You Don’t Have To Call Me “Darlin'”.

A few weeks ago I went to the taping of an episode of the BBC World Service Arts Hour, a program that goes around to different parts of the world. Host Nikki Bedi talks to people wherever she goes about the local arts and culture and for some strange reason when she was here in Nashville the focus was country music. The episode is now available. It was an interesting, sometimes spirited discussion, and my only complaint is that whenever they asked for questions for feedback from the audience I raised my hand and got ignored. Why wouldn’t they call on me? I didn’t even end up on the cutting room floor—there was nothing to cut. Maybe that’s just as well. I’m just a schmuck who doesn’t know a lot about country music, or music in general, but here are some thoughts I wish I’d gotten to share.

The opening discussion was about what qualifies as country music, whether “country” is even a distinct, definable genre anymore. As both people on stage and in the audience commented for most younger listeners these days music is basically genreless. They download or just listen to individual songs or whole albums without much thought about what category the music fits into. That reminded me that back when there were still record stores, even though I gravitated toward certain sections, I could find something I wanted to listen to in every category. That’s still true for me. My taste in music is so wide-ranging that my friends will agree I’m pretty much tasteless, but that’s another story.

Something else I thought about, though, is how genres in music really never have been clearly defined—or rather they’ve been defined more by who’s making the music and how it’s marketed than anything else. Take, for instance, “Lola” by The Kinks. Tweak the lyrics a bit—change it from a club down in old Soho to a honky tonk in New Orleans and the drink from champagne that tastes like cherry cola to moonshine that tastes like muddy water—and you’ve got a country song. Even the subject, a naive boy who meets a woman who may be more than she appears, could fit into country, although LGBT themes in country music is something I’ll come back to later. Similarly “Beast Of Burden” by The Rolling Stones and even Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” could be country songs with just a little change to the instrumentation–after all British rockers were heavily influenced by the blues and country music long before they invaded the U.S. airwaves. The major difference between rock and country has primarily been that the latter is unplugged, although I remember when Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road”, played with The Pogues, got regular spins on rock stations. Then there’s a band like Credence Clearwater Revival that in record stores and radio stations was classed as rock but had distinct country, blues, and folk influences.

The issue of diversity in country music was a big topic with performer Jimmie Allen talking about his own experience and how there are more African American country singers than people realize. Conversation veered into Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Country Road”, but it also got me thinking, how much difference is there between country and the blues? Again this is a question of genres, and here the line is even more blurry than it is between country and rock. While genres may have their uses the classification of music is a form of segregation since the main difference between “country” and “blues” mostly seems to be who’s doing the playing, even at Bob’s Country Bunker where they play both kinds of music—country and western, but that’s another story.

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Also on stage was Australian singer Morgan Evans who came to Nashville to play and record country music, a reflection of both its international appeal and the fact that “country music” is no longer regional–if it ever was. Australia has its own tradition of country music with singers like Slim Dusty and the band Bullamanka. Their songs range from covers of popular Australian tunes and American country songs to originals like “The Bunyip Of Hooligan’s Creek”, which combines Australian mythology, environmental themes, and reflects the Celtic influences on country music.

Another major part of the discussion was also focused on the decline of women in country music—although this is also primarily a problem on country radio. With the rise of satellite radio, not to mention the ubiquity of apps you can put on your phone, how much of an audience does traditional radio command anymore?

As part of that subject country singer Cam performed her song “Diane”, a response to Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”, which Dolly Parton loves, so you know it’s a good song. Speaking of both Dolly and women in country music, her song “Nine To Five”, written to promote the now classic film she starred in alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, was both a major hit and a call for women to get the respect they deserve.

And to get back to the question of genre, in spite of some stylistic differences, I’d put both Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” and Gretchen Wilson’s “Redneck Woman” in the same category of women’s celebratory anthems. It’s also interesting that much of the focus of the show Nashville, that ran from 2012-2016 on ABC and from 2016-2018 on CMT, was on three women: Rayna James, played by Connie Britton, Juliette Barnes, played by Hayden Panettiere, and Scarlett O’Connor, played by Clare Bowen.

Nashville also had a subplot about character Will Lexington, played by Chris Carmack, who struggles with being gay but ultimately accepts it. The day after the BBC World Service Arts Hour taping country artist Ty Herndon was on NPR’s All Things Considered to talk about his real coming out in 2014, and changing the pronouns in his song “What Mattered Most”. There was also Chely Wright who came out publicly in 2007, and let’s not forget k.d. lang who came out in 1992.

When Trae Crowder, the “liberal redneck”, took the stage for a quick comedy set which included learning as a kid that his uncle was gay which helped shape his views, I was reminded how much of a sense of humor country music has, from Ray Stevens to Cledus T. Judd, who could easily be described as the “Weird Al” of country music. And there’s one of my favorites, Roger Miller, who amazingly always sang with his tongue firmly in his cheek.

