tommyjacobs Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I don't really hate country music; I hate Nashville corporate country music. The thought hit me the other day after I heard Faith Hill's cover of "Piece of my Heart." Afterward, I felt compelled to listen to Janis Joplin's version of the same song, and the difference is not only startling, but a perfect illustration of what ills Nashville. Ever heard Janis Joplin sing "Piece of my Heart"? I'm sure you have. The band is loose, playing primal blues riffs behind her while she alternates between soft R&B-inflected verses and a howling chorus. When I listen to it, life is worth living just for those three minutes. It has soul, not just in a Motown way, but in the way that creates a deep emotional connection with the listener. Faith Hill, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. She's got a backing band of All-Pro session players, all of whom are skilled in their own right, but they're a little too good, if you know what I mean. The playing is a bit too polished, a bit too orchestrated, strangling any chance spontaneity or inspiration has of entering the studio. It's pretty much what you'd expect from a bunch of well fed mercenaries with little vested interest in the music. And Faith? This just isn't the song for her. Now, it's not her fault that she can't sing like Janis; not many can. But she should have known better than to cover a song already done so well. Her vocals are flat and dull, lacking that spark you hear in great music. And that's what Nashville is missing, that spark. The corporate mindset suffocates it. How could you expect to find it in music produced by assembly line? Have you ever heard anything produced by Nashville that has half the emotion of Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs? That album drips with despair and longing, the vocals and guitars stretching and straining to convey Clapton's inner emotions. The greatest musicians can produce music with that level of emotional content even when they don't feel it themselves at that moment. They're a bit like actors, in a way. I suppose that's what any artist does, just in different mediums, and is the major distinction between a musical artist and an entertainer, though many musicians are both. I don't mean to sound elitist, so let me offer a final illustration from American Idol. You know that girl Alexis that just got voted off, the one whose name Randy couldn't remember? She sang a Dolly Parton song, "Jolene," and it was dull as shit. I don't expect that much from an Idol contestant, but it really put me to sleep. Unsurprisingly, she got voted off, but they gave her a chance to sing it again to persuade the judges to save her. Did you hear the second time she sang it? She was fighting back tears and she was desperate to stay, and you could hear it in her voice. I was reading a book, barely paying attention, but the edge to her vocals grabbed me and made me listen. I can't remember that ever happening on Idol before, but I couldn't ignore the delivery. Nashville produces a lot of the American Idol karaoke music, entertaining to some, but usually without much depth. It could use a little desperation now and again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PopTodd Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I got news for you.It's not just corporate country music, but corporate music, in general. Mainstream RnB has been pretty crappy for a very long time.Only just now are they starting to find the way to make good mainstream RnB again. (Raphael Saadiq, is a prime example of how they're finding their way back.) But they'll loose it again. Mainstream country has always been mostly shitty.But then folks like Hank, Dolly, Willie, Waylon, et. al break into the mainstream, and they find their way again.Of course, the product pushers then push those folks into the background again (because the true artists can't be controlled). So, you know, it's cyclical. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Why I hate rock music Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dondoboy Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I don't really hate punk rock. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rareair Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 elitist. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lamradio Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I don't know, but that Brad Paisley can play the hell out of the guitar. And Keith Urban is actually a pretty damn good guitar player as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Why I hate rock music At the risk of total ridicule, as shitty as county music is, at least they try to tell a story and carry a tune, something that most rock (and to an extent R& doesn't any longer. I have said this before but when a rock number actually has a hummable tune it is like water in the desert. I am constantly amazed that I actually like Viva la Vida by Coldplay because otherwise I couldNOT stand them and it is no wonder that Crazy by Gnarls Barkley is still played on every radio station; it has a great tune and fun (if slightly disturbing) words. Meanwhile country musicians, as overblown and untalented as many of them are, are still writing songs in an old school type way. So okay Faith Hill fucked up Janis Joplin. There are those who think Janis Joplin fucked up George Gershwin (I have an older friend who won't forgive her for Summertime...), so that's how popular music goes that is covered by someone else. At least Janis is making money off Faith Hill and singing a song that has actually caught your attention, rather than singing crap you don't care about. By the way, Hank and all the rest were commercial country artists, just trying to make a living writing and recording songs. There are plenty of great classic country artists. None of them were trying any less to break into radio airplay and make a buck. (Some such as Waylon and Willie did it by not being conventional, but Dolly is as conventional a country artist as you can find and one who is just as rich as can be...) We only discriminate between who is cool and who isn't in retrospect I suppose. When the regular path didn't work for Waylon and Willie they became hippies and that worked. Good for them. But had they made it the old fashioned way, they would have kept their pompodors and nudie suits and been done with it. Faith Hill meanwhile is just doing what she has to do in order to sell records and that means sometimes putting out a lame cover version of an old song, the same way Janis put out a pretty out there version of a standard herself and got attention for it. