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Posted (edited)

^

 

Expand on that a bit, and that'd make a helluva New Yorker essay.

 

(@Josie)

:(

 

(frowning because you didn't direct that at me  :P )

 

But Josie is very right and the this is something we lament frequently. It's really bizarre how the wealthy have latched onto "country" culture. Like they even have any right. 

Edited by d4rksabre
Posted (edited)

This is very true. There are a lot of us out there trying to find real country music. And you'd have to call it alt-country. For me, country and blues are very closely related. Blues has had its more glamorous takes, especially with some of the really big blues rock stuff. But you can still find people making music that keeps the spirit of guys like Lead Belly and Fred McDowell alive. There's enough realness. Enough grit. Country used to be sharp, witty and SMART. Country has gotten dumb.

 

 

 

I still think it's a huge conspiracy to keep people dumb and poor. Turn the redneck lifestyle into something to be "proud" of and you'll be able to elect Donald Trump President in no time. Larry the Cable guy was a total fraud and these dopes didn't even care because he made being stupid trash okay! The music just followed the money.

Support Our Troops

Drink some beers in the truck

Come die in our oil wars

Didn't you know Jesus walked with the dinosaurs?

That's what it means to be a 'merican

Expand that a little and it would make a helluva New Yorker essay ???? Edited by dudacek
Posted (edited)

 

Oh, for sure. Buck Owens was mainstream. I think he had a TV show at one point. And, yes, he was writing popular music - pop tunes. But Jeebus Christmas - it's just one sparkler after another from that guy.

Which may go to a point I didn't know I was trying to make: There can be greatness inside the mainstream of a music industry. Harder and harder nowadays, I suppose. But it can exist there.

 

Buck Owens was a serious talent. One of his musical off-spring, Dwight Yoakam, is a direct reflection of that. 

 

Very little 'modern' country music works for me due to the intentional dumbing down and red-necking of it (aside from lack of talent). There are some gems out there but at this point they may fit more in the 'roots' music category than country, I think. 

 

Agree on the point about talent within the mainstream. It's possible, just unlikely. For example the uber popular mainstream pop singer Adele, does in fact sing like a goddess/genius.  

In my car and on my iPhone these days I am pretty much cycling endlessly through Howlin' Wolf. Sort of came to Chicago Blues in a big way only recently so I'm working through major artists, depending who catches my attention. 

The raw intensity of emotion and musical craftsmanship of those Howlin' Wolf records is stunning. Hubert Sumlin has to be one of the most underrated guitar players of the last century. 

 

Interesting tidbit:

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/464802/rolling-stones-jagger-richards-pay-for-hubert-sumlins-funeral

Edited by Sakman
Posted

Agree on the point about talent within the mainstream. It's possible, just unlikely. For example the uber popular mainstream pop singer Adele, does in fact sing like a goddess/genius.  

 

Yep.

Posted

Expand that a little and it would make a helluva New Yorker essay ????

:lol:

 

Josie sent me an old editorial the other day about the rise of white trash. Maybe she can post that up here. Seems relevant.

Posted

I mean the wholly depressing life stories of people who live in the country. Reba McEntire singing about being sold away from her depression era mama to make ends meet as a prostitute

Fancy! Favorite Reba song by a mile! When my grandmother wasn't listening to Italian crooners she was listening to Dolly, Loretta, Patsy and Reba. I used to get brought souvenirs from The Grand Ole Opry. And that stuff was always on in the background at grandma's house.

 

My wife loves new country, which makes me want to vomit, but she can also sing every word to every single Conway Twitty song. It's weird, she really gets into the new crap, but she loves all of the old stuff too...ya take the good with the bad, lol. Not like I don't like plenty of that she hates.

Posted

Fancy! Favorite Reba song by a mile! When my grandmother wasn't listening to Italian crooners she was listening to Dolly, Loretta, Patsy and Reba. I used to get brought souvenirs from The Grand Ole Opry. And that stuff was always on in the background at grandma's house.

 

My wife loves new country, which makes me want to vomit, but she can also sing every word to every single Conway Twitty song. It's weird, she really gets into the new crap, but she loves all of the old stuff too...ya take the good with the bad, lol. Not like I don't like plenty of ###### that she hates.

Loretta :wub:

Posted

 Dolly, Loretta, Patsy and Reba.

 

Four women who can really sing. I don't always appreciate the song choices (esp. Reba) but with the right songs, good lord they are good.  

I'll throw Martina McBride in there too.  

Posted

Four women who can really sing. I don't always appreciate the song choices (esp. Reba) but with the right songs, good lord they are good.

I'll throw Martina McBride in there too.

Martina can sing her tits off! She's a little too churchy for me though. She crushes Independence Day, but that song gets real old real fast.

Posted

 And how has no one mentioned Bowie yet.

 

I discovered him late. Embarrassingly late. How does anyone feel about his final album?

Gives me chills. I listened to it on repeat for hours one night as I painted a portrait of him. What a loss.

 

Blackstar is magnificent. I listened to it the day it was released and had mixed feelings. He died and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Hard going now, but so good. I'm not so sure how many people, let alone artists, stared down death as well as he did and documented it for the rest of us.