Crowder also reminded me of an old joke: why don’t Southern Baptists have sex standing up? Because people might think they’re dancing. That got me thinking about how much country music deals with topics that are off-limits in “polite company”, such as alcoholism, or at least drinking, and infidelity. Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley P.T.A.”, written by Tom T. Hall, is a scathing account of institutional hypocrisy that was so popular it spawned both a movie and a TV show. Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode To Billie Joe” recounts a suicide, and Loretta Lynn’s “One’s On The Way” is humorous but also a subtle stab from a woman who’s being kept barefoot and pregnant. On a similar note there’s Deana Carter’s more recent “Did I Shave My Legs For This?”

Speaking of Loretta Lynn she was proud to be a coal miner’s daughter—a reminder of country music’s role in speaking both to and for marginalized, mostly rural people.

When the subject of politics came up I was surprised there was no mention of The Dixie Chicks who were cast out of country music for a remark about George W. Bush but who also, at the height of their popularity, took on domestic violence with “Goodbye Earl”, which I’m sure raised a few eyebrows among the execs, but they were willing to let it slide as long as it sold.

Anyway, like I said, this is not a comprehensive review of music history, but rather just some thoughts that came into my head during the show. It’s probably just as well they didn’t call on me. I don’t know that much about music.

 

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12 Comments

  1. Arionis

    Don’t know that much about music? I beg to differ! That was a thought provoking article on the very subject.

    Of course, me being me, I have to recite a tired old joke from my days of growing up around country music. What happens when you play a country music record backwards? You get your wife, dog, and trailer back. Yeah, I know. I can hear the groan way over here.

    BTW, I would always call on you if you were in the audience and I happen to be doing the calling on.
    Arionis recently posted…642 Things To Write About – 5/642My Profile

    Reply
    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      I am shocked, flabbergasted, astounded, befuddled, and even surprised that, having grown up in Nashville, I’ve never heard the joke about what happens if you play a country song backwards but I’ll remember it and add it to my repertoire.
      And it’s nice to know someone would call on me.

      Reply
  2. Allison

    Man, you namechecked a ton of my favorites. I love 9 to 5 but don’t even think of it as country. I do think of it as an anthem piece – and we’re not alone. They played it at Tribe the other night, and eeeeveryone knew the words. The gays love Dolly, and she loves the gays.

    You’re right, though – you can change a song completely with a different artist. I love Dire Straits Walk of Life, but there’s a zydeco version of it that blows it out of the water.

    Tony Orlando’s Tie a Yellow Ribbon could be a country song – if anyone but him sang it.

    Reply
    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      You’re absolutely right about 9 To 5–it’s an anthem, not a country music song, although that goes along with that whole issue of genres. Some might class it as country because Dolly Parton sings it. Also I’m kind of intrigued that you were at Tribe, although it is open to everyone.
      Now I’ve got to find that zydeco version of Walk Of Life. You’ve also reminded me of Thomas “Science!” Dolby’s I Love You, Goodbye which has a distinct Cajun flavor to it.

      Reply
  3. BarbaraM

    I remember that one of the great women country singers (Dolly? Loretta? Tammy?) once said that even with a new song/album out, she couldn’t get air time for her song(s) because of her age. So there’s that.

    Reply
    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      That’s disappointing. So much country music is about respect for one’s roots–think about how many older singers are mentioned in “Redneck Woman” by Gretchen Wilson–that the women of country should still be able to get airtime. There was also a serious discussion of how long the regular radio country stations–excluding satellite and internet–have gone without playing even a single track by a woman. The old country songs are programming themselves out of business.

      Reply
  4. Ann Koplow

    I’m not listening to that episode because they didn’t call on you. Does that make me a schmuck or a darlin’? Thanks, Chris, for another insightful and interesting post. You know a lot about a lot.
    Ann Koplow recently posted…Day 2405: Live with intention.My Profile

    Reply
    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      I admit haven’t listened to the episode either, but I’m glad you spoke up here–you’ll never be left on this blog’s cutting room floor.

      Reply
  5. Kristine Laco

    I recently read a book that was about a writer for Roling Stone Magazine (Love is a Mix Tape, Sheffield). I had a hard time with it because I didn’t recognize a lot of the songs he mentioned, but you have links so I can reference the songs I don’t know (of which there were only 2 – Goodbye Earl and What Mattered Most). You win.
    Kristine Laco recently posted…This Men’s Room is Safe to EnterMy Profile

    Reply
    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      It’s sometimes frustrating to me too to read something about music when I don’t know the songs–in fact I’ve only read two rock biographies, by Ray and Dave Davies since I know The Kinks so well. But that’s why I included links. Even with the well-known songs I didn’t want to assume anyone knew them. And there are so many songs I recognize without knowing what they’re called or even who sings them.

      Reply
  6. mydangblog

    When I first started reading this, I immediately thought of Old Town Road, which couldn’t get legit country airplay until Billy Ray stepped in. Also, I love your Baptist joke–as funny as playing a country song backwards!
    mydangblog recently posted…My Week 249: Who Is The Elusive Shane? Titus Gets PunchyMy Profile

    Reply
    1. Christopher Waldrop (Post author)

      I’m so glad you mentioned Old Town Road–there was a lot of discussion of that song by the panel. I think it’s great that it’s getting airtime and interesting timing that Lil Nas came out during a Pride celebration.

      Reply

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