Week ending 10/9/10: #1 singles this week in country music history

1950: I’m Movin’ On — Hank Snow (RCA)

1960: Alabam – Cowboy Copas (Starday)

1970:There Must Be More To Love Than This — Jerry Lee Lewis (Mercury)

1980: Do You Wanna Go To Heaven — T.G. Sheppard (Warner Bros.)

1990: Friends In Low Places — Garth Brooks (Capitol)

2000: That’s The Way — Jo Dee Messina (Curb)

2010: The Boys Of Fall — Kenny Chesney (BNA)

Classic Rewind: Bobby Bare – ’500 Miles’

Classic Rewind: Jody Miller – ‘When The New Wears Off Our Love’

Secret tracks

Reading the comments section on one of the many country blogs I read, I came across a thought that resonated with me.  The comment was about when you find an album cut that you love as much or more than the album’s radio singles – the singles are usually the reason you bought the album in the first place.  But, when you do happen upon an album cut that you make your own, it’s like you have your own little secret, but one you want to share with the world.  I’ve never been greedy with my music, offering and even force-feeding it to my friends and acquaintances at times.

When I would buy a new album, I used to go through and try to pick which songs I thought would go to radio next, but I was never very good at that.  The songs I think would be hits and that the whole world would love usually get passed over for songs I don’t like as much.  But then those same songs are the ones that become the biggest hits.  So for that, I don’t think I’d make much of an A&R man for a Nashville label.  What I could do is pick songs that would resonate with the minority audiences like myself who want more substance than style in their songs, rather than choose those that appeal to everyman.

Trisha Yearwood’s albums rarely, if ever, have what is known as filler.  So if you’re picking up a Trisha Yearwood album at random and playing any song from one of them, odds are you’re going to find a gem of your own.  But I want to point you out a couple of them, both by Trisha Yearwood, I’ve already discovered over the years and implore you to share your own secret tracks with us.

First up is ‘Victim of the Game’, which Garth Brooks and Mark Sanders wrote, and Garth included on his sophomore album, No Fences.  Trisha’s reading of the song appears on her debut album.  This is such a great song that I’m surprised neither released it as a single, especially Trisha Yearwood, whose debut album didn’t contain the embarrassment of riches of her later albums.  The song tells the story of a heartbroken individual.  For most of the song, you think it’s about a friend consoling another friend and telling them all the things they did wrong, told in a second person perspective,’You know its really gettin’ to you/When you take to tellin lies‘.  It’s not until the final bridge of the song that you realize it’s the narrator herself who’s been heartbroken, ‘When I look into your eyes I can really feel your pain/Staring in the mirror at a victim of the game‘, and it’s herself she’s been trying to comfort all along.  It’s one of those songs you have to listen to all the way through every time and also packs an emotional punch with every listen.

Much has been said about the Hearts In Armor album, the first one that really made her a critical darling, and I agree that the album is one of Trisha’s finest moments and a masterpiece of modern country music.  But the songs everyone points to as the album’s greatest aren’t my personal favorites.  Sure, I think ‘Walkaway Joe’ is marvelous and that Trisha’s cover of Emmylou Harris’s ‘Woman Walk The Line’ is flawless, but I find myself drawn most to Jamie O’Hara’s ‘For Reasons I’ve Forgotten’.  The bluesy tune features harmony vocals from The Mavericks lead singer Raul Malo, who’s now making fine music of his own.

So those are a couple album cuts that are among my favorites, and I feel like they’re my own little secret.  I’ve loved them for a long time, and I wanted to share them with you.

What are some of your favorite album cuts that you feel are your own personal treasures?

Classic Rewind: Kieran Kane with Emmylou Harris and Barry and Holly Tashian – ‘Oh Lonesome You’

This song was originally recorded by Kieran Kane as part of the 80s duo the O’Kanes. It was later covered by Trisha Yearwood.

Album Review: Trisha Yearwood – ‘Hearts In Armor’

Trisha’s second album, released in 1992, is still my favorite. Garth Fundis’s production is sympathetic, with a number of special guests who support the record without overwhelming it. Trisha, who I regard as one of the most naturally gifted vocalists in country music and a subtle and tasteful interpreter of emotion, was at the peak of her vocal powers and interpretative ability, and the song selection was excellent.

The hypnotically bluesy lead single ‘The Wrong Side of Memphis’ (written by Gary Harrison and Matraca Berg) was a big hit, peaking at #5, with a semi-autobiographical tale of a young singer on her way to Nashville. The instrumentation is punchy without being over-produced, with harmony vocalists including Raul Malo, whose Mavericks’ bandmate Robert Reynolds was shortly to become Trisha’s second husband. It is atypical of the album as a whole, which is focussed on failed and failing relationships, a theme perhaps resulting from Trisha’s own recent divorce from her first husband.

