a can of worms

Mike Archer · From: church hill tn

does any body out there feel as I do
and long for more traditional country
music?
I dont even listen to the radio anymore
mabe I am narrow minded but I like
steel fills intros and solos
and fiddle!! so many great players in
nashville I want to hear more of them

Robert Thomas · From: Mehama, Oregon, USA

I guess I agree with you. Every time I tune in to Grand Old Opry, I turn it off. The country music of today is so far removed from what I would consider country that it is unbelievable. I guess I come from a different generation since I am now over 70. I play what I consider is music, but to many it would probably be considered to simple or unrealistic or old fashioned.
Maybe I am just too old and don't fit or count anymore. The way some of todays stars?, dress and act seems ludicrous to say the least, but that seems to be what the public wants, crassness and whatever else you want to call it, I have said enough.
If you listened or agreed, thanks, I am not alone.

James Morehead · From: Prague, Oklahoma, USA - R.I.P.

Will Rodgers said "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!" I don't know why they think they had to "fix it". Country Music was just doing fine with out "them". Dale watson said it best:"Mr. DJ, won't you please play, a REAL country song!"

Roger Kelly · From: Bristol,Tennessee

Mike, I can agree with you on that! The only thing better than a Steel and Fiddle is a Steel and Twin Fiddles

Savell · From: Slocomb, AL

I decided the other day to count off how many songs had steel and/or fiddle while listening to one of the top country stations around here. I'm not sure how it happened, but during that particular day every song I listened to except 2 had distinctive steel and/or fiddle parts in them.

So that being said, I think maybe the instruments themselves have not lost a lot of ground with the latest generation of country music.

What has gone away is the slower single vocalist ballads like the old songs by Hank Locklin, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Ray Price, etc.

This generation seems to put more emphasis on how high and how long a harmony group can hold a note. It seems to me like most females and vocal groups do more holloring than singing. The music is still good but the overall sound is kinda like a cross between an 80's night club band and a 70's CCR imitation.

We need some real singers (with heart, not just lungs) accompanied by a solid 5 piece country band sound.

I love classic rock as much as the next guy, but this cheap inbreeding between styles is enough to make you want to put in a CD of the old-timers.

BTW, nothing against female singers. Just haven't heard any good new ones lately. I do kinda like that Leanne Rymes and bluegrass girl Krouse (can't remember her name).

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Savell Norsworthy
Fessenden SD10/Nashville 400;Fender Telecaster;Alembic Epic Bass/Peavey TNT115 Sheffield
Savell Ministries

C Dixon · From: Duluth, GA USA

When the GOO gave in and allowed drums and electric basses there were those who said,

"This is the beginning of the end!"

I expect their prophetic words are now being fulfilled.

carl

Herman Visser · From: Rohnert Park, California, USA

I talked to man at our loacl radio station here in N. cal.He told me that the reason they dont play alot of old country music is because no one calls and ask them to play them. So where is the problem HUmmm!You got start calling these people if you want to hear some older songs also.Hi people its like cars we all cant drive 57 Chevs.they are fun,But I for one like my air and power stering.THere are still alot of singers(new) that have great steel in them Brad Paisley, Tracy Byrd Allen Jackson to name some.Things change, I like the old stuff But from what I hearing there are still singers and plyers out there bringing a little of the old style back

GARYPHILLIPS · From: SOMERSET, OHIO ,PERRY

I know I don't like it, if it was up to me they would all be out of a job,
I think they should call it County Mu-sick

[This message was edited by GARYPHILLIPS on 01 July 2004 at 11:52 PM.]

Mike Archer · From: church hill tn

it is true there are some good stuff
out there on radio and great steel work
alan brad and afew others are there
but the pop rock thing is a little old
to me dont get me wrong as well as steel
I play guitar also and i can rock or
i can twang
theres just somthing about todays country
that lacks heart

David L. Donald · From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

I think most of the new generation of country listeners liking fiddle and slide are listening to bluegrass.
So Staurt Dunca and Jerry Douglas rule the day.

Eric Gearhart · From: Bellingham, Massachusetts, USA

Music on today's commercial radio is a corporate mandated "song" list decided by a bunch of wankers in suits in a big boardroom. DJ's must comply with what these idiots think people want to hear(overandoverandoverandoverandover). It's all about sponsors and money while integrity is replaced by excrement. The only break we get in Boston is the Sunday morning country oldies from 7-noon on 99.5.

Chuck McGill · From: An hour from Memphis and 2 from Nashville, R.I.P.

