Country music from a fan's point of view since 2008
1959: The Battle of New Orleans — Johnny Horton (Columbia)
1969: Running Bear — Sonny James (Mercury)
1979: Nobody Likes Sad Songs — Ronnie Milsap (RCA)
1989: I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party — Rosanne Cash (Columbia)
1999: Write This Down — George Strait (MCA)
2009: Then — Brad Paisley (Arista Nashville)
2019: God’s Country — Blake Shelton (Warner Bros. Nashville)
2019 (Airplay): Whiskey Glasses — Morgan Wallan (Big Loud)
1959: The Battle of New Orleans — Johnny Horton (Columbia)
1969: Singing My Song — Tammy Wynette (Epic)
1979: She Believes In Me — Kenny Rogers (United Artists)
1989: A Better Man — Clint Black (RCA)
1999: Please Remember Me — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2009: Then — Brad Paisley (Arista Nashville)
2019: Whiskey Glasses — Morgan Wallan (Big Loud)
2019 (Airplay): Whiskey Glasses — Morgan Wallan (Big Loud)
The promotional cycle for John Michael Montgomery’s Brand New Me had come to an end when Atlantic Records closed their Nashville division in 2001. They weren’t ready to give up on him just yet, so Montgomery moved to their parent label Warner Bros. Nashville, where he reunited with Scott Hendricks for 2002’s Pictures.
The album charted three singles. “‘Till Nothin’ Comes Between Us” is a slick mid-tempo pop ballad, which features a smoothed over vocal from Montgomery. “Country Thang” is typical country-rock, beaming with southern pride. “Four-Wheel Drive” is the best of the bunch, with a nice steel and fiddle based melody, reminiscent of Brad Paisley’s work from the time period. The tracks peaked at #19, #45, and #52, respectively.
Harley Allen, who revived Montgomery’s career with “The Little Girl” appears here, as co-writer, along with Paul Overstreet, of “I Wanna Be There,” a contemporary ballad about a father’s prayer for his child as he or she goes through the phases of life — first words, first date, first heartbreak, etc. John Rich co-wrote “Believe In Me,” a mid-tempo promise of loyalty from a man to his woman.
Rivers Rutherford, a prominent songwriter during this era, was a co-writer of “Love and Alcohol,” an uptempo cautionary tale where a man is warning a woman he’s been drinking so he’s not quite himself. “Love Changes Everything” is a charming but clichéd story of young love during the summer months on a farm. Montgomery is in a grateful mood on the upbeat “Got You To Thank For That,” which has a nice energy.
There’s nothing particularly interesting about the title track, which traces the love story of a couple through photographs and the memories they conjure up, all the while looking ahead to the memories yet to be made. “It Goes Like This,” which features Sixwire, a group that at the time had released their debut album, is an early sign of bro-country with the way it objectives the woman as nothing more than an object of desire.
I wouldn’t characterize Pictures as a bad album, but it is very generic and lacks even one song I could pull out as essential listening. It’s very typical of early-21st century commercial country music and I could hear shades of what Lonestar was cooking up during this time period. Pictures came on the back end of Montgomery’s career, where he was fighting to remain relevant ten years out from Life’s A Dance.
Radio had mostly moved on, actually to his brother and Troy Gentry, who were hitting their stride with “My Town” and “Hell Yeah.” No one was missing anything with Pictures, so this album’s lack of success was only a loss to his record label.
Grade: C
1959: Billy Bayou — Jim Reeves (RCA Victor)
1969: Daddy Sang Bass — Johnny Cash (Columbia)
1979: Why Have You Left The One You Left Me For — Crystal Gayle (United Artists)
1989: Deeper Than The Holler — Randy Travis (Warner Bros)
1999: Wrong Again — Martina McBride (RCA Nashville)
2009: Start A Band — Brad Paisley feat. Keith Urban (Arista Nashville)
2019: Speechless — Dan + Shay (Warner Nashville)
2019 (Airplay): Sixteen — Thomas Rhett (Valory)
Prior to the 52nd annual CMA Awards telecast last week, it was heavily buzzed about that co-host Brad Paisley was going to sing a new song, his first from a new album, of which he’s only recorded 3-5 songs so far. One review I read even heralded the song as a return to his traditional country roots, and let’s face it, Paisley has become so irrelevant in recent years, it’s about the only move he could make that would actually make sense.
