The longest and worst Trace Adkins album ever: a concert review

Last Thursday, my friend Rhonda (hi Rhonda!) invited me to go to the Ohio State Fair with her, emphasizing that she also had tickets for the evening’s Trace Adkins show.  I like Rhonda a lot, and summertime fairs almost as much, so along I went even knowing who the show’s opener was. That particular night’s Trace Adkins tour stop at the Celeste Center in Columbus began with country-rapper (yes, that’s really a thing now) Brantley Giblert. After enduring Gilbert’s set, and the insufferable people around me who had convinced themselves we were hearing quality music, where the pseudo southern rock star sonically roared through his own compositions, including those Jason Aldean has taken to the top of the charts, it was finally time for the headliner to grace the stage. After every song Gilbert offered turned out to be, unsurprisingly, a fist-pumping anthem, I was more than ready to hear Adkins’ baritone tackle some of his better numbers. And while he finally did get around to playing a butcher’s handful of his more meaningful tunes, Adkins began his 70-minute set with a whole slew of his own brand of rock-your-socks country.

From “One Hot Mama”, “Marry For Money”, “Chrome”, through “Brown Chicken Brown Cow”, Adkins trotted out his arsenal of bawdy hits early and employed a large screen to play the music video for each. All but “Brown Chicken” featured an appearance by a bikini babe, in it puppets play the farm-couple porn stars. This apparently wasn’t lost on Adkins, as he remarked that his mother doesn’t like his music videos very much, and ended the shtick with his own Goofy guffaw. He would repeat this throaty hiccuping chuckle each time he tickled himself from the stage, which was often. He also offered up several tunes from his just-released Proud To Be Here album –  the catchy “Million Dollar View” sounds like the next single to me.  Midway through his own list of radio favorites came one of the night’s best performances in the form of a cover of rock band Ace’s 1975 hit “How Long”. During this number, he removed his hat and allowed his two-foot locks to flow and began headbanging to the song’s mid-tempo groove. Even though the night’s high marks were when he delivered lasting favorites “Every Light In The House Is On” and “Then They Do”, the only other of his ballads performed was his current single “Just Fishin’”. This was my first seeing either artist in concert, and even though Trace brought his best affable swagger to the stage, I walked away feeling like I’d just heard a really long version of the singer’s worst album.  When he finally played what I already figured would be the closing number, “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” never sounded better.

Album Review: Terri Clark – ‘Roots & Wings’

I was disappointed by Terri’s first EMI Canada release a couple of years ago, which I felt was over-produced with largely mediocre material, but she appears to have rediscovered her musical voice with her latest release. She produced the album herself, and the sound is mellow but not over-produced, although she does seem to be moving away from conventional country music. Her distinctive voice is at its best throughout.

She also co-wrote all but one of the songs. Four are co-writes with Kristen Hall (who also sings backing vocals), including lead single ‘Northern Girl’, which celebrates Terri’s Canadian background but is disappointingly bland. When Hall left Sugarland under rather murky circumstances, she stated she was intending to concentrate on her songwriting. ‘Beautiful And Broken’ is not very country sounding, but an interestingly written and beautifully sung song with slightly obscure lyrics full of imagery; it seems to be about a failed relationship with the broken individual, but the protagonist retains feelings of friendship and perhaps love. Also very metaphor-heavy, ‘Flowers In Snow’ explores an unproductive relationship. These songs are perhaps more modern folk/singer-songwriter than country, but they are very well done. The best of the four, ‘Breakin’ Up Thing’ has an enjoyable mid-tempo groove and wry lyric commenting on the protagonist’s about-to-be-ex-partner’s ease at leaving.

‘The Good Was Great’ is an affectionate look back at a past relationship which Terri wrote with Tia Sillers and Deric Ruttan. This is rather good, but I was less impressed by the rather dull and overly loud ‘Wrecking Ball’ which Terri and Tia wrote with fellow-Canadian Victoria Banks and which opens the album.

The best song on the album by far is ‘Lonesome’s Last Call’, a traditional slow lonesome country song about a couple of desperate individuals who come together to find love in a bar, written by Terri with the great Jim Rushing. Andrea Zonn and Stuart Duncan’s twin fiddles add to the effect, and I would have loved to hear more like this.  The very personal and beautifully sung ‘Smile’ (written with Karyn Rochelle and featuring Alison Krauss on not-very-audible harmony) is a loving tribute to Terri’s mother who died of cancer last year. This is very moving, and another highlight.

‘The One’ (written with Tom Shapiro and Jim Collins) has a mellow vibe and attractive tune about waiting for the right man, but the hook is the unoriginal:

I don’t need a love that I can live with
I want the one I can’t live without

I like the end result a lot, but it is more than a little reminiscent of Clint Back’s ‘The One She Can’t Live Without’, which has an almost identical chorus.  The only track I really don’t like is ‘We’re Here For A Good Time’, an over-produced and very poppy sounding cover of what I think must be a rock song from the 70s. It is Terri’s new single.

