would be next to impossible to unite anymore. Record label disputes prevented Tracy Lawrence’s collaboration with Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw to be officially released to radio. Likewise, Reba McEntire had to replace Kenny Chesney’s vocals with lesser known artist, Skip Ewing, in order to release “Every Other Weekend” to radio. And these were only disputes over single songs, not even an entire album.

In true essay style form: Without considering record company politics, if you were able to create your own super group who could make at least one album, who would be the members? What would you name the group? Explain.

Larry Gatlin and The Gatlin Brothers, “Johnny Cash is Dead (And His House Burned Down)”

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

As song titles go, “Johnny Cash is Dead (And His House Burned Down)”  doesn’t have quite the eloquence of “The King is Gone”, does it?

Not that subtlety would suit anything about this record anyway, which is as bluntly written and performed as you’d expect from the combination of title and artist here. Plenty of other late stars are name-dropped along the way, including Marty Robbins, Waylon Jennings, and Chet Atkins, with predictable lamenting that the “empty cowboy hats” of today can’t replace those who we’ve already lost.

Of course they can’t. But they can build on the legacy and create lasting music of their own. I’m nearing twenty years as a country fan, and I’ve been able to watch once-young acts like Alan Jackson, Patty Loveless, Dwight Yoakam and Alison Krauss gradually move toward legendary status. It takes time.

The Gatlins would do well to pay a little more attention to what has actually happened in country music since the heyday of the stars he laments. If they can’t do that, they could at least find a song that’s closer in quality to “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes”, instead of this piece of trite claptrap.

Grade: D

Listen: Johnny Cash is Dead (And His House Burned Down)”

Traditional Country is a Link in a Long Chain

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

The following is a guest contribution from Scott O’Brien.

“But someone killed tradition. And for that someone should hang.” –Larry Cordle & Larry Shell, “Murder on Music Row”

Dan Milliken’s recent post got me thinking: The country music I grew up with is nothing like the music on country radio today. If I turned on today’s country radio in 1988, I might not realize it was a country station and keep right on flipping. Back then, Randy Travis and Keith Whitley’s traditional twang ruled the airwaves. Today, they are dominated by the giggly teeny-bopper ditties of Taylor Swift and the boy band sounds of Rascal Flatts. Did they get away with murder on music row? Well, let’s start by briefly uncovering country’s traditional roots.

What is traditional country music? Is it simply anything from the past? That seems too broad; Shania Twain wasn’t traditional. Anything that isn’t pop? Maybe, but that is still a rather wide and subjective net. To me, traditional country music is honky tonk music. It heavily employs steel guitars, fiddles, and forlorn vocals. It moves at a slow pace. There are no drums or electric guitars. The songs typically deal with heavy topics such as heartbreak, cheating, or drinking, with a ballad here and there. In most cases, the goal is to induce pain. Not bad pain, but the therapeutic empathy that tugs your heart and helps you through your personal struggles. The patron saint of traditional country is Hank Williams. Hank’s first disciple is George Jones. Jones’ first disciple is Alan Jackson. The traditional template is supposed to help us decipher what is country and what is not. After all, what makes country music country if not fiddles and cheatin’ songs?

These days, traditionalists have a legitimate beef. When you turn on the radio, you don’t hear much steel guitar. Instead, you hear what might pass for 1990s pop, replete with fluffy repetitive lyrics, catchy drum beats, guitar riffs, and sex appeal. We aren’t preserving country music when the CMT Music Awards feature the B-52s and Def Leppard in lieu of John Anderson and Charley Pride. Was there a tribute to recently deceased traditionalist Vern Gosdin? No way. Do today’s artists “tear your heart out when they sing”? Not a chance. Is Keith Urban going to fill Conway Twitty’s shoes? Not a prayer. You know we are in trouble when pop-infused zipwire-flier Garth Brooks sounds more like Merle Haggard than today’s stars. Heck, just listen to Taylor Swift’s latest album. If that is country, I’ll kiss your ass. Nashville, we have a problem.

