>The rest of my over-intellectualizing pedantry -- advancing the
>stunning notion that UT fits into a continuum of music, and doesn't stand
>above folks like Lucinda, Dave Alvin, Neil Young, Doug Sahm, where
>alternative forms of country music are concerned -- is just pissiness
>brought on by having to stay home with the kids on -- yet another -- snow
>day. Now I've got to go out and intellectualize with a snow shovel. -- Terry
>Smith
Wow...it's a little nerve-wracking to download your messages in the morning
and see your name in the subject line of a bunch of them. Anyway, let me
say that my original post, while arguing for the merits of UT's music on
its own terms, specifically did not attack an intellectual approach to
music -- that got added later by someone else. In fact, it's that brainy
stuff I'm often drawn to, pedant that I am, and I agree with Stuart that
contextual issues about *why* we like certain kinds of music, who's asking,
etc., are often just as important as just asking "do you like it?"
Intellectualize away, Terry <g>.
I also have no problem with establishing a continuum or history of
alternative forms of country, and certainly don't want to come across as
the defender of all things UT or as arguing for their originary status.
(However, I firmly agree with Neal's assessment that there *is* something
unique and worthy about the band, on its own terms and apart from the
narrative of (alt) country history, that merits a good deal of their press
they have received. Not the errors, of course.)
Basically, I just want to be able to listen/like/discuss UT without feeling
self-conscious about it. So I can't help but feel frustrated when I sense
the attitude that Jim Roll describes as "a tone of arrogance and
condescension on the part of some P2'ers towards the UT fans. Kinda like
'We listened to the REAL
stuff and we did it first so UT is an annoyance to us.'"
Obviously, no one is coming out and saying this stuff explicitly, and
people probably don't consciously formulate it this way. And I'm not
trying to finger certain P2ers as elitists or curmudgeons or pedants just
because they point out that alt.country existed before UT. But given the
reaction to what I originally wrote, it seems that quite a few pro-UT P2ers
share the sense that they're guilty by association -- that liking UT too
much (rather than appreciating them cooly only as a point along the
alt.country continuum) gets you implicitly lumped in with the great
unwashed chatised by Will Miner:
"But there have also been many times since I've been on this list (about
three and a half years) folks have jumped into debates and, with all of the
politeness and finesse of Matt Cook, insisted things like "Uncle Tupelo
started alt-country!" or "Uncle Tupelo was the first to mix punk and
country!" or "Uncle Tupelo was more true to *real* country than mainstream
country music!" All of which are flat-out wrong."
Now, correcting these folks by offering facts and perspective on UT's
relative position in alt.country history is one thing. But it seems like
people who see UT in the broader alt.country context are awfully itchy on
the trigger finger when it comes to putting the "misinformed" UT fans in
their place -- often with a vehemence/dismissiveness/disgust that surpasses
that of the folks they're correcting. It's not hard to read in all this
the suggestion that the whole UT thang is predicated *solely* on hype and
misinformation -- that no legitimate reason exists for lionizing them.
Which is where the frustration comes in for those of us who would elevate
UT for what we think *are* more "legitimate" reasons. In the end, it's all
in the tone, the feeling you get as a Tupelo fan after reading P2 for a
while. If I've misread that tone, I apologize, although I don't think I
have.
Again, I'll admit that I'm a bit defensive when it comes to attacks on UT
(or attacks on their fans, the press who praised them, etc.) It's hard to
explain how hard this band hit me when I discovered them around 1993, and
how much influence they've had on me, even if most of my listening time
these days is spent with records made long before they arrived on the
scene.
Hopefully done with this,
Todd