“Bucked Off” starts out innocently enough. Paisley is on a bar stool having a conversation with his woman, who is clearly ending their relationship. He likens himself to a cowboy on a bull, about to be thrown off. So you don’t mistake his situation, he sets the mood:
And George Strait’s on the jukebox in the corner
Singing about cowboys riding away
Name-checking Strait and his #5 hit from 1985 is totally appropriate in this instance. Then he goes on, laying the rodeo/cowboy imagery on thick:
You can go to Houston, Vegas or San Antone
And watch a bull rider hit the dirt
Or head down to this bar for a little cover charge
You can watch me get thrown by her
George Strait’s on the jukebox again
Says if I leave now I can still make Cheyenne
By the time Strait came around for a second time, I knew exactly what was going on. “Bucked Off” isn’t just another song in Paisley’s catalog. It’s a dedicated tribute to Strait. This jukebox reference, which in any other song would’ve gone to a different country singer, is forced and cutesy. Paisley doubles down on the bridge:
I think about those nights in Marina Del Rey
As this beautiful cowgirl slips away
But pain only lasts so long
And when you get bucked off you get back on
Going into his CMA performance, I was expecting what I thought to be true — Paisley was releasing a honky-tonk song to country radio, in pure form, not the faux honky-tonk Garth Brooks tried to pull over our eyes with “All Day Long.” Sadly, this isn’t the case.
But I will give Paisley credit where it’s due. “Bucked Off” is the most traditional country song released to radio since the leaves turned colors and began to fall from the trees. There is a full dose of steel and fiddle very audible in the mix. It has good bones, a catchy melody, and a somewhat engaging story. Paisley also deserves a tremendous amount of praise for not selling out like Keith Urban and using “Bucked Off” as a desperate attempt at relevancy.
He just takes the Strait thing too far (even the lettering and font of his name on the cover art is a nod back to when Strait portrayed Dusty Chandler in Pure Country). The right way to honor a country legend isn’t to sample that artists’ classic melodies throughout, nor is it right to drown those melodies and traditional instruments in a haze of guitars, no matter how well they’re played. He made similar mistakes on the trepid “Old Alabama.”
My issue here is that Paisley knows better. He proved that seventeen years ago when he took “Wrapped Around” to #2, as the second single from Part II. It showed how Strait influenced him, while correctly moving the genre forward into the new Millennium. It’s a pipe dream to think he would go back there, but I can always hold out hope, no matter how thin a sliver it might be at this point.
Grade: B
Roger Miller was unique in terms of his all-around abilities as an entertainer. He could write off-beat and humorous songs then turn around and write a masterpiece of a straight ahead ballad. The nearest thing to him in terms of his compositional abilities was Shel Silverstein, but unlike Silverstein, who was a terrible singer, Roger was an outstanding vocalist and musician. People who have heard Roger’s concert in Birchmere, VA, about a year before he died can attest that Roger Miller barely even needed a guitar in order to keep and audience entertained.
Because Roger was so offbeat, tributes to him and his music have been rare – many of his most famous songs barely lend themselves to being covered. One of the few tributes I’ve seen was Tim O’Brien’s O’Brien Party of Seven – Reincarnation: The Songs Of Roger Miller, released about six years ago and featuring members of Tim’s family. It is a great album, but Tim and his family mostly stayed away from the more famous songs, and delved deeper into the Roger Miller catalogue.
King of The Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller is a two disc set featuring snippets of dialogue from Roger along with covers of 34 of his songs as performed by various artists. The covers of straight ahead country songs work best as few artists have the ability that Roger had to let vocal scats and odd phrasings simply roll of his tongue. Among the odder songs tackled on disc one are “Chug A Lug” (Asleep at The Wheel with Huey Lewis), “Dang Me” (Brad Paisley), “Kansas City Star” (Kacey Musgraves), “You Ought a Be Here With Me” /“I’ve Been A Long Time Leaving” (Alison Krauss & The Cox Family) and In The Summertime” (Shawn Camp /Earls of Leicester) . All of these songs are competently performed but sound a bit forced except Shawn Camp’s take on “In The Summertime” since Camp simply treats the song as a straight ahead county song. The Krauss / Cox song would have been better had they performed it as separate songs and not made a medley of it.
