June 2003

« May 2003 | Main | July 2003 »

Like Eatin' Crackers in white gloves with a girl named Pilsbury...

Filed under: Imported

So far, for anyone who's keeping track, as I thought, the most commented upon selection in my list of the 100 top country songs of all time has been "Lyin' Eyes" by the Egos. To quote Carl Spangler, "It is to laugh..." But enough of this silliness. IDIOT, n.
A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The Idiot's activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but "pervades and regulates the whole." He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable. He sets the fashions and opinion of taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line. --Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary Just to cleanse my palette a little, I thought I'd float out a few albums that I consider essential to my music collection. I don't want to come off as some high brow jerkoff in a beret sipping coffee on the Champs Elysees saying stupid shit like, "Miles man...Miles," so just bear with me. I'd really dig knowing what your essential albums are. Email me. In no apparent order, so I don't get crucified, like with the whole Eggles thing: Beach Boys, Pet Sounds
Beatles, Revolver
Billy Joel, Songs in the Attic
Bob Dylan, Bringin it All Back Home
Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, Live At Carnegie Hall
Cat Stevens, Tea for the Tillerman
Derek and the Dominos, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
The Eagles, Desperado
Evlis Costello & the Attractions, Almost Blue
Emmylou Harris, Elite Hotel
Flatlanders, More a Legend Than a Band
Gear Daddies, Billy's Live Bait
Golden Smog, Down by the Old Mainstream
The Gourds, Stadium Blitzer
Jayhawks, Hollywood Town Hall
Jerry Jeff Walker, Viva Terlingua
Jimi Hendrix, Axis: Bold As Love
Kris Kristofferson, Jesus Was a Capricorn
Los Lobos, La Pistola Y'El Corazon
Marvin Gaye, What's Goin' On?
Marvin Gaye, Let's Get it On
Merle Haggard, Sing Me Back Home
Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
Neil Young, Harvest
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Will the Circle Be Unbroken
Parliament Funkadelic, Mothership Connection
Pearl Jam, Ten
Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon
Pure Prairie League, Bustin' Out
Robbie Fulks, South Mouth
Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers
Rolling Stones, Let It Bleed
Steve Earle, Copperhead Road
Ten Years After, Live (from Europe)
Terry Allen, Lubbock on Everything
Tony Bennet, The Bill Evans Album
Uncle Tupelo, every album
Van Halen, Van Halen I, II, Fair Warning, Women and Children First
The Who, Who's Next
Willie Nelson, Red Headed Stranger
No explanations, just deal with it. Make up your own. Pretend you're me. It's easy, just start like this: "A stunning achievement of post reconstructionist neo traditionalism with cherry undertones and a smooth oaky finish, light tanins on the backside." OR "You don't understand, this is the best fucking blah blah blah blah blah." C'est la guerre.

Posted by Jack Sparks at June 30, 2003 1:27 AM

 

81-100

Filed under: Imported

Let's get this over with...

81. Amarillo By Morning, George Strait
Luckily, there was Strait's career throughout the 80's to keep reminding people what Country Music was. I'm not a hardcore traditionalist (like I might come off as sometimes), but I think we've reached the soaking point for Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys in country, and the good thing is that there has always been Strait's pretty straight arrow approach to what he was doing. I've been to some rodeos, my cousin does it from time to time up in Wyoming, like his daddy before him; other than that I don't know shit about it, except for the winsome and striking explanation in this song. Gotta love it.

82. I've Been To Georgia on a Fast Train, Billy Joe Shaver
You know why everyone sings and records this song? You know why everyone sings and records at least one Billy Joe song during their lifetime? Do you own a Billy Joe record? Can you sing along with at least one Billy Joe song without realizing it's his? I thought so.

83. White Freightliner Blues, Townes Van Zandt
New Mexico ain't bad lord and the people there, they treat you fine...it would be interesting to know how many people QUIT writing and playing music the first time they heard Townes Van Zandt. If you talk to enough singer/songwriter types, you'll find a lot of them were intimidated by his abilities.

84. Elmo Lincoln, Jack Ingram
I've gotten more for my 5, 6, or 10 bucks at eight or so Jack Ingram shows than most of the shows I've ever been to in my life. He consistently has a great band, and his songs are alternately hardcore and vulnerable, without being awkward and contrived. This song about a childhood friend is one of the best "I remember..." songs in the genre.

85. I've Always Been Crazy, Waylon Jennings
"...It's kept me from going insane."

86. Little Ramona (Gone Hillbilly Nuts), BR549
Right group, wrong town. Another group that should have left Nashville and stayed on the road. This song is the positive side of Robbie Fulks' "Roots Rock Weirdos" and really sums up nicely one aspect of the Americana insurgence.

87. Drive (For Daddy Gene), Alan Jackson
Surprise!! I'm not a coldhearted anti-Nashville bastard after all. When you get right down to it, I have a lot of respect for Alan Jackson. Most people would probably try to cram one of his songs like "Don't Rock the Jukebox" or the 9/11 song in here, but I just think this song is the meatiest one he's put out. He paints a picture about a specific action that unravles itself into all sorts of layers for each individual listener. I find myself drifting off to someplace else in the middle of the song, then I come back at the end, finshing the trip with him.

88. Laredo Rose, Texas Tornados
Check this out, the West Texas rocker, turns hippie, is in, then out, then in, then out again, then realizes that the coolest thing in the world is Freddy Fender and Flaco Jimenez. "Crumpled bills on the dresser/Father confessor/Knows the wages of sin..." You're wasting tequila if you're drinking it without the Tornados on low in the background.

89. Darkness on the Edge of Town, Bruce Springsteen
Here's a better question: Nevermind the Clash, why didn't George Strait embrace Bruce Springsteen? It's a good thing that in our lifetime, while various forms of pop have sucked the life right out of different genres of music, Springsteen has always been there to keep things real. I had to flip a coin between this and "Atlantic City;" and, since DC and BFW did Atlantic City, I thought I ought to throw another one in here. This song is power folk rock at its best.

90. My Hometown, Charlie Robison
You want to feel chilled? Go see Charlie live in Texas somewhere and just see what the crowd does during this song.

91. Lucille, Fred Eaglesmith
A beautiful technicolor vomit of hardscrabble Southern (pronounced like "mouth") Ontario existence. Cars, small town, scandalous relationship, love gone wrong, the whole nine yards. Once you see it live, too, you won't ever forget it.

92. Indianapolis, Bottle Rockets
"Can't go West/Can't go East/Stuck in Indianapolis with a fuel pump that's diseased." After watching from the wings as Uncle Tupelo melted down, Brian Henneman recharged in Festus and rediscovered the sound that used to cause 3rd degree marijuana sunburns in July in Sedalia at the State Fair. For years now, the Bottle Rockets have been producing the best kind of Midwest balls-out hillbilly rock in the country.

93. Pickles, Gourds
It's a damn pickle recipe! I'm telling ya, it's one of the greatest country songs ever recorded. It's so stupid, it's genius. You'll bounce along to it the first few times...then, you'll realize that he's actually singing to you about making pickles.