Where Terri’s first album for EMI Canada still seemed to be the product of hankering after mainstream success, this one shows her finding her own voice. It isn’t all moving in a direction I personally care for, but it effectively showcases Terri as an independent singer-songwriter.

Grade B+

Classic Rewind: The Osborne Brothers – ‘Rocky Top’

Country Heritage: Sonny & Bobby, The Osborne Brothers

Bluegrass and Modern Country Music – kissin’ cousins or estranged relations ? Although they claim common ancestry (Ernest Tubb, Gene Autry and Bill Monroe were all hugely influenced by Jimmie Rodgers, and many others were influenced by the Original Carter Family), it has been many years since modern country and bluegrass music split off in different directions from their acoustic string band origins. Up until the end of the 1960s you could hear bluegrass played by some country radio stations (most frequently by smaller stations located in more rural areas), and artists such as Jimmie Skinner, the Willis Brothers, Lee Moore, Grandpa Jones and Frank “Hylo” Brown straddled the two genres. Mainstream artists such as Skeeter Davis, Carl Smith, Porter Wagoner and the duo of George Jones & Melba Montgomery would record albums of bluegrass songs. By the end of the 1960s, however, bluegrass was nearly extinct on country radio. True, there were a few songs, usually associated with movies (“Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” “Dueling Banjos”) or television shows (“The Ballad of Jed Clampett”), which achieved some airplay, but those were few and far between.

Today bluegrass is largely banished from country radio. Yes, various performers such as Keith Urban or Rascal Flatts will gratuitously drop a banjo or a mandolin into their songs, but their music isn’t bluegrass. Yes, artists such as Alison Krauss or Rhonda Vincent will occasionally grace a Nashville artist’s album as a duet partner for a song or two, but those songs really aren’t bluegrass either. And yes, the soundtrack to Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, sold millions of copies – but how often did your local country station play any of the songs from the soundtrack?

The last bluegrass act regularly to receive country radio airplay was the duo of banjo player Roland “Sonny” Osborne (born 10/29/37) and his mandolin-playing brother, Bobby Osborne (born 12/9/1931). Sonny and Bobby were born in Hyden, Kentucky, but when Sonny was very young, the family moved near Dayton, Ohio where they had their first experiences as performers. As children, their father instilled a love for traditional music. Bobby picked up the electric guitar as a teenager and played in various local bands. A few years after his brother began playing the guitar, Sonny picked up the banjo. Both were greatly influenced by the likes of Ernest Tubb, Roy Acuff, Alton & Rabon Delmore and Bill Monroe.

Being six years older, Bobby was first out of the gate. During the autumn of 1949, he and friend/banjoist Larry Richardson joined the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers. This effectively changed the band from Delmore Brothers sound-alikes into a pioneering bluegrass band. They recorded a number of sides together including the original version of “Pain In My Heart.”

In 1950, 13 year old Sonny joined his brother in the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers. Following his tenure with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, Bobby joined forces with Jimmy Martin to form a band called the ‘Sunny Mountain Boys’. Following the breakup with Martin, Bobby briefly joined the Stanley Brothers, singing high baritone above Carter’s lead and Ralph’s tenor. Unfortunately, before this trio was able to record, Bobby was drafted into the military in November of 1951.

During Bobby’s military service Sonny continued his musical career. During the summers of 1952 and 1953, Sonny played banjo for Bill Monroe. Also, Sonny recorded a number of singles for small record labels such as Kentucky and Gateway. I do not know how many sides were released by Gateway, but I am aware of at least forty-two songs being recorded, featuring Sonny on banjo and vocals, Carlos Brock on guitar and vocals, Billy Thomas on fiddle, Smokey Ward on bass and Enos Johnson on mandolin and vocals.

In late 1953, Bobby & Sonny teamed up with Jimmy Martin and performed on a local Detroit radio station billed as “Jimmy Martin and The Osborne Brothers.” Bobby & Sonny lasted two years with the mercurial Martin, during which time they recorded a few singles for RCA. They left in 1956 to work with Charlie Bailey on the WWVA Big Jamboree in Wheeling, West Virginia, where they would stay for four years. A few months later they joined forces with lead singer Harley “Red” Allen and formed their own band–thereafter becoming known as the Osborne Brothers.

Shortly after joining forces with Red Allen, The Osborne Brothers signed a deal with MGM records. Their fifth single for MGM, “Once More,” reached #13 in 1958. While no more singles charted nationally for MGM (many of their records were regional hits), the Osborne Brothers continued to record, refining their sound. Red Allen left the group after the first album, but Sonny & Bobby soldiered onward, with other outstanding vocalists such as Benny Birchfield helping complete the harmony trios. They would record three more albums for MGM before leaving for Decca in late 1963. Many of these albums included songs that would later become hits when re-recorded for Decca.

