Week ending 10/10/09: #1 singles this week in country music history

1949: Slippin’ Around — Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely (Capitol)

1959: The Three Bells — The Browns (RCA)

1969: Since I Met You Baby – Sonny James (Capitol)

1979: Last Cheater’s Waltz — T.G. Sheppard (Warner Bros./Curb)

1989: I Got Dreams — Steve Wariner (MCA)

1999: Something Like That — Tim McGraw (Curb)

2009: American Ride — Toby Keith (Show Dog)

Week ending 10/10/09: #1 albums this week in country music history

1984: Willie Nelson – City of New Orleans (Sony)

1989: Clint Black – Killin’ Time (RCA)

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

1999: The Dixie Chicks – Fly (Monument)

2004: Keith Urban – Be Here (Capitol)

2009: Taylor Swift – Fearless (Big Machine)

The year of the tribute

Several of my favorite artists have chosen 2009 as the year to pay tribute to the songs and artists that built country music as a commercial genre, and made it the American art form it is today.  Collections from Wynonna and Tanya Tucker released earlier this year have both contained songs from the Great American Songbook as well as classic country numbers, but they were decidedly different takes on not only the song selection, but the arrangements themselves.  Wynonna took a more jazzy approach, reflecting her own broad stylings in recent years, while Tanya chose a more traditional approach, but still infused the songs with the inimitable personality that is Tanya Tucker.  I would imagine taking standards, re-recording them to make your own, while still paying tribute to the original is no easy task.  But Tanya and Wynonna did it ably and created excellent albums in the process.

This past week saw the release of Rosanne Cash’s The List, on Manhattan Records, her take on the same kind of songs that Wynonna and Tanya did, in some cases celebrating the same writers and artists. For example, all three albums contain a Hank Williams song, with Wynonna tackling ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’, Tanya taking on ‘Lovesick Blues’ and Cash offering her rendition of ‘Take These Chains From My Heart’.  Likewise, Merle Haggard is represented on all three, as a songwriter and artist with his own compositions, ‘Are The Good Times Really Over’, ‘Ramblin’ Fever’, and ‘Silver Wings’ all being re-recorded for these collections of covers.

It’s hard to pick favorites among these, since I am a big fan of all three artists, and of the songs in general.  Each album is tied to its creators’ own unique style, which is also a testament to their artistic integrity as well as the universal appeal of the songs themselves.  Timeless music will forever sound relevant to the ears of those who are hearing it for the first time, and thanks to Wynonna, Tanya Tucker, and Rosanne Cash, many of us have been introduced to the timeless standards that made country music.

You can read our reviews of Tanya Tucker’s My Turn and Wynonna’s Sing: Chapter 1 and also check out The 9513′s review of Rosanne Cash’s The List.

And check out the music video for ‘I’m Movin’ On’, from Cash’s The List …

Classic Rewind: Patty Loveless – ‘The Night’s Too Long’

Album Review: Patty Loveless – ‘Honky Tonk Angel’

Patty Loveless’ third album, released in 1988, marked her real commercial breakthrough. It was her first gold-seller (and eventually reached platinum status), and it also built on her growing success on country radio. No less than five of the ten tracks were released as singles – an unusually high number at the time. It is a testament to the strength in depth of the material that every single one was a top ten hit.

Whereas Patty’s first two albums had been co-produced by Tony Brown with Emory Gordy Jr, this time Brown took sole charge, and he delivered a commercial, radio-friendly record with enough traditional influences to fit perfectly with the tune of the times. The title alone was something of a statement of intent, as a phrase which does not appear on any of the lyrics of the songs, but one which called to mind Kitty Wells’ 50s classic ‘It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels’. A predominantly up-tempo set of material drew on Patty’s rock-singing past and her mountain background, intermixed with some soaring ballads which showed off her beautiful voice and emotive interpretative ability.

The opening track, and lead-off single, was the beaty country-rock ‘Blue Side Of Town’, written by Hank DeVito and Paul Kennerley. It was followed by the pleading ballad ‘Don’t Toss Us Away’, written by rock musician Bryan MacLean, and previously recorded by the country-rock group Lone Justice featuring MacLean’s sister, future pop star Maria McKee, on vocals. Brown’s production and Patty’s vocals transformed it into a pure country song, one which allowed Patty to stretch out vocally and show how she could emote, supported by Rodney Crowell on harmony vocals, as she begs:

Don’t toss us away so thoughtlessly
It just ain’t right
Oh can’t you see
I still love you
I want you to stay
Darlin’ please, don’t toss us away

Patty’s first #1 single was the engaging up-tempo ‘Timber I’m Falling In Love’, one of several tracks here to benefit from Vince Gill’s prominent harmonies. It was also the first #1 for its writer, Kostas. The same combination of Kostas as writer, Patty on lead, and Vince Gill on harmony (together with bluegrass vocalist Claire Lynch) was responsible for the fourth single, the full-blooded ballad ‘The Lonely Side Of Love’. Only reaching #6, it was the least successful of the singles from the album, and is one of Patty’s less well remembered songs today, but it is still a fine recording.