94. I Was Drunk, Alejandro Escovedo
Unfortunately, this might become the gruesome song that he's known for. The difference between the lyrics and Step 1 are negligible. Don't listen to this song at the end of a bender.

95. The Good Life, Bruce Robison
Bruce Robison's best Harlan Howard imitation. Bruce is the new Harlan Howard.

96. La Grange, ZZ Top
Writing about La Grange is like trying to drink sand. Just shut the fuck up and turn up the stereo.

97. Amos Moses, Jerry Reed
My first air guitar song. "Named him after a man of the cloth/Called him Amos Moses."

98. Good-Bye, Good Lookin', Robbie Fulks
Straight ahead power country from a guy who was trying to kick the door in and got it slammed right back in his face. A great lyric, a great hook, and a solid recording from start to finish. He's also one of the best guitarists I've ever seen.

99. 87 Southbound, Wayne Hancock
Once you wade through all the hipster bullshit that always gets floated around about "The Train," you find that he's just a talented soul. Everything this guy writes and sings comes from someplace you and I most likely haven't been. This little loping song will put you right back on that Lost Highway that Hank started ya down.

100. Blue, The Jayhawks
Homer pick! Hey, everybody loves Gary Louris now. Everyone has their favorite, but I think this is where they put it all together to really bring out the guts of Minnesota roots music, with their unique duet harmony and almost ethereal guitar accompaniment.

Man, am I glad that's over! Remember, it's just a blog. I'd like to thank all of you who have sent emails with comments, both good and bad. I love everyone's input. As always, you can see more nonsense just like this everyday at The Other Side of Country. Oh, and...Fuck you Shania.

Posted by Jack Sparks at June 28, 2003 8:31 PM

 

61-80

Filed under: Imported

Blah blah blah, here's where I say something witty, blah blah blah. Some bozo (because nobody deserves to be called an idiot by me) sent me an email about how alt country is meaningless. Right. Shania is really talented and Mutt Lange is a genius. If you know either of those lovebirds, send them this blog in a link and make sure they read this: Shania Twain is the single most damaging thing ever to happen to Country Music. She is NOT talented, She is NOT dynamic, She is NOT important, She is NOT fun. She is a robot. She's just a pretty face in a pink halter top and cowboy hat looking for her next check. She has dragged the music I love into the gutter of "what sells must be what is." These people live in a fucking palace in Switzerland. Last time I checked, June Carter Cash died at home on the farm motherfucker. If you like that boyband, canned bullshit, then you were probably all broken up when Rob and Fab turned out to be fakes too. Fuck. How long, Oh Lord, how long?

61. Farewell Party, Gene Watson
This is part 3 of that story that starts with "Hello Walls," progresses through "I Never Go Around Mirrors," and ends with one of the greatest self-pity belts of all time: "...when I'm goooooooone!!!!!"

62. Detroit City, Bobby Bare
Home folks think I'm big in Detroit City...this is nothing less than THE song about moving from the country to work in the big auto boom. It's an evolution of what Hank Williams brought to the big picture of the whole party. There are many intellectual levels to this song, but the best thing I can say about it is, I love this fucking song.

63. Before the Next Teardrop Falls, Freddy Fender
Si te quieres de verdad/Y te da felicidad/Te deseo lo mas bueno para los do-o-os/Pero si te hace llorar/A mi me puedes hablar/Y estare contigo cuando triste estas. Crack a Tecate in a white Tshirt and shoot a sideways glance at a pretty girl. Uh huh. That's what I'm talkin' about.

64. Coal Miner's Daughter, Loretta Lynn
I'm typically against these "who I am" songs. I like subtle autobiography over "I was born at St. Lukes and went to Sumner" type songs. But this is one of those rare exceptions where Loretta's two-fisted delivery just makes the whole song. We're all coal miner's daughters, and if you don't see that, lord help ya.

65. Suspicious Minds, Elvis Presley
I came of age in a time when someone I respected a great deal once rapped, "Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me." The King belted this song out through the downers and gravy. He lifted himself off the chair and up to the mic, and something MAGICAL happened one last time. You can hear his desperation. It's kind of voyeuristically awesome to hear Elvis die every time you listen to this song.

66. Behind Closed Doors, Charlie Rich
Now that we're down in the 60's, I'm going to stop giving academic reasons and just say, "I love this fucking song."

67. Concrete and Barbed Wire, Lucinda Williams
I blow hot and cold on Lucinda and where she belongs. There's no doubt that "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" is a seminal album, though, and I think this is the best cut on the album. It's a very bloody song emotionally, and I think it's typical of the way she really hung it out there on the whole disk.

68. Oh Yeah, Poco
Poco's album "Pickin' Up the Pieces" contains everything the Eagles, Marshall Tucker, later Poco, the Allman Brothers, and countless others ever did. Richie Furray was a genius, and "Oh Yeah" is a pretty striking example of Country Rock, or Hippie Hillbilly, or whatever you want to call what he invented.

69. Highplains Jamboree, Terry Allen
You either know it or you don't, you either know why it's here or you don't, I'm not going to really screw things up and explain it.

70. Pocket Full of Gold, Vince Gill
Hillbilly from Oklahoma with best voice since Larry Gatlin goes to Nashville records his tribute to "He Stopped Loving Her Today," makes everybody cry and sing along on the Delco stereo in their Chevy pickup, end of story.

71. Hands on the Wheel, Wille Nelson
This is my 2nd favorite Willie song of all time. You don't like that it's in the top 100, get your own blog.

72. If We Make It Through December, Merle Haggard
See how it happens to you? You're making your all time top 100 list and you realize that Merle's all over it. He sneaks up on you. Sure, you say to yourself Hank this, Johnny that, but then you realize it's Merle's list. Merle is the great vortex of important country music; presentation, writing, live performance, attitude, mistakes, confessions, talent...it's Merle's world and we all just live in it.

73. Kiss An Angel Good Mornin, Charlie Pride
I LOVE THIS FUCKING SONG.

74. Lucille, Kenny Rogers
In a bar in Toledo/Across from the depot...there, now you can win 50% of all the trivia games you enter. I've got no time for people who can't karaoke this song. It's stunning. Do you understand that AFTER he sees what's going on, he STILL takes her to the hotel just to see, you know, maybe...are you kidding me?

75. Jesus Was a Capricorn, Kris Kristofferson
Jesus was a Capricorn
He ate organic foods
He believed in love and peace
And never wore no shoes
Long hair beard and sandals
And a funky buncha friends
Reckon we'd just nail him up if he come down again

That was written about 1971. Kris Kristofferson is my songwriting hero. I can think of about 100 people I'd kill to shake his hand once.

76. Rose Garden, Lynn Anderson
blah blah blah it belongs here, blah blah blah this blah blah blah that, yada yada yada.

77. Johnny Come Lately, Steve Earle
Will somebody tell me why some Viet Nam washout is singing about WWII in the middle of the 80's? I'll tell you why. Because shit didn't make sense. No, everybody did NOT want to be a fucking stockbroker and join the Reagan Revolution and no, not everybody believed things were gonna get better. Earle was THE voice of the marginalized and disenfranchised, the people who were up against it while we were "winning the cold war." Maybe you aren't a revisionist, but if you want a pretty stark alternative perspective, buy yourself a copy of Copperhead Road.