The Decca years found Sonny and Bobby experimenting with the instrumentation of their music. They experimented slowly at first, using an electric bass, then added additional instruments such as steel guitar and piano, and Sonny’s own creation, the electric six-string banjo. The hybrid country bluegrass sound proved quite popular with fans and disc jockeys alike. They were soon booked on the major country package shows of the day. With their voices being featured on their own major label recordings and on others from Conway Twitty to Bill Monroe, their name became synonymous with harmony singing. From 1966 to 1976, the Osborne Brothers would chart 16 times. While none of these songs were huge national hits, the records sold well and were mostly huge hits in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic areas. Several of their songs such as “Ruby (Are You Mad),” “Roll Muddy River,” “Son of A Sawmill Man” and “Rocky Top” became bluegrass standards, with the latter even being designated as an official Tennessee State song.

The Osborne Brothers were inducted as members of the Grand Ole Opry in 1964. They were voted as the CMA’s “Vocal Group of the Year” in 1971, and received nominations in the category in 1970, 1974 and 1975. From 1971-1978 they were honored by Music City News as the nation’s top bluegrass group. Along the way, they became one of the first major bluegrass groups to appear extensively at bluegrass festivals.

The eighteenth (and last) charted single for Sonny & Bobby was “I Can Hear Kentucky Calling Me” in early 1980, which peaked at #75. By 1980, the chasm between the sound of bluegrass and modern country music had grown too deep for bluegrass to get any airplay on country radio. Ricky Skaggs would have considerable success on country radio during the years just ahead, but the records that charted well for Skaggs were far less grassy than the hybrids that the Osborne Brothers had been charting in the 1960s and 1970s.

Following their departure from Decca/MCA in 1975, The Osborne Brothers signed with Country Music Heritage (CMH) records and gradually reverted to traditional bluegrass instrumentation and have stayed there ever since. The Osborne Brothers were inducted into the International Bluegrass Music’s Hall of Honor (the genre’s equivalent to the Country Music Hall of Fame) in 1994 and were elected to the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in 2002.

He Osborne Brothers continued to perform until Sonny Osborne retired from performing in 2005 after a shoulder operation affected his ability to play the banjo. Bobby Osborne continues to perform to this day, with Rocky Top X-Press, the band he formed after Sonny’s retirement. At 79 years of age, Bobby still tours – his busy schedule can be checked out on his website www.bobbyosborne.com .

The Osborne Brothers were pioneers in being among the first bluegrass groups (possibly the first bluegrass group) to include modern country instruments such as drums, electric bass, electric guitar, electric banjo, guitjo (a banjo neck on a guitar body) and steel guitar into bluegrass music. Many other acts would follow suit, even traditionally oriented groups such as Jim & Jesse McReynolds. Perhaps of greater importance was the vocal trio style created by the Osborne Brothers in conjunction with Red Allen, sometimes dubbed as “inverted stacked harmony”. This sound, unique and electrifying, featured Bobby singing a high lead line, Sonny singing baritone, and finally Red Allen singing the tenor as the lowest part. Although Red left after the first MGM album, subsequent vocalist such as Benny Birchfield , Dale Sledd and others kept the excitement going, setting a pattern many other groups,both bluegrass and modern country tried to duplicate, although few with such panache.

Discography

VINYL

The Osborne Brothers recorded four albums for MGM and 14 albums for Decca/MCA during the vinyl era. All of these records are worthwhile. If you found all 18 of the albums and played them chronologically you would hear a detailed history of the evolution of bluegrass music as the Osborne Brothers occasionally strayed into “newgrass” before the term was invented. The Decca/MCA albums are especially interesting as the Osborne Brothers covered many classic country songs as well as contemporary country material.

Unfortunately, little of the classic MGM and Decca/MCA material is available on CD, except for on two terrific (and quite expensive) boxed sets issued by Bear Family which contain all of the MGM and Decca/MCA material.

Leaving MCA/Decca after 1975, the Osborne Brothers joined the tradition-oriented Country Music Heritage (CMH) label, issuing at least ten albums for CMH, including a wonderful double album with Mac Wiseman. The CMH albums straddle the vinyl, cassette and CD eras, so you may find those albums in any or all of those formats.

Four albums were issued on Sugar Hill and five on Pinecastle. The Pinecastle albums all were issued on CD, however, only Once More, Volumes 1 & 2 were released on CD by Sugar Hill.

