I'm really new to country music, but my new bride is really into it, and being the open minded individual that I am, I've forced myself to listen. Here are my conclusions:

1) It's music. A valid form.
2) It's limited to certain instruments and styles.
3) It's down-to-earth, moreso than pop.

A few artists have popped out as good to me...Toby Keith, Trace Adkins, Tim McGraw.

Funny thing...you almost never, EVER, hear about country music when discussing Prince.

teller said:

Start worrying if she begins to play D.I.V.O.R.C.E.

Nickle Creek is the only countryish group I really like. It's a mix of bluegrass, folk, and pop. Great songwriting and instrumentation!

I tend too dig Older Country Music overall.the Problem with the Newer Acts doing Country is that alot is Pop Oriented overall.Vince Gill is still My Current Country Favorite Artist.Alan Jackson is cool,Cledus T.Judd,Wynonna Judd,Neil Mccoy is cool as well.Charlie Daniels Band still kicking Booty.

teller said:

Nobody in their right mind would argue that.


Hmmm, I've never thought about it.


I don't know, maybe if you're talking about OLD SCHOOL Country music, yes. But I'm really not into the new schoolers. The newer Country artists like to hide under the guise of Country music when a lot of times it's pure POP.


I think Country, more than any music discussed here, is limited to a certain demographic. But still sells a ton.

Personally, I'm not in that demographic they market to, but there are a few Country music artists over the years I like: The Judds, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Lucinda Williams, Lyle Lovett. If someone would have asked me 15 years ago if I liked Country I would have looked at them sarcastically and wondered why ANYONE would like it, considering what little I was exposed to was boring as heck to me. Since then I've discovered the old schoolers in Country have plenty of SOUL.

I don't like this generation's Garth Brooks-ish Country music.


Lucinda kicks ass...
[This message was edited Sun Nov 10 1:28:46 PST 2002 by Supernova]

"Country music" is an oxymoron.

Moonbeam said:

Ouch!

But yeah, it's never appealed to me either. But as I often say whatever gets you by ...

I don't care for a lot of that processed contemporary shit (Garth Brooks, Keith Urban, etc), but good country brings me to my knees. The sort that tears your heart apart. I've always seen it as a very honest, soulful genre.

Emmylou Harris, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, Gram Parsons, Ryan Adams

try harris' "wrecking ball" it's not exactly full-blooded country, but its existential searching is I think one of the defining features of the genre and moves me to tears sometimes
[This message was edited Mon Nov 11 1:08:46 PST 2002 by fairmoan]

Moonbeam said:

As is "recording artist Madonna."

Supernova said:

Moonbeam said:

Supernova said:

Country

ONLY THING good about country music is its
type of beautiful women ---Faith Hill ...

Country is about the only type of music I just don't 'get'.

I just can't seem to take it seriously. Most of it just seems corny & like a pastiche of itself.

Country is to Music as Ballroom is to Dancing.

BorisFishpaw said:

I used to totally not "get" country at all. So I know what you're saying. But after forced exposure, it's really not as bad as I used to think it was.

Someone mentioned Willie Nelson...yeah, I kinda dig him now.

The odd thing about Country is it has to sound a certain way or else it's not country. They're sticking some electric guitars and synthesizers in there now, but it still has to have a twang to it...I just find that weird. In pop there's just more variety...oh wait...no there's not...there USED TO BE more variety.

BorisFishpaw said:

it's a Off-Spring of R&B.Ray Charles Bridged that Gap Solidly.I have the Album from 1994 R&B Meets Country with Vince Gill&Gladys Knight singing together among others&it all fits rather well.

mistermaxxx said:

not really.

Country is more a variant of gospel with a strong mix of blues and folk in there. Blacks and whites often sang the sang songs in church, but with different variations. The same can happen with a blues song. R&B itself is an off shoot of blues & jump and its 60s form SOUL borrowed heavily from the Church.

My mother loves country. Prefers it over r&b, soul or blues. She' a black hillbilly and thinks Piedmont blues and Mississippi delta styles are similar to country.

Contemporary country is as overprocesed and boring as contemporary r&b which is what the '94 project you alluded to proved.