Kostas wrote a third track on the album, the loungy ‘If You Think’, which is beautifully interpreted by Patty as a love song with an underlying hint of sadness as the protagonist defends her love against her lover’s doubts. The final single was my favorite, as Vince Gill’s harmonies again helped ‘Chains’ to the top of the chart. The downbeat lyrics about a woman emotionally tied to a hopeless love are married to an effervescent sound which is utterly irresistible.

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton – ‘Bad, Bad Leroy Brown’

Album Review: Ron Williams – ‘The Longer You’re Gone’

Ron Williams, son of the often underrated Leona Williams and one-time stepson of Merle Haggard, has a nice voice with a warm tone and soft timbre which is very pleasing. His third album, produced by Eddie Kilroy, on Ah-Ha Music Group, is solidly country, with some lovely fiddle from Rob Hajacos, and 80s star Janie Fricke guests on backing vocals. Williams is not a writer, unlike his mother, but he and his producer have found some excellent songs for this record.

Bill Anderson contributed three very good songs to the set, starting with the outstanding title track co-written with Jim Collins, a soulful ballad about the increasing regrets about a broken relationship after the event, as the protagonist starts to remember the good things he misses rather than the fights and bad times, concluding,
“It’s a funny thing about a memory
The longer you’re gone
The better our love used to be”

Just as good is the ironic reproach to a former love now dating another guy, written by Bill with Don Cook, ‘You Should Have More Respect For The Dead’:

“Can’t you see you’re killing me
Your happiness is messing up my head
I’ve died a thousand times since I threw away your love
You should have more respect for the dead”

Anderson and Cook joined up with Matt Jenkins to write ‘The F Words’ about a man whose cheating ex wants him back, but,

“I can’t say the F words
Forgive and forget”

Another highlight is the cover of ‘Where The Tall Grass Grows’, recorded previously by George Jones on his 1991 album And Along Came Jones, and also covered by Ricky Van Shelton on 1994’s Love And Honor. While Ron is not in quite the same league as Jones (few are), he tackles the fine song with an honest emotion, as he depicts a house that is no longer a home, with haunting steel and lonesome fiddle.

Classic Rewind: Martina McBride – ‘Wrong Again’

Album Review: Patty Loveless – ‘If My Heart Had Windows’

Signed to MCA in 1985, Patty Loveless enjoyed some modest success on the singles charts, which did not translate into album sales by the time her eponymous debut disc was released in 1987. Her second album, released in 1988, didn’t fare much better at retail, but it did provide a much needed breakthrough at radio. Like its predecessor, If My Heart Had Windows, produced by Emory Gordy, Jr. and Tony Brown, is an album strictly in the neotraditionalist vein.

The album starts out strong, opening with Karen Staley’s “So Good To Be In Love”, followed by the catchy “ Working Man’s Hands”. The third track, “You Saved Me”, written by Curtis Wright, was the album’s lead single. Though it is a decent song and Loveless’ performance is solid, it seems like an odd choice to launch a new album by an artist who had yet to have her commercial breakthrough, particularly considering that there were much stronger songs on the album to choose from. Not surprisingly, “You Saved Me” performed about as well as Loveless’ previous singles, reaching #43 on the Billboard country singles chart.

The title track is a cover of a 1968 George Jones hit, written by the legendary Dallas Frazier. Loveless’ emotional performance, as well as the song’s traditional arrangement and simple message, as expressed in the chorus – “if my heart had windows, you’d see a heart full of love just for you,” resonated with audiences. Released as the second single, it provided Loveless with her first big radio hit, peaking at #10. Loveless would perform this song later in the year at her Opry induction. Hot on the heels of this success, MCA released a cover of Steve Earle’s “A Little Bit In Love”, which was an even bigger hit, climbing all the way to #2. Strangely, this song is somewhat forgotten today, and was even overlooked when Patty’s first Greatest Hits package was compiled in 1992.

The next track on the album is an excellent cover of Hank Williams’ “I Can’t Get You Off Of My Mind”. The most uptempo song on the album, featuring a rollicking honky-tonk piano track and a superb vocal performance, it is both the highlight of the album and a missed opportunity. Why this track wasn’t released as a single is a mystery; by the late 1980s, the neotraditionalist movement had completely taken over country music and this is the type of song that would likely have done very well on the charts.

Classic Rewind: Alan Jackson – ‘Between The Devil and Me’

Album Review: Crystal Sands – ‘The Hard Times’

Crystal Sands’ debut album last year was one of my favorite recent discoveries. The young Baltimore-born singer has a charming voice and her first album, produced by Wood Newton, consisted of a fine set of songs, and was thoroughly country to boot.

