I personally cannot stomach country music, it is my LEAST favorite kind of music. What is the attraction to it? Why do some people absolutely love it? Does somebody care to shed some light on why it's gotten to be so darn popular?

Damn. i think she's flamin' you imago!

magnificentsynthesizer said:

No, I'm not, this has nothing to do with Imago's thread. It's an honest to God question that I wanted some imput on.

psychodelicide said:

magnificentsynthesizer said:

Anybody got some marshmallows?
[Edited 2/11/07 20:48pm]

psychodelicide said:

Jazz icon Charlie Parker (some would consider an unlikely source) when asked replied, "The stories, man. Listen to the stories."


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

excelent answer. This is my reason for liking most of the music I like. The story IN the song, the story OF the song...etc...


Which is why I'm such a Prince-o-phile. I'm familiar with his story already so every song already has an extra kick for me...good song or not DMSR/Purple Rain vs. Animal Kingdom/Guitar. Love hate the songs. I know the stories behind them...to a degree at least. Ol' skool jazz cutz...blues cuts....production SUCKS....availability...close to nil...but the stories....ohhh the stories....


I heard Thomas dowd talking about the rcording of Layla....as good as that song was...it was multiplied by who knows what after I saw that and saw him reliving a good day in his life talking about the kinds of communication that went in IN the recording DURING the recording and AFTER the rocording....stories....stories.

BobGeorge909 said:

Great documentary...



...Tom Dowd & The Language Of Music

One segment was shot at my old High School.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

if I had a wishlist somewhere...this would SOOOOO b on it!

theAudience said:

I never heard of this documentary. I am on it.

OK, I hate to admit this, especially on a Prince website, because most everyone thinks that if you like country music, you have GOT to be a redneck piece of white trash.

I like the sound of the voice in people like Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, and females like Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood, and Leann Womack.

I'm also a huge sap about romance, and like the others have said, the story in the song is what to listen for. A lot of country songs are sad, and I get sucked into that.

gemini13 said:

I don't fault U for that and U shouldn't fault yourself...







that said...I STILL ain't listin' to country music....there's enuff non-country sounding stories out there....

Two reasons why traditional country is one of my favourite styles of music:

1) It sounds nice – there are few things lovelier to my ears than some pedal steel guitar and understated vocals. A simple country arrangement can make the most tired material sound fresh and alive, and, unlike almost every other genre it seems, country vocalists tend to sing with songs rather than wail uncontrollably overtop of them.
2) Country songwriters place an emphasis on craftsmanship that is lacking in most other genres. Almost everything you hear on the charts these days seems dominated by sounds, rhythms and productions techniques – I can enjoy those elements in music, but ultimately it’s song construction that makes music resonate with me.
[Edited 2/12/07 19:00pm]

I agree that country music great stories to tell. I also believe that it is the only genre of music that has not changed as much as the others. It sounds the same as it did 40 years ago. Other forms of music have been, fried, died and laid to the side.....You really cannot say that about country.

shorttrini said:

I think Country music has changed a lot in 40 years. Much of today's mega-selling Country is really nothing more than pop music with a southern accent. Then there is alt-Country, Cowpunk, and what not. But I agree with your point that more traditional Country has always had a sizable audience and is still viable. The term "Country music" is almost as broad as "Rock music" these days, I suppose.

damosuzuki said:

Couldn't have put it better myself.

Thanks, all for your input. I can always learn something from everybody here.

psychodelicide said:

You know what's interesting for me is, I found that once I moved away from the US, I became more color blind to genres of music that make up our roots in America. For example the owner of my former apartment (who was dentist for N.European royals) was former guitarist (he still even does occasional gigs outside of his practice ) he had the most extraordinary collection of old fashioned country music which he had not only for interests sake, but to expand his overall musical knowledge and playing ability. One day out of boredom, curiosity, or both, I gave a couple of his 'old timey' country cds a spin, only to discover in listening that it was directly related to 'jug band' music (that was usually peformed by black Americans) from that era!And of course, also related to the blues. Country and blues are so similar in root its amazing and really gives new meaning (for me) to the word melting pot where America's concerned. Our older eras of music are so much much similar than they are dissimilar

I generally am fond of really old stuff, from the 70's on back, because in the right context, it will conjure up memories of the blues with acts ranging from old timers like big Mama Thornton on up to Etta James. for more modern stuff, also like alternative country, with renegades like Shelby Lynn, whose single 'Hurt, I'm Leaving from 'This is Shelby Lynne' could just as easily be tailor made for early 70's Aretha or 1990's Lauryn Hill.

Although I don't like all genres of country (as I don't like all sub-genres of any musical catagory, I have been open to exploring it in the last years. I think it also helps that I'm a 70's baby from a musical household. So all those tv variety shows back then were watched reliously, whether it was Flip Wilson & Sonny & Cher, or Glen Campell, or Tanya Tucker, or Dolly Parton, or OOOH! Barbara Mandrell!!! I Luuuuuved me some Barbara Mandrell!!!So maybe I had a bit of a predisposition for it, not sure.

