Let's talk about country music (warning Andy, list itt)

[Ghost]

Tom T. Hall is an amazing songwriter

I mentioned Tom T Hall a few weeks ago and there were no takers

Timely that he should get a mention now though, as I got his 'In Search Of A Song'/'The Rhymer And Other Five And Dimers' 2 for 1 CD yesterday. It's great, and for anyone who hasn't heard his stuff I can not only thoroughly recommend it, but I'd like to add that for me he's simply one of the great lyric writers of all time. As Joe Henry points out in the liner notes of Real (which is the tribute album with the megaupload link above) the amount he tells you about a character or situation in under 3 minutes (most of Tom's songs are short) is astounding. The weird thing is the lyrics don't sound detailed, there's very little 'fat' on the words, he just seems to be able to say a lot (and usually something poignant) with some broad strokes. Fantastic. Like Dylan, there are some great gags in there too.

[noteethleroy]

I love Tom T. Hall & that is my favorite tribute album ever, it took me awhile to track down a cheap copy though they seem to be cheaper now, they were $40 US for awhile. Joe Henry's version of Homecoming is one of the best things on it. Like Ghost said, short and to the point but it tells a story so well, one of my favorite songs of all time.

I guess I should've written, Dad, to let you know that I was coming home
I've been gone so many years, I didn't realize you had a phone
I saw your cattle coming in, boy they're looking mighty fat and slick
I saw Fred at the service station, told me that his wife is awful sick

You heard my record on the radio, oh, well it's just another song
But I've got a hit recorded and it'll be out on the market 'fore too long
I got this ring in Mexico, no, it didn't cost me quite a bunch
When you're in the business that I'm in, the people call it puttin' up a front

I know I've lost a little weight, I guess I am looking kind of pale
If you didn't know me better, Dad, you'd think that I'd just gotten out of jail
No, we don't ever call them beer joints, night clubs are the places that I work
You meet a lot of people there, but no, there ain't much chance of gettin' hurt

I'm sorry that I couldn't be there with you all when Momma passed away
I was on the road and when they came and told me it was just too late
I drove by the grave to see her, boy, that really is a pretty stone
I'm glad that Fred and Jan are here, it's better than you being here alone

Well I knew you's gonna ask me who the lady is that's sleeping in the car
That's just a girl who works for me and, man, she plays a pretty mean guitar
We worked in San Antone last night, she didn't even have the time to dress
She drove me down from Nashville and to tell the truth I guess she needs the rest

Well, Dad, I gotta go, we got a dance to work in Cartersville tonight
Let me take your number down, I'll call you, and I promise you I'll write
Now you be good and don't be chasin' all those pretty women that you know
And by the way if you see Barbara Walker tell her that I said "Hello."

[Dangerbird]

i'm enjoying that tribute, and as such will look out for some original Tom T Hall.

[BigE]

Steve Roberts wrote:
I was brought up on country music (along with The Beatles and all that), it was pretty well known stuff; Hank Williams, Hank Locklin, Jim Reeves, Tammy, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and the like.

Paulv then wrote:
So was I - probably why I still fucking loathe it now

As I've said B4...I'm with you here, I'm not into all this traditional Country tripe - We will be all wearing cowboy hats if we're not too careful - sounds like there is already some line dancing going on!!! It is a wide brief in the title:-

AmericanaUK - home for Americana, Alt country and Alternative

I'll at least give most thing a listen as I've got a little older, and I'm not trying restrict any freedoms here, but... IMHO there is such a thing as "Too Country"!!!

Take it Away... Please

[Dangerbird]

I'll at least give most thing a listen as I've got a little older, and I'm not trying restrict any freedoms here, but... IMHO there is such a thing as "Too Country"!!!

Take it Away... Please

i used to loathe country.
but, like others here, i challenged myself on the issue and decided to peek into it's world.
what i found was a world rich with traditions and style, and far from what i had imagined.
in terms of "too country": if it's the likes of Keith Urban, Toby Keith or Garth Brooks you're referring to, then i'd agree. but then i'd argue that's not really country... it's twang influenced pop/rock.

[noteethleroy]

I can understand not liking country music, but I can't understand not respecting it. It is a huge part of the history of americana and alt-country, many of these artists love the stuff. No matter how much you hate the sound, there are some amazing sets of lyrics in country music.

[paulv]

Steve Roberts wrote:
I was brought up on country music (along with The Beatles and all that), it was pretty well known stuff; Hank Williams, Hank Locklin, Jim Reeves, Tammy, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and the like.

Paulv then wrote:
So was I - probably why I still fucking loathe it now

As I've said B4...I'm with you here, I'm not into all this traditional Country tripe - We will be all wearing cowboy hats if we're not too careful - sounds like there is already some line dancing going on!!! It is a wide brief in the title:-

AmericanaUK - home for Americana, Alt country and Alternative

I'll at least give most thing a listen as I've got a little older, and I'm not trying restrict any freedoms here, but... IMHO there is such a thing as "Too Country"!!!

Take it Away... Please

Hits the nail exactly on the head. This aint a country music website and never will be (but that doesn't mean people can't discuss it of course - in the same way that the sane majority will call then on it ).