Her follow-up (on the same Texas indie label Ah-Ha Music Group) is not quite as good. New producers Gary Leach and Greg Hunt show a slightly heavier hand, and whereas Crystal co-wrote a few songs last time with veteran songwriter Newton, and the remainder of the material came from external sources including some well-chosen covers and more of Newton’s songs, here the focus is on Crystal as singer-songwriter. Her writing is decent, but not yet outstanding.

The best song is the genuinely affecting ‘He Never Held Me’, a bitter take on a childhood blighted by a father’s alcoholism:

I grew up scared to death of that man
He never knew me…

He missed my first steps
He missed my first words too
He never did what real daddies do
He held that bottle, but he never held me

How could someone live life so selfishly?
You can’t change the past
And you can’t erase the memories
Daddy’s little girl I guess I’ll never be
He held that bottle, he never held me

The tone intensifies as she addresses her father directly:

This wall between us is too hard to break
And don’t say youre sorry now, cause it’s too late
‘Cause you held that bottle when you coulda held me
When I needed you you needed whiskey
And I tried to forgive you but the past won’t let me
Your little girl I never was, and I’ll never be,
You held that bottle, you never held me

Classic Rewind: Patty Loveless & Kathy Mattea – ‘Someday Soon’

Album Review: Patty Loveless – ‘Patty Loveless’

A teenager of 14, Patty Loveless first came to Nashville with her brother Roger in 1971. Roger had a job on one of the most popular shows of the day, the nationally syndicated Porter Wagoner Show.  Brother Roger arranged a meeting with Wagoner one day, and after hearing her sing ‘Sounds of Loneliness’, Porter offered his help to the teen and invited her to tour with his road show, which included Dolly Parton, on weekends and during the Summer, encouraging her to finish school while she pursued her dream of a singing career.

Then, one fateful night at the Grand Ole Opry in 1973, Jean Shepard was caught in a flood and couldn’t make it to the Ryman, so promoter Danny King called the Rameys, Patty and Roger, who appeared on the Opry that night and caught the attention of Doyle Wilburn.  This meeting would lead to her first publishing deal with Sure-Fire Music, and she went on tour with The Wilburn Brothers from 1973 to 1975, while Doyle was grooming her to replace their former leading female singer, Patty’s distant cousin Loretta Lynn.  When she graduated in 1975, she did just that, becoming a full-time member of the show.  In the meantime, she met and fell in with the group’s drummer, Terry Lovelace.  Doyle Wilburn told them to end the relationship, not wanting the band members to date one another, but instead, Terry and Patty quit the band, got married, and moved back to his hometown in North Carolina, where she played the rock club circuit for a while.  It was from the name Patty Lovelace that she adapted her stage name of Patty Loveless.

Patty Loveless came back to Nashville for the second time in 1985 to try her hand at country music.  This time again with brother Roger in tow to help his little sister work her way into the music business.  As the story goes, Roger Ramey pretended to be someone else who was late for an appointment with MCA executive Tony Brown in order to get in the office to meet the A&R head.  Once he got in there, Brown gave him 30 seconds to sell him on what Roger called “best girl singer to ever come to Nashville”.  Ramey played him Patty’s recording of ‘I Did’, and Brown was impressed, but told Roger he’d get back to him.  Still bluffing – the man must have a great poker face – Roger told Tony Brown he needed an answer that day because they had another label wanting to sign Patty.  Tony had a quick meeting with label head Jimmy Bowen while Roger waited in his office.  When Brown came back it was with a short-term, singles deal.

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, & Emmylou Harris – ‘Silver Threads and Golden Needles’

Week ending 10/3/09: #1 singles this week in country music history

1949: Slippin’ Around — Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely (Capitol)

1959: The Three Bells — The Browns (RCA)

1969: Tall Dark Stranger — Buck Owens (Capitol)

1979: Last Cheater’s Waltz — T.G. Sheppard (Warner Bros./Curb)

1989: Let Me Tell You About Love — The Judds (RCA/Curb)

1999: Something Like That — Tim McGraw (Curb)

2009: Small Town USA — Justin Moore (Valory)

Week ending 10/3/09: #1 albums this week in country music history

1984: Willie Nelson – City of New Orleans (Sony)

1989: Clint Black – Killin’ Time (RCA)

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

1999: The Dixie Chicks – Fly (Monument)

2004: Tim McGraw -Live Like You Were Dying (Curb)

2009: Taylor Swift – Fearless (Big Machine)

The next step for Caitlin & Will

The latest news is that Caitlin & Will, winners of the first season of Can You Duet, appear to have been dropped by their record label, Columbia (along with Keith Anderson).