78. One Road More, The Flatlanders
"Dallas" is a goofball song. I don't understand it completely because I didn't grow up in Texas. I spent a lot of time there, but it's just one more inside joke from a portion of this genre that sometimes just doesn't understand that their key to the room with the brass ring is leaving behind some of the Stubb's references. All that baggage aside, this song is what West Texas hippie bird flyin at the establishment is all about. Take your goddamned shoes off and listen to it.

79. Hot Burrito #1, Flying Burrito Brothers
I LOVE DC and BFW's explanation of this song in "Heartaches By the Number." If you frontload all that bullshit about what makes a good record, this is probably the Burritos best recording.

80. Uneasy Rider, Charlie Daniels Band
Kind of hard to believe that the Bible thumpin, Bush flag wavin, Dixie Chick hatin guy is the same one who recorded this song of complete and utter anarchy isn't it? I mean really. The young Charlie Daniels kicks old Charlie Daniels right in the knees in this song. It's kinda like that guy sending Arnold Schwarzenegger back in time to save the humans in "The Terminator."

Posted by Jack Sparks at June 27, 2003 2:00 AM

 

41 to 60, learn to duck...

Filed under: Imported

Let's check the mailbag shall we?

Manor Folsom of Florida writes:

Dear Jack,

NO FUCKIN' JERRY LEE LEWIS????????

Love,
Manor

I've never been to Florida, but I appreciate the passion of its music crowd and the attention to detail of its electoral process.

I, too, appreciate the contributions of the Killer, ol' Jerry Lee, the Original Red Rocker. I also appreciate Manor's input, but I don't appreciate his patience. I'm sure Mrs. Folsom doesn't either. All kidding aside, had he waited, he would have seen:

41. Great Balls of Fire, Jerry Lee Lewis
People don't realize that this is a Gospel record. I say that because if there were ever a song and performer inspired by the devil, this is it. You would have had to have been a king-hell Jesus freak at some point in your life to work yourself into the frenzy that was this record. EVERYBODY knew there were no limits after this.

42. Illegal Smile, John Prine
You have to look far and wide to find someone whose lyrical ideas cover the ground that Prine's do. The hippies talked about love and peace, Prine talk about everything.

43. You're Still On My Mind, Byrds
The Byrds were a pretty big band when they made "Sweetheart of the Rodeo." It was a foray that lended industry legitimacy to the rockin' hillbillies who were creating the Country Rock scene in LA. It also convinced a few people to come and pursue what was going on there.

44. Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town, Kenny Rogers and New Edition
Mel Tillis taking on Viet Nam, straying women, self-pity, the whole nine yards. Rogers' cracked delivery makes it even more painful. In later years, it's taken on some comical history, but it's still an important tune.

45. Pick Me Up On Your Way Down, Charlie Walker
Of all the Nashville sweatshop writers, the one I have the most respect for is Harlan Howard. His songs were catchy without being cliche, and complex without being obtuse. Walker's recording of this song is dead on, and it's just about the best damn honkytonk DANCE song ever.

46. Up Against the Wall Redneck (Mother), Jerry Jeff Walker
Ray Wylie Hubbard's anthem sung by adopted Texan Walker has left a lasting impression on everyone who's ever heard it. There's a matter-of-fact quality to it, like it's a newspaper blurb about the previous evening's police blotter that catches you right across the jaw. It's almost TOO real. You can see the bar, the recording, Jerry Jeff, the rednecks that are about to get arrested, the whole thing.

47. Kissimmee Kid, Old & In The Way
Why nuveau hippies like bluegrass today.

48. If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time, Lefty Frizzell
Just stop and ask yourself what he's really saying. If YOU'VE got the money, honey. If the WOMAN has the money. Post World War II, because of the mobilization of women into the workforce like never before, the old housewife routine starts to fly out the window. Just think about that and get back to me.

49. Galveston, Glen Campbell
Jimmy Webb was very much like the "Nature Boy" that Nat King Cole sang about a few decades earlier. His collaborations with Campbell were magical because they were both gritty and ethereal. This is one of the greatest Viet Nam songs ever made.

50. Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again), Tompall Glaser & the Glaser Brothers
This song is another poem that got put to music. It's my favorite love song of all time, and the Glaser Brothers fantastic harmonies really take it to the next level.

51. Heart of Gold, Neil Young
Recorded in Nashville with the Stray Gators, Neil Young gets in your face with dark lyrics and mellow music on Harvest. "Heart of Gold" is a Hamlet's complaint for the gone-to-the-big-city crowd.

52. Me and Billy the Kid, Joe Ely
Somehow this IS and ISN'T about Billy the Kid. It's kind of reactionary and liberal at the same time. The protagonist is both the good and bad guy. It's just THE kind of music that swirled up out of the West Texas dust in the wake of Buddy Holly.

53. I Ain't Never, Webb Pierce
My friends ask me Jack what's wrong with you...

54. Hey Good Lookin', Hank Williams
Hank Williams blah blah blah greatest ever blah blah blah never hear it anymore blah blah blah...

55. Sixteen Tons, Tennessee Ernie Ford
Just a fantastic performance that belongs up there somewhere. Kind of an anachronistic song, but hey, who cares? C'mon, sing it to yourself, you know the words.

56. Sing a Sad Song, Merle Haggard
Everybody tried to sing like Merle singing like Lefty after this one.

57. Flowers on the Wall, Statler Brothers
Of course you didn't inhale...that one guy in the Statler Brothers was a booze hound skirt chaser. Don't let all the Jesus songs fool you.

58. Absolutely Sweet Marie, Jason and the Scorchers
Right band, wrong time. As they tour around today, they're mythical, but they did the absolute wrong thing and went to Nashville to play country music. Just ask Robbie Fulks and BR549. DC and BFW talk at lenght about Country only surviving because it embraces elements of other music throughout time. It's amazing that they've gotten away with not embracing COUNTRY music for so long. Buck Owens embraced the Beatles, why the fuck didn't George Strait embrace the Clash? Did you ever fuckin' ask yourself that question?

59. Postcard, Uncle Tupelo
Remember what I said above about George Strait embracing the Clash? And the bar clock says 3AM, fallout shelter sign above the door, in other words don't come here, anymore...

60. Lyin' Eyes, Eagles
And here is where I get crucified. Okay okay okay, yes, okay, yes, no, yes, and no, don't talk about my mother that way. Look, they fucked everything up by selling out, but they were good, and they were apart of the original scene, and this song is very representative of the cowboy rock crowd. Beach Boy harmonies, early Poco guitars, Flyin' Burrito/Parsons boy done wrong lyrics. It's all there. Jesus! Don't throw stuff that big at me!!!

Posted by Jack Sparks at June 25, 2003 12:51 PM

 

Vingt-et-un to the back 40...

Filed under: Imported

Everybody has their personal hero in life, mine is my older Brother Chris. Most of my reasons are private, but in a nutshell, I admire his deep well of inner strength and his over-sized heart, something a lot of people who know him overlook. His finest moments though, are his explosions of outrage; you get fine nuggets of wisdom in those. To wit:

"Little Jacky, what the fuck, no Hank Jr. in your fuckin top ten? Name a better musician than that sonofabitch!"