But let’s not go off the deep end just yet. Maybe traditionalists are thinking about things too narrowly. Country music is much more than Webb Pierce’s raw steel guitar-laden crooning. It always has been. Going back before Hank to the First Family of Country Music, the Carter family sound was an amalgam of several different sub-genres including Appalachian old-time, folk, and gospel. Jimmie Rodgers, the Father of Country Music, blended elements of jazz, gospel, old-time and blues to create some of the first country sounds. Marty Robbins played just about every musical style conceivable. Traditionalist hero Elvis Presley sang rockabilly. Johnny Cash had similar beginnings and even years later there was nothing “traditional” about his trademark up-tempo bass beat. Waylon Jennings’ music incorporated Buddy Holly’s rock-n-roll rhythm; he even wrote a song about how un-Hank-like his music was. Merle Haggard’s Bob Wills-inspired Bakersfield sound used amps and electric guitars. Even 1980s ACM Artist of the Decade Alabama shunned the steel guitar altogether and typically sang up-tempo, feel-good music. Yet these names are among the most venerated by traditionalists. What gives?

The problem is that traditionalists aren’t even sure what traditional country is. If it includes all artists who sold country records without crossing over to pop, the label is not very helpful. If it is strictly honky tonk, do we really want a bunch of Hank Williams clones? As great as he was, we surely do not. There has to be some updating – just ask Alan Jackson, who has innovated the traditionalist motif without sacrificing his authenticity. The genre has to evolve or it risks becoming boring and repetitive. Waylon Jennings understood this well (“It’s the same old tune, fiddle and guitar/Where do we take it from here?”). Hank Williams’ own son realized it too after trying for years to replicate his father’s sound. His song “Young Country” directly attacked the tradition-or-else mentality: “We like some of the old stuff/We like some of the new/But we do our own choosing/We pick our own music/If you don’t mind, thank you.” He is right. Why draw lines? Strict uniformity is not desirable in any genre, particularly country, whose trademark is its diversity of influences, instruments, rhythms, voices, song topics, and stories.

So what should define today’s country music? It should pay tribute to the past by incorporating and updating its unique fusion of diverse influences. It doesn’t have to be strictly “traditional.” But country music needs to capture the sentiments of rural and working class America. It needs to cover painful topics like drinking and cheating. It needs to tell colorful stories. It needs to tear your heart out sometimes. It also needs to make you feel good sometimes. What it shouldn’t do is become pop music. When country is indistinguishable from Top 40, it loses its soul. Unfortunately, this has happened with the Keith Urbans, Rascal Flatts, and Taylor Swifts – all talented artists to be sure. But country artists? Not so much. Still, there are old warhorses like George Strait who carry the torch and newcomers like Jamey Johnson who give us hope that country’s soul will stay alive and well.

The Few Remaining Icons

Monday, June 29th, 2009

I’ve heard it said so many times in the past week: the death of Michael Jackson is my generation’s equivalent of the Death of Elvis Presley. (I can only assume that makes Kurt Cobain our Janis Joplin?)

He was a controversial figure, to be sure, and much like Elvis, a tragic figure even before his tragic death. Being a music fan first, I lost interest in Jackson a long time ago, simply because he’s made so little music in the past two decades – a mere three studio albums in more than twenty years.

But there’s no doubt that he’s an icon, the embodiment of the MTV age and the breakdown of barriers between pop, R&B and dance music.  Who does pop music have left that’s in the same league? Only Madonna, but since she’s still very much at the top of her game and is anything but a tragic figure, don’t expect the mourning for her to begin any time soon.

But pop music isn’t the only genre running low on icons. What country acts remain that could garner significant coverage upon their death? Johnny Cash’s death made the cover of Time magazine, an honor usually reserved for former Beatles members. CNN broadcast live from Tammy Wynette’s funeral back in 1998.

In contrast, Waylon Jennings and Porter Wagoner, two legends and Hall of Fame members, made barely a ripple in the national news media. It’s easy to imagine the same fate for George Jones and Merle Haggard, two country music icons that have never been nearly as popular in the media beyond country music.

Who are the icons in country music that could command the same attention as Wynette and Cash, or perhaps even Jackson, when their road comes to an end?

Tradition: Chain of Strength or Chain of Restraint?

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

This past weekend, I had the privilege of attending the 2009 International Country Music Conference, conveniently held at a building on my college campus. The three-day event made for quite a mind-feast – so much so, actually, that it’s taking me longer than I had hoped to sort through all my notes and compose a post to do the thing justice. So that’ll be coming through the pipeline sometime within the next few days.