There was a live album issued on RCA in April 1982 titled Bluegrass Spectacular. This album, recorded in October 1981 at Opryland’s Theater By The Lake, features the Osborne Brothers with guests the Lewis Family and Mac Wiseman. Hairl Hensley and Roy Acuff do the opening introductions. For this performance, Paul Brewster sings the additional harmony Hal Rug plays steel guitar and former Texas Troubadour Leon Rhodes plays electric lead guitar. As far as I know this is the only RCA album, although RCA Camden issued something in 1968 called Bluegrass Banjo Pickers which has a few Sonny Osborne tracks (I’ve never seen the actual album)

CD

The Ernest Tubb Record Shop currently has available both of the Bear Family Box Sets at $99.98 each. If you are a diehard fan, it’s definitely worth the money to buy these, but for the casual fan, they are overkill. It is possible (sometimes) to find these sets for less money on sites such as www.overstock.com and www.countysales.com . Also you may be able to find used sets on sites such as www.musicstack.com .

The only other CD available covering the Decca/MCA years is titled Country Bluegrass. It sells for $9.98 and has ten of their chart hits including “Rocky Top,” “Roll Muddy River” and “Ruby (Are You Mad).” It’s inadequate, but essential.

ET has eleven more titles available, all of which come from post-1975. They do have the terrific Essential Bluegrass Album (with Mac Wiseman) which was a double album with 24 songs.

ET also has available six solo albums that Bobby Osborne has issued plus an album with Jesse McReynolds titled Masters of The Mandolin. I have several of Bobby’s solo albums – they are good but something was definitely lost from the vocal blend when Sonny retired. Moreover, Bobby has lost some of his upper range over the years, especially on the more recent albums and when he performs some of the old Osborne Brothers classics, he has had to do them in lower keys. This point was brought home by Bobby’s performance on the Opry in July 2011, where Bobby has clearly changed the chord progression on the chorus of “Rocky Top” to make it easier to sing.

Currently www.bobbyosborne.com has six of Bobby’s solo albums available for sale as well as ten Osborne Brothers CDs and two DVDs of the Osborne Brothers in concert.

Classic Rewind: Stanley Brothers – ‘How Mountain Girls Can Love’

Album Review: Trace Adkins – ‘Big Time’

Released in October 1997, Trace’s sophomore effort follows the same template of the first, offering up an 11-track selection of contemporary songs, while remaining more rooted in traditional country than most of his contemporaries at that time. Though he’s not particularly well known as a songwriter, Trace’s name appears among the songwriting credits on two tracks — the lead single “The Rest of Mine”, which is one of the finest singles of his career — and the album cut “Snowball in El Paso”. The former, co-written with Kenny Beard, is a beautiful wedding ballad that Trace performed at his own wedding. It peaked at #4. The album’s subsequent singles both faltered at radio, however, peaking outside the Top 10. “Lonely Won’t Leave Me Alone” made it as far as #11. Trace might have recovered from this setback had the label made a better choice for the third single. They went with the lyrically light title track, which they probably thought would make a fun spring/early summer release. However, it is one of the weaker tracks on the album. Radio programmers apparently agreed as it stalled at #27.

The whimsical “Took Her To The Moon” seems like it would have been a much better choice to send to radio. In this tale, Trace is the victim of his own success when he tries to impress his new love interest, only to have her move in with him and start running his life. He laments, “I took her to the moon and I can’t take her back.” It’s a shame that this one remained buried as an album cut.

The aformentioned “Snowball In El Paso”, which Trace co-wrote with Trey Bruce is another good tune, in which the narrator, having been left by his wife or girlfriend, remains in denial, listing the possessions she’s left behind as reasons why she can’t have actually left. This one was also strong enough to have been considered for a single release, but it was probably passed over because it is lyrically very similar to Tim McGraw’s “Can’t Really Be Gone” from a few years earlier. “Out Of My Dreams” shows is a very well done, understated ballad that serves as a reminder that Trace does have a vulnerable side — something we tend to forget at times thanks to monstrosities like “Honkytonk Badonkadonk”, “Ala-Freakin-Bama” and “Brown Chicken, Brown Cow”.

The album does have its share of filler tracks, namely the title track, the fiddle-led “See Jane Run” and the more rock-tinged “Twenty-four, Seven”; however, none of these tracks is unlistenable. In fact, all of them are quite good compared to some of the records Trace has released in more recent years.

The album closes on high note with a terrific version of the traditional spiritual/folk tune “Wayfaring Stranger”, which is probably my favorite version of the song after Emmylou Harris’ rendition.

Although Big Time’s singles may have underperformed on the charts, the album managed to earn platinum certification, matching the sales level of its predecessor Dreamin’ Out Loud. Because of his spotty track record in choosing quality material, I’ve learned to proceed with extreme caution before buying Trace’s albums. More often than not, I’ll download individual tracks instead of buying the complete album. Big Time, however, is one of his more solid efforts and is worth buying in its entirety. It is widely available at very reasonable prices, in both CD and digital form from vendors such as Amazon and iTunes.