What went wrong? The label certainly doesn’t seem to have known what to do with the duo, whose excellent single ‘Even Now’ was sent to radio, only to be pulled following what was allegedly strong pressure from radio programmers for ‘Address In The Stars’ to be pushed instead. But then radio didn’t play that, either. Even a performance on this year’s Can You Duet failed to make it into a hit. A promised album was delayed in favor of a six-track digital EP. The full length album will presumably now remain on the shelf indefinitely.

There are a number of intriguing questions. Will the pair (each of whom has a strong, distinctive voice) stay together musically, or decide to pursue separate paths? They entered the competition with other singing partners, and Caitlin admitted on the show that she would have liked to be a solo artist, but in their label-approved interviews the two have talked repeatedly about the strength of their musical partnership. We may see now how deeply rooted that partnership really is.

What do you think? Why has it not worked out for Caitlin & Will, when their rivals on the show, Joey + Rory, have made a place for themselves in country music by working with a respected independent label, and even scored themselves a CMA Award nomination? Do they have any chance at surviving as independent artists, or even picking up another major label deal? Will this year’s winners, Steel Magnolia, have any more success?

Classic Rewind: George Jones with David Allan Coe – ‘Tennessee Whiskey’

A swarm of new videos!

Head over to CMT’s website today, and there are 10 music videos that are premiering. Those would be “Southern Voice” by Tim McGraw, “I’m Alive” by Kenny Chesney & Dave Matthews, “White Liar” by Miranda Lambert, “Keep You” by Sugarland, “Consider Me Gone” by Reba McEntire, “That’s How Country Boys Roll” by Billy Currington, “Hit The Ground Runnin’” by Keith Urban, “Sooner Or Later” by Michelle Branch and “Cowboy Casanova” by Carrie Underwood (Click the links to get to the videos, as of now, the Kenny Chesney video doesn’t seem to be working…). The Chesney, Urban, McGraw and Currington videos are all either half or mostly performance videos, so this time around the girls have better videos. Here are my 3 favorites:

“White Liar” by Miranda Lambert
I saw it was a wedding scene, and I knew it would be awesome: it doesn’t disappoint. Look at the preacher… You might see another country star!

“Keep You” by Sugarland
A simple video set in a theater, for some reason Jennifer Nettles cuts her hair in the most depressing way possible. It kinda makes sense, but looks gorgeous and has an amazing song, so it’s still good.

“Cowboy Casanova” by Carrie Underwood
Definitely a pop video with dancing and outfits, but the retro vibe is awesome, and at the end that guy has to be freaked out. Random synchronized dancing terrifies me.

What do you think of the new videos? Anybody else think that Michelle Branch really looks like a Hippie? Will Keith Urban make more than one non-live video per album?

CD Giveaway: George Strait – ’50 Number Ones’

Update: And the winner is … Pat Amo. Congratulations, Pat, we’ll be emailing you shortly.  Thanks to everybody who commented, and keep looking for a special Patty Loveless package giveaway soon, and of course stick around as we spotlight Patty’s career throughout the month of October.

George Strait has had a longer run at the top than any other country star, past or present.  Since his first single release, ‘Unwound’ in 1981, the man called ‘King George’ has been consistently releasing chart-topping albums and singles for the past 28 years.  Along the way, he’s given us some real country chestnuts and keepers too.  The 1980s saw Strait as a leader in the New Traditionalist movement of the time, and as the 1990s dawned, he continued his hit-making streak among a whole new crop of competitors.  This decade has included some of the biggest honors of his storied career, including induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and recently being named the Artist of the Decade by the Academy of Country Music.  George Strait continues to be one of country music’s most successful artists – he is up for three prizes at this year’s CMA Awards ceremony, bringing his total nominations from the association to a staggering 76 nominations.  Of these 76 nods, he has taken home CMA trophies 22 times, including back-to-back Entertainer of the Year Awards.  I could go on and on about George Strait’s accomplishments – he’s the 9th best-selling artist of all time, in all genres, he has more gold albums than everybody except Elvis among solo performers, has the most #1 albums, the most #1 singles, and world-wide sales of over 75,000,000 units.

His 1995 Strait Out of the Box set also holds the distinction of being the best-selling box set of all time, with over 8 million units shipped according to the RIAA, and is an excellent starting point for anyone new to the music of George Strait. But since that set cuts off at 1994, we’ve decided to offer you a more recent collection of Strait’s hits, his land-mark 50 Number Ones, which includes the first 51 of his 57 chart-topping hits – with the addition of a new song, ‘I Hate Everything’, which also reached the summit.

To enter for your chance to win a copy of George Strait’s 2-disc 50 Number Ones set, leave us a comment telling us why you think George Strait has endured on the country charts so long?  Is it his particular style of singing?  The songs?  Or just plain luck and perserverance?  What do you think?

*Comments must be posted by 11:59 PM on September 30, 2009.