Posted (edited)

Blackstar is magnificent. I listened to it the day it was released and had mixed feelings. He died and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Hard going now, but so good. I'm not so sure how many people, let alone artists, stared down death as well as he did and documented it for the rest of us.

I really really really like Blackstar. 

 

I'm a late bloomer when it comes to appreciating Bowie. Dude was great. 

Edited by d4rksabre
Posted

:lol:

 

Josie sent me an old editorial the other day about the rise of white trash. Maybe she can post that up here. Seems relevant.

I stumbled onto it from an article about Mama June of that Honey BooBoo stuff, if you can believe it. The original article was a look into the two roles of women in media, the classical and the grotesque. It then went on to discuss Anna Nicole Smith and ref'd this, from 1994: http://nymag.com/news/features/46608/

 

What's old is new is old is new. If you're a woman, you gotta be a saint on the streets but a wh0re in the sheets. Mothers, sluts, virgins, b!tches. I could write an essay on it, but a lot of essays have already been written. But now I'm off topic. This is a thread about music, not Jo's angry feminist rant time. 

 

Blackstar is magnificent. I listened to it the day it was released and had mixed feelings. He died and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Hard going now, but so good. I'm not so sure how many people, let alone artists, stared down death as well as he did and documented it for the rest of us.

It's so hard to listen to sometimes. 

 

Lazarus. "Look up here, I'm in heaven..." 

God. Damn. Man. 

 

Four women who can really sing. I don't always appreciate the song choices (esp. Reba) but with the right songs, good lord they are good.  

I'll throw Martina McBride in there too.  

At the horse rescue, we've got a mule named Jolene, a recently foaled mare named Dolly, and they're trying to name her baby Merle. 

Posted

 

 

It's so hard to listen to sometimes. 

 

Lazarus. "Look up here, I'm in heaven..." 

God. Damn. Man. 

 

 

The video for Lazarus is an absolute gut-punch as well. The final scene where he closes the closet door but we all know it's a coffin... .

Posted

The video for Lazarus is an absolute gut-punch as well. The final scene where he closes the closet door but we all know it's a coffin... ######.

May we all go with as good an album (or our equivalent art) when we know it's our final post.

 

Lost in the losses of Prince and Bowie last year (both transcendent awesome) was Bernie Worrell. So here's a shoutout to a couple of my top 5s: Parliament/Funkadelic (I like Parliament more, but it's difficult to split them apart sometimes) and Talking Heads. Bernie, represent.

And... Purple Rain comes on shuffle out of thousands of tracks, because of course it does.

Posted

Tying the above into another recent death, Jonathan Demme. He directed Stop Making Sense, the Talking Heads (with Bernie Worrell among others) movie that might just be the best concert film ever made.

 

Bonus points for Silence of the Lambs.

Posted

Tying the above into another recent death, Jonathan Demme. He directed Stop Making Sense, the Talking Heads (with Bernie Worrell among others) movie that might just be is the best concert film ever made.

Had to make a minor adjustment. So, another shoutout to Mr. Demme.

 

It's like 60 minutes on acid. I'll tell you later.

Posted

This is very true. There are a lot of us out there trying to find real country music. And you'd have to call it alt-country. For me, country and blues are very closely related. Blues has had its more glamorous takes, especially with some of the really big blues rock stuff. But you can still find people making music that keeps the spirit of guys like Lead Belly and Fred McDowell alive. There's enough realness. Enough grit. Country used to be sharp, witty and SMART. Country has gotten dumb. 

 

I still think it's a huge conspiracy to keep people dumb and poor. Turn the redneck lifestyle into something to be "proud" of and you'll be able to elect Donald Trump President in no time. Larry the Cable guy was a total fraud and these dopes didn't even care because he made being stupid trash okay! The music just followed the money.

 

Support Our Troops 

Drink some beers in the truck

Come die in our oil wars

Didn't you know Jesus walked with the dinosaurs?

That's what it means to be a 'merican

Love me some alt-country. See Neko Case, Ryan Adams, Wilco, Justin Townes Earle. So flipping good. Cannot listen to a minute of contemporary country.

Posted

Not a Waits fan. 3 of my friends got into him to annoying levels after high school and it really turned me off to him.

Aw, I hate when that happens. He's certainly an acquired taste- I go in and out of really loving him. I know a few people who are just so snobby about their Waits love that it grosses me out. 

 

I have my fair share of great bands I can't listen to anymore for that reason though, including some of my former favorites mentioned above. I need to work on that. 

Posted

Guilty pleasure: Glenn Miller Orchestra. :bag:

 

My Grandpa loved Glenn Miller.  He listened to Miller's music quite a bit.  I actually like a few songs.  

Posted

When I'm not listening to metal, more often than not I am listening to jazz vocalists.  Mostly fairly mainstream stuff.  Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James.  I def have a preference for female jazz vocalists...... 

 

Along those lines, my favorite guilty pleasure is Post Modern Jukebox.  Love the jazzy takes on modern radio hits.  And Haley Reinhart  :wub: :wub: :wub:

Posted (edited)

uuummmm....dislike Matchbox 20.  Could never get into them.  

 

 

 

Let me add todays music is terrible.  

Edited by GoPre
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