Jon quoted from texts that quoted Chet Atkins, as follows:
>
> "In 1976, Chet Atkins made an ambivalent apology for his role in redefining
> the sound of country music:
>
> I hate to see country going uptown beause it's the wrong uptown. We're
> about to lose our identity and get all mixed up with other music. We were
> always a little half-assed anyway, but a music dies when it becomes a
> parody
> of itself, which has happened to some extent with rock.
> Of course, I had a lot to do with changing country, and I do apologize.
> We
> did it to broaden the appeal, and to keep making records different, to
> surprise
> the public."
>
Then Jon continues:
> Which, she goes on to point out, is a complex statement:
"He expresses
> regret for his part in fostering these developments but then justifies his
> role in both commercial (broadening appeal) and creative (making records
> different) terms, in relation to a public that he sought to please."
>
This stuff is fascinating as hell, and I hope P-2ers aren't turning off to
this because it looks to them like an obscure argument about some has-been
era of country music. To me, this goes to the heart of most of the debates
we have on this list. I think I come from the perspective that if you
broaden the appeal of the music, you're diluting it, and its artistic
merit is thus lessened. But as you point out about Atkins, that doesn't
necessarily have to be the case, particularly if you're experimenting with
sounds, as Atkins was doing. Of course, the history of popular music is
full of examples of folks who had both broad appeal and incredible
artistic merit. She loves you, ya, ya, ya.
Stubborn me, I still feel that "broadening appeal" can just as likely --
can more likely -- have the effect of sapping the strength and honesty
from music. It's not black and white, obviously; as usual, we're talking
about likelihoods, tendencies, etc. No argument, though, that Chet Atkins
was an amazing artist, both as a guitarist and producer. He sought a new
sound and he got it. I'm just not that thrilled by it. -- Terry Smith
ps so Patrick Carr is known to some of you all. That CMF book I quoted from
had the singular deficiency of excluding any capsule bios of the essay
authors.