Indeed. What of Bocephus? This is EXACTLY the type of reaction I was hoping for from this insignifcant countdown, and I appreciate my brother's input immensely. And, just to answer him and a few others who responded to the top 20...

There's a certain amount of irreverence involved in this list. That is to say, there are acts that I like that I don't revere, and vice versa. Second, this list is about to get really weird now that we're out of the top 20. I rant a lot about this, that, and the other thing, but, I firmly believe that, OUTSIDE OF A FEW EXCEPTIONS (note, to all you folks in the 615 area code, that means some of you are doin okay), the Nashville recording industry has been an ARTISTIC wasteland since about 1982. So, no, Garth Brooks just isn't going to show up on this list anywhere. He's made more money than God, Getty, and Johnny Cash, but that doesn't mean he contributed anything. If anything, he's created a bigger hole for everyone to crawl out of. So he can kiss my ass.

21. Crazy, Patsy Cline
The right voice with the right song. I would kill to have heard her sing this informally in a studio with say one guitar, an upright bass and a brushed drum. I think most people would agree that you have to be crazy to love the person you're with, and Willie hit a homerun with this song.

22. The Pill/You Ain't Woman Enough/Fist City, Loretta Lynn
And, when love gets a little dicey, thank God for Loretta Lynn. This is the Holy Trinity of relationship realism here. All the whispy goddess songs about breathing today are popcorn farts compared to Loretta's fiery-eyed tunes of violent emotion. Her voice, delivery, and carriage let you know that she could back up every word she sang, too.

23. Ring of Fire, Johnny Cash
Much like the hot chili pepper episode of the Simpsons, I'm pretty sure God speaks with Johnny Cash's voice.

24. Coat of Many Colors, Dolly Parton
Dolly has written a lot of big tunes over the years, but this is her homerun, and it's just one of those songs that makes you feel better after you hear it. One of the best songs about a mother's love ever written.

25. Stand By Your Man, Tammy Wynette
As I said earlier, I believe this is a song of feminine strength, given all the circumstances. I think it's importance has a temporal quality to it too. That is to say, coming out during the Veeeetnam conflict and the Civil Rights era, it was a good match for the powder. Tammy's performance is absolutely perfect.

26. Sing Me Back Home/Mama Tried, Merle Haggard
I would like to thank Jerome Clark for reminding me to look at my list before opening my big mouth too far. Merle put these out in the late sixties, a little more than ten years after Folsom Prison Blues. These are two absolutely fabulous prison numbers. Where Johnny's inmate seems like more of a loaner, Merle's longs for the family and home that he let down, a nice perspective change. Johnny's wants to break free, Merle's is more embarrassed.

27. Chug-A-Lug, Roger Miller
The fire cracker recording of this song just hits me harder than King of the Road. If you're a straight line historical, FDR won the war, Truman dropped the bomb, Ike gave everybody 40 acres and a mule type, then yeah, substitute King of the Road here. If you see Roger Miller as a sort of idiot savant hillbilly who had more spontaneous creativity in him than anybody, and that ability manifested itself in explosions of backwoods staccato poetry and sped up chord changes, then welcome to my world.

28. Lookin' Out My Back Door, CCR
One of my earliest memories is my oldest brother Rhett coming home from school, going to his room, shutting the door, and putting this song on his record player. Given that this was the early 70's, you can draw your own inferences. But, notice that it perfectly jibes with what it's describing. It's one of the ultimate shut-the-world out songs, something that was becoming increasingly necessary at the time.

29. El Paso, Marty Robbins
Country goes opera. The young Marty Robbins had one of the most beautiful voices ever. If you don't like this song, you aren't human. When I travel to cities that actually have country radio stations in them, I pray that this song comes on the radio while I'm toolin' around in my truck. It's a good road song.

30. Me and Bobby McGee, Janis Joplin
"Busted flat in Baton Rouge/Waitin' for a train/I was feelin' nearly faded as my jeans." There was a period in Kristofferson's life when he bottled an entire group's collective life experience in about 5 or 6 songs. I've heard about a thousand people pull this out of the bag at concerts and shows, but there just isn't anything close to Joplin's cracked moan. She recorded this right before she died, and Kristofferson didn't hear it until just after. The story goes that the first time he heard it, he said, "She did that to me on purpose."

31. There Stands the Glass, Webb Pierce
You know what? Go ahead and write your honky-tonk song, I'm sure it's good, and people will like it and it might sell a little. But you know what else? There's one that's 50 years old that set the bar really high for ya.

32. Always Late (with Your Kisses), Lefty Frizzell
Just the most beautiful flirt song ever. How many times do you think Lefty got girls to kiss him after he put this out? Just walk into a room, see a pretty girl, whistle to himself, then croon kinda soft at her, "alllllways late, with your kissesssss."

33. White Lightning, George Jones
The first psychobilly freakout.

34. Truckin', The Grateful Dead
Yeah there's all that hippie shit goin' on in this song, but it's a very traditional road song underneath it all. Take the B3, one of the guitars, and some of the harmonies out of it, add a steel and fiddle, and it's a Hank Williams song. Jerry loved country, man.

35. I've Got a Tiger By the Tail, Buck Owens
Jimi Hendrix meets Hank Williams. Country rock didn't strictly sound like this, but I guarantee you that it started here.

36. Good Hearted Woman, Waylon Jennings
A hot and sweaty dose of reality at the right time. This is the flagship song of the Outlaw Movement in my book.

37. I Saw the Light, Hank Williams
Usually, when you see a crazy person wailing about Jesus, you lock him up. Instead, somebody recorded it, and it's one of the best gospel songs ever.

38. Your Cheatin' Heart, Hank Williams
The ultimate cheating song.

39. I Never Go Around Mirrors, Lefty Frizzell
If you ever think you've come completely unraveled, listen to this song. You aren't even close to this poor sap. Two minutes, thirty-six seconds of a guy sitting alone in a bare walled room. This is the second song that the guy in "Hello Walls" sings to himself.

40. Lament, The Gourds
Sanity was reinjected into country music with the release of "Stadium Blitzer" in 1998. Crickets, mandolins and the opening plaintive assertion of indifference by Kevin Russell let everybody know that there really weren't too many limits to this thing we love called "Country." It can be a little obtuse, a little abstract, a little dark, a little punky, a little stoned, and a lot damn good. This song, and this band belongs here, because no other act in America right now has its fingers so firmly wrapped around the collective throat of the staid stale notions of what country music is and what it should be.

Posted by Jack Sparks at June 18, 2003 2:31 PM

 

I Lied...Top 100 Country songs, starting with Number 1

Filed under: Imported

So I lied? So what? As I was "researching" this highly quantitative and non-subjective list, I kept running into the problem of where to start. Suddenly, last night, it became clear to me that starting at the top would be easier than starting at the bottom. I have to thank Cantwell and Friskics-Warren for that; it struck me that as they were doing their book, once they got their listees in a big pool, it was easier to talk about the top than the bottom. They have fewer things to say as they reach the bottom, and I think that's because you get to that point and realize they're all really good songs, but, they're more interchangeable than the top. Or, this could all be bullshit. Read the next few blogs with a heavy grain of salt. If you agree with me, great. If you don't, git yer own blog Cooter. I say more about some songs than others. I try to give credit where credit is due for some of my ideas, god knows I'm not all that smart. If I plagiarized something your cousin's uncle's sister's brother once wrote for Creem magazine, please don't sue me, this is just a blog.

1. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, Hank Williams
"Have you ever seen a robin weep/When leaves began to fly?/That means he's lost the will to live/I'm so lonesome I could cry." Whammo!!! To me, this song has always been from the perspective of someone bemoaning his loneliness in his new urban surroundings and missing the rural life he left behind. I think it's a hallmark moment for country music. Like I've said on my website, Jimmie Rodgers and Woodie Guthrie put country music on the train to the big city, Hank Williams stepped down off the train and took it to main street.

2. Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Cash
"But I shot a man in Reno/Just to watch him die." Kerplooey!!! One of the finest traits of good country music is murder. And no one sings about murder like the Man in Black. You ever notice that there were exactly zero important prison songs after this one came out? That's because this is the greatest prison song ever written. Prison as a theme in Country music just disappeared effectively, because everyone realized that nothing was going top this. Somehow, too, this magical song becomes a prayer for redemption in the midst of murder and anger and shame. How the hell did he do that? (Live From Folsom Prison)

3. Walking the Floor Over You, Ernest Tubb
One thing you'll hear from me over and over is that songs sung by the writer that have autobiographical roots and have some sort of active story to them are just better than the strings of cliches thrown together by the marketing department songwriters so prevalent today in Nashville. This song is a stunning achievement of just that. It's a lament of love gone wrong, with a catchy lyric, AND, you can friggin dance your ass off to it. So if you want to drown your loneliness, you can merely sit and listen to it. If you want to work the blues out, you can two step them away. This song also launched ET's career, and he went on to launch the careers of so many important and valuable entertainers.

4. Hello Walls, Faron Young
To be honest, I think Young's reading of this song is pretty lame. But, I believe the song itself is just one of the most brilliant lyrical ideas ever. It's the kind of complex, emotional ball of shit couched in a really simple and spare picture that really is the very definition of important poetry. You could read this song as a poem, and it should be taught as such in American Literature courses.

5. Dead Flowers, Rolling Stones
Surprise!!! Make a list: heroine, heroine addicted girls, money, celebrities, etc. The Rolling Stones put the black in white boy rock, but, more importantly, when they wrote Country songs, they weren't afraid to slide the curtain to the back room aside and show you the needles and empty bottles. This song really was the logical progression of country music that all the Gucci's in Nashville covered up. It's sweaty, twangy, and ugly, and, even though very few of us are doing heroine in the basement with some trashy girl, there's a realistic story here. The warts aren't being covered. (Sticky Fingers)

6. Together Again, Emmylou Harris
Gram Parsons did a lot of important things, but probably the most important thing he did was put Emmylou on a National stage. This woman did nothing short of save traditional sounding country music through the late 70's and throughout the 80's. Her soaring vocals and pure heart ate through all the businessman's crap that has almost ruined the genre. This Buck Owens tune is probably her finest early recording, and it's a textbook example of feminine power with a delicate delivery. It's almost an entirely different song in her hands, and I once watched it melt a stick of butter sitting next to my stereo speakers. (Elite Hotel)

7. Help Me Make It Through the Night, Sammi Smith
I almost want to plagiarize everything Cantwell and Friskics-Warren said about this song. For my part, being a big Kristofferson fan, I think this is just his best song as a songwriter. No matter what voice takes the lead on this song, it's a stunning story of take no prisoners love. Let's worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. This song creates heat and time and passion. It really sums up the entire here-and-now period in which it was written.

8. Blue Suede Shoes, Carl Perkins
The very birth of hillbilly cool.

9. That'll Be the Day, Buddy Holly & the Crickets
This song is revolutionary because everyone in early rock copied Buddy Holly. Buddy Holly was also the first alt rock guy, even though he helped invent just plain old rock. Buddy Holly was also the most important West Texas country artist ever, even though his songs were rock songs. What I'm trying to say is that there's a little bit of Buddy Holly in everything, you just sometimes have to scratch to find it. He was an absolute genius, and this song is another spare lyric that hides a complex and mature subject matter. Just listen to it again and ask yourself, "What does he really mean?" I can see him loading the gun.

10. It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels, Kitty Wells/The Wild Side of Life, Hank Thompson/Great Speckle Bird, Roy Acuff
If you want to know more about the history of this song, read "In the Country of Country" by Nicholas Dawidoff. It's just too long and deep to go into here, but each version was an important point in different styles of music within the genre: national prominence, hard-edged bar room country, and feminine power country. Three sets of lyrics, one piece of sheet music.

11. Lovesick Blues, Emmitt Miller
Honestly, I didn't know crap about this record or artist until I read Nick Tosches' book "Country: the Twisted Roots of Rock n' Roll." Needless to say there's a detailed history of this song and how it was a major transformation point for modern country music from the depravity of black-faced minstrelsy to mainstream musical validity. Blah blah blah. I downloaded it and some other things to get to the heart of the matter. This hillbilly could belt out a tune. If you have an appreciation for the roots of country performance, this song is going to go right down your spine the first time you hear it.

12. Knoxville Girl, The Louvin Brothers
If you look at old pictures of the Louvin brothers, the one that drank himself to death looks like a psycho. If you listen to Knoxville Girl after looking at those pictures, you realize he probably was a psycho and this song is more than likely an overlooked piece of evidence in an unsolved murder, rather than one of the best two-voice, harmonized mountain songs.

13. Love's Gonna Live Here, Buck Owens
Fuck you! Get out of the way! I'm not going to record my goddamn music the way you evil fucking bastards want me to. These people pay good money to see me and your shitty orchestras and treacly overproduction are ruining the genre. Next thing you know, you'll be colluding with radio stations to deliver the Female 25-45 demographic...

14. Blue Eyes, International Submarine Band
Here come the dirty hippies. There are some people who think Parsons was a fraud, but I'm not one of them. If there was anything brilliant about him, it was in him saying, "Hey, I'm kind of a hippy stoner, but I'm country too, Jim Bob, you redneck bastard." Blue Eyes is a bouncey dancehall number, with slightly scaled back rock guitars and a kind of "me and my old lady are doin' just fine" story to it. I think of homemade clothes and homegrown weed when I listen to it, and that "attitude" that's in the song is Parsons stamp on the music. (Safe At Home)

15. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right, Bob Dylan
There are two kinds of hippies...ha ha. I think of Parsons' hippy as your typical dropout kind, and Dylan was more of the eastern folk engaged and conscious kind. There's a lot of the disaffected country boy in Williams' "I'm so lonesome I could cry" in this song. The lyrics are delivered in a laid back manner with a simple guitar and harmonica so you get that hillbilly feel. But something about it just says "city" to me, like your first city girl love and how he's trying to hash it out with her. There's a fantastic story here. You feel like he's singing to a really smart, educated woman here. (The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan)

16. Screen Door, Uncle Tupelo
You know how to get in trouble? Pick what you think is the best Uncle Tupelo song and watch the "alties" come out of the woodwork on your ass and tell you what a dill-hole you are. If these two were really trying to invent/reinvent alt country, this is the song they did it with. Here the story is, there is no story. "We don't care/We don't care what happens outside the screen door." It's the late 80's, Alabama has recorded their 40th song about the state of Alabama, and their 50th about deer and children and fried chicken picnics. Garth Brooks is recording Billy Joel songs and causing a lot of normally sane people to buy wide brimmed black hats and dark pastel rodeo shirts. Meanwhile, the two most important country song writers of that time are living sandwich to sandwich just outside St. Louis, Missouri. (No Depression)

17. This Land is Your Land, Woodie Guthrie
This song should be the National Anthem. You want to force little children to do something every morning? Make them sing this song. It's a better story, and a better promise.

