Country Club 56: "So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed" or Merle Travis and Commodity Fetishism

Just as Bob Wills taught political economy, I wonder if Merle Travis understood the theory of commodity fetishism or maybe he exemplifies it.  Let's examine this extremely clever, often covered, song by Merle Travis. 

Wikipedia writes

"So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed" is a 1947 song by Merle Travis, written by Travis, Eddie Kirk, and Cliffie Stone. The song would be his second number one on the Folk Juke Box charts where it stayed at number one for 14 weeks and a total of 21 weeks on the chart. In the same year it was a #3 hit for Johnny Bond and a #5 hit for Ernest Tubb.

Instrumentally this track is very interesting and different from our template of what a country song should sound like. It leads off with trumpet from Alex Brashear (who played with jazzers Jack and Charlie Teagarden as well as Bob Wills and, later, Merle Haggard) and includes nice little riffs from violin, steel guitar, and accordion! as well as little classic Travis picking.

(Both the  Tubb version on YouTube and Johnny Bond's emulated Travis' sonic mix, with the later adding a clarinet solo to Travis' sonic mix. I think these songs tell us something important about country and popular music in the mid-twentieth century.)



Again according to wikipedia

The song describes a woman using advertising slogans. The slogan "So round, so firm, so fully packed, so free and easy on the draw" was used in Lucky Strike cigarette advertising of the time, since at least 1945. "I'd walk a mile" is a slogan for Camel cigarettes. "Just ask the man who owns one" refers to Packard automobiles. "She's got the pause that's so refreshing" is a reference to the Coca-Cola slogan "The Pause that Refreshes".

I think there are some additional advertising slogans referred to in the song which aren't mentioned in the wikipedia article and should be annotating. A few I've found are "Avoid 5 O'Clock Shadow" (Gem Razors/Blades),  "(Pepsi-Cola) Hits the Spot", and "Toasted by the Sun" (another Camel ad.) A few cultural allusions as well should be tracked down.  Bobbysoxers were young female fans of musicians, most notably Frank Sinatra.

And is the song a subversive critique of male supremacy or an expression of patriarchy.

Early lyrics, playing on a Packard automobile advertising slogan, demark a woman as property

If you don’t think she’s a lot of fun
Just ask the man that owns one

and end with a double reference to woman as property, as cattle  and
  

Won’t be long ’til she wears my brand.

Country Club 55: Twin Mandolins

You've heard of twin guitars and twin fiddles in Western Swing,  how about twin (electric) mandolins!


This is Al Dressen's Super Swing Revue performing Johnny Gimble's tune "Mandolopin'" with Jason Roberts and Paul Glasse on mandolin.  It was recorded at the 18th Annual Texas Natural & Western Swing Festival  held on May 15 2010 in San Marcos, Texas.

The mandolin is typecast as a bluegrass instrument, but it actually has lots of versatility.  Electric mandolin, while not an essential instrument in Western Swing, have a long history in the genre.  Most famously, Tiny Moore began playing a Gibson electric mandolin with the Bob Wills band in 1946.  Instead of using the eight strings of the standard mandolin (four courses tuned in unisons), Moore used only four strings.  In the 1950s, Moore, playing in Billy Jack Wills' band, commissioned a 5 string electric mandolin from Paul Bigsby. Before Moore, Leo Raley played electric mandolin in the 1930s with the Western Swing band of Cliff Bruner, most likely the first electric mandolin.  The legendary Johnny Gimble, composer of the tune featured above, played electric mandolin and violin with the Wills band. There was an overlap in their tenure and there must have been some twin mandolins.  Most likely, the Tiffany Transcriptions captured some of this.

Here's a picture of Moore (second from right) with Bob Wills from the early 1950s. There is another mandolin player, possibly Gimble to Moore's right.  (Photo is from Musings Of A Muleskinner--Deke Dickerson's Blog.)

Because the mandolin is tuned identically to the violin, many Western Swing double on the two instruments.

Country Club 54: Wake Up, Irene

If covers and their success is one indication of a song with a big impact, another deeper sign is an answer song that becomes a hit in its own right. Occasionally, an answer song equals and surpasses the original and, more rarely, stands on its own. Hank Thompson's "The Wild Side of Life" was answered and outsold by Kitty Well's "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels." both, by the way, based on the tune of Roy Acuff's 1936 "The Great Speckled Bird" and the Carter Family's 1929 "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes."

In the surprising country history of "Goodnight, Irene"  not only were there country hits" there was a successful answer song.