[BigE]

I can't understand not respecting it. It is a huge part of the history of americana and alt-country

No disrespect intended on my part, but with all these "Country Styles" there is plenty of room to Love & Hate - just choose your poison.

Alternative Country, Alternative Country-Rock, Alternative Country, Americana,Neo-Traditional Folk, Contemporary Country, New Traditionalist, Neo-Traditionalist Country, Contemporary Bluegrass, Country-Pop, Country-Pop, Nashville Sound/Countrypolitan Urban Cowboy Folk/Country Rock, Country-Rock, Folk-PopSinger/Songwriter, Folk-Rock, British Folk-Rock, Honky Tonk, Traditional Country, Honky Tonk, Bakersfield Sound,Truck Driving Country, Progressive Country, Progressive Bluegrass, Progressive Country, Country-Folk, Outlaw Country, Rodeo Traditional Country, Traditional Bluegrass, Old-Timey, Traditional Country,Cowboy Yodeling, Bluegrass String Bands, Country Gospel, Instrumental Country, Country Boogie, Close Harmony, Square Dance, Jug Band Bluegrass, Western Swing,Western Swing Revival etc etc.

Just take your pick??? A broad church indeed!!! It is maybe when we concentrate in a particular area that things get "Too Much" for me?

[The big huge]

I agree- I think one of the main appeals of country music is that there is such a great variety as well as mixes with other styles - as to the country/pop crossover - I´d say 90 % of what you can see/hear on American country TV falls into this category and there are quite a few atrocities ( especially lyric-wise) but also a few gems ( I quite like Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift´s Picture to burn ( the unplugged versionwas my favourite song/video of last year - I also think Garth Brooks´Ropin´the wind is an excellent album) - I´d say there´s sth for everyone,just take your pick

[saint carl]

I've always thought there's a Country Music Hymen. At one point I couldn't get some Pavement tracks because of a slide guitar let alone Gram Parsons. Then one day i popped my cherry. I suppose like all those occasions, I was drunk and don't really remember most of it. It was quick and overrated, I made a mess on someone's couch I'd only just met and didn't call them the next day. I guess the only saving grace is we took some protection and had some indie rock on stand-by just in case. We sailed close to the wind though and when the Sebadoh cassette broke, we had a pretty long panic. fortunately we'd heard that if it's your first time and you listen to country standing up, it doesn't make you go out and by a hat.

I still think there is such a thing as too country. But I no longer think all country is icky, dirty, painful and liable to cause some disease.

As for a country discussion here, it's like justifying every other so-called off-genre (apart from friggin prog rock) bit of music. There's always a link. Blues, roots, country, hard rock, punk, whatever. The beauty of Americana is how it takes influences from all the sounds and music that American generated or excelled at.

[Palace]

those lyrics posted up there a few posts ago. they made me feel a little sick. I think it's that type of thing I think of when I think of country, and why I don't like it.

[Stuart W]

I think we've all got our own concept of what defines 'tradtional.' Some factors that effect this are; our respective ages; our 'entry point' in terms of the context/era we were first aware of it. Some of the 'sub-genres' that may seem 'traditional' today were anything but traditional when they first came about.
The 'context' thing is important I think. For example, if one were to hear, say, Gram Parsons' version of "Streets Of Baltimore," in 'isolation,' without knowing Parsons' background, it would probably sound pretty traditional.
Interesting that Tom T. Hall gets a mention in this thread. In the mid-sixties, along with the likes of Kristofferson and Mickey Newbury, he was part of a movement that (whether consciously or not) owed as much to the 'counter-culture' in its approach as it did to traditional country.

[anarchy63]

Cross-Country anyone?

[Dangerbird]

The 'context' thing is important I think. For example, if one were to hear, say, Gram Parsons' version of "Streets Of Baltimore," in 'isolation,' without knowing Parsons' background, it would probably sound pretty traditional.

i picked up the GP/Grevious Angel (at a truck stop no less) a few weeks after first visiting AUK. I'd never heard of him previously. At first i thought it was straight-up country and thought i'd made a big mistake.

of course a few years later, and in it's context, i now know GP is far from traditional.

i am surprised at the distate of country on these boards. each to his own, of course, but country is the basis of most of the music we rave on about here.

i for one, am lapping up ev'ry bit o' country i can get my hands on.
at the library today i picked up about 3 bluegrass comps and a couple of country blues comps as well.

now i just gotta find me a honky-tonk in my area...

[noteethleroy]

Wow, I can't believe someone doesn't like the lyrics to Homecoming, sure it mentions cows but it has a genuine rural feel to me and I grew up pretty rural. I just love the whole homesickness vibe of the whole thing.

I find it remarkable that there are many country fans at all outside of the United States though, it seems to be such an American thing. At least the old stuff anyways, I'm sure Shania and Garth made a showing over there. I think with growing up in the country here it was just a matter of time before I came around to liking the stuff. My mom was the country fan in my house growing up and we teased her relentlessly about it, she grew up on a huge farm in Kansas so pretty much only heard country growing up.

kinda unrelated side question:

Is acres a international measurement? Or is there some other way of measuring land over there? I was trying to remember how big my moms farm was and got to wondering.