18. Blue Yodel (T for Texas), Jimmie Rodgers
Step 1 in the invention of modern country music.

19. He Stopped Loving Her Today, George Jones
"I'd like to thank my ex-wife for this award." The greatest acceptance speech ever. If you want to talk about country singles: the song, the arrangement, the vocal delivery and recording, to me, this is the best ever example. There are a thousand cliche love gone wrong bullshit ripoffs of this out today; and, not only are they poor copies, their singers can't even approach what Jones poured into this. His PERFORMANCE was autobiographical. It kills me every time I hear it.

20. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, Willie Nelson
Fuck you!! You're doing it all wrong!! Let me sing it the way it should be sung!! Are you listening to the goddamned song? This is one guy singing about a daydream!! You sonsabitches don't know shit!! I'm not going to say every major record executive in Nashville is an idiot, but they all said that this album wouldn't sell. They all thought it wasn't commercial enough. You'd think they would have learned their lessons. It's amazing how stupid people are. Willie's recording of this chestnut was dead on. There's a lot of Sinatra in Willie's delivery of any song, but there's also a lot of Willie in what's being done around the song: that old guitar, Bobby's minimalist piano playing, Mickey's cracker barrel harp fills and solos, etc. Probably my favorite Willie song. (The Red-Headed Stranger)

Posted by Jack Sparks at June 16, 2003 6:59 PM

 

Round 2, wherein the Whooper becomes the Whoopee

Filed under: Imported

Here we are boys and girls...Round 2, wherein the intrepid hillbilly gives his opinion of Heartaches by the Number: Country Music's 500 Greatest Singles, by David Cantwell (DC) and Bill Friskics-Warren (BFW).

The first word I have for this is: excruciating. But, I mean that in a good way, so read a little more.

First of all, imagine you and your buddy are sitting around and you decide to make a list of the 500 greatest singles of all time in Country Music. Now just think about that. There are thousands of Country recordings: good, bad, happy, sad, blue, black, rural and cosmopolitan. You've just decided to whittle them down to 500.

Now, let's say it's six months later, you've been listening to these damn things every week, seven days straight, over and over again. What seems like every 78, 45, and 33 1/3 piece of shit that was ever pressed to vinyl. Maybe you can't agree on something. Maybe there's still a huge "to-do" pile, because, you HAVE to listen to these things, probably four or five times each. It's like someone won't stop sharpening their nails on the chalkboard...

Now, even a few months later, and you've got it whittled down to 500 songs. He disagrees with some, you disagree with others, but you've haggled it out, and now you have 500. Guess what? Now you have to write the damn book Buster Brown! You have to say something fresh and original about each tune, and in case you don't already have scholars' cough from sucking in all the dust (or at least, haven't made someone else's case worse), you have to track down as much nuts and bolts info about each song that you can: session players, producer, engineer, chart placings, butcher, baker, candlestick maker...

I'd heard this amount of dirt and that amount of rumor on this book, but it wasn't until I received my own copy and read the introduction and foreword that I realized what DC and BFW had done. This book is nothing short of a monument to the genre. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to speak intelligently about country music from now until the cube people find the little robot boy in the ice, staring at the faerie queen. Just for shits and giggles, let's say they chose 500 completely different songs in a completely different order than they did; it would STILL be hard to argue with their list because of their relentless research and immense capacity for getting the whole story. The book is a delight, but the mere thought of the mountain of work behind it makes me want to cry. It makes my brain hurt to think about it. It's the kind of even-handed, fair-minded, and meticulous book that will allow the most authentic of the phony bastards in Nashville today to swell with pride when attacked by goobers like me; but, the other edge of the sword is that it also gives me a king kong fucking bazooka to aim at the losers too. If you're involved with Country music in any way, you simply cannot deny the organically tangible validity of this work.

It's hard for me to say, "well, number 56 is all fucked up." (I just picked that number out of the air, it's actually "Galveston," by Glenn Campbell, produced by Al DeLory, written by Jimmy Webb, Capitol single # 2428, released in 1969, went to #1 on the Country chart, and #4 on the pop chart...see what I mean by "thorough?"). So, I won't bore you with who came in what place, etc.

What I maybe have a problem with is accepting one of their premises. Not so much the procedure of that premise, but the substance of it. I think there's a danger in going down the road they did. Admittedly, they avoid that danger nicely, but still...

They only examined "singles." That is, they only considered songs that had been released by the labels as singles and thrown up in the air for radio airplay. Honestly, they had to draw a line somewhere. I don't have a problem with that. But the ONE danger in that approach is falling prey to the group think of what defines important music by what the great label heirarchy considers music worth releasing. It also allows in a lot of music that I would have left out...a distinct lack of that even-handed and fair-mindedness on my part that I was discussing earlier.

To whit...Number 358, "Any Man of Mine," by Shania Twain. I applaud DC and BFW for finding a way to speak intelligently about her music. On the other hand, if my gig is to have any validity whatsoever, I HAVE to err on the side of paranoia. This woman is nothing. Her music, persona, the whole bit is all engineered. Where they see an injection of pop-diva sensibility and feminine strength, I see pure evil. This woman's existence is dictated by her scumbag husband, who designs every song, every note, every inflection of her computer generated voice to create "alternate income streams" for one of the many rooms in their Swiss chalet. If as author, you've decided to limit your song pool only to singles, then you're almost forced to give credence to these acute pop incursions into the genre, especially if they sell a lot of units.

One more example to illustrate my point. Bing Crosby has a couple of songs in the chart and Tony Bennett has one. I've seen a number of documentaries about how Bing really dug all sorts of music and was always wanting to sing this kind of song and that. His piddling around created a lot of opportunities for OTHER artists who were more pure to their genres (Louis Armstrong for one). DC and BFW relate how Bennett wanted to choke his producer to death when he suggested he do a country song. But his producer kind of forced him into it, and it ended up being a big hit and made everyone a lot of money. I won't pretend to know the motives in a man's heart, but you have to ask yourself, what are the impulses? Do Twain and Lange really want to stretch the boundaries and break down the fences of what we think of as Country music, or do they want to build a better ski-lift outside the crib? I agree that certain injections of pop and other genres have allowed Country to survive over the years. However, I think in a few cases, the authors' jumping off point allowed in a few songs like Twain's that musically, have no place in the canon.

