tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896336562539866758.post3547246568569512882..comments2024-01-09T01:14:01.156-08:00Comments on Patriots and Peoples: Conservative Country?James Stripeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13437334325501974461noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896336562539866758.post-12618702046913062612007-12-14T06:31:00.000-08:002007-12-14T06:31:00.000-08:00A relative of mine that was listening to country m...A relative of mine that was listening to country music in the 1970s (and I knew it, too) emailed to point out:<BR/><BR/>"Country stations nationwide banned the Dixie Chicks rather promptly after Natalie ran her mouth out of country and I find it doubtful that the unknown columnist JD mentioned had anything to do with it. Most listeners have never even heard of this guy and it was the outrage of fans that likely led to them being dropped. Toby Keith played a much larger part."<BR/><BR/>I appreciate the criticism.James Stripeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13437334325501974461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896336562539866758.post-38321632988107863552007-12-01T09:43:00.000-08:002007-12-01T09:43:00.000-08:00So who exactly are the "we all" in "we all know?" ...So who exactly are the "we all" in "we all know?" That is a dangerous assertion for an historian who believes that truths are partial and always rooted in a point of view. I find it interesting that those who have no interest in Jesus as more than an historical figure would claim to know what he would do in any situation. If Jesus were living in America today, he would probably be reluctant to vote at all, given the choice between the lesser of how many evils? Of course, if Jesus had been living in America when Joseph Smith claimed he was, he would know that Mitt Romney is the only choice, but lack of evidence of such a presence in America at that time leads me to believe that Smith wrote his blog under the influence of some sort of liquor. I am proud to be conservative, and yet amazingly, I don't listen to country music (too depressing). I am reasonably intelligent (even by the standards of my liberal friends), and yet I am not crazy about the Dixie Chicks, nor am I impressed with their message. It would seem that not all lines are drawn where some think they are.technoidiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03311142244027667653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7896336562539866758.post-91270696895250050292007-12-01T07:32:00.000-08:002007-12-01T07:32:00.000-08:00I'm completely innocent of Big Hat country music, ...I'm completely innocent of Big Hat country music, at least as much as humanly possible--is McGraw the lyricist for "Back When"? What a load of artificial sentiment (overlooking the gratuitous racism, which might be the one authentic thing about the song, Tim McGraw was born in 1967. He does not remember a time "when the radio played everything"--the radio was Balkanized in the early 1970s, with Album Oriented Rock, Urban Soul, and aggressively-marketed Country. Was ten-year-old Timmy listening to a station that played George Jones followed by "Boogie Oogie Oogie?" Sure he was. A "screw" has been a "fuck" since the late 18th century, and it's referred to female as well as male copulation since before McGraw was wiping his own ass. I know, I know: it's just show biz). <BR/><BR/>Anyway, that's a perfect metaphor for Country itself, a genre built on the conceit that its 19th century Tin Pan Alley and minstrel show borrowings were authentic old-timey backwoods Americana. <BR/><BR/>The Yodelin' Zeke school held sway from the late 30s to the late 50s, when a genius named Owen Bradley brought it some musical sophistication. The Beatles rendered The Nashville Sound instantly old-fashioned, like they did everything else. (Still, Patsy Cline, Eddie Arnold, Buck Owens, Tammy Wynette, and Roger Miller came out of my Top 40 transistor in those days, right alongside James Brown and Jackie Wilson.)<BR/><BR/>Country remained terminally middling, terminally middle-aged music for the decade, with only "Okie from Muskogee" and <I>Hee-Haw</I> giving it any national traction. Well, and Johnny Cash, but The Man in Black is an anomaly in a lot of ways.<BR/><BR/>Real country music was rescued by rock and roll's curiosity and search for authenticity. Rock fans didn't burn Haggard records; he was celebrated in <I>Rolling Stone</I> back when that meant something. The Byrds met Graham Parsons, and spun off The Flying Burrito Brothers, Jerry Garcia picked up a banjo, John Hartford was on the Glenn Campbell show every week. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band went from novelty act to the hitmakers who introduced Vassar Clements and Doc Watson, among others, to a wider audience. It wasn't Nashville that embraced Willie Nelson. <BR/><BR/>The "conservatism" of country music is a record-shilling pose. It may also be genuine; after all, it's made by a lot of nouveau riche white people. And the lynching of the Dixie Chicks was more authentically Southern than anything Jimmy Rodgers ever sang, excepting the stuff he stole from black folks.James Briggs Stratton "Doghouse" Rileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05378802364709433791noreply@blogger.com