Classic Rewind: The Judds – ‘Love Can Build A Bridge’

Album Review: George Strait – ‘Somewhere Down In Texas’

In 2005, twenty-four years into his hit-making career, George Strait released Somewhere Down In Texas, a collection of laid-back songs that contrasted 2003′s Honkytonkville‘s hard honky-tonk sound.  The album landed at the top of the country albums chart as well as the all-genre Billboard 200 and was certified platinum.  It also provided Strait with another chart-topper on the country singles chart, a feat its predecessor didn’t accomplish, when ‘She Let Herself Go’ became his 40th Billboard #1, tying a record previously held by Conway Twitty, which George has since broken.  Two other singles also hit the top 20.

First to radio from this mostly sedate collection was the inspirational ‘You’ll Be There’, written by Cory Mayo.  The tune was a bit of a departure for George with its chorus echoing the melodies of a pop power ballad.  It also employs a bevy of background vocalists in the chorus and the general instrumentation is a definite change of direction for the singer.  Still, the tune hit the top 5 on the country singles chart, resting at an eventual #4 peak.

‘She Let Herself Go’ was the album’s second single, and this tale of a scorned woman turned globetrotter hit the top spot on the country singles chart.  The song tells the story of a woman whose husband has left her and uses the title as a hook for all the places she took herself; all the places her husband never wanted to go.  It’s the sort of strong, modern woman theme that plays perfectly with country radio.

The best track from the set is easily Strait’s cover of Merle Haggard’s ‘The Seashores of Old Mexico’, written by The Hag.  Strait and co-producer Tony Brown employ a calypso sound to frame the verses, while Strait delivers a cool vocal, befitting the delightful storyline.  Radio didn’t warm to this one as much, which is a shame, and it stalled outside the top 10 at #11 on the charts.

And there are other memorable moments here too.  Steven Dale Jones and Phillip White wrote the witty ‘Texas’, which espouses the virtues and the originality of the Longhorn State.  One of my favorite things about this song is how the writers have managed to include a shout-out to everything we outsiders associate with Texas, from the Alamo to Willie Nelson, and of course the music, with nods to Austin City Limits and Strait’s own classic hit ‘Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind’.  I hesitate to call this a list song, but that’s exactly what it is; it just happens to be a quality list song and there’s at least a reason and even a pay-off at the end, for stringing together so many Texas references into one song.  It also became another top 40 hit, charting at  #35 from unsolicited airplay.

CD Giveaway: Patty Loveless – ‘Mountain Soul II’

In just two weeks, Saguaro Road Records will release the long-awaited sequel to Patty Loveless’ Mountain Soul. To mark the occasion, My Kind of Country will give away a copy of Mountain Soul II to five lucky winners. To enter, please post a comment telling us what your favorite Patty Loveless song is and why. All comments must be entered by 11:59 pm EDT Monday, September 28th.

This album is a must-have for anyone who enjoys roots-oriented country music, so hurry up and enter!

Also, to increase your chances of winning, be sure to visit Country Universe and enter their giveaway contest.

And the lucky winners are:

Cheryl
Brooke
MK
Dale (not Dale Schmucker, the other one)
Rick

Congratulations to all the winners. You’ll be receiving an email from us shortly to obtain your mailing addresses. Thanks to everyone who participated; we had more responses to this giveaway than any other one we’ve done so far.

Classic Rewind: Suzy Bogguss – ‘Outbound Plane’

Album Review: Patty Loveless – ‘Mountain Soul II’

Country radio’s love affair with Patty Loveless began winding down around 1997, with the release of the single “You Don’t Seem To Miss Me”. The record met with resistance by some radio program directors, who requested the release of an alternate version, without the harmony vocals provided by George Jones. Loveless refused to remix the record; it stalled at #14 and she never again had another Top 10 hit. Her commercial appeal may have waned, but freed from the constraints and pressures imposed by radio, Loveless has blossomed as an artist and released some of the best music of her career. In 2001, she released a critically acclaimed bluegrass album, and this week, Mountain Soul II, the long awaited sequel, finally hits store shelves.

