Bob Soron <Mly.G.Pogo%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC.ARPA> (11/07/84)
*Finally* got through the last week's worth of
Info-Music tonight -- the life of Lusing Turistic Scum isn't
easy, I'll tell you -- and couldn't help noticing that through
all the discussion threads that had popped up, not one person
had mentioned country music more than obliquely.
Nominating the worst lyrics in country music is sadly
easy: nearly anything you can hear on a Top 30 country
station. Willie, Dolly, Kenny, the Oaks, Alabama, and the
dozens of other indistinguishable voices have a way of turning
even decent lyrics (like "City of New Orleans") into mush.
As for some of the best, I respect tremendously the
Austin songwriters, particularly Guy Clark ("Last Gunfighter
Ballad," "LA Freeway," many others), Steve Fromholz ("Texas
Trilogy," "I'd Have to Be Crazy"), Lisa Gilkyson ("Tennessee
Road"), and although Jerry Jeff Walker isn't very consistently
good when writing, he's never made a bad judgment about another
writer ("Contrary to Ordinary" by circus clown -- damn, forgot
the name, "Eastern Avenue River Railway Blues" by Mike Reid).
And, of course, Gary P. Nunn.
The West Texas contingent -- who were Joe Ely's support
group and talent pool 'til Ely went technocountry -- also
provide some good times. Jimmie Gilmore's "Dallas" haunts me,
as does Butch Hancock's "Boxcars."
I won't even get into warhorses of country music, since
there are way too many, thanks to hundreds of unimaginative PDs
across this great land of ours. (In my nearly-sixteen years of
listening to country music, I've only heard three DJs who ever
put much thought into their programs, and none lasted long. I'll
forever remember the night one DJ played a twenty-minute set of
dead dog songs...)
...Bob
-------Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@BRL-VLD.ARPA> (11/07/84)
I like country blended with rock 'n roll, as available in: early Elvis recordings Carl Perkins (and Beatles' renditions of his songs) "It's All Over Now" (Rolling Stones' version) "Brown Eyed Girl" (Van Morrison?) "Rock This Town" (done recently, by the Stray Cats)
Bob Soron <Mly.G.Pogo%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC.ARPA> (11/08/84)
Well, one of the neat things about country music is that although I might not define those as members of the set, you can, and both of us can be right. The cross-fertilization of the genre has been a primary interest for me for years, though. Many seem to do it purely out of commercial interest -- there's no other reason I can imagine Willie Nelson doing a Procol Harum number -- and some seem to do it out of artistic drive, as many of the artists you mention did. Trying to separate the two means careful watching over a period of years, hoping to find some sort of consistency. One of my stronger interests in this sub-field is cover versions. For some time, now, I've been having a debate with a friend who says that cover versions just shouldn't exist; performers should generate their own art. I note that that's an ideal situation, but groups doing covers allow the listener a lower-level feel for the group along with a ready point of comparison, not of quality necessarily but of intent and viewpoint. Listening to Asleep at the Wheel, for instance, do Count Basie's "One O'Clock Jump" is a sublime experience, and I believe it enriches their repertoire and my understanding of the band and their influences; I get a feel for the route they took to get where they are. What does the rest of the list think of cover versions in general -- for all genres -- are they wastes of time and petroleum, or do they serve a genuine purpose? ...Bob -------