Grade: A-

Classic Rewind: Trace Adkins – ‘Wayfaring Stranger’

Week ending 8/6/11: #1 singles this week in country music history

1951: I Wanna Play House With You — Eddy Arnold (RCA)

1961: Heartbreak, USA — Kitty Wells (Decca)

1971: I’m Just Me — Charley Pride (RCA)

1981: Dixie On My Mind — Hank Williams, Jr. (Elektra/Curb)

1991: She’s In Love With The Boy — Trisha Yearwood (MCA)

2001: When I Think About Angels — Jamie O’Neal (Mercury)

2011: Tomorrow — Chris Young (RCA)

Classic Rewind: The O’Kanes – ‘One True Love’

Classic Rewind: Connie Smith – ‘Just One Time’

Album Review – Trace Adkins – ‘Dreamin’ Out Loud’

Released in June 1996, Dreamin’ Out Loud began a career now going fifteen years strong. Debut albums are usually regarded as safe efforts meant to make a good first impression with radio programmers and at retail, but even at the start of his career Adkins was able to let his personality shine through in his music and prove he’s a formable talent. Dreamin’ Out Loud went platinum and scored three consecutive top ten singles including Adkins’s first number one hit “(This Ain’t No) Thinkin’ Thing.”

I chose to review this album because of my love for 90s country and my high regard for country music released in 1996, the year I began taking the genre seriously (at all of nine years old). The music videos for “Every Light In The House” and “(This Ain’t) No Thinkin’ Thing” will always hold fond memories for me as pieces of my childhood.

As for singles, Capitol Records led with “There’s A Girl In Texas,” arguably the least known of any of Adkins’s hits. It was a safe choice for the first single and peaked at number 20.  Like his latest single, “Just Fishin,” “Texas” is the kind of song Adkins excels at – a simple story told without any distracting frills. I’ve always enjoyed the gentle groove of the arrangement – light drums mixed with flourishes of steel guitar. Even though the song isn’t all that special lyrically, Adkins pulls it off quite well.

The second single, “Every Light In The House” not only put Adkins into the upper reaches of the singles chart for the first time, but used an interesting concept to sell the story of a man waiting for his woman to come back home. Instead of merely moping around the house, he turns on every light in hopes she’ll be guided back to him. A piece of nostalgia from my childhood, “Every Light In The House” remains one of my favorite singles Adkins has ever released. I’ve always enjoyed “ House’s” traditional arrangement, which complements the lyrics and Adkins’s voice quite well. But it’s Adkins’s conviction that sells the song for me – You can hear the ache in his voice as he longs for the woman he loves.

Adkins and the label followed it up with the most polarizing song from the album. “Thinkin’ Thing” helped to define country music when it was released in 1997. Sounding nothing like what was playing on country radio at the time, it’s the best indicator he’d travel down this lane frequently with hits like “I Got My Game On,” “Marry for Money,” and “Honky-Tonk Badonkadonk.” But in comparison, it’s his best single in this vein – a sexy contemporary country thumper that expertly uses steel guitar to ground it in the genre. Plus, the “Right Brain/Left Brain” lyric, which was always a tad idiotic, is among the most memorable of any he’s put on record to date.   And the sexy video showcased another side of Adkins as she showed off his dancing, more like grooving, for the first time.

The fourth and final single, “I Left Something Turned On At Home” is the only one of the singles not to age well over time. The kooky concept and double entendre title make this the kind of song you enjoy the first time you hear it but grow to hate as it gets played over and over at radio. A #2 peaking single in 1997, “Home” makes good use of the mid-90s formula to prominently feature fiddles in your songs. It’s nice to hear Adkins sounding country here and I have to give him and producer Scott Hendricks credit for not over doing the musical accompaniment. I like the use of piano and fiddle here – lyrically this track may be a mess, but it is catchy. Even today when I hear it on the radio, I stop and listen. Plus, seeing as I was ten at the time of its release, the song proved a good educational tool regarding its sexual subject matter. Leave it to good ‘ole country music to teach me about adult subjects at such a young age.

As for the rest of the album, Adkins and Hendricks filled the project with safe ballads and a couple throwaway pieces of filler that might have sounded good back then, but take on far too many of the characteristics of the era. Ballads like “A Bad Way of Saying Goodbye,” “I Can Only Love You Like A Man,” “It Was You” and the title track display Adkins’s fine chops at traditional country, a road he needs to travel down more often for me. He’s at his best when backed up by fiddle and steel guitar like he is here. I wouldn’t categorize these songs as remarkable, but they’re far better album tracks than most on country records today. The biggest problem is they all blend together and it’s hard to tell them apart after you’ve listened to the album. I’d like to have seen a bit more variation among the ballads.

