Country music was great in the 20’s so why is it rubbish now?

quote:

Originally posted by jcs_smith:
I’ve been listening to a lot of twenties and thirties country music recordings on the Yazoo and Rounder record labels recently. It’s wonderful – fast, passionate and wildly exciting. Absolutely nothing like the mindless pap that passes for country music now.

Hi Jcs!
I do agree!
Have ever tried some by "Flying Fish Records"?
"Philo" should have some good in catalogue as well!
Cheers!
Gianluigi

Have you tried listening to Gillian Welch ?
Don't think you could write her off as mindless pap.

True. Don't like her stuff though. I'm not really convinced by the alt country scene. I thgink possibly the problem is that twenties country is very close to blues while other forms of country are more alien to my taste. Having said that I like Steve Earle and Gram Parsons

You're not trying hard enough.
Seeing the boys hopefully on Friday night. Ryan Adams tomorrow night, but at the mercy of the touts.

That would be trying too hard

Bit too roots, huh?!

No. Just sounds a bit naff

So you're not a Mary Chapin Carpenter fan then - apart from all Mary's albums I've not really got much C&W in my collection.

However if you stay with the UK, you could try Saucy Haulage Ballads for HMHB's bluegrass classic On Finding The Studio Banjo - a country version of Trumpton Riots. And then there's their song with a typical country feel about unrequited love Keeping Two Chevrons Apart.

This is proper bluegrass by people in their 20's. I thought that's what you were looking for.
What are you looking for?

quote:

Originally posted by jcs_smith:
True. Don't like her stuff though........ Having said that I like Steve Earle and Gram Parsons

Seems to me there is an interesting discussion in here somewhere. I have no musical education or training whatsoever, so I have no basis to decide what is good music or bad music, other than a simple judgement that what I like is good music and what I don't like is bad music.

But then I struggle with bands like Death Cab for Cutie, which on first hearing I didn't like at all, but on subsequent hearings came to love. I tend to be of the view that there is really no bad music, just music you haven't heard in the right circumstances, yet.

quote:

Originally posted by Rasher:
This is proper bluegrass by people in their 20's. I thought that's what you were looking for.
What are you looking for?

Not that. Actually I'm not all that bothered by the fact that people don't do music like it was done in the twenties and thirties because there's plenty of it around. I'm just surprised that country music has evolved so much away from the blues and rags into what it has become. And also I find modern bluegrass, to me, misses the important elements that twenties music had.

I'm going away tonight so I can't go further with this right now, but I'd like to get some examples from you. Maybe we could resume this next week. This is right up my street.

quote:

Originally posted by jcs_smith:
I find modern bluegrass, to me, misses the important elements that twenties music had.

Specifically, which elements?

For me, I dig it all, old, new, as long as it's good! Alison Krauss with and without Union Station, Nickel Creek, Ralph Stanley/Stanley Brothers, Jerry Douglas, Patsy Cline, Andrea Zonn, George Jones, Bobbie Cryner, Hank Williams, Vince Gill ... and many others, old and new but all good.

Fred

quote:

Originally posted by fred simon:

quote:

Originally posted by jcs_smith:
I find modern bluegrass, to me, misses the important elements that twenties music had.

Specifically, which elements?

Well to me, the old stuff sounds brash and exciting. The newer stuff I think sounds twee and a bit sterile. It's missing the blues elements

Phil Jupitus made the comment in his Radio Times music column a few weeks back, that country music in the USA is an extraordinarily broad church.

And he's right. He was reviewing a 'Be Good Tanyas' album on that occasion.

'Country' seems to be a dirty work in the UK with connotations of 'Yeehaa' and line dancing, but there's loads of good stuff coming out of the States from young artistes.

Americans don't seem to get hung up on labels, and music doesn't have to be hip or fashionable - just good.

Bob Harris has introduced me to many great USA country artistes like James McMurtry, Midlake, Donal Hinely, Neil Casal and Jim Bryson.

You might just be surprised.