I think a lot of young artists go to Nashville to be country singers with traditional roots.
Look at the way the careers of most artist flow. First releases are generally very country. The third cd release is the crossover pitch. Pop and rock. Dress em up like a slut and show the boys butt. Hey now
there's a country song hook.

[This message was edited by Chuck McGill on 02 July 2004 at 05:52 AM.]

Robert Thomas · From: Mehama, Oregon, USA

I think I can sum it all up it one short statement.
Bill Clinton's book is a great example, "PEOPLE LOVE GARBAGE!"

Sonny Priddy · From: Elizabethtown, Kentucky, USA, R.I.P.

The Band I Play In Playes Old Country Nothing Else I Won't Play This New What Ever It Is. SONNY.

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Mike Archer · From: church hill tn

thanks I respect all opinions that
have been givin on this topic
I dont mean to down the new folks in
the new country I just dont want us
to lose our roots
folks like alan travis brad are keeping
that from happening so far and
some change is good
keep picking and enjoy it

Jim Smith · From: Midlothian, TX, USA

Most of the bands I play with only play PG music - Pre Garth!

Chuck McGill · From: An hour from Memphis and 2 from Nashville, R.I.P.

I don't want to sound sour on country. I listen to all kinds of music but when it get's so predictable and you know that artist
has the soul to do more its a shame.

John Daugherty · From: Rolla, Missouri, USA

I got to thinking about this situation one day. I asked myself "why do I like some recordings and not others?". I arrived at a surprising conclusion.
When the record had a sustained background, such as an organ constantly pouring out sound, it was noise to my ears.
When the music had gaps (pure silence) between the instrumentation, it was music to my ears.
The "twangers" who record with loud electric rythmn guitars in the background, create this same noise effect.
Try listening to recordings and see if you arrive at the same conclusion. I am anxious to hear the results from some other listeners.

Ron Page · From: Penn Yan, NY USA

I feel the same way that Mike Archer put it at the top of this thread.

Savell, I'll bet if you count the number of tunes that have a steel intro you'll get a much different result. Mostly token fills these days. Recall what a stir was made here by Lloyd Green's turnaround in AJ's Remember When.

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HagFan

Pat Jenkins · From: Abingdon, VA, USA

Hey Mike, you are on the right track. What Eric said hit it on the nail. Most stations do not take requests and they really don't want someone calling in to make any. For most stations, there is a playlist and it is the final word. I have been in radio/music since the early 70's. There has been such a change. We used to keep track of all of the requests and turned it in at the end of the week.....NOT ANY MORE! But, what goes around, comes around. Good music and good musicians will come back into style again. And when it happens radio will jump on board.......about 6 months later. HAHA

Pat

Waltzing Through A Rock And Roll Life!

Ray Minich · From: Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra

XM-13. I go home, sit in the easy chair, put the headphones on, tune the radio to XM-13, and drift back Country Music 1962. Heavenly.

[This message was edited by Ray Minich on 02 July 2004 at 07:32 AM.]

Mike Headrick · From: South Pittsburg, TN, USA

It's sad, but we're going to have to change our way of thinking. We can no longer look to commercial radio as the barometer for country music. Good country music can still be found, but we have to look in other places. The great country music of today is not getting airplay, but it is being produced and sold somewhere. I've seen numerous posts here on the forum telling about a great artist or CD and the originator of the post usually states where it can be heard or bought. That's just one small example of how the Internet can (and hopefully will) play a big part in the salvation of country music. There are a lot of small independent record companies who are trying to do their part by releasing pure country artists and music. They realize the market is still there, but can't be accessed properly without the distribution or airplay. They just try to wing along, garnering enough sales to keep producing the music they believe in. The bigger labels have to spend so much on "production" and "promotion" that if an artist (now sometimes called "service provider") only sells a few hundred thousand copies, they're off the roster come spring cleaning time. Hopefully ways will be found for smaller, more country labels to market to the old traditional country fans who still exist, and also create new ones. It's true that a good country song sneaks into mainstream from time to time, but I for one, will not put up with the rest of what's being called country just to hear the occasional token "real country" song and then hear the DJ "Yee Haw" and make fun of it as if he's ashamed to be associated with it. I either listen to CDs & talk radio while driving, or CDs & Internet radio at work or home. I know I've heard at least a thousand other fans of good country music say the same thing. There is a very real demand for true country music which is not being tapped because the majors won't do it, and the smaller independents have been squeezed out.

