Martina (was Re: Kelly Willis Review from Salon)
Louise said: I can never understand the popularity of Martina McBride. To me she is blandness personified. Maybe that's the answer. I don't think Martina McBride is bland. She always seems lively. She has done some bland songs, but blandness personified? That would be, um, Mindy McCready, I think. Martina has done some good songs over the years. Some that I like from her 1995 "Wild Angels" album are her versions of "Two More Bottles of Wine", "Swingin' Doors" (not the Haggard song, though--the one that Molly the Heymakers recorded a few years ago) and "Cry On the Shoulder of the Road" (Levon Helm contributed to this one--I saw him sing it with her on a TV show--ugh, I think the G-man was her other guest). I think many people here would like Martina's 1992 album, "The Time Has Come" very much--full of steel, fiddle, some yodeling, some killer country weepers, and in general very traditional sounds. I really like "Cheap Whiskey" even though it's got bombastic drums. (I'm glad that I'm unable to tell the GB is doing background vocals on this.) Dina
Re: Kelly Willis Review from Salon
First of all, the guy puts this in print not bothering to get Trisha Yearwood's name spelled correctly. Secondly, he hasn't paid attention to those who have said and proven that they wanted to "get back to basics" and make "real country records" or the labels who have signed artists having a more "country" feel. Vince Gill, Dolly Parton, LeeAnn Womack, Patty Loveless, the return to form of Dwight Yoakam, a hearty welcome back to Randy Travis, Alan Jackson still cranking out country, Steve Wariner getting some due; or does this guy just judge his country music by the crossover appeal of the likes of Rimes, Twain, Brooks, McBride, Yearwood? He may not be wrong with McBride though who has had some very good country moments and who does have a gorgeous voice. "Evolution" is probably her most pop-type record to date. "The Way That I Am" is a pretty good example of her skills as a country singer. Maybe the pop/rock influence combined with the vocal theatrics we've seen of late with mostly female country singers is what his real gripe is. "Trampoline" with its latin rhythms and that one twenties-vaudeville-sung-through-a-megaphone-type-song may never have made a big dent in the country charts, even a few years ago. Quite frankly, the album is more of an alternative output than any other recording The Mavericks have ever done. Alison Krauss - may not be so much as a "barb" against her as trying to prove his point - again a critic citing that production points toward the "realness" of an artist. Real by whose standards? Is it by the production quality which existed in the forties, fifities or sixties? Or is he saying that a more pared-down accompaniment is crucial to "keeping it country". Is country music really how many instruments one can bring to the recording studio or is it really about feeling? Is this reviewer hearing lush accompaniment and likens all such recordings to the bargain basement of music or is he listening with an open mind. Is he wishing to jump on a bandwagon of those critics who state everything which is wrong with country music and glamorize their "hip" knowledge by refusing to glamorize the "what's right" . Tera Kelly Willis "What I Deserve" Rykodisc Flesh and blood KELLY WILLIS' NEW ALBUM, "WHAT I DESERVE," IS AN ANTIDOTE TO THE SLICKNESS THAT'S RUINED COUNTRY MUSIC. BY CHARLES TAYLOR | A few years ago, without really intending to, I stopped listening to most new country music. When the most enthusiasm I could muster for certain new records was, "Well, it's not as slick as it might be," I realized that I had simply stopped expecting the genre to produce anything much of interest. The slicking up of country music was nothing new; it had been going on at least since the countrypolitan sound of the '60s. But in the last few years that slickness has felt like a stake through the heart. I suppose I could learn to tell Shania's voice from Tricia's from Deana's from Mindy's if I put my mind to it. But nothing I've heard has made the trouble it would take seem worth it. More popular than ever, country music is also -- as a form -- more debased than ever. Turn to your local country station or switch on TNN and what you hear is less the country sound than representations of that sound, voices and guitars that twang as if they'd been programmed, everything stripped of the dirt of experience. The truth is that the themes country music has traditionally dealt with -- sin, loss and its acceptance, redemption or the refusal of it -- have no place in a genre that has been reduced to the manufactured emotion of party songs, empowerment songs (for the women singers), MOR ballads. The sort of schlocky material done by the singers that people in their 40s and late 30s grew up seeing on talk shows -- the likes of Jerry Vale, Sandler and Young, Vic Damone -- is now being churned out in a country idiom. The "rock" side of country is no less safe. For aging rock audiences, the flashy stage shows of performers like Garth Brooks or Shania Twain are a sort of security blanket, allowing people who long ago stopped paying attention to rock 'n' roll to feel as if they're still in the fold. The bright spots have been sparse. I continue listening to Martina McBride because, despite all the second-rate material and musicianship she settles for, I still hear a real person when she sings. (And I'm not ready to give up on anyone who delivered as powerful a performance as "Independence Day," perhaps the greatest single of the decade, certainly the most subversive.) But McBride's success is not likely to encourage her to take on the material or sidemen that would challenge her. And I don't know when we're likely to hear another album from Bobbie Cryner, whose 1995 "Girl of Your Dreams," the toughest set of marriage songs since Richard and Linda Thompson's "Shoot Out the Lights," showed how real feeling might be possible in the slick country mainstream. Country radio has become so rigidly formatted
