Carl Wilson made some interesting points when he noted that many arguments about the relative merits of various types of country music can be distilled into preferences over which type of rock 'n roll is informing the country music. I'd agree, though I'd add that the same sort of arguments can be distilled into preferences over which sort of system has deliverered the music to our ears. If it's a system that tends to extinguish creativity by all but the most powerful and influential performers and producers, then I'd say, by and large, it's going to be a corrupt system, and a lot of the junk that comes out of it is going to be mediocre. As we've concluded repeatedly on this list after such debates, this is more or less the way it's been for a long time. It's nothing new. However, as some of us have also concluded, this sort of phenomenon is only reinforced and heightened by mass marketing, computers, concentration of ownership in radio, etc. Also, of course, punk influences are much more interesting than Doobie Brothers influences. That was a value judgment that I'd argue on any damn coffee table. -- Terry Smith ps off to San Francisco today for a newspaper conference. Maybe I'll try to hit Slim's for Geoff Muldaur and James McMurtry.