All that being said, you will get LOST in this book. Not that I would advocate illegally downloading music, but...if you can sit in front of your computer with this book and not at least get curious about this record (#349, "I'm a lover, Not a fighter," by Lazy Lester) and that artist (who the fuck is Ted Daffan?), well brothers and sisters, you aren't human. This is a book you can take to the bar and not use as a coaster. THIS is the book with the damn answer...you know, when you're sitting there and 3 of you are trying to figure out who wrote "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town." (Mel Tillis, #327).

And, if you know anyone in, related to, or tangentially acquainted with Lonestar, you can send them a copy, because fuck them, they didn't make the list.

In homage to Melissa Maerz...listening to my prerelease copy of "Decoration Day," by the Drive By Truckers, scheduled to hit stores on June 17th. The first song on the disk was inspired by, and I quote: "...a magazine article about the only two people currently serving time in America for consensual brother/sister incest." Long live Patterson Hood.

Posted by Jack Sparks at June 11, 2003 9:12 PM

 

The 4 oz. can of Whoopass...

Filed under: Imported

Here's part 1 of my thoughts on the greatest country songs of all time. It's an examination of CMT's 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time.

First off, their No. 1 song, "Stand by Your Man," by Tammy Wynette. One of the Top 100? Sure. Number 1? No way. A female emailer, who we'll call "B" put it pretty good:

"I'd love to have some of whatever our friends over at CMT are smoking to come up with "Stand by Your Man" as the best country song. "Stand by your Man"? Okay, it's a fine song. But the best? That's the best message that's ever come out of Nashville? Those are the best lyrics? Well, dig up old Hank and spit in his face. They think that's the best music Nashville's ever made? Or, worse yet, are they saying that they think "Stand by your Man" perfectly captured all the anxiety about changing gender roles and such for its time (an argument I agree with) BUT since then, Nashville has never made another song that was so relevant? Good, sweet and tender Jesus, what a damning indictment of the state of country music."

There's a really good point in her rant about "changing gender" roles, etc. This song created a real storm when it came out, women on both sides of the "who we are" argument damning and defending Wynette and her producers. I've always been of the opinion that when you take this song in the context of all of Tammy's work, it's pretty obvious it's a song of strength in the tornado of relationship nonsense that was the 60's. However, that being said, there's a kind of "Blues Brothers" invalidity to this song. You remember the scene, the Blues Brothers needed to sing some country songs at the roadhouse/honky tonk and all they could come up with was Stand By Your Man and the Theme from Rawhide. Making this song Number 1 shows the cursory knowledge of Country music these assclowns really have. Like I said, it's certainly one of the best, but not the best.

As for the rest of the list, I'd like to get some really hot anger out of the way first.

Number 97, "Amazed," by Lonestar. Fuck Lonestar!!! This is a boy band. There will be cassette tapes at the gas station convenience store in Hoffman, MN, of Lonestar's greatest hits in the year 2025, and no one will remember who the fuck they were. Just to add insult to injury, somehow "Faded Love" by Bob Wills came in 98th. So they're telling us with a straight face that this phony boyband concoction of some label's marketing department put it together better than the Texas Playboys? Riiiiiiiiight.

The proof in the pudding of this chart really lies in looking at the clowns who made it, then looking who was just below them.

At Number 50 is "Independence Day" by Martina McBride. First, to steal a recent critique of Faith Hill in the LA Times and apply it here, McBride's songs are nothing but "vocal histrionics" most of the time. She's the queen of the long drawn out abused woman pop song that contains at least one demonstration of her "monster" voice. However, we can't be so sure that's really her voice anymore, can we? All of that aside, you only have to look one step below and see that number 51 was "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels," by Kitty Wells and cause your eyes to roll around in your head like someone mainlining crystal meth. Wells' song is a seminal...a fucking SEMINAL...piece of country music. It's a goddamn joke that McBride's song is in the chart in the first place, let alone ahead of this song.

The joke gets better at 48, where we find "Boot Scootin' Boogie," by Brooks and Dunn. They might as well put "Achy Breaky Heart" in here too. You're not going to find another 90's country song that made more money for "the industry" than "Boot Scootin'," and, you're not going to find another song that did more damage to the art form. Brooks and Dunn didn't know each other from a fucking hole in the wall until two producer/marketing types put them together to make everybody some money. What followed was what was unthinkable just a few years earlier: the reincarnation of the shallow, disco-like, phony urban cowboy prancing known as "line dancing." This was a crucial period in country music. Several young alt/Americana type groups were poised to take the music in a deeper, more interesting, and more authentic direction. Like the Nazi in "Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade," they chose poorly.

Just look below these two gems by Brooks & Dunn and McBride:

53. "Walking the Floor Over You," by Ernest Tubb (one of 3 songs that really started the Western Swing movement, and a fantastic lyric).

54. "Coat of Many Colors," by Dolly (talk about true feminine empowerment and character)

61. "Lovesick Blues," by Hank Williams (yep, 11 below "Independence Day" and 13 below "Boot Scootin' Fuckin' Boogie," right where I'd put it. Jeez.)

68. "There Stands the Glass," by Webb Pierce (there wouldn't be any fucking honkytonks to boot scoot in if it wasn't for Webb Pierce).

But, I dawdle...let's get to the heart of the matter...

Let me build you a ladder, in reverse order:

47. "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)," by Loretta Lynn

42. "El Paso," by Marty Robbins

41. "Sweet Dreams," by Patsy Cline

40. "Hello Walls," by Faron Young (written by Willie)

38. "Breathe," by Faith Hill.

Did you hear the brakes screeching and the glass shattering? One, "Breathe" is a pop song. IT'S NOT COUNTRY!!! Two, and I can't believe I'm typing this...I mean it really hurts...but it's not even Hill's best song. Three, to say it's better than just those four songs is unfathomable. You have to put "Hello Walls" in the top ten lyric category of all country songs. It's a stunning example of a sledge hammer of emotion being delivered with a feather of language. "Sweet Dreams" is just a better song than "Breathe." "El Paso" might be operatic; the young Marty Robbins had a soaring, rich, beautiful voice, an accusation never leveled at Hill. And finally, there's more woman in any 2 seconds of any Loretta song than there is in ALL of the collected recordings of people like Hill, McBride, and Twain. Go away Faith Hill, we're tired of you.

On to the Golden Calf...

So Garth comes in at number 6 with "Friends in Low Places" and number 14 with "The Dance." So "Friends..." is better than "I Fall to Pieces," by Patsy Cline (7), and "Blue Moon of Kentucky," by Bill Monroe (11). Also, in case you were wondering, "Friends" and "Dance" are both better than "Folsom Prison Blues," (25) by...if I have to tell you who recorded that, turn off your computer and go away. Oh, and just for good measure, "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" came in at number 29.