Re: Martina (was Re: Kelly Willis Review from Salon)
Howdy, You know, I've already taken some ribbing on P2 for it and it makes poor ol' Slim nearly gag to death when I say it, but count me as a fan of Martina McBride. I don't catch the "blandness" label that folks seem to put on her. Of course, I also happen to believe that "Independence Day" is one of the best songs of the decade (since folks seem to be in a mood to compile such data). And, I'd happily count "Cheap Whiskey," as one of my personal favorites as well. (For that matter, I think y'all might benefit from a listen to her debut album, The Time Has Come, which features "Cheap Whiskey" and other tunes that make for a pretty solid debut performance. The album also includes backing support from Carl Jackson and Kathy Chiavola, an overlooked voice in her own right.) I find that McBride is capable of using her talent to deliver a country-pop tune, a ballad, or what you guys sometimes refer to as a "real" country song. Regardless of what type of song she's performing, I generally have no trouble finding the country-influence in it, unlike (to pick on an easy target) some of Shania's most recent efforts (although, Twain does carry a definite country influence in earlier works. She will, I imagine, eventually jump with both feet onto the pop side of the fence, as Mr. Weisberger suggested earlier.) Here's the part that'll probably make Slim choke on his tongue... I have no qualms about placing McBride among some of the notable other female country singers who mixed a sometimes "pop-oriented" sound with country-rooted ballads and "down home" finger poppin' music. One that comes to mind pretty quickly in that group is Jeannie C. Riley, but others who fit that description pretty well include Tammy Wynette and Donna Fargo. At least, that's how my ears hear it. Take care, Shane Rhyne Knoxville, TN [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Kelly Willis Review from Salon
http://www.salonmagazine.com/ent/music/feature/ Kelly Willis "What I Deserve" Rykodisc Flesh and blood KELLY WILLIS' NEW ALBUM, "WHAT I DESERVE," IS AN ANTIDOTE TO THE SLICKNESS THAT'S RUINED COUNTRY MUSIC. BY CHARLES TAYLOR | A few years ago, without really intending to, I stopped listening to most new country music. When the most enthusiasm I could muster for certain new records was, "Well, it's not as slick as it might be," I realized that I had simply stopped expecting the genre to produce anything much of interest. The slicking up of country music was nothing new; it had been going on at least since the countrypolitan sound of the '60s. But in the last few years that slickness has felt like a stake through the heart. I suppose I could learn to tell Shania's voice from Tricia's from Deana's from Mindy's if I put my mind to it. But nothing I've heard has made the trouble it would take seem worth it. More popular than ever, country music is also -- as a form -- more debased than ever. Turn to your local country station or switch on TNN and what you hear is less the country sound than representations of that sound, voices and guitars that twang as if they'd been programmed, everything stripped of the dirt of experience. The truth is that the themes country music has traditionally dealt with -- sin, loss and its acceptance, redemption or the refusal of it -- have no place in a genre that has been reduced to the manufactured emotion of party songs, empowerment songs (for the women singers), MOR ballads. The sort of schlocky material done by the singers that people in their 40s and late 30s grew up seeing on talk shows -- the likes of Jerry Vale, Sandler and Young, Vic Damone -- is now being churned out in a country idiom. The "rock" side of country is no less safe. For aging rock audiences, the flashy stage shows of performers like Garth Brooks or Shania Twain are a sort of security blanket, allowing people who long ago stopped paying attention to rock 'n' roll to feel as if they're still in the fold. The bright spots have been sparse. I continue listening to Martina McBride because, despite all the second-rate material and musicianship she settles for, I still hear a real person when she sings. (And I'm not ready to give up on anyone who delivered as powerful a performance as "Independence Day," perhaps the greatest single of the decade, certainly the most subversive.) But McBride's success is not likely to encourage her to take on the material or sidemen that would challenge her. And I don't know when we're likely to