Another sad thing (while I'm on the soap box) is that this stuff has been force fed to listeners so long that they think it actually is country music. I had a songwriter in the studio a couple of weeks ago who was doing some demos of his songs. They all had the marks of todays "country", and when he sang, I could tell he'd listened to a ton of Tim McGraw, but He said He'd never heard of the LOUVIN BROTHERS who have influenced country (and rock ) music for half a century. Pathetic!

[This message was edited by Mike Headrick on 02 July 2004 at 10:49 AM.]

Gary C. Dygert · From: Frankfort, NY, USA

When I was a teenager in the 1960s, Buck Owens was considered modern country. Since then it's been the Nashville Sound, crossovers, and the Garth/Shania phenomenon. I still prefer Ernest Tubb, Kitty Wells, Loretta, Jones, and the Original Carter Family. A lot of good acoustic country is being done in the bluegrass field, and I think this will help to keep traditional country alive, despite the crossover-pop-rock efforts. It's sad that the listeners have no say in what's played on the radio. A few little, independent stations still do requests and play the real stuff.

C Dixon · From: Duluth, GA USA

I respectfully state that it is not the producers, DJ's, or any myriad of "entities" including men in NY with suits on that determine "what" should be played on the radio or seen on TV.

No indeed beloved forumites. We can say that, and others will believe that it is contrived, but in the final analysis, it is the fans. And the fans are those "worshipers" who idolize what we are fast coming to despise.

Believe me this IS true. As true as the sun comes up in the morning. Listen to what your children are going gaa-gaa over. Check what rack they go to when they are in the CD department. Notice what they buy. You need look NO further than the socalled "artwork" on its cover. Look at who or should I say "what" they LIKE to dress like. Worse,,,emulate!

It is all part of the reason, DJ's, producers, owners and New Yorkers with suits on, etc, insist on catering to the multitudes who scream for Garth and Shania, etc. These worshipers simply hate Ernest Tubb, Ray Price, George Jones, etc, including the steel guitar.

To them what we love and would love to hear on radio is archaic, and should never have been, IF we had been "cool". and "you know, like I mean"

If the above "officials" were to play what we like as their mainstream, the worshipers would yell a 1000 decibels louder than they do at a 500DB too loud concert; and castigate ANY one they felt was responsible for it.

UNLESS it looks like the effiminate Michael Jackson, or has 17 earrings in his mouth, nose, ears, tongue or eyeballs (YES they are putting them IN their eyes now), wear cold black lipstick, were clothes that leave NOTHING to the imagination, makeup that was purchased at the local Sherwin Williams paint store, exhibit all kinds of lewd and lascivious acts called "artistic ecpression" of every conceivable sin, and espouse a doctrine that satan would be proud to sign, our kids simply do NOT care for it.

If you have not noticed the above, look around folks. Take a good second look while you are at it. Sadder, look and listen to what is being played in our churches now, "so that we can bring the youth in".

yeah right!

May God have mercy on us for what WE have permitted our offsprings to do. Worse what we have done.

Or this is what I believe to be truth. Time will tell however. Make no mistake about it. John Haggee last Monday on TV said, "You WILL bow and call him Lord!" "It is just a matter of WHEN!"

carl

George Kimery · From: Limestone, TN, USA

I am partially at fault for the demise of real Country music that we all love so dearly. I don't buy any CD's or go to concerts of true country artists. The last few concerts I went to just had a bunch of idiot's screaming and standing up until I couldn't enjoy the concert which I paid good money for. The last CD I bought of a singer was Daryl Singletary, and besides loving his singing, I wanted the turnaround that Mike Johnson did on I Never Go Around Mirrors. I buy steel CD's, but they don't count except to the steeler that is selling them. So any of you that don't buy true country artist's CD's are, like me, contributing to it's demise. Maybe I am wrong, it wouldn't be the first time, but if I were a record company, why would I want to put out CD's that people don't buy. Maybe you guys do buy CD's of artists that you like, but I suspect the older population in general doesn't. The young buy, the old don't. Put out what the young will buy, not what the old will not buy. Simple math.

Now that I think about it, things have been this way for a long time. When Merle Haggard, George Jones, Ray Price, Buck Owens, etc. were at their prime, we were the young ones buying the records and tapes, so they gave us what we wanted. We stopped buying and another generation took our place. Is it just me, or was country music still OK until the group Alabama came onto the scene? Seems to me that they were the first ones I noticed that wasn't doing country, but were getting airplay on country stations. Seems like things haven't been the same since.

[This message was edited by George Kimery on 02 July 2004 at 10:45 AM.]

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