For me the disc one the standouts are Loretta Lynn’s take on “Half A Mind”, a hit for her mentor Ernest Tubb, Mandy Barnett’s “Lock Stock and Teardrops” and the religious song “The Crossing” as performed by Ronnie Dunn and the Blind Boys of Alabama.
Dwight Yoakam does a fine job with his co-write “It Only Hurts Me When I Cry” but you’d expect no less since it was a hit for him.
Disc two is more of the same, some banter, goofy songs, and some straight ahead ballads. Cake makes a complete mess of “Reincarnation” (the only decent cover I’ve had was by Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle, USMC) and I didn’t like Toad The Wet Sprocket’s take on the old George Jones hit “Nothing Can Stop My Loving You” (also decently covered in the 1970s by Patsy Sledd). Jamey Johnson & Emmylou Harris do a nice job on “Husbands and Wives”.
John Goodman, who never claimed to be a singer, reprises “Guv’ment” from the play Big River. Ringo Starr, also not a compelling singer, gives the right vibe to “Hey Would You Hold It Down?”
For me the two best songs on disc two are the Dolly Parton & Alison Krauss recording of “The Last Word In Lonesome Is Me” and Flatt Lonesome’s exquisite “When Two Worlds Collide”, easily the best performance on the album.
This album offers a good overview of the depth and breadth of the songwriting talents of Roger Miller. While I wasn’t all that impressed with all of the performers on the album, all of them clearly gave their performances their best efforts.
I mostly enjoyed this album and would give it a B+ but if this is your first exposure to Roger Miller, I would strongly suggest picking up one of Roger’s currently available collections of Smash/Mercury recordings.
1958: Bird Dog / Devoted To You — Everly Brothers (Cadence)
1958 (Disk Jockeys): Alone With You — Faron Young (Capitol)
1968: Mama Tried — Merle Haggard (Capitol)
1978: I’ve Always Been Crazy — Waylon Jennings (RCA)
1988: Addicted — Dan Seals (Capitol)
1998: How Long Gone — Brooks & Dunn (Arista Nashville)
2008: Waitin’ On A Woman — Brad Paisley (Arista)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018 (Airplay):
1958: All I Have To Do Is Dream / Claudette — The Everly Brothers (Cadence)
1958 (Disk Jockeys): Oh Lonesome Me — Don Gibson (RCA Victor)
1968: I Wanna Live — Glen Campbell (Capitol)
1978: Two More Bottles of Wine — Emmylou Harris (Warner Bros.)
1988: I Told You So — Randy Travis (Warner Bros.)
1998: I Just Want To Dance With You — George Strait (MCA Nashville)
2008: I’m Still A Guy — Brad Paisley (Arista Nashville)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018: Woman, Amen — Dierks Bentley (Capitol Nashville)
1958: All I Have To Do Is Dream / Claudette — The Everly Brothers (Cadence)
1958 (Disk Jockeys): Just Married — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1968: Honey — Bobby Goldsboro (United Artists)
1978: Georgia On My Mind — Willie Nelson (Columbia)
1988: I Told You So — Randy Travis (Warner Bros.)
1998: I Just Want To Dance With You — George Strait (MCA Nashville)
2008: I’m Still A Guy — Brad Paisley (Arista Nashville)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018: One Number Away — Luke Combs (Columbia)
1958: All I Have To Do Is Dream / Claudette — The Everly Brothers (Cadence)
1958 (Disk Jockeys): All I Have To Do Is Dream — The Everly Brothers (Cadence)
1968: Honey — Bobby Goldsboro (United Artists)
1978: Do You Know You Are My Sunshine — The Statler Brothers (Mercury)
1988: What She Is (Is A Woman In Love) — Earl Thomas Conley (RCA)
1998: This Kiss — Faith Hill (Warner Bros)
2008: I’m Still A Guy — Brad Paisley (Arista Nashville)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018 (Airplay): For The First Time — Darius Rucker (Capitol Nashville)
1958 (Sales): Ballad of a Teenage Queen — Johnny Cash (Sun)
1958 (Disk Jockeys): Ballad of a Teenage Queen — Johnny Cash (Sun)
1968: Skip A Rope — Henson Cargill (Monument)
1978: Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You — Margo Smith (Warner Bros.)
