Rodney Crowell: Mainstream “Pigging Out at Trough of Poor Taste”
Grammy Award winning Country/Americana artist Rodney Crowell took to his social network feeds late last week to voice his displeasure at the current state of mainstream country music. Crowell, who had 5 consecutive #1 singles off of his 1988 album Diamonds & Dirt, and two top 5 hits off of the follow up Keys to the Highway, has in recent years run more in Americana circles, and also works as a producer.
Ever since country music entered the back door of main stream commerciality—most noticeably in the early sixties—the debate over who possesses the more noble heart, the purists or the popular entertainers has never stopped. (Remember the credibility scare of the late 80’s.) Generally speaking, the purists make the more timeless music.
Pop culture is a disposable culture, therefore it stands to reason that those who want the big bucks and the power are inclined to produce slick and disposable music. I don’t see anything wrong with artists getting rich by pigging out at the trough of poor taste.
For the purists, the Americana Music Association is fighting a good battle to see that the work of, say, Guy Clark, is forever in the back of our minds. Go on ITunes and download a few Doc Boggs tunes. Timeless music is more available than ever.
Crowell moved to Nashville in 1972 where he was discovered by Jerry Reed, and later became friends with fellow songwriter Guy Clark. In 1975 he joined Emmylou Harris’s “Hot Band” for a brief period before releasing his debut solo album in 1978. His latest album, a collaboration with Emmylou Harris called Old Yellow Moon debuted at #4 on the country charts and is nominated for the Americana Music Association’s Album of the Year.
July 15, 2013 @ 8:28 am
While I agree with Rodney, the purists have made the more timeless music, I wonder if that will really always be the case. Could another purist reform, like Randy Travis led in the late 90s, ever take hold again within popular country music? I fear that Blake Shelton will be the next, say, Alan Jackson or George Strait, and that is what we’ll be calling “classic” 20 years from now ( well, at least the general radio-listening populace, but not I)
July 16, 2013 @ 7:12 am
Easy now Blake Shelton is nowhere near the likes of Randy Travis or George Straight, but I think I see what you are saying. George Straight has always been on the more traditional side of country. That purest reform you speak of was started in the 80’s and it was called neo-traditional. Also I would have to say Keith Whitley was the starter of the that while folks like Randy Travis and John Anderson carried the torch as Keith died at 33.
July 16, 2013 @ 7:50 am
Yeah, I meant 80s, not 90s, obviously. And yes, Whitley deserves credit as does Dwight Yoakam, who revived the Bakersfield sound. My point was not to say that Blake Shelton will ever actually be another George Strait, but that he looks like a country elder-statesmen-to-be at this point. It’s just that (radio) country has changed so much that the door isn’t even cracked for much reform.
July 16, 2013 @ 8:11 am
I hear ya and fully agree.
July 15, 2013 @ 9:32 am
I believe it was George Strait who helped get rid of the pop sound in the early eighties. Randy Travis came along in the mid eighties with his sound and got more credit in the revitalization of the pure country sound if I am thinking correctly. Randy Travis was marketed a lot better. I could be wrong.
July 15, 2013 @ 10:27 am
It’s hard to imagine another purist revolution at this point. Even back in the 80’s and 90’s, the music had enough in common with classic country that it wasn’t as much of a stretch to bring back the old songs. Strait, Alan Jackson, Travis, Dwight Yoakam were all very popular and traditional. Considering that Blake Shelton, FGL and Jason Aldean are now the most popular, the traditional sound would be a radical departure from the norm. As much as it sucks, people eat that shit up. Easton Corbin and Gary Allan are two traditional leaning modern mainstream artists, but there isn’t much else left to choose from.
July 24, 2013 @ 9:32 am
The reform would have to be slow, getting a couple more traditionalists in each year, eventually it would reduce the distance of such a jump. I feel like everyone is hoping for a drastic change in a short period of time, which would be nice, but realistically it’ll have to be at a snails pace. With people like Chris young and as you mentioned Gary Allan and Easton Corbin already on radio, we just need to get our existing traditional leaning artists more airtime for the time being. There could be thousands of traditional artists on the radio, but it doesn’t matter of their songs only get played once at three in the morning. Not exactly prime real estate
July 15, 2013 @ 10:48 am
Long Live the Crowell – I think he is channeling Chet Flippo here!! No disrespect intended, but this quote really reminds me of his writing style they both have quite a way with words…..
I feel like this applies to culture in general (not just music) I was just reading an article about how cars used to kind of represent the times / culture / ideals back in the day [a Studebaker Commander or something like that was the example] but now most all vehicles are just kind of all the same homogeneous van-cars…..
Everything I read leads me to believe that the movie Idiocracy was actually pretty on point…….
At least there are avenues nowadays for those of us that don’t conform to the “Hog Trough” (which a lot of buddies also call Golden Corral lol) to get info / music that is not forcefed to us through ClearChannel / _____Big Media Inc…..
July 15, 2013 @ 11:56 am
Trig, has talked at length about the monogenere and he is spot on. I think along the lines of what Phineas was saying we now have a “monoculture” meaning individuality in all areas has been discouarged and frowned upon to the point of a “dumbing down” of our cluture as a whole. Thus leaving us with a tasteless, colorless and meaningless cluture. Heartbreaking and sad really. Thankfully, there are small groups of folks that make and appreciate good things and good art in spite of general cultural downgrading we contiue to see. Rodney is a musical hero of mine and deserves much respect.