Though mostly acoustic, the subtle use of some non-bluegrass instrumentation — electric guitar, pump organ, and pedal steel guitar — prevent Mountain Soul II from qualifying as a true bluegrass album, and Loveless and her label, Saguaro Road Records, have been careful not to refer to it as such. In press releases, they describe it as Appalachian, bluegrass, and country combined. Regardless of the label, it is a worthy successor to Mountain Soul, and unlike many sequels, it holds its own against the original.

Many of the players from the original Mountain Soul — Jon Randall, Rebecca Lynn Howard, and of course, Loveless’ producer and husband Emory Gordy, Jr. — are back on board this time around. Loveless is also joined by special guests Del and Ronnie McCoury, Vince Gill, and Emmylou Harris.

The opening track and lead single for the album is a cover of the Harlan Howard classic “Busted”. Recorded many times in the past by artists such as Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, and John Conlee, Loveless’ version restores Howard’s original lyrics, which contain references to coal mining, rather than cotton farming, referred to in the other recorded versions. The lyrics were originally changed at the request of Johnny Cash, but coal mining is a better fit with the acoustic arrangement and bluegrass harmonies provided by the McCourys. Even better are the vocal performances that the McCourys contribute to the old standby “Working On A Building”, which is the most purely bluegrass song on the album.

Album Review: George Strait – ‘Carrying Your Love With Me’

George Strait’s 1997 album Carrying Your Love With Me came out when he was at the peak of his commercial success. It followed up the triple platinum Blue Clear Sky, released the previous year, and achieved the same status itself (the last of his studio albums to do so to date). It was also the first of his albums to reach the top of the Billboard album charts across all genres.

The last single from Blue Clear Sky, the excellent traditional-sounding ‘King Of The Mountain’, had been a flop by George’s standards, barely squeezing into the top 20, making it only his third single ever not to make the top 10. The label may have been concerned that this was a sign that George’s run at the top was coming to an end, and they made sure that the first two singles from the new album were more radio-friendly. The first, the relaxed and melodic ‘One Night At A Time’, filled the bill well enough to not only go to #1 on the country charts, but to gain some pop airplay as well. Written by Roger Cook, Eddie Kilgallon and Earl Bud Lee, the song seems designed for George’s crooning style, and it’s easy to overlook the fact that the lyric is actually a cheating song, and not one burdened with guilt. It was followed to the top of the chart by the title track, a laid-back love song set to a charming tune written by Jeff Stevens and Steve Bogard. Neither song stands today among Strait’s all-time classics, but George sounds great. In much the same musical style, but rather dull, is Jackson Leap’s ‘She’ll Leave You With A Smile’, a warning to a friend about a heartless woman, which is one of three tracks embellished with a subtle string arrangement.

The third single was a cover of Vern Gosdin’s classic ‘Today My World Slipped Away’, one of the orchestrated numbers, which reached #3 (seven slots higher than the original managed back in 1982). It is a wonderful song, imbued with intense sadness at the end of a marriage, and George gives it a perfectly restrained reading which is almost as good as the original. That he falls just a little short is no criticism of George Strait, but a tribute to the greatness of Gosdin. The third track with strings is Bobby Braddock’s ‘The Nerve’, which I was surprised wasn’t releasd as a single. The story is a little unfocused as it has brief snapshots of the narrator’s love story, that of his parents, and finally a look back several generations to the ancestor who first came to America and fell in love with an Indian girl, with not quite enough of any one of those stories, but it has a sweet feel, a pretty tune and a tender vocal, which should all have worked well on radio.

Classic Rewind: Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton – Medley: ‘Spanish Eyes’/ ‘Brown Eyed Handsome Man’/ ‘Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain’

Long before “Islands In The Stream” or Dolly’s ABC variety series, this clip is from her 1970s syndicated variety show. I don’t know which is more interesting; the music or the fashion choices:

Album Review: George Strait – ‘Blue Clear Sky’

Blue Clear Sky was George Strait’s seventeenth studio album when it was released in 1996.  At the time, country music was still riding the wave of the 90s sales boom, and George Strait was right in the thick of things for the duration of that period.  This was the first Strait album I ever bought, as I was just becoming a fan of more traditional country acts around the time of its release, and it’s still my favorite of King George’s 30+ album releases.  Blue Clear Sky spawned 4 hit singles, with the first 2 going all the way to #1, and the third and fourth peaking at #4 and #19, respectively.  The album itself hit the top spot of the country albums chart and the top 10 on the all-genre chart, and has been certified 3-times platinum for sales of over three million copies.