Harrison also co-wrote (with Tim Mensy) ‘Nearest Distant Shore’, a beautiful ballad addressed empathetically to a friend (or perhaps to the protagonist’s inner self) trapped in a destructive relationship, and advising:

You vowed you would not fail
But this ain’t success
It’s a living hell
There’s nothing left to lose
You’re already alone

Swim to the nearest distant shore
There’s only so much a heart can endure
You gave it your best
Forgive yourself
You can’t hold on anymore
It’s not as far as it might seem
Now it’s time to let go of old dreams
Every heart for itself
Swim to the nearest distant shore

Trisha perfectly conveys the intensity of the emotions here without ever seeming melodramatic, supported by Garth Brooks’ harmony.

The second single, and the album’s biggest hit, adhered to the general mood, while being less obviously personal. The exquisitely sung ‘Walkaway Joe’, featuring a harmony vocal from former Eagle Don Henley, tells the cautionary tale of a young girl who makes a catastrophic choice of boyfriend (“the wrong kind of paradise”). Ignoring her mother’s words of warning, she finds out the hard way when he robs a gas station and then abandons her. It peaked at #2 on Billboard, making it the album’s biggest hit, and was nominated for a Grammy.

Classic Rewind: Jann Browne – ‘You Ain’t Down Home’

Album Review: The SteelDrivers – ‘Reckless’

A few years ago I probably wouldn’t have paid much attention to a group like The SteelDrivers. Though I’ve always liked bluegrass, it was always a change-of-pace type of music for me, and I was more inclined to listen to more traditional acts like Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, or Ricky Skaggs. Gravelly, bluesy vocalists like Chris Stapleton have never really been my cup of tea; yet to my great surprise, I was blown away the first time I heard The SteelDrivers, whose 2008 debut album was among that year’s best offerings. At times, lead vocalist Stapleton sounds more like a Delta blues singer than the lead vocalist for a bluegrass band. Yet somehow at works. It may be partially a reflection of my own evolving musical tastes, but mostly it is a testament to the fine musicianship of the other band members. This group is no Lonestar, consisting of a powerhouse lead vocalist backed with anonymous, interchangeable musicians, and for that reason I have every confidence that The SteelDrivers will continue to flourish after the departure of Chris Stapleton, who recently quit the group to focus on his family and songwriting.

Reckless, the group’s sophomore offering, picks up where their eponymous debut album left off. There are no radical departures from the first album, though the group continues to push the boundaries by melding aspects from other musical genres with bluegrass. Though it may raise some eyebrows among bluegrass purists, the result is a refreshing change from the usual pop/soft rock that Nashville has been pedaling in recent years. The album was produced by Luke Wooten, and eleven of the album’s twelve tracks were written by either Chris Stapleton or mandolinist Michael Henderson.

The album opens with the energetic, fiddle-driven “The Reckless Side of Me”, which includes Tammy Rogers’ beautiful harmony vocals. Next is “Good Corn Liquor”, the only song on the album provided by an outside songwriter (Ronnie Bowman), which is slightly reminiscent of “Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey” from the band’s first disc. “Good Corn Liquor” is followed by some non-traditional tracks like “Where Rainbows Never Die”, “The Price” and the Civil War-themed “Can You Run” which sound a bit like attempts to “grass up” songs that might not have necessarily been conceived as bluegrass songs.

Things take a more traditional turn beginning with “You Put The Hurt On Me”, the album’s best track and the one that comes the closest to mainstream country. If promoting The SteelDrivers to mainstream country radio weren’t an exercise in complete futility, this is the track I would select to become a single. The high lonesome sound returns with the excellent “Midnight On The Mountain” and “Guitars, Whiskey, Guns and Knives” before detouring back into contemporary territory with “Angel Of The Night”.

Patty Loveless fans will be familiar with “Higher Than The Wall,” which appeared on her 2003 disc On Your Way Home. A live version was also included on The SteelDrivers’ previous album as an iTunes bonus track. For that reason alone, I was slightly disappointed to see it reprised here. It’s an excellent song, brilliantly performed, but it’s taking up a slot that could have gone to a different song that most of us hadn’t heard before.

Overall, Reckless isn’t quite as good as its predecessor, but I’ve grown to like it more each time I listen to it. Fans of the first SteelDrivers album won’t be disappointed, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to even those who don’t normally listen to bluegrass. It bends the rules just enough that it should appeal to the non-bluegrass listener, who might be pleasantly surprised after giving the album a try.