After years of watching him fly into the air on my TV set from somewhere below the stage and begin hollerin' into the headset that he really made popular and practical (for all the boy bands to come), the difference between this man and Elvis has really begun to escape me. Maybe that's a compliment, because the King was the King; but, artists like Ray Charles and Willie have never really tried to hide their resentment of Elvis, and if the true country ARTISTS of today were given any kind of voice within their industry, you would see just how many people loathe this peacock. He is exactly what his handlers want him to be, and he offers them no resistance. It's obviously a formula that works on a financial level. But, the demon spawn that have followed him in their black hats, big belt buckles, highly orchestrated stage shows, and cliche County Fair love songs have RUINED THE GENRE.

This list is sprinkled with many important songs and artists who should be in any Top 100 list of country songs. There are moving and deep achievements of musical importance here. However, given the above, it's pretty obvious that there was some engineering on the part of this TV network to get some of the recent garbage thrown in so their audience doesn't change the damn channel on them. The bottom line is that many of these songs they consider important are only on this list for one reason, they made a lot of money. Musical history is littered with fluff that made a lot of money and ended up in the 8 Track bin at your local thrift store. Additionally, the more nefarious motive is one I've only recently been espousing. The recording industry in general and Country music in particular is suffering. By inserting these no-talents into a big list with the true stars of the genre, the suits in Nashville are trying desperately to recapture the authenticity they ditched like an aging hooker on the Las Vegas strip. This is one raving lunatic who's determined not to let them get away with it. Stay tuned...

Posted by Jack Sparks at June 7, 2003 3:07 PM

 

Call 3 Friends

Filed under: Imported

I've gotten a number of emails in the past two days about CMT's 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time. Needless to say, when you're in my line of work, people expect an immediate and blistering response to yet more complete and utter jibberish out of the Nashville Music Process, the most corrupt and morally bankrupt musical community in the world.

However, I've decided to take a measured approach this time. First, I'm going to dissect their list a little more even-handedly than you might think. There will still be comments like, "Huh?" and "Fuck Lonestar." But, there are some nice selections they have on this list, and they have a point about a few of them. The problem with a great deal of these types of lists is that they focus on mainstream released singles. Since it's a known fact that this crooked industry maliciously and illegally locks out many performers from its airwaves and studios, these lists are guaranteed to suffer from not having the full compliment of the genre's greatest recordings.

Second, after doing some actual research, I'm going to post the Jack K. Sparks 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time. I'll list them out, and try to give short explanations for their choice. I will most likely do this in 5 sets of Twenty, starting at 100, so it's not some 5Gb blog that gets me thrown out of the system.

It might take me a few days to get this together, but, in the meantime, give your friends a buzz and let them know that I'm putting this monstrosity together, and that I won't be pulling any punches. Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and Martina McBride are Country Music like Taco Bell is Mexican food, and it's time that people start sticking their necks out a little in this business to remove these ear-sores from the Twang landscape. Until then, res ipsa loquitur...

Posted by Jack Sparks at June 6, 2003 1:40 PM

 

Just when I thought I was out, they DRAGGED me back in...

Filed under: Imported

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." --Teddy Roosevelt, 1918

I tried to stay out of the Dixie Chicks fray by attempting to alter the focus to what was really important about what they had done. In a nutshell, I believe everyone was angrier about the money that would be lost from the backlash, than they were about the specific content of what Natalie had said.

However, recent events have more or less forced me to up the stakes a little. I report as a DJ to the Freeform Americana Roots chart, essentially a top 40 albums list for Alternative Country, Americana, and Roots music. The editor of the chart sent out an email the other day telling us all that 3 radio stations had returned a CD by Kevin Deal, unopened, because it was produced by Lloyd Maines, Natalie�s father.

So far, the Deals haven�t come forth with which stations. I believe they�re consulting with Lloyd about how much they should make out of this, which is thoughtful and intelligent. I, on the other hand, have never been accused of being either, so I have my big spoon out and I�m ready to stir the pot.

First of all, Kevin Deal didn�t do anything to anybody. He sought out Lloyd because he�s the best producer in Texas. Kevin Deal pours concrete for a living during the day and sweats it out in the bars and clubs at night, playing his songs. I bet he got to shake Natalie�s hand once, and then 10 agents, managers, and psychics whisked her out of the room. Most of the time, he�s probably too worried about feeding his family to care what Natalie Maines thinks of George Bush and what George Bush thinks about anything.

Second of all, Lloyd Maines is a central figure in Texas music. He�s the best producer in the state, and he�s helped a lot of new and younger acts develop and fix their sound and mature into interesting and vital country artists. After this thing hit on Saturday, lists starting popping up everywhere of the people he�s worked with and produced. You can look at my Sunday Playlist to see a few.

Third, Lloyd Maines is the best steel guitar player in the world. If you go to Nashville, the most corrupt and morally bankrupt city in America, and take a poll, 8, 9, 10 out of 10 steel players will tell you that Lloyd is the king and everyone else is playing for second. Taking points two and three together, banning something Lloyd worked on is like banning Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson. He simply is that important of an artist, inspiration, and teacher.

Now, this surely is not a black and white issue. Radio stations are private corporations and can do what they want. Regrettably, it�s as much an expression of their free speech to ban things, as it is for someone to say something unpopular about a president. However, this situation really draws into sharp relief two very disturbing phenomena in radio land.

First, the consolidation and homogenization of radio was done as both a power grab and a survival tactic. The dull radio you hear today ensures profits by catering each format to a specific and closed demographic. However, what that has done is really erase the public function of radio. These companies no longer feel they are stewards of a public trust. So, rather than going with the issue from all sides, standing up for free speech, and weathering what has really turned out to be a small storm, their answer has been to cowardly ban the Chicks� music from their airwaves and wrap themselves in the cloak of Presidential patriotism. Good. It�s their right. But, it�s just one more canary in the coalmine of erosion of good radio. The people running this industry are no longer intelligent, thoughtful people; they�re accountants and consultants, and all that matters is the bottom line. Now that the FCC has made the biggest mistake in American political history today, you just wait and see if it gets any better.

Second, Kevin Deal and Lloyd Maines didn�t say a word. Natalie did. If the consequences of Natalie�s words are that she doesn�t get airtime, them�s the breaks. SHE has to live with the consequences of HER actions. But what do Lloyd and Kevin have to do with it? This gets back to my first point; if radio DOES serve a public function, this draconian application of �we�re going to punish you, your family and everyone associated with you and your family� is quasi-fascist. It�s the very un-American and un-Patriotic and cowardly act that most people were accusing Natalie of committing.

Finally, the subject of banning anything assumes your audience is a bunch of idiots. Songs on the radio are seldom longer than five minutes. If your audience is nonplussed by the Dixie Chicks because of what she said, they can turn the channel for five minutes and come back to you. People tend to be more loyal to their radio stations than most think. And, the leap that says people will fall into league with the �President haters� if they listen to Kevin Deal because he was produced by Lloyd Maines who happened to contribute a little DNA to the woman who said she wasn�t a big fan of the President is almost too absurd to print.

I want these idiotic cowards to contact me and explain their actions. They have violated the public trust, insulted an artist whose work I love and is central to American musical history, and made a mockery of American values. I�m right here, where are you?

Thank you Lloyd Maines, for making my life richer.

Posted by Jack Sparks at June 2, 2003 11:31 AM

 

« May 2003 | Main | July 2003 »