But when he does change it up, the results are less than stellar. The foolish “634-5789” details the story of a man who gives out his phone number in hopes of giving a girl the love she’s been missing. I will say it easily becomes stuck in your head, but that’s about all it has going for it. The cheesy arrangement of drums and fiddles doesn’t work in this case because it only makes the song sound formulaic; an excuse to pander to what was popular at the time. Which means it lacks all originality and stands only to fill out a ten-track album.

The only exception is, “If I Fall (You’re Going With Me)” a song eerily similar to “If I Fall You’re Going Down With Me,” a Matraca Berg co-write the Dixie Chicks took into the top 5 in 2001. When the Chicks song came out, I had remembered Adkins had this ditty and wondered if they were one in the same. Alas they weren’t, and of course, the Chicks’ song was better. There isn’t anything wrong with Adkins’s “If I Fall.” The more I listen to it, the more it stands out as the best of the “filler” songs. It has a nice honky-tonk groove and while it also toes the popular trends at the time, it does so in a way that doesn’t seem too dated today.

In the end, Dreamin’ Out Loud is a solid first impression by a country singer who’s among the last of his generation to still be going strong at radio. The four best and most memorable songs on the album were released as singles with “Every Light In The House” standing as a classic from its time period. While I wish the second half of the project featured more variation sonically, the ten tracks came together to showcase the arrival of a fine new country singer with a bright future.

The album is widely available from both Amazon and iTunes.

Grade: B

Classic Rewind: Trace Adkins – ‘Every Light In The House Is On’

Single Review: Joe Nichols – ‘Take It Off’

Joe Nichols is at his best when bending his Haggard-esque vocals around a stone country lyric. But that’s not to say he doesn’t capably deliver clever up-tempo lyrics, see: “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off”. The biggest flaw in the bulk of Nichols’ novelty repertoire, however, is the lack of charm in the lyrics themselves, with tunes like “Size Matters” and “Gimmie That Girl” relying mostly on their respective title catchphrases and breezy melodies.

His latest single falls into the catchphrase-only lot, and implores its title for lofty subject matter such as a cold one and a pretty girl’s top. Nichols still offers a winning vocal despite throwing in a “na na na ooh hoo hoo” in the second half, and reaching for an elusive falsetto in the latter syllables. His traditionalism is still here as well, as fiddles lead and a banjo is added in the mix, but this is just another of the singer’s bread and butter songs we have to wait through before the next “Shape I’m In” comes to radio.

Grade: C

Listen here.

Classic Rewind: Jeannie C. Riley – ‘Give Myself A Party’

Album Review: Trace Adkins – ‘Proud To Be Here’

Trace Adkins’s artistic identity may be the most fractured in country music, raging from the depths of ‘Honky Tonk Badonkadonk’ to the artistic heights of songs like ‘Til The Last Shot’s Fired’. This album, Trace’s second for Show Dog Universal, has its share of the raucous and insubstantial, but mainly it focuses on Trace the family man, satisfied with his life. Unlike the similarly themed recent work of Brad Paisley, Josh Turner and Darius Rucker, however, the songs on this theme are all solid and worth hearing. I have already written about the heartwarming ‘Just Fishin’, the album’s first hit single and one of the best things to hit country radio this year. This track alone was produced by Michael Knox, with the remainder of the album in the hands of Kenny Beard.

The title track (written by Chris Wallin, Aaron Barker and Ira Dean, apparently specifically for Trace) is also very good, with a reflective look at the protagonist’s life, with memories of an early career playing “for tips and compliments”, while driving a truck worth substantially less than the radio. The equilibrium of the present day is convincingly portrayed, as Trace declares:

I’m just proud to be on the right side of the dirt
I’ve been loved and I’ve been lost and I’ve been hurt
I leave the hard stuff up to God
Try not to worry about a whole lot
And I have no regrets for what it’s worth
I’ve been living on borrowed time for years
And I’m just proud to be here

The production gets a bit heavier than I would like in the second half, but this is a heartfelt vocal on an excellent song which seems to reflect Trace’s true feelings about his life.

‘Million Dollar View’, written by David Lee Murphy and George Teren is a cheerful country-rocker about satisfaction with a happy domestic life which sounds tailor-made for country radio. Much better, but potentially also commercial, is the mellow take on chilling out and escaping from the world’s pressures on ‘Days Like This’, which is one of Trace’s rare writing credits, alongside producer Kenny Beard and Casey Beathard.

Classic Rewind: Webb Pierce – ‘I’m Walking The Dog’

Country Heritage Redux: Bonnie Guitar

Born with the last name Buckingham, Seattle native Bonnie “Guitar” was a true renaissance woman who moved from role to role during the course of her long career. You name it, this 88 year old has done it: singer, songwriter, session musician, producer, executive and record label owner.