Grade: A

Reckless is available from vendors such as Amazon and iTunes.

Classic Rewind: Trisha Yearwood ft Don Henley – ‘Hearts In Armor’

Album Review: Trisha Yearwood – ‘Trisha Yearwood’

To kick off our run-down of Trisha Yearwood’s albums, here’s a guest contribution from long-time friend of My Kind of Country, Michael Allan. Stay tuned for more on Trisha Yearwood this month. – J.R. Journey

Produced by Garth Fundis and released on the premier country label of the 90s, MCA, Trisha Yearwood’s eponymous debut album is also her most commercially successful studio release. It peaked at #2 on Billboard’s Country Albums chart, #31 on the all-genre Billboard 200 and is certified double platinum. It also served as an excellent predictor of what was to come over the next couple of decades and remains one of the strongest debut albums ever released by a masterful song interpreter.

The album kicks off with her debut single, “She’s in Love with the Boy” which rocketed to the top of the charts, making Yearwood only the second female to ever score a #1 hit with her debut single. Driven by an instantly memorable chorus, “She’s in Love with the Boy” is an up-tempo story song about the small town love of Katie and Tommy. Rejected by Kenny Rogers before finding its way to Yearwood, I can’t think of a better example of the right song finding the right artist. An immediate classic, it unfortunately also seems to be the only memory many radio stations seem to have of her catalogue today. Too bad; they’re missing out on the more than 100 great songs that followed this track over the next 20 years and will be reviewed as Trisha Yearwood month continues at MKoC.

Fourth single and second track on the album, “The Woman Before Me”, covers the effect the titular character has had on our vocalist’s man. With a slight AC feel to it, Yearwood’s voice is in fine form and “The Woman Before Me” is fairly representative of what many of her ballad hits sound like.  The third track was also the album’s third single. “That’s What I Like About You” is a fun number, sort of like the lyrics of Shania Twain’s “Any Man of Mine” meeting the sound of Yearwood’s own “Wrong Side of Memphis”.

The second single released from the album is up next. Written by Pat Alger and Garth Brooks, with the latter also singing background vocals, “Like We Never Had a Broken Heart” is a tender, piano laden love song. As a listener, one might even feel like they’re intruding on something sexy. Perhaps a sign of what lay ahead for the future couple?

Co-written by Hal Ketchum and one of the most commercially successful songwriters of the decade (and whose well she would revisit later), Kostas, “Fools Like Me” is a bluesy, smoldering piece that I can almost envision Yearwood singing in a smoky lounge somewhere. The song has the vibe of a torch song from another era.

Written by Brooks and Mark D. Sanders, “Victim of the Game” rivals Brooks’ own version from his No Fences album. The aspects of heartbreak are universal and there’s a twist at the end a la Tanya Tucker’s “It Won’t Be Me”. The themes are classic, but Yearwood sells them as new.  “When Goodbye Was a Word” is a ballad with a dreamlike, fantastical essence to it and the clarity of Yearwood’s voice is impressive.

In “The Whisper of Your Heart” Yearwood’s powerhouse vocals again sell some rather unremarkable lyrics. They’re good, but in lesser hands, the song’s common “Daddy/Grandpa/Bartender/Wise Old Man Told Me So” theme might fall flat.

After the feisty “You Done Me Wong (And That Ain’t Right)”, “Lonesome Dove” closes the album. The track is a final display of Yearwood’s ability to sing with conviction, perfect tone and pitch and to go from whisper to full throttled wail in a matter of seconds.

Recorded in 1990 and released in the summer of 1991, it’s hard to believe that Trisha Yearwood was only in her mid twenties at the time of her debut. The astounding control of her instrument on some well-chosen songs is a pretty good description of Trisha Yearwood’s career. This was only the beginning.

Grade: B+

The album is still widely available at amazon.

Classic Rewind: Johnny Cash – ‘One Piece At A Time’

Single Review: Zac Brown Band feat. Alan Jackson – ‘As She’s Walking Away’

The Zac Brown Band are one of the most interesting groups around at the moment. Certainly not traditional country, they more or less successfully incorporate various musical influences into an organic sounding whole which is not over-produced. Each of their singles to date has brought out a different side to their music while managing to please radio each time, a feat which has helped to propel their debut album, The Foundation to almost two millions sales and counting, and the band to a slate of nominations at the upcoming CMA Awards, including an unexpected nod for the biggest prize of all – Entertainer of the Year.

