Why I Love Country Music

oh this would make me
so happy; especially
Justin or Pharrell!

Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton "Islands in the Stream"

or maybe

Terri Gibbs "Somebody's Knockin" (same rhythm as Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" or Lou Gramm's "Midnight Blue," not to mention Robert Johnson style devil words. And the singer is a blind woman, no less.)

Here in the UK, I'd never heard of Tim McGraw until Will Oldham did a fantastic cover of one of his songs on a covers ep. Oldham also led me to David Allen Coe and Dick Gaughin. His song 'I See A Darkness' works like a dream on the third Johnny Cash 'American' alb. I'm not sure these divisions between alt. and mainstream country are as set in stone as all that - Oldham, Wilco, whoever, seem to stand in relation to today's country music in the same way that Dylan, the Band, the Byrds etc. stood in relation to the contemporary country of their day - a wary, parasitic, mostly one-way relationship, but some kind of relationship nonetheless

so actually i'm agreeing w/you and going you one further.

There's also the whole question of how it's always really funny to hear Brits talk about country; I loved looking at the NME's country end of the year lists back in the '80s -- it's like they were on another planet or something. (Australians, too, though one of the weird things in recent years is how many new country stars actually COME from Australia. It's like the new Canada. Or something.)

"I like Van Halen and I like George Jones
Charlie Daniels and the Rollin' Stones
Bocephus when he rocks and rolls still kills me
There oughtta be a law against cowboy rap, (you're right)
And all that boy band crap, a little sissy in a cowboy hat in country
No

That's a good way, that's a real good way
That's a good way to get on my bad side"

But where does that leave Bubbba Sparxxx, David Banner, Kid Rock, Nappy Roots, Toby Keith, and all of those kind of people who do both?

Except maybe for Field Mob. Or Woody Guthrie. Or somebody.

see it's these kind of "provocative" but slightly disingenuous things that annoy me...oh well...

>i mean like their brains haven't always caught up with their...<

I don't get how this is truer for country guys than for anybody else.

i'm just saying that "rap" isn't just some musical quality that you happen to pick up on it's a genre! defined by a range of musical and other qualities! of which charlie daniels isn't a part!

never mind though, i don't want to get into another fight.

Here's Charlie's best rap song, for what it's worth:

Artist: Charlie Daniels Band

Buy Charlie Daniels Band's CD

THE UNEASY RIDER
Charlie Daniels

SPOKEN:
[C] I was takin' a trip out to L.A.
[F] Toolin' along in my Chevrolet
[G7] Tokin' on a number and diggin' on the radi-[C] o ...
[C] Just as I crossed the Mississippi line
[F] I heard that highway start to whine
[G7] And I knew that left rear tire was about to [C] go.

Well, the spare was flat and I got uptight
'Cause there wasn't a fillin' station in sight
So I just limped on down the shoulder on the rim
I went as far as I could and when I stopped the car
It was right in front of this little bar
Kind of redneck lookin' joint, called the Dew Drop Inn.

Well, I stuffed my hair up under my hat
And told the bartender that I had a flat
And would he be kind enough to give me change for a one
There was one thing I was sure proud to see
There wasn't a soul in the place, 'cept for him and me
And he just looked disgusted and pointed toward the telephone.

I called up the station down the road a ways
And he said he wasn't very busy today
And he could have somebody there in just 'bout ten minutes or so
He said now you just stay right where you're at
And I didn't bother tellin' the durn fool
I sure as hell didn't have anyplace else to go.

I just ordered up a beer and sat down at the bar
When some guy walked in and said; "Who owns this car?
With the peace sign, the mag wheels and four on the floor?"
Well, he looked at me and I damn near died
And I decided that I'd just wait outside
So I layed a dollar on the bar and headed for the door.

Just when I thought I'd get outta there with my skin
These five big dudes come strollin' in
With this one old drunk chick and some fella with green teeth
And I was almost to the door when the biggest one
Said; "You tip your hat to this lady, son."
And when I did all that hair fell out from underneath.