The title track served as the first single, and would eventually become George’s 29th career #1.  The bouncy song fit the sound of contemporary country perfectly at the time, while still remaining to sound like a traditional Strait cut.  The ‘love happens like that’ theory isn’t a novel idea, but Strait’s crisp delivery makes this a pleasant listen even though it’s not one of my favorites.  ’Blue Clear Sky’ has since become one of George Strait’s most-played recurrents on country radio.

I don’t take my whiskey to extremes
Don’t believe in chasin’ crazy dreams
My feet are planted firmly on the ground
But darlin’ when you come around

I get carried away by the look, by the light in your eyes
Before I even realize the ride I’m on, baby I’m long gone

For the second single, the Strait team chose the elegant ‘Carried Away’, the tale of a well-grounded man who tends to lose his steady head in the company of his love interest.  Steve Bogard and Jeff Stevens wrote this tale of romance, and again, Strait delivers the vocal with his signature crooning style.  This would prove to be the second chart-topping single from the album, and another that still gets some spins on today’s country radio.

Classic Rewind: Nanci Griffith & Danny Bixby – ‘Gulf Coast Highway’

Americana Music Association celebrates 10th anniversary

The Wall Street Journal did an interesting piece this week on the Americana Music Festival in Nashville. You can read it by clicking here.

Week ending 9/26/09: #1 singles this week in country music history

1949: Slippin’ Around – Ernest Tubb (Decca)

1959: The Three Bells — The Browns (RCA)

1969: A Boy Named Sue — Johnny Cash (Columbia)

1979: It Must Be Love — Don Williams (MCA)

1989: Above and Beyond — Rodney Crowell (Columbia)

1999: Something Like That — Tim McGraw (Curb)

2009: Big Green Tractor — Jason Aldean (Broken Bow)

Week ending 9/26/09: #1 albums this week in country music history

1984: Merle Haggard – It’s All In The Game (Epic)

1989: Clint Black – Killin’ Time (RCA)

1994: Tim McGraw – Not A Moment Too Soon (Curb)

1999: The Dixie Chicks – Fly (Monument)

2004: Alan Jackson – What I Do (Arista)

2009: Brooks & Dunn – #1′s and Then Some (Arista)

Single Review: Sugarland – ‘Keep You’

Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush of Sugarland tried to write an “emotional song about being numb,” and the product of this little exercise is their new single “Keep You”. (The music video premiers on CMT on October 2nd) What strikes me most about the song is about how it builds steadily. It starts off with a quiet acoustic guitar, then adds in a little more with some piano and drums then keeps growing until it builds to the climax, accompanied by some nice strings in the background- but never too much.

Nettles gives this song all she’s got, showing off her vocal range in the chorus with a wonderfully vulnerable performance. It’s also great how right after she goes high in the chorus, it drops down low again as she sings the titular phrase:

What do I gotta do?
What do I gotta do to keep you?
What do I gotta do to keep you from doing this to me?

The lyrics really show how one can feel so much while feeling nothing at all, the numbness that pervades after a big loss. The lyrics are beautifully written and mostly avoid the cliches that radio seems to be riddled with today, making this very fresh.

One thing that still bugs me is the complete absence of Kristian in any vocals from this song- I wish he could sing a little more, but it doesn’t affect the quality of this song in any way, thankfully. He at least had some vocals on their past couple singles, but he plays no vocal role whatsoever here- even though he co-wrote and plays in the song.