In the meantime, though, one issue raised during the event has really stuck out in my mind, and I thought I’d give it a spin here.

Here’s what happened: in a discussion on Waylon Jennings’ career attitude during his peak Outlaw years, someone mentioned that his label disliked the way he seemed to view himself as a musical descendant of Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams, as if his only role as a recording artist was to serve as a link in those artists’ musical “chain.” The speaker speculated that this sort of “big picture” attitude toward one’s art would probably worry many labels, simply because it directs the public’s focus away from an artist’s individual “star.”

That struck me as eerily relevant to today’s scene, where it’s become much less simple to hypothesize about which artists the big stars have “descended” from – and heck, which genres, in many cases. Today, more than I’ve yet witnessed in my young life, there seems to be much greater emphasis on building up an artist’s individual importance, rather than carrying a certain “flag.” Concerts are getting bigger and more histrionic; the CMA telecast books any act who might help ratings and basically snubs Hall of Fame inductees; and of course, most shout-outs to country legends of yore by today’s artists are usually just shallow attempts to build cred. The mainstream seems to have spoken its bit loud and clear: progress must be pursued, and no need for guidance from the past, thank you very much.

Of course, is that mentality necessarily a bad thing? Some acts have used it to impressive effect. Garth Brooks and Shania Twain, for example, always seemed more interested in blazing new trails for mainstream country music than in following old ones, and they reaped huge dividends with that approach – certainly monetary ones, and perhaps artistic ones, too, depending on your opinion of them.

But was it all truly unique, or just not acknowledged as derivative of something else? And either way, what impact does that kind of approach have on country music as a whole? Is it better, worse, or just different than the traditional “I’m the next in the line of…” way of thinking? Is one really more marketable than the other?

I guess if I had to boil it all down to one question, it would be: what are your thoughts on the role and treatments of tradition in today’s country music?

Greatest Greatest Hits

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

Okey doke, here’s my thinking: we’ll just do Country Quizzin’ every other week for the time being. I look at the blogger/bloggee relationship like an ADD-culture marriage: you gotta change it up sometimes to keep things interesting for both parties!

With that in mind, a discussion:

I got myself on a dangerous roll these past few months in building up my music collection. It was probably a little silly of me; they say owning music is kind of on the way out (the kids these days are all about that newfangled “streaming” thing), and I don’t have a great deal of disposable income to begin with.

But I so love to discover great music, to hold it in my hands. Especially older stuff, which just doesn’t feel right to own exclusively in MP3 form. And when Amazon, eBay and my local record stores keep offering incredible deals on used items, I find their mating calls very hard to resist indeed.

And so I find myself now knee-deep in a pool of that most spurned of media forms: the compact disc. Most of mine are proper albums, but I’ve started to lean more toward compilation packages (e.g. “greatest hits”, “essential”, etc.), particularly box sets, which you can sometimes get for astonishingly good rates if you keep your eyes peeled.

And of course, they’re such a nice way to scoop up most of the important output by artists who didn’t always make cohesively great albums. For example, I picked up Waylon Jennings’ 4-disc Nashville Rebel set a while back, and there’s hardly a bum track to be found. I recommend!

What are some of your favorite country-related compilation packages? Also, who are some artists who you think have been worth collecting full albums from?

Daryle Singletary, “Love You With the Lights On”

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

I really love everything that Daryle Singletary’s approach to country music represents. Sometimes it seems there are only two veins of country traditionalists: the ones who take the Haggard and Jones approach, and the ones who take the Waylon and Willie approach. Singletary is all about the Conway Twitty and Charley Pride, a crooner of romantic ballads awash in steel guitar.

There’s only one thing that holds Singletary back from being the Twitty or Pride of his generation. His voice just doesn’t have the ability to pull off these types of songs completely. “Love You With the Lights On” is a solid enough song. It certainly would’ve been a chart-topper in the seventies for one of the aforementioned men.

Singletary sings it pleasantly enough, but he’s not entirely convincing as the seducer here.  His voice just doesn’t have the depth and nuance to pull it off. God bless him, but he sounds like he’s singing for control of the remote, not fulfillment of his desires.

Grade: B-

Listen: Love You With the Lights On