1988: Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star — Merle Haggard (Epic)
1998: Just To See You Smile — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2008: Letter To Me — Brad Paisley (Arista)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018 (Airplay): Legends — Kelsea Bellerini (Black River)
1958 (Sales): Ballad of a Teenage Queen — Johnny Cash (Sun)
1958 (Disk Jockeys): Ballad of a Teenage Queen — Johnny Cash (Sun)
1968: Skip A Rope — Henson Cargill (Monument)
1978: Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You — Margo Smith (Warner Bros.)
1988: Tennessee Flat Top Box — Rosanne Cash (Columbia)
1998: Just To See You Smile — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2008: Letter To Me — Brad Paisley (Arista)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018 (Airplay): Written In The Sand — Old Dominion (RCA Nashville)
1958 (Sales): The Story of My Life — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1958 (Disk Jockeys): Ballad of a Teenage Queen — Johnny Cash (Sun)
1968: Skip A Rope — Henson Cargill (Monument)
1978: I Just Wish You Were Someone I Loved — Larry Gatlin (Monument)
1988: Wheels — Restless Heart (RCA)
1998: Just To See You Smile — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2008: Letter To Me — Brad Paisley (Arista)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018 (Airplay): Losing Sleep — Chris Young (RCA)
1958 (Sales): The Story of My Life — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1958 (Disk Jockeys): Ballad of a Teenage Queen — Johnny Cash (Sun)
1968: Skip A Rope — Henson Cargill (Monument)
1978: Out of My Head and Back in My Bed — Loretta Lynn (MCA)
1988: Goin’ Gone — Kathy Mattea (Mercury)
1998: Just To See You Smile — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2008: Letter To Me — Brad Paisley (Arista)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018 (Airplay): Yours — Russell Dickerson (Triple Tigers)
1957 (Sales): Wake Up Little Susie — The Everly Brothers (Cadence)
1957 (Disc Jockeys): Fraulein — Bobby Helms (Decca)
1967: I Don’t Wanna Play House — Tammy Wynette (Epic)
1977: Heaven’s Just a Sin Away — The Kendalls (Ovation)
1987: The Way We Make a Broken Heart — Rosanne Cash (Columbia)
1997: How Your Love Makes Me Feel — Diamond Rio (Arista)
2007: Online — Brad Paisley (Arista)
2017: Body Like a Back Road — Sam Hunt (MCA)
2017 (Airplay): All the Pretty Girls — Kenny Chesney (Blue Chair/Columbia)
1957 (Sales): A White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation) — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1957 (Disc Jockeys): Four Walls — Jim Reeves (RCA)
1967: All The Time — Jack Greene (Decca)
1977: Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) — Waylon Jennings (RCA)
1987: Forever and Ever, Amen — Randy Travis (Warner Bros.)
1997: It’s Your Love — Tim McGraw with Faith Hill (Curb)
2007: Ticks — Brad Paisley (Arista)
2017: Body Like a Back Road — Sam Hunt (MCA)
2017 (Airplay): How Not To — Dan + Shay (Warner Bros.)
I basically like Brad Paisley. He writes good song lyrics, has a very individualistic sense of humor and is one heck of an instrumentalist. Even though he competes in the area of today’s mindless country music, he always makes sure to include a few tracks with lyrics to appeal to stone cold traditionalists like myself. He is fearless in his choice of material and never plays it safe, which means that each of his albums contains something unexpected, and occasionally he’ll try something that just doesn’t work, such as 2013’s “Accidental Racist”.
That said, there is one criticism I always have of his album, and that criticism is that the instrumental backing track is always too loud. It’s an easy fix – just keep the vocals at their current level and lower the instrumental accompaniment by about 40% or better yet, delete the electric lead guitar and replace it with acoustic guitar and/or mandolin. Fat chance of that ever happening, I know, but I’d thought I’d get it off my chest
Brad has at least co-writing credit on all of songs on this album; actually they are all co-writes (but see below).
The album opens with “Heaven South” a typical hometown ballad that has plenty of steel guitar and with a little tweaking, could have been played on country radio in the 1970s. Brent Anderson and Chris DuBois share the writing credits on this one.