John.

jcs

I saw Del McCoury and his band in the summer and whilst i'm no great Bluegrass fan the man and his band were true stars. Del was hilarious and what a plucker. He certainly is the real deal and came out and signed loads of cd's.

samples here

I guess 'American Country Music' was traditionally the equivalent to our Folk music and has broadened out massively from Bluegrass, though americana, the Big Hat and Ballad scene and a hundred other sub genre's. Whatever you want is there. there's probably even Carter Family tribute bands out there. Johnny Cash explains the origins of Country music pretty well in his autobiography but i'm sure there are better places. SXSW seems to come up with any amount of Americana/Country stuff. I guess you takes your choice.

Regards

diccus

Sorry, I don't agree with the "Country is rubbish now" statement. I have no reason to doubt that it was great in the 1920's, though.

There was a show on Swedish telly with Willie Nelson and friends the other day that was ranging from quite good to excellent depending on which friend was currently on. The artists where: Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Toby Keith, Kid Rock, Al Green, Merle Haggard, Ben Harper, Toots Hibbert, The Homes Brothers, Ricky Lee Jones, Carole King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Los Lonely Boys, Shelby Lynne, Joe Walsh, Lucinda Williams, Lee Ann Womack.

So, modern country can be more or less anything.

JohanR

Well, I went to see the Hackensaw Boys on Friday night and they were fantastic. Young guys who look like hippy travellers smashing the hell out of their instruments banging out fast bluegrass based music that had the place dancing. Imagine an American folk version of The Levellers or Ozric Tentacles and you'd be close.
I go back to what I said originally - if you think country music is dull you just aren't looking hard enough.
Fred - You should have been there (House Of Blues)

A simple guide plus 2007 Showcasing Band MP3s 3.1Gb, could well be worth a download and a listen.

I have found lots of intersting country-edged music, some examples being:

Keith Urban and Kasey Chambers from Australia (and whatever the Australian equivalent of Nashville is ).

Blue Rodeo from Canada, not to mention alot of Neil Young's output.

And from Texas: Alejandro Escovedo and Joe Ely, to name just two, both of whom have Spanish/cantina influences within their country sound.

On Wed past, I saw Joe Ely, Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt and Guy Clark in an acousticc songwriters-in-the-round. Although I wouldn't call the show country in the sense of the Grand Ol Opry, it never drifted far from a country base/influence whether it be the Spanish influences of Joe, the blues influences of John Hiatt, the porch-swing-purity of Guy Clark, or the Americana of Lyle Lovett. It was a huge slice of country beauty.

(In the lobby before the show, I loved seeing the stylin' middle-age couple in boots and fringe, followed by the teenager with long-spiked-down-the-middle-w/sides-shaved style hair....made this long-haired hippie smile).

Jeff A

It depends on what style of Country you like. Bluegrass, Apalachian, Texas swing, Western songs.

Personally I like people like

The Lonesome Sisters
The Kossoy Sisters- some of their compositions were featured in Oh Brother Where Art Thou.
The Crooked Jades

amongst many others.

The music of the twenties has been filtered through seventy five years of social and commercial change, what you hear now is the music that hasn't fallen by the way side, it may be the creme de la creme, it may well not be, but it's what people have held onto. the trick is to do a similar filtering process on the music that is being produced now, and get down to what it is you like. It's just lazy to write off all current country music as rubbish, that's the sort of vapid generalisation you'd expect from a tabloid journalist, or worse.

jcs

You are way off the mark with your comments on current country being crap.....get your backside along to this festival near Houston and you will change your opinion.

Cheers

Jim

I'll often say I don't like this style of music or that style of music and then somebody will play me a record in that very style that I can't help but like.

When I thought I didn't like country, I heard Mary Chapin Carpenter and how could I not like her. Come On Come On is a great album full of humour and emotion and really good songs and This Shirt from her early years is just one of the best singles I've ever heard.

I've listen to some country on shows on TV and there's some really great music there. I often need somebody to open my ears to hear what great music is around for a style that I may have previously rejected.

At this rate, somebody will introduce me to great soul music - now as everybody knows I don't like soul at all - oh except for Aretha Franklin, some early Four Tops and .... oh no it's happening again. Well, I know I don't like rap or hip-hop at least.

The only prob I have with modern country music sometimes is this sounds like the 70's LA sound. Which wasn't a bad thing at the time but a lot of todays country music stars sound very similar and I just find it very bland sometimes.

The only country artist I think that transcends that is Mary Chapin Carpenter. Wonderful lyrics and wonderful melodic hooks.