PFunkjazz said:

Black Music no matter how you dress it up.Gospel,Blues,Rock,etc.. all Connected too R&B.Country nowadays like R&B is Very Generic I agree.

mistermaxxx said:

though Gospel Blues and Folk are all cleraly antecedents of r&b.

Moonbeam said:

this gets a big fucking co-sign
Country music does the following to me

I'd be interested to know how much OLD SCHOOL Country music you guys have listened to. Not peripherally HEARING it because even I dismissed it after being exposed to it minimally, but truly listened to a large chunk of the old stuff or the more traditional artists.

Supernova said:

especially considering that back in the day many country songs have been covered by r&b/soul artists...

-"release me" by esther phillips
-"i'm so lonesome i could cry" by al green
-"half a mind" by joe tex
-"just out of reach" "he'll have to go" among many others recorded by solomon burke
-"funny how time slips away" by al green & joe hinton
-"misty blue" by dorothy moore
-"cold, cold heart" by aretha franklin
- the 2 c&w albums from ray charles
- "if we're not back in love by monday" by millie jackson

any number of songs written by kris kristofferson: "help me make it through the night," "for the good times," etc...

back during the golden eras of country & r&b, they both influenced each other greatly, because they speak to people about human suffering... these days, they both become so overprocessed that they're indistinguishable from pop music-only difference is that R&B is overrun by thugs & country by rednecks...

Supernova said:

as a Kid I got Exposed too Hank Williams Sr&told stories about His Talent&Depth.how he Died so Young at only 29.but His Imapct of Music was so strong.when I was Real Young My Folks&Myself Lived in Nashville so I got too hear alot of it.I Knew about Hee Haw&other things connected about the city.living down South is the main reason why I heard so much of it early on&dug it.

Supernova said:

Honey I grew up in the middle of Indiana surrounded by cornfields where all we get is country music stations, with the exception of one. So I have heard enough to know that I despise it more then anything.

country music
[This message was edited Sun Nov 10 21:02:16 PST 2002 by MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld]

EllisDee said:

You don't post much, but everytime you do you leave a good impression on me.

I had no idea "Misty Blue" was done by a Country artist before Dorothy Moore, although I knew her version was a cover version. And Kenny Rogers has always said that he felt that Country's kin was classic R&B. I know what he means too.

Good info, Ellis.

mistermaxxx said:

Yeah, some people who haven't listened to much of the classic stuff, or even the good (in my opinion) new material by old school Country artists, I think have a stereotypical view of it. Just like many do about Blues.

Supernova said:

alright... i had heard that it was a cover version of a country song, but i never knew who originally did it... so i went to the all music guide and looked it up... it appears that everyone and their brother has done this song (little milton, johnny paycheck, monica, sheena easton, ella fitzgerald, engelbert humperdinck, mary j blige, etc etc)... the oldest recording that i can find of it is from ?wilma burgess? from the early to mid 60s... there is no artist bio for her and she has no cds currently in print, so i'm imagining it may have been her only hit, and maybe not a very big one, either...

i can totally hear kenny rogers saying that... despite his easy listening tendencies, his voice can be soulful... and he has worked with lionel richie & prince...

by the way, thanks for the compliment... i probably should post more than i do, considering that i do check in several times a day (or more, depending)...

BorisFishpaw said:

Theres not much to "get" with it. it's mostly about broken relationships, cheating, leaving, being a drifter, being poor, treated badly, divorce etc...i guess thats why lots of ppl like it? i really like reba mcintire, and some dolly parton, but PLEASE NEVER PLAY THE REST AROUND ME! if i want to cry and be depressed i listen to the blues. I LOVE THE BLUES. i hate the square dancing too. it's OK to watch, i guess, sometimes, but the dance itself seems like lots of work and coordination. i just like to dance the way i feel.

if you play a country song backwards, your wife returns to you.. your dog comes back to life..and you no longer need to shoot your horse..

no please...no country music...i'll do anything...oh god!!! no...please help...NOOOooo...my ears are bleeding...stop the insanity!!!
no seriously...can't stand country...never touch the stuff myself!!!