Their likeable guitar and fiddle led new single is the first from their second album, You Get What You Give, which has just debuted with encouraging early sales. It has an attractively lilting tune and a neatly constructed storyline, apparently based on a real life incident. Written like the majority of the band’s work by lead singer Zac Brown and Wyatt Durrette, the straightforward story has the protagonist too shy to make a move on an unknown girl he like the look of, only to feel the pangs of regret as she disappears:

Now I’m falling in love as she’s walking away

Alan Jackson (with whom the group shares producer Keith Stegall) has been recruited to play the wise older man at the bar advising the protagonist to take a chance and not risk regretting the one that got away, as he did himself. His warm sincere vocal is very effective as he proffers the words of wisdom,

Roll the dice and have some faith

The story is not actually resolved in the song. The video, which otherwise interprets the song rather literally, does end with the boy approaching the girl, but leaves the payoff hanging. But the song itself is all about the snapshot, the regret of the moment, and the old man’s advice. It is all very charming and is deservedly doing well on country radio.

Grade: B+

Classic Rewind: Marty Robbins – ‘Many Tears Ago’

Week ending 10/2/10: #1 singles this week in country music history

1950: I’m Movin’ On — Hank Snow (RCA)

1960: Alabam – Cowboy Copas (Starday)

1970:There Must Be More To Love Than This — Jerry Lee Lewis (Mercury)

1980: Old Flames Can’t Hold A Candle To You — Dolly Parton (RCA)

1990: Jukebox In My Mind — Alabama (RCA)

2000: That’s The Way — Jo Dee Messina (Curb)

2010: Our Kind Of Love — Lady Antebellum (Capitol)

Classic Rewind: Becky Hobbs – ‘Do You Feel The Same Way Too’

Spotlight Artist: Trisha Yearwood

In an era of same-sounding artists where every record label tries to clone the latest big thing, Trisha Yearwood stands out not only because of her perfect pitch and incredible vocal control, but also for her unmatchable knack for matching that voice with just the right material. Born Patricia Lynn Yearwood September 19, 1964 in Monticello, GA, the young Yearwood idolized Elvis Presley and like many of her generation began emulating The King when she sang and danced in local talent competitions. Soon she was also soaking up the sounds of Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Ronnie Milsap, and many others. A move to Nashville to study at Belmont University began paying off right away when Trisha was hired by songwriting friends to sing on demo tapes of their songs. It wasn’t long before Trisha had more demo work than she could handle since she was known for learning songs quickly and nailing them on the first take.
Budget-tight songwriters certainly appreciated this quality.

More of Music Row began catching on to her talent and Trisha Yearwood found work singing backup for some of the biggest names in the business. Her earliest vocals can be heard on albums by Emmylou Harris, Reba McEntire, Vince Gill, and Garth Brooks. Brooks would figure largely in Yearwood’s career after she was signed to MCA, offering her the coveted opening slot on his own mega-tours. The two also continued to sing harmony on each other’s albums.

In 1990 Yearwood signed a deal with Bruce Hinton at MCA Records. Her first single, the plucky ‘She’s In Love With The Boy’, shot to #1, signifying to the public at large that Trisha Yearwood was on her way. With ‘Boy’ Trisha also became the first female to have her debut single hit the top since Connie Smith in 1964. With her second album, the powerful and introspective Hearts In Armor, Trisha Yearwood became the source of great affection for many critics. From there, she became a dominant force on country radio throughout the 1990s and 2000s and she racked up 7 #1 hits and has sold more than 13 million albums in the U.S. In 1997 the industry rewarded her contributions to the genre’s sound when she was given Female Vocalist trophies from both the ACM and CMA. The CMA would go on to vote Yearwood their Female Vocalist again in 1998. In addition she is a three-time Grammy winner and has collected accolades from the American Music Awards and Billboard.

In front of an audience of more than 7,000 enthusiastic and screaming fans, Garth proposed to Trisha at the Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, CA. She accepted and the pair were married in 2005. In 2007 Yearwood left MCA and signed with Scott Borchetta’s newly-founded Big Machine label. Her first album for the indie label was a masterpiece of contemporary country, but failed to re-establish Trisha as a consistent hit-maker. Still it has been lauded one of the best collections of her career. Now 46, Trisha enters the second stage of her illustrious career armed with what is likely the most consistent and quality catalogs of any of her peers, past or present. She’s proven herself a class act time and again. Her technical skills and masterful chops are still in top form and she continues to wow fans with each new release. Her legion of fans are eagerly awaiting the release of her latest album. No word yet on a release date but Trisha has confirmed she’s been in the studio. Until we are given the pleasure of new music from this incredibly talented lady, we hope you enjoy our trip down memory lane as we revisit and highlight the music of one of the best and brightest modern Nashville has to offer, all throughout October.

Classic Rewind: Connie Smith – ‘I’ll Come Running’