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nodep5 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I don't know, but that Brad Paisley can play the hell out of the guitar. And Keith Urban is actually a pretty damn good guitar player as well. This is why I give little credence to talent alone. It is what I call the "Liberace or Eric Clapton Issue". Just because you have talent doesn't make you a strong artist and definetly doesn't make you original in anyway. Go be in a symphony and play classical music if you want talent. Give me J Mascis any day over this crap. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Winston Legthigh Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Go be in a symphony and play classical music if you want talent. Give me J Mascis any day over this crap.A symphony is a musical composition. Perhaps more musical education would open your mind? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 hen the regular path didn't work for Waylon and Willie they became hippies and that worked. Good for them. But had they made it the old fashioned way, they would have kept their pompodors and nudie suits and been done with it. Faith Hill meanwhile is just doing what she has to do in order to sell records and that means sometimes putting out a lame cover version of an old song, the same way Janis put out a pretty out there version of a standard herself and got attention for it. LouieB That reminds me - I read or saw an interview once with Waylon where he talked about how that Outlaw Country deal was made-up to sell records. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gobias Industries Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 A symphony is a musical composition. Perhaps more musical education would open your mind? elitist. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ction Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 And Keith Urban is actually a pretty damn good guitar player as well. Is that the guy from Australia that sings with a southern accent? Whichever guy that is is a grade A tool. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lamradio Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Is that the guy from Australia that sings with a southern accent? Whichever guy that is is a grade A tool. Agreed, he is a tool. But I respect his guitar playing. The dude can play.. Plus he gets to bang Nicole Kidman. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 We only discriminate between who is cool and who isn't in retrospect I suppose.Yeah. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mjpuczko Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 i actually dig a few brad paisley songs. i'm a really big fan of gary allan too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wild Frank Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 So okay Faith Hill fucked up Janis Joplin. There are those who think Janis Joplin fucked up George Gershwin (I have an older friend who won't forgive her for Summertime...), so that's how popular music goes that is covered by someone else. At least Janis is making money off Faith Hill and singing a song that has actually caught your attention, rather than singing crap you don't care about. LouieB She's been dead for a while now though so isn't really making much money off it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nodep5 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 A symphony is a musical composition. Perhaps more musical education would open your mind? Thanks for the tip, but for the most part I try to keep education out of my music experience. I go by what my ears appreciate and along the way I'm educated through discovery and understanding history. I don't need education to know that there are a billion excellent musicians in the world, probably a handful on Via Chicago, but that doesn't make any of them interesting musically. If we were giving out cookies to great musicians Jeff Tweedy for example would be crumbs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Smith Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I don't "Hate" country music or any corporate rock...I just don't listen to it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CortezTheKiller Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 That reminds me - I read or saw an interview once with Waylon where he talked about how that Outlaw Country deal was made-up to sell records.Then it done got out of hand. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Then it done got out of hand. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pmancini100 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 this is a problem with all corporate music, not just country. the production sucks nowadays. its too glossy and it doesnt have soul. corporate country sounds extra cheesy as a result. i totally agree with this. hank williams rules. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jules Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 She's been dead for a while now though so isn't really making much money off it what happened? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bigideas Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 thing is - the stuff you mention in the original post is not country music. it's more country/pop. what really is country is now classified as "classic country." No one here likes Dwight Yoakam? Most people will say they like Johnny Cash, but at the same time will say they don't like country. Here is a local station that made me realize that I do like country music, it's just that I wasn't really hearing any on the modern format. www.theranch.fm There is this older guy who writes and sounds like classic country, James Hand.He lists Hank Sr, Ernest Tubb, etc as inspiration and you can tell it. www.jamesslimhand.com Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nodep5 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I always get upset by today's country (nashville country) because country music at it's purest form is my favorite kind of music. Listening to the Carter Family, Hank, Merle or old Folkways records reminds me of what this music can be and everything is isn't today. And it is sad that mainstream doesn't even try to advance it as an artform. But I take comfort in owning country music that has been made in the last 20 years that has advanced the tradition. Everything from UT's Anodyne to BPB Sings Palace Music remind me that the ball can keep on rolling. With the exception of one Gary Allan album and one Lee Ann Womack album I think mainstream country is lost. I enjoyed the Bluegrass explosion after O Brother, but unfortunately that taught the nashville idiots nothing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mjpuczko Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 what gary allan album? his last three are pretty good (his latest one is probably my favorite). always a few stinkers on his ablums though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.