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Going up the Country
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Going up the Country I am inspired by H Rainbowsock to reprise an old blog of mine, with suitable edits. You see, I have an eclectic taste in music, and some artists I really admire do stray dangerously close to country style music on occasions: The Band; Creedence Clearwater Revival; Crosby Stills and Nash; Michelle Shocked; Susan Vega……I could go on. And yet somehow, the country music which everyone else likes just leaves me cold…..and I feel I must be missing something. H blogged about a song called “Follow your Arrow” and I liked the lyrics, but I haven’t listened to it yet - I will give it a try, you never know. I do realize there is a lot of different stuff out there, and I don't have anything against it as such. It may even be that I just haven't come across the right kind of country. I mean, if you asked me why I don't like it I could say the chords are too predictable, but then I love blues so that can't be it. It isn't that I don't like the rhythms. And the sentiments can range from love to politics to cars - no problems there. Piano, Guitars - good; Bass - check; strings, harmonica - fair enough. I did at least find myself loving an advert on TV over here which used Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again" as its backing track, and that really grew on me. I love the simple, but clever and slightly unexpected chord changes. I love the wistfulness and hope and companionship in the lyrics and the way the song is put together. So maybe there is some country out there which I could like? Maybe you can point me towards the right erection. Sorry, direction. What are the top three songs in your opinion that I should educate myself by listening to? Bear in mind I need something a little inventive musically, and it needs to have some depth. (Actually maybe it doesn't - I think the last country music record that made me smile was Ray Stevens "The Streak" lol! ) Please post me your suggestions....... and I will listen to them. But one word of warning – please do not ask me to listen to Marty Robbins. Last time I tried this someone made that mistake and my response, having tried several of his songs, was: ‘I am afraid Marty Robbins is not for me. I am sorry to say that if I am now asked why I don't like country music I will say "because of him!" ‘ PS, if you wanted to check out the previous blog I did on this, it is On the Road Again and it does contain some of my fun, if scathing reviews of the suggestions people made back then, five years ago I was astonished to find! PPS, I know “Going up the Country” by Canned Heat is a kind of hippy blues, not country, but I love that song and it wanted to be the title so I let it. |
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I'm not a country fan either. I've decided what I really don't like is commercial "Nashville" country. Traditional American folk country is fine. I'd suggest Bluegrass as a possible way into it. Bluegrass really is white man's blues in many ways. Back in the 1930's Leadbelly recorded quite a few songs about herding cattle and working on Texan ranches. It seems that the racial divide in popular music came later... For a more mainstream act try Alison Krauss with Union Station. Then maybe go back to Hank Williams and listed to a few songs. He's likely to make you at least a temporary convert! Then - you asked for three songs, I'll give you three whole artists! - Doc Watson. He was a fusion of Folk, Country and a lot else. Remember, there's no law saying you have to like it. I will give Hank Williams another listen - his name rings an okay bell with me, and yes, I agree with you about Nashville. I like bluegrass, but I wouldn't class it as "country" in the sense most people including me mean "country." I remember liking an Alison Kraus and Union Station track I heard a while back, but I have never heard of Doc Watson, so I will give him a try.
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Hey E, how are you feeling? So I listened to Follow your Arrow, and........well, I quite liked the song, and they are clever lyrics, but what I didn't like were the harmonies, which are of course what makes it particularly sound like a country song! I will try the others tomorrow, but guess what? I don't think I'm gonna like them, lol!
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Listening to it as I type this, and I admit, I do kind of like it! But it has a strong pop rock crossover feel to it - I wouldn't have automatically put it in the "country" category if I had just heard it on the radio - a bit like Lady Antebellum's "I need you tonight," which I also like. What struck me most about your comment was the fact that you wanted to have someone feeling like that about you! As well as making me laugh, 'cos I could see it was partly a joke, I guessed there was some truth in it too, and I wondered whether that was because you had some mean streak in you, wanting revenge for all the times you've been hurt by someone, or whether it was because you long for that kind of complete devotion from someone and haven't seen it for a while? Having listened to the song, I feel sad for the girl that left him, because he's okay really, just got complacent and ended up in a "don't it always seem to go...." kind of situation. Maybe she's forgiven him by now.......
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Holy Never-Ending-Playlists Catwoman, I asked for three! And I have to say I very nearly tuned out when I saw Dolly Parton "Jolene" because although I like Dolly generally, Jolene is right up there, or should I say down there with Marty Robbins in my all time least favourite category! On the other hand, I remember ColoradoRose liking Rascal Flatts, and anything Rose likes is good with me, and also the name Keith Urban rings a bell from the last blog I did on this - I seem to think I liked him, so I will give some of these a listen and get back to you. In about six weeks.
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I like Josh Turner. and Billy Currington. H has already mentioned People are crazy ... so now you absolutely HAVE to listen to that one! and my favorite of Josh's songs is "would you go with me'. but... I sort of like most of his songs. sometimes I can't tell if I like the songs because I like the singer or if it's truly just the song that I like... because... for some reason... I don't care for blake Sheldon's stuff and it's mostly because I don't like him... nothing personal, of course, I don't know any of them... lol  --Author Unknown
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I like Josh Turner. and Billy Currington. H has already mentioned People are crazy ... so now you absolutely HAVE to listen to that one! and my favorite of Josh's songs is "would you go with me'. but... I sort of like most of his songs. sometimes I can't tell if I like the songs because I like the singer or if it's truly just the song that I like... because... for some reason... I don't care for blake Sheldon's stuff and it's mostly because I don't like him... nothing personal, of course, I don't know any of them... lol I know what you mean about sometimes liking, or not liking a song because of some indefinable quality of the person who sings it. And I don't know any of them either!
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