“Keep You” is by far one of my favorite Sugarland songs, even though it falls as more acoustic pop than country. However, it’s got enough heartbreak and some good lines (“Tried our hand at magic / but we couldn’t make us disappear”) to sit as one of my absolute favorites. This is the rare song that gets shipped to country radio today that still has some quality left! Honestly, I’m also pretty glad that Sugarland is putting out a new music video because their last video (For “Already Gone”) was released in September of 2008! Unfortunately this means that “Very Last Country Song” may never be a single, which is a shame.

Grade: A

Written by: Jennifer Nettles, Kristian Bush & Bobby Pinson

Listen to “Keep You” here.

Classic Rewind: Travis Tritt – ‘Anymore’

Album Review: George Strait – ‘Easy Come, Easy Go’

In 1992, George Strait teamed up with a new producer, ending an eight-year professional relationship with Jimmy Bowen, who had moved on to assume the presidency of rival label Capitol Nashville. The association with Tony Brown would prove to be even more enduring, lasting until the present day. A change in producers almost always results in a different musical direction. The first Brown-Strait collaboration, the soundtrack album to Pure Country, was certainly a departure for Strait, but due to its nature, a film soundtrack album isn’t always a good representation of an artist’s work. Our first glimpse at the direction in which Strait’s career would go can be seen with the 1993 album Easy Come, Easy Go.

At first glance, Easy Come, Easy Go seems to be a throwback to the Bowen years, perhaps as a reassurance to fans that Strait had no intention of continuing in the pop-country vein that had prevailed on the Pure Country soundtrack. The album opens with the Texas dance hall number, “Stay Out of My Arms”, the first of two songs contributed by Jim Lauderdale. The second Lauderdale-penned track, “I Wasn’t Fooling Around”, co-written with John Leventhal, continues in a similar vein. Also among the songwriting credits for the album are Curtis Wayne and Wayne Kemp, both of whom had contributed to Strait’s earlier projects. Between them, the duo contributed a total of three tracks to this album. “Lovebug” is a cover of the 1966 hit that Wayne and Kemp had written for George Jones. The pair teamed up with the legendary Faron Young to write the song “That’s Where My Baby Feels At Home”, and Wayne wrote “Just Look At Me” with Gerald Smith.

Despite these nods to Strait’s traditional roots, Easy Come, Easy Go does mark a shift in musical direction, seen most evidently on the title track, an Aaron Barker-Dean Dillon composition. “Easy Come, Easy Go”, the first single and the only one from this collection to go all the way to #1, marks the beginning of the modern George Strait. As the title suggests, this is a laid-back tune, not a hardcore honky-tonker. By 1993, the neotraditionalist movement was definitely winding down. This move to a more mainstream sound is likely a recognition of this, as well as an acknowledgment that most artists at the stage in their careers which Strait’s now was, usually began to experience declining commercial fortunes. Someone at MCA or in the Strait camp was obviously savvy enough to stay ahead of the curve and tweak their formula just enough to keep King George in the game.

Classic Rewind: Barbara Mandrell – ‘The Midnight Oil’

Single Review: Taylor Swift – ‘Fifteen’

So far with Taylor Swift’s new singles, I’ve noticed a pattern. While the first and third singles (“Love Story” and “You Belong With Me”) from Fearless were both a little faster and remixed to pop radio, the other two (“White Horse” and “Fifteen”) are slower songs that stay within Country radio. Fortunately, the slower songs are much better than the faster songs, as is the case with “Fifteen”.

The word that comes to mind when I hear this song is real. When you hear this song there is no doubt that Swift isn’t being genuine: she has lived this song and so have many other people. She took her real high school experience and translated it effortlessly into a song. Even if you’re not a teenager, we’ve all had someone who’s lied and said that they loved us and we believed them, and we’ve all wanted to go back in time and give ourselves advice.

So when you hear this song, don’t blow it off as a teenagers-only song, look at it for what it is: truth. In my opinion true country music personifies truth, gives it a voice and a melody and puts it out there for what it is- whether it be beautiful truth or the ugly truth of life. In that sense, this song is country because there are so many real people who live this song every day, whether we know it or not, or even care. This song is for them, all the “Abigails” out there.

