Re: What Country is Really All About
Howdy, Cool. I'm through with work for the day (there's still a great big pile of it on the desk, but I've seen all I care to see of it for the day), so here's my timely response to an article posted about a week ago... The Philclip(TM) says of country fashion: Compared to today's styles, the corn-pone, countrified heydays of Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn and Minnie Pearl seem like a century ago. If my memory isn't totally faulty, I once saw Loretta Lynn in a gingham Hee Haw type dress once while guest starring in a Hee Haw skit. I believe that Mr. Houk chose the wrong examples for illustrating his "corn-pone" evidence. As a matter of fact, I can't think of two worse examples than Wynette and Lynn who always seemed to be dressed in formal (or at least semi-formal) gowns whenever I saw them on stage. Actually, beyond comedy acts like Minnie Pearl, I'm having a hard time thinking up the names of women who regularly took the "corn pone" route in stage costuming. Almost every example I come up with usually involves a Hee Haw skit, medicine show, or alt-country band. But that really isn't the part of the article I wanted to quibble about. Mr. Houk's Dixie Chick article yanks my chain when he says: Why the change? Take a look at the country as a whole and see how it has morphed. The Deep South was much more isolated from the rest of the country in 1968 than it is in 1998. Back then, there was a much greater difference between Janis Joplin and Loretta Lynn than there is between Alanis Morissette and Shania Twain. Styles worn by Nashville stars tended to stay in Nashville. Today, with videos and full-time country cable channels, women from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Ore., can identify with music coming out of Tennessee. Umm, I'm sorry was he talking about 1968 or 1768? Thank God for the miracle of color television so the poor ol' South wouldn't be isolated any more. Gee-aww-ly, but that new-fangled electricity sure did introduce us to a whole new world. Oh, and thanks for showing us how to use can openers and teaching us that we didn't have to use flintlocks, too. We can credit the end of those particular examples of Southern isolation on the Food Network and the hunting shows on TNN. Mostly though, I am weary of the "Southern vacuum" theory. It is tiresome and more subversive to the Southern culture than anything the producers of Hee Haw ever dreamed up (Hey, Carl). I won't argue that there weren't pockets of true isolation, but by and large those pockets existed by choice (and in the case of this discussion, their existence in comparison to the whole is negligible). The vast majority of the South had access to the same tools available elsewhere (in this case, read: radio, automobiles, trains, movie theaters, newspapers, and other items which would make true isolation near impossible). Mr. Houk and his ilk usually confuse the difference between "rural" and "isolated" or fail to recognize that ethnic (or regional) cultures extend beyond the "isolated" neighborhoods in the five burroughs. Referring to the change from the author-defined "tacky" look of the 70s and 80s, the author says: To some, a change this radical is just that; an aggressive effort to stay current and relevant. Others see it as an abandonment of country music's roots and soul. And now, I wonder if this isn't one of those articles Jeff Wall has been writing in an apparent audition for The Onion. I cannot read further... Take care, Shane Rhyne Knoxville, TN [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: What Country is Really All About
[Matt Benz] I still say the Dixie Chicks look terrible, hair and outfits wise. Can I get a witness?
