Post by Bill on Jan 11, 2009 13:39:10 GMT -5
From Saturday's edition of the Mt. Airy News, Mt. Airy, NC:
Country Music Is No Longer About ‘Country’ or ‘Music’Bill
By: Tom Joyce
While looking through my music collection the other day after adding a couple of new CDs received for Christmas, an interesting discovery was made: I own little in the way of country music.
First, when referring to that particular art form, I think it’s important to make the distinction between “classic” country and “modern” country.
With that line being drawn, the country music I do have within easy reach is of the “classic” variety, by such artists as Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and Ernest Tubb.
However, I have almost no “modern” country music. There are a couple of Toby Keith albums, and that’s about all.
I found this to be rather strange, because I have a great appreciation for music in general. This includes rock, blues, classical, easy listening, bluegrass, old-time, reggae and even some rap and hip hop.
At the end of the day, I can find something to appreciate about any form of music — except “modern” country, which got me to wondering why as I looked through my CDs, records and tapes.
And after trying to seek answers to my dilemma from a number of sources, including watching the CMT (Country Music Television) cable channel for about three solid hours — I think I have the answer.
It’s the same thing that has ruined NASCAR to a certain extent and virtually everything else in this nation that once was pure, unspoiled, earthy and real: money; corporate greed; commercialism; Wall Street.
Whatever name you choose, it adds up to the same thing: feeding the public a bunch of stylistic garbage with almost no substance just to increase the bottom line.
It was different with those “classic” stars I mentioned earlier. People such as Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and Ernest Tubb actually seemed like real people, with any imperfections they had only adding to their powers as performers.
Patsy Cline, for example, might not have been the best-looking woman who every lived, but dadgummit, she could sing — better than anyone who has come along since, I might add. And despite the fact she was taken away at a young age by a plane crash in the 1960s, her music is still much relevant today.
Two other country stars of roughly the same era, Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette, were not unattractive, either, but the point is that — unlike the “country divas” of today — their looks weren’t more important than their music.
And what can I say about Johnny Cash? Here was a down-to-Earth guy who recorded whole albums live in front of convicts at the San Quentin and Folsom prisons. Cash battled drug addiction and health problems, with his rugged face probably never coming into contact with makeup in his life.
The main thing was that he was real, and sang about relevant, thoughtful topics. Along with familiar hits such as “Ring of Fire” and “I Walk the Line,” the Man in Black recorded one album containing songs told from the viewpoint of Native Americans.
One could go on all day about the performers of that era.
Somewhere along the way, however, the big music promoters and record producers decided to focus more on style, on image, and less on substance — both in the personalities of the performers and the music they produced.
Modern country music, with few exceptions, has moved from Nashville to Fifth Avenue. Most of today’s female singers all look as if they came from the same mold: usually bleached blondes whose emphasis is on appearance more than music.
While these women are fine to look at, that factor seems somewhat diminished when one realizes that it’s part of a big, well-controlled marketing plan. I’ll bet none of these so-called “country divas” have ever primed tobacco in the hot sun or sat on a tractor, judging by their smooth skin and well-manicured nails.
The men aren’t any better. For want of better terminology, I would describe the majority of them as “pretty boys wearing cowboy hats.” Down in Texas, when alleged cowboys are exposed as people who are more talk than action, they are referred to as “all hats and no cattle.”
Again with few exceptions, that would apply to today’s brand of male country music stars, who likely have never spent much time in rural America — unless Central Park in New York City counts as the countryside.
And whenever there’s some kind of country music awards show, which seems to be held every week of the year, naturally it’s a glitzy glamorous production that promotes fashion as much as the music.
As mentioned earlier, the same thing has largely happened to NASCAR as its handlers have sought to “nationalize” and even “internationalize” the sport that started here in the South, yet contains almost no reminders of that region today.
Good old Southern boys such as Cale Yarborough and the Allison Brothers — who didn’t mind opening a beer at the end of a race or brawling with other competitors — gradually have been replaced by, yep, those “pretty boys.”
Heaven forbid that someone should enter the sport who is a real person — not the slick, squeaky-clean (and pretty darn boring) people who are dominating racing today.
After all, due to its increasingly commercial nature, NASCAR doesn’t want to risk offending someone in Seattle who might be turned off by two politically incorrect Southern boys deciding their differences with fists.
In conclusion, my problems with both “modern” NASCAR and country music don’t represent an argument about the old days vs. the new. It’s a question of real vs. fake.
Tom Joyce is a staff reporter for The Mount Airy News. He can be reached at .