Furthermore, while this song has a pop sound, it still sounds great with a mostly acoustic backing that never tries to be more than it is. The song perfectly matches Taylor’s voice, and she actually sounds good for the most part. It’s got that frank tone that sounds like it’s coming from a teenager, because it is.

This is by far my favorite Taylor Swift song, so I’m glad it got sent to radio because it’s her best song yet. Even if you hate her music, give this one a chance: it’s worth it.

Grade: A

Written by: Taylor Swift

Listen to Taylor Swift – ‘Fifteen’ at Last FM.

Classic Rewind: Marty Stuart & Keith Urban – ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’

Soundtrack Review: George Strait – ‘Pure Country’

George Strait has an extensive catalog, so just narrowing down which albums of his to write about for our spotlight was a daunting task in itself.  Then there’s the work that goes along with profiling a legendary artist like George Strait – making sure we hit all the high points as well as the lows, though Strait has admittedly less lows than most artists.  Most of the credit for this month goes to Razor X and Occasional Hope, who tirelessly championed this month’s spotlight while I just kinda watched from a distance and then wrote what they told me to.  All bloggers should be so lucky to have two hard-working and dedicated team members.

We’ve also been lucky to have some excellent guest contributors in past months too, including Michael Allan, and now for the second time Chad has agreed to share his thoughts on George Strait’s landmark soundtrack album to his big screen film of the same name.  To read more about the film, check out Juli Thanki’s Celluloid Country review at The 9513.  But first, check out Chad’s review for the soundtrack. There’s lots more George Strait coverage coming this month and also be sure to enter our giveaway for a chance to win a copy of George Strait’s 50 Number Ones.

- J.R. Journey

I guess I should start by saying that I’m a George Strait fan. I grew up in Texas, where that’s basically a moral imperative. However, I’m not a huge fan of George Strait as an album artist. Rather, I think he’s a great singles artist (as evidenced by his record setting string of #1 hits, two of which happen to be on this soundtrack.)

That being said, its interesting to take a look back at this CD, which has sold more than any other Strait record to date. In reading about some of the stats about this CD, I was surprised to learn that there were only three singles officially released to radio because, at the time, I remember our local Fort Worth country stations playing several more songs from the soundtrack than that (including ‘Baby Your Baby’, ‘Where the Sidewalk Ends,’ and ‘Overnight Male’).

Rather than talking about each track individually, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the record as a whole, especially since it has been his most popular in the record store. In many ways, this CD falls right in line with other Strait records. ‘I Cross My Heart’ (one of Strait’s best love songs, in my opinion),’Baby Your Baby’, “The King of Broken Hearts,” and “When Did You Stop Loving Me” could have all easily found their place on any other George Strait record. They have consistent themes, instrumentation, and delivery with most of the rest of his catalogue, especially up to this point.  (If you haven’t already, check out Lee Ann Womak’s version of ‘King of Broken Hearts’ from her latest CD. While I don’t usually think anyone can out sing Strait on a song, she comes pretty close.)

However, there are a few departures—most notably, ‘Where the Sidewalk Ends’ and the lead track (and second single) ‘Heartland’.  Taken in the scope of the movie, these differences make sense as they’re reflective of the derailment of Strait’s character, Dusty, and the slick, overproduced stage act he was resisting. Listening to these songs outside of the movie leaves more to be wanted, especially coming from George Strait. Both tracks are loud with too much instrumentation. And to be honest, I’ve always felt like Strait was a ½ beat behind the music on both of these tracks.

So while I personally think the record, outside of the context of the movie, is pretty uneven, it does contain some great Strait singles, only a few of which actually made it to national radio. I still can’t quite figure out why this is his most popular record—is it just on the basis of the lead single and love song, ‘I Cross My Heart’?  (It was a huge wedding song at the time.) Was it because of the novelty of seeing George Strait, who usually comes off as shy and quiet, on the big screen in his first real acting debut?

Whatever the reason, it’s a grouping of satisfactory Strait songs that just don’t happen to stand out as a whole looking back at them now.

Grade: B

Classic Rewind: Martina McBride – ‘Independence Day’