hear another album from Bobbie Cryner, whose 1995 "Girl of Your Dreams," the toughest set of marriage songs since Richard and Linda Thompson's "Shoot Out the Lights," showed how real feeling might be possible in the slick country mainstream. Country radio has become so rigidly formatted that a few years ago the Mavericks' last album, "Trampoline," which you might have expected to spawn hit after hit, was ignored as too rock 'n' roll (and ignored as too country by rock stations). After his last album, "Unchained," which got no airplay, won a Grammy, Johnny Cash took out ads in the industry trade publications in which he expressed thanks "to the Nashville music establishment and country radio for your support" -- alongside a 1969 picture of him giving the finger to the camera. There's no better example of what's wrong with country radio than the fact that you won't hear artists like Shaver (whose "Tramp on Your Street" may be the finest country album of the decade) or Alison Krauss, perhaps the purest voice in country right now. The bits of slickness that crept into "So Long, So Wrong," the last album from Krauss and her band, Union Station, suggested she was in for a long, uncertain fight to continue playing her music the way she wanted. All this is by way of breathing a sigh of relief that Kelly Willis' new album, "What I Deserve," a title that seems both boastful and ironic, is a sure sign that she has rejected the mainstreaming moves of her last album, 1993's "Kelly Willis." Willis has sacrificed some of the rockabilly flavor of her first two albums, 1990's "Well Traveled Love" and 1991's "Bang Bang." "What I Deserve" is a darker piece of work, and a more coherent one. The emotions and playing on the album are all of a piece, a darker piece. Which is why you're not likely to hear anything from "What I Deserve" on any airwaves near you. "No, you don't get off easy," Willis sings toward the end of the record, and the line sticks because it comes at a time when country music is all about getting off easy, about disposable emotion. "What I Deserve" is about being in the grip of emotions so big they seem not as if they started inside the singer, but as if they were waiting around for her to get caught in their grip. And they don't sound as if they'll be dissipating any time soon. Not every song here is a sad song, but Willis has made the slow, easy roll of "I Got a
RE: Kelly Willis Review from Salon
Flesh and blood KELLY WILLIS' NEW ALBUM, "WHAT I DESERVE," IS AN ANTIDOTE TO THE SLICKNESS THAT'S RUINED COUNTRY MUSIC. BY CHARLES TAYLOR | A few years ago, without really intending to, I stopped listening to most new country music. When the most enthusiasm I could muster for certain new records was, "Well, it's not as slick as it might be," I realized that I had simply stopped expecting the genre to produce anything much of interest. Am I the only person who thinks that that was the point at which Mr. Taylor should have considered not writing about new country music? And then to single out Martina McBride as a noble exception, while backhanding Alison... What a maroon. Sorry, Neal. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
Re: Kelly Willis Review from Salon
BY CHARLES TAYLOR | A few years ago, without really intending to, I stopped listening to most new country music. When the most enthusiasm I could muster for certain new records was, "Well, it's not as slick as it might be," I realized that I had simply stopped expecting the genre to produce anything much of interest. Am I the only person who thinks that that was the point at which Mr. Taylor should have considered not writing about new country music? And then to single out Martina McBride as a noble exception, while backhanding Alison... What a maroon. Sorry, Neal. No prob here, Jon. I agree with you. Taylor instantly ruins his cred by saying he hasn't paid attention to the genre for X number of years. But worse, to me, is that he makes himself the star of the review. I can't stand that. Leave the "I" out of it. Neal Weiss
Re: Kelly Willis Review from Salon
Jon Weisberger wrote: Am I the only person who thinks that that was the point at which Mr. Taylor should have considered not writing about new country music? And then to single out Martina McBride as a noble exception, while backhanding Alison... What a maroon I can never understand the popularity of Martina McBride. To me she is blandness personified. Maybe that's the answer. I happen to think that Kelly Willis' Nashville stuff is pretty exceptional. Bang Bang, I'll Try Again, Shadows Of Love, Sincerely, World Without You. You have to say that Nashville had a hand in creating some pretty amazing music here. If you look at select parts of Nashville output you can get a pretty good selection of music. How about 455 Rocket or A Lover Is Forever? I'll never write off Nashville as being a place that can put out something to knock your socks off every now and then. I mean it's not like I like *all* alt.country. Nashville gets a lot of criticisms around here, so I thought I'd add my 'friendly' opinion. The Alison Krauss comment was pathetic. Louise np Fading Fast (again) --- If you like rocking country music, check out the Okeh Wranglers web site at: http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/bluesmoke