In 1953, Hank Thompson recorded this answer song to "Goodnight, Irene." It comments on the popularity of the song and, interestingly,  portrays Irene as a sort of honky tonk angel. It was a big hit. Just like the Ernest Tubb and Red Foley version of "Goodnight, Irene," it reached number 1 on the country charts. But it didn't become a country standard.



Here are the lyrics

For months and months and months around the country
Everybody sang Irene goodnight
But she wouldn’t go to bed no matter what they said though everybody tried with all their might.
She stayed awake while steel guitars were a going
In every honky-tonk she could be seen
but she finally went to bed and covered up her head and now there’s not a thing can wake Irene

Wakeup Irene you’ve sleep to long
Wakeup Irene it’s time to move along
Wakeup Irene and pay for your bed
Wakeup Irene or folks will think your dead

Lot’s of guitar pickers by the dozen Sang goodnight Irene all night and day
And even Crosby too with his bobobabobedo tried to get Irene to hit the hay
Well I guess they finally sang her off to slumber
They must have tried a million times or more
But oh my aching back when she finally hit the sack man you ought to hear that women snore

Wakeup Irene you’ve sleep to long
Wakeup Irene it’s time to move along
Wakeup Irene and pay for your bed
Wakeup Irene or folks will think your dead

Country Club 53: Goodnight, Irene--the country hits

"Goodnight, Irene" has become an American standard. It is usually associated with the Weavers who had a hit in 1950. It first reached the Billboard charts on June 30, 1950 and spent 25 weeks on the chart, reaching Number One.  But the Weaver version wasn't the only hit version.  Within weeks of the Weavers release, "Goodnight Irene" was covered by Frank Sinatra  and three other pop artists charted with their own covers later in the year.  It was a Number 5 hit for Sinatra, one of his few chart-toppers in the period, but reportedly he hated the song and rebuffed fan's calls to perform it.

It was also a country hit.  Red Foley and Ernest Tubb recorded this version that was a number one country hit in the summer of 1950.

Moon Mullican had a lesser hit the same year.

All these hits came a year after Goodnight Irene's composer Leadbelly died. He had recorded it for the Library of Congress in the 1930's, but said he learned the song from an uncle and had begun singing it around 1908. Some people say it is a Tin Pan Alley song from 1886, and not a folk song. Charles Wolfe and Kip Lornell, authors of the The Life and Legend of Leadbelly report that Leadbelly's song was most likely an adaptation of n 1886 song by the early African American songwriter Gusie Lord Davis. (pp. 53-56).  There does seem to be an argument that Leadbelly modified the rhythm, melody, and lyrics of the song enough to be credited as composer. though

There doesn't seem to be any justification for Alan Lomax to have claimed co-writer credits and royalties. The song was already in Leadbelly's repertoire when the Lomaxes first met him.

Interestingly, Wolfe and Lornell write that the ARC company did not appreciate the diversity of Leadbelly's music when they recorded him.

...they had a simplistic perception of black folk music. They divided folk and folklike music into two camps:  Whites performed hillbilly and cowboy songs, while black  singers played blues and spirituals.  A black man like Hudie, whose complicated repertoire ranged across these arbitrary lines, seemed problematic to them. They finally did consent to record "Irene" but it was never released. (p. 158)

Wikipedia's entry on "Goodnight, Irene" notes that

the Weavers chose to omit some of Leadbelly's more controversial lyrics, leading Time magazine to label it a "dehydrated" and "prettied up" version of the original. Due to the recording's popularity, however, The Weavers' lyrics are the ones generally used today.

The next edition of Country Club will provide further evidence of just how popular "Goodnight, Irene" was.

Country Club 52: Bloodshot Eyes from Western Swing to Jump Blues

Hank Penny was a Western Swing musician from the late 1930s to the 1970s with an affinity for jazz (and comedy). He employed jazz-oriented sidemen like Jimmy Wyble, Benny Garcia, and Noel Boggs, as well as Merle Travis. He even recorded "Hillbilly Be-Bop" for King Records in 1949. In 1950, he wrote a hit "BloodShot Eyes," which became a souped-up jump blues hit for Wynonie Harris a year later. He had a long stretch in Las Vegas and worked for a while at a Wichita radio station.

Let's start with the Penny original.



And, here is Harris.



Both Penny and Harris were largely performing on the West Coast at the time, but they recorded for Cincinnati-based King Records, which specialized in "hillbilly" and "race" records and encouraged the sharing of songs between the two sides of the label.