RE: What Country is Really All About
[Matt Benz] I still say the Dixie Chicks look terrible, hair and outfits wise. Can I get a witness? Heh, they ain't no Carlene Carter, what can I say g. Should this be on the fluff list??? --junior
RE: What Country is Really All About
Well, I'm not gonna dish on their looks, just the outfits and do's. To get all Blackwell about it, The Dixie Chicks went scratchin in the wrong dirt when they picked these outfits. Look away, look away, Dixie land, indeed! -Original Message- From: BARNARD [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, February 05, 1999 9:27 AM To: passenger side Subject: RE: What Country is Really All About [Matt Benz] I still say the Dixie Chicks look terrible, hair and outfits wise. Can I get a witness? Heh, they ain't no Carlene Carter, what can I say g. Should this be on the fluff list??? --junior
RE: What Country is Really All About
I could care less how the Dixie Chicks dress, so no witness here, Matt. I do think it's interesting, though, that the writer of that piece seemed to think that Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn wore gingham frocks throughout their careers, which is way, way off-base. The difference is that when they went upscale in their stage dress, it was in an adult-oriented, "high class" direction - gowns gauze, you might say, and this was general true, I think, at least partway through the 80s (I have a great picture I made at the Opry in 1987 or 88 of Patty Loveless in a Lynn-type gown), whereas the Chicks (and Twain, and...) seem to be going for something a tad more, ah, youth-oriented. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
RE: What Country is Really All About
I agree entirely, Matt. I mean, those girls need to do the makeover show on E! network. We must not be their target audience Their music can be (or was, at one point, as people here have been pointing out) quite respectable, but the look sure isn't hitting home with me... --junior PS. I expect to see the denizens of the goddess abode in Nashville dressing that way any day now g
RE: What Country is Really All About
Actually, now that I think about it, I don't really care for the "look" of many contemporary country artists. My head's always full of old-time stuff and the way the performers dress now in general just doesn't get it for me. Men *and* women, I'm talking about... --junior
RE: What Country is Really All About
-Original Message- From: Jon Weisberger [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, February 05, 1999 9:34 AM To: passenger side Subject: RE: What Country is Really All About I could care less how the Dixie Chicks dress, so no witness here, Matt. I do think it's interesting, though, that the writer of that piece seemed to think that Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn wore gingham frocks throughout their careers, which is way, way off-base. [Matt Benz] Yeh, I suppose maybe I shouldn't notice such things. H. Now you have me questioning my whole.oh never mind. G Anyway, I agree with ya, and it probably goes without saying that yeh, maybe Lynn and Wynette didn't have any "empowerment" songs since that word "empowerment" wasn't in use-but songs like "The Pill" "Don't COme Home A Drinkin" etc came close. Sure, maybe it wasn't about deflowering a boy, or throwing your man to the floor for a quickie, but then, it was a different era. Those tunes were pretty damn bold.
RE: What Country is Really All About
Agreed, Jr, and I'm no fashion plate myself. For instance, I think the Mavricks look pretty silly with their faux hipster mafia look, and well, any of those other bands like Diamond Rio need to realize that Chess King closed down back in the 80's. Hell, they make BG bands look like the whip. M -Original Message- From: BARNARD [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, February 05, 1999 9:46 AM To: passenger side Subject: RE: What Country is Really All About Actually, now that I think about it, I don't really care for the "look" of many contemporary country artists. My head's always full of old-time stuff and the way the performers dress now in general just doesn't get it for me. Men *and* women, I'm talking about... --junior
looks (was: What Country is Really All About)
Matt: Agreed, Jr, and I'm no fashion plate myself. For instance, I think the Mavricks look pretty silly with their faux hipster mafia look, and well, any of those other bands like Diamond Rio need to realize that Chess King closed down back in the 80's. Hell, they make BG bands look like the whip. Heh, Chess King! I'd forgotten all about that. What a terrible memory! g. But, um.. But truly, I think a performers' look is important. Not as important as their performance obviously, but something to pay attention to and try to get right nonetheless. Like entertaining folks, smiling, etc. And most of the contemporary "suburban"-looking twang artists are visual turnoffs, as far as I'm concerned. I mean, I still think the Porter school of dressing is excellent. Or more muted looks, like Bob Wills', or whoever. Or classic BG looks, like Matt mentions. *Anything* but this yuppied-out "don't you think I'm sexy" look so many of the contemporaries seem compelled by managment to wear I mean, Billy Ray's music may be improving, but I still have to avert my eyes when he walks on-camera!!! g Not to mention the Faith Hills and Lori Morgans and other women. Sheesh. Reba??? Somebody call the fashion police Vince, for example, looked ok in that special last week, with the tasteful plain suit and open shirt. That's a lot better than the hat-boy uniforms a lot of them wear. But still, one could do so much better!! Oh well, --junior