Bonnie Guitar learned several musical instruments during her adolescent years–becoming especially proficient on guitar–and before graduating high school she had already written several songs. During the early 1950s she recorded for Fabor Robison’s Fabor label, which also featured such artists as Ned Miller, Jim Reeves and Jim Ed & Maxine Brown. By the middle of the decade she had moved to Los Angeles where she worked as a session guitarist, playing on records for a number of big name (or future big name) artists, including Ferlin Husky.

In 1957 Bonnie signed with Dot Records, a label she would be associated with, off and on, for many years. Her big break occurred shortly thereafter when she recorded the Ned Miller-penned “Dark Moon.” Her version soared to #6 on the Billboard pop charts, selling nearly a million copies along the way. Unfortunately, her label also issued a pop version of the song by noted television actress Gale Storm, who appeared on such shows as My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show. Storm’s very similar version, no doubt aided by her greater fame, reached #5 on the Billboard Pop charts, also selling nearly a million copies (and outselling Ms. Guitar’s version by a few thousand copies). Bonnie made many television appearances in the wake of her success with “Dark Moon.”

In 1958 Bonnie formed her own record label, Dolphin Records (soon to be renamed Dolton Records), where she produced a number of acts, the most successful of which, the Fleetwoods, had a million seller with “Mr. Blue.”

Wishing to focus on her own career, Bonnie sold Dolton Records and went back to recording her own music for Dot (later ABC-Paramount), and eventually became an A&R director for the label on the west coast. After several years of focusing on A&R work, Bonnie got serious about her recording career again, and in 1966 scored several hits including “I’m Living In Two Worlds,” “A Woman In Love” and “I Believe in Love,” which all made it into the top 10. After 1967 the hits fell off – she had no further top 30 chart entries.

Perhaps this was to be expected, as by 1967 Bonnie was already 44 years old – rather long in the tooth, even in those days.

At the first annual Academy of Country Music Awards in 1967, Bonnie Guitar was named Top Female Vocalist, but this was essentially an award for past services and accomplishments. She would continue to perform until 1996, and still makes occasional appearances. According to one source, she is gearing up for a few appearances even as this article is being printed.

Discography
CD

As far as I know, there are only two Bonnie Guitar CDs currently available, both issued by Bear Family (Germany).

Dark Moon features her recordings from 1956 to 1958, so it catches her two biggest pop hits (“Dark Moon” and “Mister Fire Eyes”) but misses her country hits for Dot.

By The Fireside – The Velvet Lounge, released in April 2011, features recordings made in three 1959 sessions at RCA’s Hollywood CA studio as produced by noted performer and songwriter Don Robertson. The album features Bonnie performing country standards, accompanied only by a solo guitar. The recordings on this 15 song CD were billed as previously unreleased; however, eight of the titles match up with the song titles on a 1969 RCA Camden album titled Night Train To Memphis.

VINYL

Other than the above CDs, you’ll need to do some vinyl hunting. While Bonnie Guitar had one of the prettiest voices ever to sing country music, her 60s output has some rather syrupy backing–the full “Nashville Sound” treatment–which sounds more easy listening than country at times (although most of it is vastly superior to today’s pop country). Despite the musical arrangements, Bonnie Guitar is an outstanding singer whose voice shines through–always. Bonnie released fifteen albums on Dot Records from 1957-1969. After 1969 there are some scattered albums on a variety of smaller and reissue labels.

Listen to some of her music at http://www.myspace.com/bonnieguitar

Classic Rewind: Charlie Rich – ‘Behind Closed Doors’

Charlie Rich earned his first #1 hit with this Kenny O’Dell-penned tune.  Likewise, Rich earned his first Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance while the writer took home CMA and ACM trophies for Song of the Year in 1973.   In addition to hitting the top of the Country Singles chart, “Behind Closed Doors” would find a home inside the top 10 of the Adult Contemporary lists, hit the U.S. Top 40 (at #15) and go on to become an international hit in at least five more nations.  Here’s Rich performing his signature song at the 7th annual CMA show.

Album Review: Deryl Dodd – ‘RanDDom as I Am’

Deryl Dodd’s eighth album is released on Texas music specialists Smith Music Group, and is produced by the artist himself. His distinctive nasal tones work well interpreting the material, almost all self-written, and this record has a little more of a Texas/Red Dirt singer-songwritery feel than his previous work.

I really enjoyed the amusing self-mocking ‘Baby Where’s My Bottle’. The semi-alcoholic honky tonker compares himself to a baby, throwing a fit when his sweetheart has taken his bottle of booze away. The entertaining up-tempo honky tonker opens the album with a bang, and is also serving as the first single.