There is a chapter on Penny in Rich Kienzle's 2003 book "Southwest Shuffle: Pioneers of Honky-Tonk, Western Swing and Country Jazz."

And, this fascinating article "Hank Penny's Cowboy Swing" by Burgin Matthews and "Forgotten Artists: Hank Penny" by Paul W. Dennis are also recommended.

There are a number of CDs of Penny's career which would be worth checking out.

Country Club 51 Tommy Duncan after Bob Wills

Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes informatively about Tommy Duncan on allmusic.com.
 

As the lead singer for the classic lineup of Bob Wills' Texas Playboys, Tommy Duncan was the definitive Western swing vocalist. Crossing the smooth croon of Bing Crosby with the twang of Jimmie Rodgers and the bluesy inclinations of Emmett Miller, Duncan had a warm, distinctive, and welcoming voice that helped the Playboys cross over to a wider audience. Not only was he a wonderful, trendsetting vocalist, Duncan also wrote many of the Texas Playboys' biggest hits, including "Time Changes Everything," "Stay a Little Longer," "Take Me Back to Tulsa," "New Spanish Two Step," and "Bubbles in My Beer."'

Duncan split from Wills, or more accurately, was fired  in 1948.  "Gambling Polka Dot Blues" was his one big hit on his own. In the 1960s, Wills and Duncan reunited for a while and Duncan then continued an independent career.

Country Club 50: country loves hippies

This is cool. The Bellamy Brothers, a country pop duo have followed their hit "Old Hippie" with updates through the decades. Some of remember a time, let's call it Okie from Muskogee time, when country fans hated hippies. That changed quite a while ago.


The Brothers had a Number One pop hit in 1976 with "Let Your Love Flow," a song written by Larry Williams, a former roadie for Neil Diamond, who turned to song down. In 1979, they had their first number one country song with "If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me"

Country Club 49: long haired redneck

The lead-off song to David Alan Coe's Long-Haired Redneck album, the single was the follow-up to "You Never Even Called Me by My Name" and was a fairly big hit reaching number 17 on the charts. Besides the references to the "outlaw country" movement, it is notable for the chorus which features Coe impersonating classic country artists Ernest Tubb, "Whisperin" Bill Anderson, and Merle Haggard.

I recognized the impersonations, but I have no idea which Tom T. Hall melody Coe borrowed for this song.

Country Club 48: a little too late

Tanya Tucker had here first country hit in 1972 at the age of 13 with her recording of "Delta Dawn." Since then, she has had a string of hits, including 1993 s "It's a Little Too Late," which reached number 2 on the country charts.

Country Club 47: the country side of Charlie Haden

Charlie Haden, the great jazz bassist died on July 11.  He is most famous for being part of the revolutionary Ornette Coleman Quartet.  I was fortunate enough to discover Coleman before I graduated from high school. 

In 2009, a wrote a post on George Strait and Haden and commented  about Haden's then new CD, Rambling Boy

a country CD. Not country-twinged jazz or some hybrid. But straight out country. Rambling Boy is not even contemporary country, the music harks back to an older time, circa 1930s-1940s. Haden grew up in a family that was sort of a Midwest Carter family, making a radio debut at age two.

Here's a trailer for a video documentary of Haden. The whole documentary can be seen here.



Here is a performance of the group on the David Letterman show.



Tom Jurek reviewed it on allmusic.com very perceptively (though it is one of those infuriating reviews where you read the review, look at the star rating --3 1/2--and think I thought he was gong to rate it higher.  I would have given it at least 4 stars.)

This 19-song set features all the members of his immediate family -- daughters Petra, Rachel, and Tanya, as well as son Josh. The players and vocalists are numerous but they include guitarist Pat Metheny, Rosanne Cash, Vince Gill, Bruce Hornsby, Stuart Duncan, Jerry Douglas, the Whites, Sam Bush, Ricky Skaggs, Elvis Costello, and Russ Barenberg, among others. Despite the wide range of players here, this album can only be called Americana in the strictest sense of the term as its selections are new readings of mostly traditional folk and country songs.

On his 1997 CD with Pat Metheny, Beyond the Missouri Sky, Haden included "The Precious Jewell" a country classic by Roy Acuff.



And, here is the original

Country Club 46 Hank Jr.'s Two Liberal Songs

Hank Williams, Jr. has the kind of reactionary, red-wing politics that uninformed pundits like Richard Cohen think that Merle Haggard has. Haggard dud right some jingoists songs back in the 1960s and 1970s, but Haggard has mellowed and evolved. Looks for my "Left Side of Merle" playlist here later in 2014.

