I see your point Jon, but I think you give Shania too much credit for her
early career as some people slam her too much for singing cabaret-style
"pop" tunes. Before Lange got involved, you have a woman who wanted a music
career; was influenced equally by country and pop and who tinkered around
writing songs.
She sang whatever gave her a paycheck and the Nashville invite was just
"luck". She says now that she fought to get things her own way - well,
interesting point is that she really didn't have a style at that point. She
pretty much sang as a pop songstress, wore ordinary and sometimes frumpy
looking clothes and had that wedge cut of a hairdo. She got a job as a
house singer for Crook & Chase. I think it was Wilson who did say that he
looked over the songs she had written and didn't think much of them, adding
that "they" didn't think they were good. Exit Norro Wilson, enter Lange.
Her vocal style changes, her music changes, her "look" changes and she
adopts male rock star stage mannerisms. She didn't do this all by herself.
The songs which she did write were altered by Lange and we'll probably never
know exactly who wrote what or was responsible for what as it's all part of
the myth those two want us to "buy" into. Her future was thought-out
beforehand and planned step-by-step. Absolutely brilliant "take" on the
Eliza Doolittle story. While I'm on the subject - often I think that people
look at her rock influence and cite her videos and some of her television
appearances as a threat to country music and sometimes to women in general.
Her videos express a more perfunctory sensuality than her actual stage
presence. In concert, she is not the sassy little belly-button waving sex
kitten or the freewheelin' liberated woman, but rather a happy cheerleader
of country/pop who literally bounces about the stage, invites members of the
audience to sing with her, including children and who often shows a video of
herself strumming guitar and singing a country song at age 9 or 10. She
tries very hard to entertain and she is quite likeable in a little sister
sort of way. After seeing one of her concerts, my impression was that she
was a "nice girl" who just wants to be liked. Her music and her "style"
belies the fact that she is a 33 year old woman. I have concluded that she
is an interesting phenomenon whose time will pass also as the bouncy
cheerleader pose won't work much longer as she gets older.
Actually, I'm a bit suprised it has worked thus far. Those videos obviously
work to her advantage.
Anyway, Jennings, Nelson, Glaser and Colter had a cause to support, were
already in the business and knew exactly how they wanted to approach and
stand up for their beliefs whereas Twain just wanted to be in the music
business and sing with the likes of Elton John and Stevie Wonder.
Tera
-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Weisberger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: passenger side <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Tuesday, March 16, 1999 1:36 PM
Subject: RE: Clip: The state of country radio
>> > Looking at the matter in terms of the country music industry and the
way
>> > that it works, Twain's career, at least through The Woman In Me, bears
a
>> > considerable resemblance to that of some of the 70s Outlaws - that is
to
>> > say, a struggle with "conservative" producers and label execs over her
>> > desire to pursue a new sound that could appeal beyond the
>> >"normal" country audience by bringing in pop/rock elements.
>> >
>> > Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> > http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
>> >
>> >
>> Jon, you keep making this point, but I'd argue that you're overstating
the
>> resemblance between Twain's career (and, by necessity, her music, since
>> that's her career) and that of the 70s outlaws.
>
>Let's see. Artist A has essentially mediocre success using
>producer-determined/arranged material, fights with his label in order to
>record the stuff that *he* wants to, rather than what the label has stuck
>him with in the past, wins fight, hits it big with crossover appeal.
>Artist B has essentially mediocre success using
producer-determined/arranged
>material, fights with her label in order to record the stuff that *she*
>wants to, rather than what the label has stuck her with in the past, wins
>fight, hits it big with crossover appeal.
>
>Looks like a pretty close resemblance to me on a pretty important level.
>
>>As I said before, there's rock influences and then there's rock
>>influences, and they're not all floating around on the same, precise
>>relativist plain.
>
>So you say, but I think it depends a lot on your degree of interest in
rock.
>If you're not interested in classical music, and you think that
>incorporating classical music influences into rock makes the result less
>enjoyable, are you really going to care whether it's Beethoven's influence
>or Holst's? Are you going to find a Beethoven-influenced rock song better
>than a Holst-influenced one?
>
>Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
>
>