The melancholic ‘Loveletters’ (one of the few outside songs, written by Nate Kipp) has a pretty tune, with the protagonist addressing Virginia, an old love who has left him for an attempt at movie career. He wishes her well but has been unable to drag himself away from the ties of home to follow her:

Love letters and cigarettes
It’s been three years I can’t forget
Unwrap this chain around my neck for good
I’ve memorized every word you wrote and each night they go up in smoke
And I’m gonna die or I’m gonna choke, it’s true
I’m still not done with you

The highlight of the album is ‘Losin’ Ground’, a co-write with his one-time producer Brett Beavers, offers a gripping picture of an embattled farmer who is literally losing land to new highways. Also on a rural theme, ‘FM 2213’ (written by Tommy Conners and D Vincent Williams) paints a pleasantly atmospheric if rather rambling picture of a remote flatland country road.

‘Anybody Out There’ has a singer-songwriter feel. The mellow tune belies the lyric’s portrayal of depression and loneliness, with the protagonist wondering if anyone else has experienced the same feelings.

Fallin’ is a bit dull, repetitive lyrically and limited melodically, but there are better takes on romance on offer. ‘I Can Do This (Joy’s Song)’ is a tender love song with a fine vocal interpretation. Deryl’s own ‘Love Around Here’ is a charming but fairly conventional (and presumably autobiographical) picture of happy domestic life. The pretty, touching ‘Coming Home To You is a personal-sounding love song from a musician on the road missing his wife. Another travelling musician gets an unhappy ending, as his wife tells him he’s been gone ‘One Night Too Long’ in another of the highlights.

Defiant post-heatbreak, the protagonist of the bluesy ‘Somethin’ Ain’t Always Better Than Nothin’, declares,

I’d rather have nothin’ than somethin’ like you

‘Can’t Say No To Larry Joe’ with its raucous singalong pays tribute to a friend with exceptional persuasive powers – particularly when it comes to extending the night’s drinking, so that his
“Let’s just have one more” turns into 22″

Deryl warns,

The best advice I can give is never say hello
Cause you can’t say no to Larry Joe

The record closes with ‘Who Am I’, a rather good humble gospel song.

Overall, this is a solid record, a world away from current radio tastes, but worth a hearing.

Grade: B+

Spotlight Artist: Trace Adkins

Like many of his country music contemporaries, our August spotlight artist Trace Adkins was interested in music from an early age. Born on January 13, 1962 in Springhill, Louisiana, Tracy Darrell Adkins was taught to play the guitar by his father. His maternal grandfather had been a Christian musician, and young Trace followed in his footsteps when he joined the gospel quartet The New Commitments in high school. He studied music at Louisiana Tech University and later worked on an oil rig while continuing to hone his craft playing local clubs and honkytonks. In the early 1990s, he moved to Nashville and continued to play the club and honkytonk circuit there. He eventually garnered the attention of Scott Hendricks, who signed him to Capitol Records.

Success for Trace, though immediate, was inconsistent. His first release for Capitol, “There’s A Girl In Texas”, reached the Top 20. He reached the Top 5 with his next release “Every Light In The House”, and his debut album Dreamin’ Out Loud, released in 1996, achieved platinum status. His second album Big Time also achieved platinum status but only produced one Top 10 single. The next album also produced one Top 10 hit but failed to achieve gold status.

Throughout the first decade of the new millenium, Trace’s sales figures rebounded and in 2003 he became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. His singles didn’t always crack the Top 10 but usually made the Top 20. Lyrically light fare such as “Chrome” and “Hot Mama”, aided by music videos featuring scantily clad women, tended to perform better than more substantive offerings such as “Arlington.” In 2005 he scored his biggest hit with the polarizing “Honkytonk Badonkadonk”, which became his first –and to date, only — platinum single.

After the success of “Honkytonk Badonkadonk”, Trace’s hits began to taper off until he became a contestant on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice in 2008. During his stint on the program, he released “You’re Gonna Miss This”, which reached #1 and was his first single to crack the Top 20 in nearly two years. During this time he also ventured into acting, appearing on the daytime soap The Young and the Restless, and appearing in the feature films An American Carol in 2008 and The Lincoln Lawyer, alongside Matthew McConaughey in 2011.

In 2009, “‘Til The Last Shot’s Fired”, Trace’s tribute to America’s military men and women, became the highlight of that year’s ACM Awards program, and was released as a charity single to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.

In 2010, Trace ended a 15-year association with Capitol Nashville when he signed with Toby Keith’s Show Dog-Universal label. His second album for the label is being released today. While his records may not always be stellar, Trace is generally acknowledged as one of country music’s great talents. He suffered a setback in his personal life when a fire recently destroyed his Brentwood, Tennessee home, along with many of his awards and career mementos. We hope that you’ll enjoy our coverage of this sometimes controversial but always interesting performer.