July 15, 2013 @ 12:32 pm
i agree with everybody saying that a return to the “classic” sound would be such a drastic change from the norm that we are not likely to see it…. at least not in any good way. if it were to happen, here’s a theory about how it might go down – the movie industry, much like the music industry, is teetering on the edge of moral, financial, and creative bankruptcy, and it seems like one of their strategies has been “people watched this movie a long time ago, let’s remake it and hope they watch it again”. what if the music industry followed suit, and the big labels started having their flavor of the week re-record popular classic albums…
July 16, 2013 @ 2:46 pm
They’re already trying to do that, but it’s only on the surface, dropping legend’s names like Hank & Merle, and talking about the good ol’ days. Meanwhile material is being recycled, especially from Sony/ATV in tribute albums and projects like the “Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams.” Even the rapper “Struggle” and his albums that’s heavy with Waylon songs shows that many sectors of country music are out of ideas and beginning to recycle material.
July 15, 2013 @ 2:08 pm
“Pop culture is a disposable culture”
Nitpick here…. not all popular music is disposable.
People still know and play Stephen Foster tunes; Oh Susanna…. Camptown Races;
Those tunes are more than a hundred and fifty years old.
But I think pop music is at its historic lowest ebb right now. I don’t see how it can get any worse; unless they put out a tune consisting of wordless grunting, with a basic disco drum beat.
could easily be a hit these days.
July 15, 2013 @ 6:15 pm
“Diamonds & Dirt” came out in ’88, not ’98.
But Rodney Crowell is great. He’s written a truckload of great songs that have gotten a lot of mileage both through his own recordings as well as others.
“I Ain’t Livin’ Long Like This”
“Till I Gain Control Again”
“Bluebird Wine”
“Song For the Life”
“Leaving Louisiana In the Broad Daylight”
and dozens more.
I think he makes an excellent point here that in order to preserve the traditions of the country music past, it is arguably more important to work to expose people to the music of purists like Guy Clark, etc, than it is to try to dethrone the current reigning country pop idols. There will always be disposable pop music, and nothing is going to change that. If all of our efforts to defend this musical form that we love so dearly go into talking down those we feel are doing it wrong, we might find that we didn’t spend enough time talking up those who we feel were doing it right.
July 15, 2013 @ 6:36 pm
Gary Allan is really disappointing me right now. The last couple of songs are just boring and they are not like they used to be. But I guess that is really all artists right now. Easton Corbin sounded like he was goin to be a good one, but his last two songs are so dang cheesy, no soul or meaning to em. Just my cents… Im just here for the ride I reckon since I know my favorite music will never come back on the radio (Whitley, Skaggs, Old Strait, Van Shelton, etc..)
July 16, 2013 @ 5:05 am
My wife and I were once huge fans of Blake Shelton. She was a fan from the time he released “Austin,” and I came around when he released his amazing cover of “Goodbye Time.” We both loved him back then because he had such a great, pure Country voice. Then, over time, his music began to turn more and more towards the Pop Country sound, and we slowly started backing off. Then, the whole “Jackasses and Old Farts” fiasco happened, and we turned on him with a vengeance. We were both just heartbroken that someone who had released covers of such legendary artists like Conway Twitty and George Jones could be so disrespectful towards those who paved the way before him and those who love that “Old Country sound.” My question for these artists who are jumping on the Pop Country/Country Rap bandwagon is this: What will happen when the trend fades and the “younger audience” they are pandering to grow up and out of this phase and begin seeking music with substance and meaning? “So long ’til I see you again/When you’re laying in the bargain bin/I don’t think Waylon done it that way…”
July 16, 2013 @ 12:27 pm
Goodbye Time was one of the best mainstream country singles from the mid 00’s. It is too bad Shelton’s career has gone in that direction.
July 16, 2013 @ 11:53 am
Why can’t we hear people like Turnpike Troubadours, Sturgill Simpson, Lindi Ortega, just to pick a few examples, once or twice an hour on country radio? What if today’s country audience got to hear not only ‘a Happy Meal in his booster seat’ and ‘shake it for the birds, shake it for the bees’ but ALSO ‘All I smell is cheap perfume, and gin and smoke and lies’ and ‘I don’t want to be alone in Memphis’? What would happen?
July 16, 2013 @ 2:09 pm
You are right.
here are the top eleven songs from billboard, for 1968. take a look at the variety. I don’t know why this can’t be done now, but I expect it related to money.
1 “Hey Jude” The Beatles
2 “Love is Blue” Paul Mauriat
3 “Honey” Bobby Goldsboro
4 “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” Otis Redding
5 “People Got to Be Free” The Rascals
6 “Sunshine of Your Love” Cream
7 “This Guy’s in Love With You” Herb Alpert
8 “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” Hugo Montenegro
9 “Mrs. Robinson” Simon & Garfunkel
10 “Tighten Up” Archie Bell & the Drells
11 “Harper Valley PTA” Jeannie C. Riley
July 16, 2013 @ 2:50 pm
What would happen is people would get wise that they actually have a choice in country music, and would leave the industry channels in droves. That is why if the industry isn’t going to embrace an artist, they do everything they can to keep them down.
July 16, 2013 @ 12:10 pm
Personally, I don’t like any of these words much: purist, traditional, revival, reform. And I HATE the term ‘roots music’ with a vengeance. (Though I love most of the music that it is usually applied to.) Truth is, “Walking The Floor Over You” was commercial country music no less than “Red Solo Cup”; “He Stopped Loving Her Today” no less than “Boys Round Here”. It’s about quality songwriting, mostly. Way I see it, it’s not “bring grandpa’s music back” as much as it is to make music as good as grandpa’s, music that at least remembers and builds on grandpa’s, and that isn’t ashamed of grandpa… or grandma! I don’t want today’s country music to be a museum. Just want it to be country, and good.
July 16, 2013 @ 8:20 pm
LOL…. Struggle… LOL