In any event, what I have learned overall is that there is some really tasty country music out ther. And its connection to other Amrican roots music makes it all the more palatable for me. Not unlike the way I can listen to 20th century jazz, from Tin Pan Alley or Scott Joplin, or Cole Porter & Duke Ellington with equal aplomb. Its almost as if you could compare certain musical genres to food, like a country's signiture dish if you will. Imagine a large group of people coming together to cook the dish, each bringing its own ingredient (in music's case, an instrument, a rythym, .ect). They each add their ingredient to make that sigiture dish, which everyone recognizes once it's through. But then....there are variations on that dish, some might add a cayenne pepper, others might add garlic, or there are those who will vary the cooking time or desire a different tenderness in the dish. Still, the key ingredients are there. And I'm finding its kind of fun sampling different versions of the core recipe

damosuzuki said:

well said.

if we're talking about "contemporary country", then count me among the haters. i can't stand that stuff. then again, i don't think it's country music. i think it's nothing more than adult contemporary soft-rock, only the people singing happen to be wearing cowboy hats.

i love 'traditional' or 'classic' country music. i think anyone who says they hate johnny cash hasn't really listened to johnny cash. i think tammy wynette and loretta lynn are more divalicious than any of the boobiewomen flaunting around the top 40 these days. hell, i'll even listen to boxcar willie...and like it! for god's sake, he's KING OF THE HOBOS. show some respect.

for me, the classic stuff - the really good, really genuine stuff - is not music i'd pidgeonhole or classify. i just think of it as really good music, whether it's country or pop or folk or rap or whateverthehell.

I grew up around rednecks and they were extremely racist and homophobic. Country music seemed to be the soundtrack of their lives playing in the background every time I was around them. That's probably the number one reason I can't stand country music. Even though the actual entertainers have nothing to do with it, we associate music with memories and those were some horrible memories. The music also bores the hell out of me.

I don't like opera, symphony, or classical music either but I see them as very talented artists who make real music. I see country music the same way, however, the redneck aspect of country makes me dislike it even more than these other forms of music since there are bad personal memories attached to it. I hated country music more than any other form of music until shit hop came along. But at least country is actual music....shit hop is not.
.
.
[Edited 2/13/07 7:48am]

Anx said:

I agree with most of this. To me, old-style country music (pre-'80s generally) has some of the best songs around. And country and western has exactly the same roots as the blues in America - church, Saturday night get-togethers, and poor folks suffering. I hate to use the old cliche, but it's the white man's blues. Hank Williams I was apparently taught guitar by a black bluesman, Jimmy Rogers was basically a white bluesman in the 1920s and '30s. Country has as much backdoor black influence as any other music form. All music is racially integrated, if you research deep enough.

And Ray Charles made country albums. Then there's Charlie Pride.

Old style country came from the same mix of black and white communities and regional variations across America as did the blues, jazz, cajun and the rest.

And to say you don't like country because it was done by racist 'good 'ol boys', is like not liking European classical music, because some of that was written by anti-semitic composers like Wagner. It's a personal thing, but history was history, and right or wrong, time has a way of separating the music from the politics.

But I still have very little time for the modern 'mainstream' country, that is basically, as already said, anodyne soft rock, and, in its own way, is as offensive to me as most modern, mainstream 'R n' B' and pop. Give me Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Tammy Wynette and Elvis Presley (one of the most underrated and yet one of the best country singers ever imo) anyday.

Tom dowd was the hands of Atlantic as was Wexler

I love the stories that the songs tell. While it is being sung by the likes of Tim and Faith and those Dixie Chicks where the sound is more up to date....they still tell stories that most other genres of music get lost in trying to tell.

Vince Gill...



...can sing & play. (traditional or comtemporary country)


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

ah, very good call. he's someone who really manages to successfully bridge traditional and commercial sounds. His new four(!!!)-disc album has been very well reviewed. I had not quite convinced myself to shell out for it yet, but I just found out that I'm getting a lovely and completely unexpected bonus, so I'm taking that as a sign that this set and I were meant to be together.

incoherence edit
[Edited 2/14/07 19:13pm]

damosuzuki said:

I picked this up during the past holiday season...



...Breath of Heaven: A Christmas Collection (w/The Patrick Williams Orchestra)


I'll have to talk someone into getting me that 4-disc set.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

I also think he's a perfect example of something I mentioned earlier - an understated vocalist. His singing is always clear, calm and crisp.

damosuzuki said:

Exactly.

And light on the typical country twang.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

However, I can deal with a few country songs (but certainly will not admit it to many people) such as.....

Little Charlotte she's as purty as the angels when they sang
I'd like to see her out thar on the front porch in a swang
Just a'swangin'.....

Elvira, Elvira
My heart's on fire for Elvira
Giddy up, a ump, uh a ump, uh a mow mow.....

I'm goin' to hire a wino to decorate my home.....

Two doors down
And laughin', and drankin', and havin' a party

Well your nobody called today
She hung up when (whatever the hell that next line is)

YEEEEE HAWWWWW Dammitt!