The same can't be said about Hank, Jr. He's far more a musical spokesman for the Tea Party than Merle Haggard who Richard Cohen cited in an infamous column, in which he misreads the Hag's "Are the Good Times Over for Good" as the national anthem of the tea party, neglecting to mention that the Hag lent support to Hillary (with a song, no less) and Obama.

In that same column,  Cohen wrote that "People with conventional views must repress a gag reflex" when thinking of inter-racial marriage.  Yet, Haggard recorded a pro-interracial romance song "Irma Jackson" in 1969. Strangely, even progressive bloggers who know country music didn't call Cohen on this.

That's enough of a digression for now.  Sometime I'll do a post on Hank Jr. reactionary songs, but this Saturday, I'll highlight his two liberal songs. (If I've missed any let me know in the comments.

"I'm for Love" was written and recorded by Hank, Jr. in 1985 and was his seventh number one hit. There's a nice touch in the first verse where what you think is going to be anti-union ("The unions against the workers...") turns out not to be in the next phrase. ("... working against their will")



Hank Jr. recorded,  but did not write, "Red, White, and Pink Slip Blues" on his 2009 album, 207 Rose Avenue.  The album also included a song "Sounds Like Justice" which is a paean to vigilante justice.

I'm for Love lyrics

Mothers against drunk drivers, the Pope is against the pill
The unions against the workers working against their will
The Presidents against the Congress, the Senate is against the House
People are against politicians and Im against cats in the house

But Im for love and Im for happiness
And Im for 'If you dont like it, cant you just let it pass?'
And Im for turning off the music, turning down the lights
Cause Im for nothing else but me and you tonight

The cities against the counties, the counties against the state
The state is against the government and the highways still aint paved
The bankers against the farmer, the farmers against the wall
Doctor's against me smoking and the devil is against us all

But Im for love and Im for happiness
And Im for 'If you dont like it, cant you just let it pass?'
And Im for turning off the tube and turning down the lights
Cause Im for nothing else but me and you tonight

The cops are against the robbers, the laws are against the cops
Justice is against the system and some people are blowing their tops
The horse is against the automobile, the bus is against the train
The train is against the jumbo jet and Im against fishing in the rain

But Im for love, Im all for happiness
And Im for 'If you dont like it, cant you just let it pass?'
And Im for turning off the tube and turning down the lights
And Im for nothing else but me and you tonight

Hey, Im for love, Im all for happiness
And Im for 'Not looking for something to make us mad'
Im all for turning off the music and turning down the lights
And Im for nothing else but me and you t

Red, White and Pink Slip Blues lyrics

I used to love this town and this neighborhood
The streets were safe, the schools were good
The mill was hummin' twenty-four seven
I was formin' on the line, three to eleven
But eighteen months, two days ago
The Mill closed down and moved to Mexico

I payed my bills, I payed my dues
I payed my share of taxes too
Now I cant buy my baby shoes
Ive got the red, white, pink-slip blues

I hide the pickup truck in Ricky Browns garage
Over on the next block, cause there's Repo's to dodge
I slip out the back door Lord, I never thought Id live to see this day
Where gonna need that truck when they come to take the house away

You know I love my country and I'm not one to complain
But there's a lot of us that feel like we've been left out here
Out in the rain

I payed my bills, I payed my dues
I payed my share of taxes too
Now I cant buy my little baby shoes

Country Club 45: pedal steel master Buddy Emmons

Steel guitar is the quintessential country instrument, with dues respect to banjos, mandolins, and fiddles.  Buddy Emmons is arguably the foremost steel guitarist ever. He has played on hundreds, if not thousands, of country sides, but is stylistically cathollic, having recording in jazz, country-rock, folk, and other idioms. Here's a short display of Emmons' virtuosity.



There are a number of videos of Emmons performing at Steel Guitar conventions and the like on Youtube.  If you like clip above, check them out.

Allmusic.com has a discography of albums issued under Emmons' name.  Some are worth noting.   In 1963, Emmons recorded a highly regarded album for Verve Records, Steel Guitar Jazz, with sidemen such as saxophonist Jerome Richardson. In the 1970s, he recorded with Lenny Breau (Minors Aloud) and Danny Gatton (Red Neck Jazz Explosion) and, still later, did performed and recorded several fine albums with Ray Pennington as the Swing Shift Band, a grouping of Nashville area musicians who did swing and western swing on the side.