What Country is Really All About
HEE HAW GETS THE HEAVE-HO AS COUNTRY ACTS LOSE THE GINGHAM FOR THE GUCCI Jeff Houck * 01/30/99 The Palm Beach Post (Copyright 1999) *No doubt about it. This was a seminal moment in country music history. Two weeks ago at the American Music Awards, the Dixie Chicks had just been named the favorite new country artist. That they won was not a surprise. The talented - and beautiful - trio of Natalie Maines and sisters Martie Seidel and Emily Erwin had earned the honor by selling 3 million copies of their critically acclaimed album Wide Open Spaces. They hiked up the hems of their satin and beaded designer gowns to climb the stage. Maines, the platinum-blond lead singer and the first to arrive at the podium, took charge of the microphone. Most artists who win awards thank their manager, record label or album producer. Maines went another direction. "We want to thank our makeup artists and hair stylists - because that's what it's all about!" "I was stunned when she said that," Renee Fowler says a few days after the awards show. Fowler is the Chicks' stylist, the one who helped mold them into one of Nashville's fashion trend setters. "I asked them afterward about it and they just said it was a fly- by-the-seat comment," she said. "But that's who they are, vivacious and full of spontaneity." The group's energy was something Fowler wanted to capture when she was asked to revamp their image. In mid-1997, the group signed with Sony's Monument records, and both artists and label wanted to ditch the Dale Evans look the group had worn for close to a decade. Greater competition among female singers and a more liberal mentality in Nashville called instead for higher hemlines, designer fashions, exposed belly buttons and racier lyrics. Compared to today's styles, the corn-pone, countrified heydays of Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn and Minnie Pearl seem like a century ago. Today's female country stars - with their empowering lyrics (Patty Loveless) and sexy stage acts (Shania Twain) - now appeal to a younger, wider audience. Toward that goal, the Chicks decided they needed a makeover. "They had a lot of pizazz when I first met them - Natalie is especially a little tiger," Fowler said. "You never know what's going to come out of her." So Fowler began selecting clothes that were colorful, vivacious and "fashion forward." Their long, flowing, California beach girl curls were cropped, bobbed, streaked and layered. Cowgirl skirts, fringe vests and cowboy boots gave way to short skirts, slinky tops, bell-bottoms and leather pants. "Their hairstyles are very now and obviously very `Chicks' " Fowler said. "They don't follow a trend. They do what they feel. And each one has a different style." Cutting-edge fashion designers were beckoned to dress them for this year's major events. Anna Sui designed their American Music Awards gowns. Todd Oldham's doing their outfits for the Grammys in February. Stage costumes are done by Cynthia Rowley and Betsey Johnson. Not every female country artist can afford designer clothes and an entourage of stylists, but the Chicks' success bought them a newer, younger look that the label was happy to pay for. "Natalie, Martie and Emily love to push the envelope, and they get away with it because they can carry it," Fowler said. "That's what's been so great: They trust me to do it." Why the change? Take a look at the country as a whole and see how it has morphed. The Deep South was much more isolated from the rest of the country in 1968 than it is in 1998. Back then, there was a much greater difference between Janis Joplin and Loretta Lynn than there is between Alanis Morissette and Shania Twain. Styles worn by Nashville stars tended to stay in Nashville. Today, with videos and full-time country cable channels, women from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Ore., can identify with music coming out of Tennessee. Proof of how far country has drifted from its Western and Southern styles is evident by those at the top of the charts. Shania Twain, wearing cropped tops and Spandex bottoms, tours with a band adorned in vinyl shirts and running pants. LeAnn Rimes, the 16-year-old phenomenon who moans about not being able to "go through one night without you," wears trendy slip dresses while covering Prince's Purple Rain on her latest album. Trisha Yearwood does Discover Card commercials in hip, baggy jeans and platform shoes. Mindy McCready's trademark is a bellybutton ring. Deana Carter performs barefoot, her blond hair long and hippie-style,