Now the last thing I wanted was to get into a fight
In Jackson, Mississippi on a Saturday night
'Specially when there was three of them and only one of me
They all started laughin' and I felt kinda sick
And I knew I'd better think of somethin' pretty quick
So I just reached out and kicked old green-teeth right in the knee.

He let out a yell that'd curl your hair
But before he could move, I grabbed me a chair
And said; "Watch him folks, 'cause he's a thouroughly dangerous man."
"Well, you may not know it, but this man's a spy
He's an undercover agent for the FBI
And he's been sent down here to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan."

He was still bent over, holdin' on to his knee
But everyone else was lookin' and listenin' to me
And I layed it on thicker and heavier as I went
I said; "Would you beleive this man has gone as far
As tearin' Wallace stickers off the bumpers of cars
And he voted for George McGovern for president."

"He's a friend of them long-haired, hippie type, pinko fags
I betcha he's even got a Commie flag
Tacked up on the wall, inside of his garage
He's a snake in the grass, I tell ya guys
He may look dumb, but that's just a disguise
He's a mastermind in the ways of espionage."

They all started lookin' real suspicious at him
And he jumped up an' said; "Now, just wait a minute, Jim
You know he's lyin' I've been livin' here all of my life."
"I'm a faithfull follower of Brother John Birch
And I belong to the Antioch Baptist Church
And I ain't even got a garage, you can call home and ask my wife."

Then he started sayin' somethin' 'bout the way I was dressed
But I didn't wait around to hear the rest
I was too busy movin' and hopin' I didn't run outta luck
And when I hit the ground, I was makin' tracks
And they were just takin' my car down off the jacks
So I threw the man a twenty an' jumped in an' fired that mother up.

Mario Andretti woulda sure been proud
Of the way I was movin' when I passed that crowd
Comin' out the door and headin' toward me in a trot
And I guess I should-a gone ahead and run
But somehow I couldn't resist the fun
Of chasin' them all just once around the parkin' lot.

Well, they're headin' for their car, but I hit the gas
And spun around and headed them off at the pass
I was slingin' gravel and puttin' a ton of dust in the air
Ha Ha, well, I had 'em all out there steppin' and fetchin'
Like their heads were on fire and their asses was catchin'
But I figured I oughta go ahead an split before the cops got there.

When I hit the road I was really wheelin'
Had gravel flyin' and rubber squeelin'
And I didn't slow down 'til I was almost to Arkansas
Well, I think I'm gonna re-route my trip
I wonder if anybody'd think I'd flipped
If I went to L.A. - via Omaha.

i'm fascinated by how tracy byrd not only sings about what he likes; he also feels the need to delineate what he doesn't like. a lot of rappers have done that, too.

there are a lot of indie rock songs in the same vein (e.g. helen love's "rollercoasting") that namecheck all the bands they love, but that generally don't go on to diss the ones they hate. the indie way seems to be, "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything."

is it that rappers and country singers have a tough-guy thing in common, where fightin' is part of livin', while indie rockers are twee wimps who don't have the balls to put up a fight? or is it something else altogether? or am i making this all up? i'm not sure which approach i like better, but it does seem to me like there's a clear difference.

Rapping is something people DO. Genres don't come out of nowhere; they have prehistories as well as histories. And talking blues, like prison dozens and scats and squardance calls and reggae toasts and auctioneer barking and Blowfly and Pigmeat Markham and "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha Ha," are part of rap music's prehistory. I just don't get why you find that idea so offensive; obviously, there's no right or wrong answer about what "is" rap (or metal or country or ??) or "isn.t." And you're welcome to disagree about this record or that one. I just think it's hilarious that you pretend that the borders are completely clear cut. They NEVER are. That's part of what makes music FUN. It DOESN'T neatly fit into little boxes.