Country Club 44: Bobby Womack's Country Song

This is an unexpected post. Bobby Womack, the great R&B singer, guitarist, and song writer, died yesterday at age 70. I remembered that the Rolling Stones, early in their career, covered "It's All Over Now," a song Womack wrote and recorded with his group the Valentinos. When I pulled it up on Youtube, I was surprised at how country it sounded and wondered if any country artists had also covered it. It turns out that Waylon Jennings and John Anderson had. So here is Jennings and Anderson, followed by the Valentinos and the Rolling Stones.




Here's the original by the Valentinos. There's a definite country tinge.




The country tinge was even more pronounced in the Rolling Stones cover, captured here as part of the legendary TAMI concert film.



Here's a little confirmation for my hearing this as a country tune. Steve Huey in the allmusic.com bio notes

Womack pushed UA into letting him do a full album of country music, something he'd always loved but which the label regarded as commercially inadvisable (especially under the title Womack reportedly wanted to use: Step Aside, Charley Pride, Give Another Nigger a Try). They eventually relented ... BW Goes C&W met with predictably minimal response,

Rebirth Bass Band, despite everything above, makes a strong case that it's really a R&B song, after all.

Country Club 42: you'll never leave Harlan alive

Darrell Scott's song "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive: has been featured in the television show "Justified" with versions by Brad Paisley, Ruby Friedman, and Dave Alvin. I'm not sure whether Patty Loveless's recording has been included, but it's very nice. Here is a live version.

Country Club 41: Almost Cheating Songs

Blogger Mick Hartley, who closely follows events in North Korea, is also a great photographer (and photo and a sharer of great popular music in various genres.  This week he featured the fine Randy Travis song "On the Other Hand," a really fine song.

It got me to thinking that there is an unrecognized country genre: the "almost cheating song." You can find many lists of top country cheating songs like this one.  The finest example to my ears is "Almost Persuaded," a 1966 hit for David Houston.


Wikipedia notes

 "Almost Persuaded" spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart starting in August 1966[2] and has since gone on to become a country standard. The song was also a moderate pop hit, reaching twenty-four on the Billboard pop chart and was David Houston's only Top 40 entry on the pop charts.[3]

 For 46 years and two months, no No. 1 song matched the chart-topping longevity of "Almost Persuaded," until Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" notched its ninth week atop the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart the week of December 15, 2012.

I'm reasonably sure that I heard Almost Persuaded in 1966, though I don't know whether it was country tune played on the (mostly) Wichita or OKC rock station I would have been listening to or perhaps it caught my ear when I crossed KFDI on my way from one station to another.

Regardless, it is a fine song and it has been covered by lots of artists, from the unexpected  like George Jones, Merle Haggard, Tammy Wynette, and the Conway Twitty to the unexpected like R&B giant  Etta James.

It is interesting to note that James places the encounter at a party, while the original is in a bar room, a setting preserved (I think) by most country artists. There seems to be quite a few neo-soul women singers who have learned the song from James and use the party setting.  Female singers naturally need to change the "ruby red lips" lyric, but they differ whether the tempter has "baby blue" or "big brown" eyes.  

I found an interesting "Almost Persuaded" mix that has quite a few versions inspired by James.  Additional versions can probably be found by searching on YouTube, but be aware that there is a gospel song with the same title.

Country Club 40: Blame it on Texas

Steve Huey says that Mark Chestnutt's "style combine[s}George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Bob Wills." It has been a creative combination indeed. Chestnutt had five hit singles on each of his first two albums (1990's Too Cold at Home) and 1992's Longnecks & Short Stories). 



For tour, merchandise, and other information, check out Chestnutt's website.

Country Club 39: Iris Dement

Reviewer Steve Leggett hits it on the nail "Iris DeMent isn't a pop star, although she probably could have been had she been at all interested in playing that game. She's a careful, detailed songwriter with a confessional edge and a good sense of narrative, and her voice is a marvelous instrument that seems to rise out of the previous century."

Jason Ankeny writes about Dement on allmusic.com 

her independent label offering Infamous Angel won almost universal acclaim thanks to her pure, evocative vocal style and spare, heartfelt songcraft. Despite a complete lack of support from country radio, the record's word-of-mouth praise earned her a deal with Warner Bros., which reissued Infamous Angel in 1993 as well as its follow-up, 1994's stunning My Life.

Her third LP, 1996's eclectic The Way I Should, marked a dramatic change not only in its more rock-influenced sound but also in its subject matter; where DeMent's prior work was introspective and deeply personal, The Way I Should was fiercely political, tackling topics like sexual abuse, religion, government policy, and Vietnam. In 1999, she collaborated with country man John Prine on his album In Spite of Ourselves. DeMent recorded four duets with Prine that earned her a Grammy nod the following year. Her own recording career was on hiatus for the late '90s and early 2000s, but she returned in 2005 with Lifeline, a collection of gospel hymns. Released in 2012, Sing the Delta, her first album of original songs in 16 years, found her working again within the sparse and emotional quilt of her earlier releases.

Counry Club 37: Pick me up on your way down

Here's Wanda Jackson, the first lady of rockabilly, singing a great Harlan Howard song that has become a country standard "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down," originally a hit for Charlie Walker in 1958. (There is a nice video of Walker performing his signature tune at the Grand Ol' Opry in the 1980s.)

Growing up in Oklahoma City, Jackson was discovered by Hank Thompson, taught to sing rockabilly by Elvis Presley, combined country and rockabilly on two sides of a single, had a career in straight country when rockabilly faded, and has been rediscovered in recent years.




Harlan Howard was one of the most prolific songwriters in country music history.  His songs include "Heartaches By The Number"; "I Fall to Pieces","Busted", originally a hit for both Ray Charles and Johnny Cash.and later for John Conlee. In 1961 alone he had 15 of his compositions on the country music charts.  Howard also wrote Joe Simon's #1 R&B chart hit "The Chokin' Kind", a million-selling record in 1969.

Jackson is still performing. Her website, which features a beautiful painting of Jackson,  has a listing of what seem to be 2014 tour dates. For more information on her extensive discography check out this page at allmusic.com and for compilations here.

The Smithsonian Channel has an hour-plus biography of Jackson called "The Sweet Lady with a Nasty Voice."

Country Club #36: is it okay to like a Garth Brooks song?

I heard "Long Neck Bottle" on the radio earlier this week, but as is the practice nowadays the deejay didn't announce the song or the artist. When I did a web search, I have to admit that I was a little disappointed to learn that LNB was performed by Garth Brooks. Brooks, of course, is one of the top three selling record artists of all time, trailing only Elvis Presley and the Beatles.

Here is a video of Brooks doing the song live with Steve Wariner who co-wrote the song with Rick Carnes. Wariner is given lots of space and there is a nice short scat-guitar vocal reminiscent of George Benson.

 There are some non-musical reasons to dislike Brooks, not least his partnership with Walmart. And, some non-musical reasons to like him, including his support for gay rights and attention to domestic violence. But it is music that is the real point.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes in an insightful artist biography on allmusic.com:

Garth Brooks is a pivotal figure in the history of country music, no matter how much some country purists would like to deny it. With his commercially savvy fusion of post-Merle Haggard country, honky tonk, post-folk-rock sensitive singer/songwriter sensibilities, and '70s arena rock dramatics, Brooks brought country music to a new audience in the '90s -- namely, a mass audience. Before Brooks, it was inconceivable for a country artist to go multi-platinum. He shattered that barrier in 1991, when his second album, No Fences, began its chart domination, and its follow-up, Ropin' the Wind, became the first country album to debut at the top of the pop charts; No Fences would eventually sell a record-shattering 13 million copies. After Garth, country music had successfully carved a permanent place for itself on the pop charts. In the process, it lost a lot of the traditionalism that had always been its hallmark, but that is precisely why Brooks is important. 

<SNIP>

Not only did his record sales break all the accepted country conventions, but so did Garth Brooks' concerts. By the end of 1990, he was selling out stadiums within minutes and was putting on stadium-sized shows, patterned after '70s rock extravaganzas. Brooks used a cordless, headset microphone so he could run around his large stage. He had an elaborate light show, explosions, and even a harness so he could swing out above the crowd and sing to them. It was the first time any country artist had incorporated such rock & roll techniques into stage shows.

In short, Brooks could be blamed for a lot that is wrong with country music today. At least, by those who like me like their country music traditional or neo-traditional. Still, Brooks some very fine songs, including Long Neck Bottle, and "Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House."

Country Club 35: Brandy Clark Get High

Brandy Clark is one of a rising group of outstanding women artists in country music. I don't think they are selling as much as the current crop of male performers, but they are doing really substantial music. There have been some un-offical videos of this song from her highly acclaimed debut CD 12 Stories, but this looks like the official video.