Next up is “Last Time For Everything”, a passages of life song, describing the things that occur as one passes through life.
“One Beer Can” is a mid-tempo story about a party that almost, but not quite, got covered up.
Bobby threw a party
His parents left town
He told a few people who told a few people, word got around
It was a legendary evenin’
The whole place got trashed
It took all day Sunday, four his buddies and twelve Glad bags
They got it all cleaned up, hauled it off in the truck
Made ‘fore his parents got back
When they got home he gave them a hug
And almost a heart attack‘Cause there was one beer can
Lying there on the floor
Right behind the sofa
You could see it from the door
His daddy threw a fit
And Bobby, he discovered it
There ain’t nothing in this world to ruin your summer
Like one beer can
One beer can
“Go To Bed Early” is a slow ballad that concerns a party that our protagonist chooses to skip a party or a concert he won’t attend in favor of a (perhaps) quiet evening with his girl. I would hope this is released as a single as it is a very strong song.
There’s a party going on tonight
And we can go if you want to
There’s a good band playing downtown
But looking at you right now
Tell you what I’d rather to doIs go to bed early
Turn out the lights
It’s only eight thirty
But that’s alright
Know you ain’t tired
Neither am I
Let’s go to bed early
And stay up all night
Dinosaur rocker Mick Jagger gets co-writing credit with Brad on the duet “Drive of Shame”. The song’s instrumentation sounds like something that Jagger’s usual band might have recorded. Jagger plays electric guitar and tambourine on this track.
“Contact High” has an R&B groove to it but no, it’s not about drugs or alcohol.
“Love and War” features co-writer John Fogerty and is a melancholy rocker that reiterates the relative neglect of veterans, particularly those of the Vietnam era. It is less true now than it was during the 1960s and 1970s but still makes a point worth remembering.
He was nineteen
And landed at Bagram
Scared and all alone
He lost a leg and a girlfriend
Before he got home
And they say all is fair in Love and War
But that ain’t true, it’s wrong
They send you off to die for us
Forget about you when you’re done
“Today” is a love song about remembering his girl as she is today. This has a really traditional feel to it. I very much like the song and think it made a good single.
“Selfie #theinternetisforever” is very topical – whether it will be remembered ten years from now is questionable, but it is good for a smile in 2017. The tone is both funny and scolding at the same time.
I have no idea who is Timbaland, and after listening to his vocal contributions to “Grey Goose Chase”, I’m not sure I care. This is a prototypical song about drinking a woman off your mind – what used to be described as “the endless ballads of booze and broads” except this isn’t a ballad.
Brad generously gives Johnny Cash co-writing credit on “Gold All Over The Ground” although some stage comments are the extent of JC’s involvement. This is a nice country ballad with some excellent steel guitar.
“Whispering Bill” Anderson co-wrote “Dying To See Her”, a nostalgic slow ballad and provides a narration. In this song an older man looks forward to reuniting with his departed love.
Imagine her
Standing there
Young again
Long brown hair
As he crosses over
To the other side
She smiles at him
He runs at her
With arms open wide
She was his reason for living
She was his rock and his best friend
Timbaland is back on “Solar Powered Girl”; this track features some banjo. The song is essentially about breaking loose and starting over.
Paisley traverses into the muck of modern politics on “The Devil is Alive and Well”, where he comments that some of the worst things are done in the name of God, which occasionally has been true.
Surf the web
Turn on the news
Same old story
Everyday
Hateful words
That we all use
So much anger
So much pain
I don’t know
If you believe in Heaven
I don’t know
If you believe in Hell
But I bet we can agree that the Devil
Is alive and well
Alive and well
“Meaning Again” is a mid-tempo ballad about moments of defeat redeemed by love on a daily basis.
Sittin’ on the interstate
The end of another day
Feeling tired, feeling beat up, feeling small
Sick of running this rat race
And Coming last placeFeeling like I don’t matter at all
Then I walk through the door
She says “I missed you, where ya been?”
And just like that
My life has meaning again
The album closes out with a reprise of “Heaven South”
Lyrically, there is not a song on this album that I dislike. There are songs on which I would change the production and/or instrumentation. I give this a B+ and can imagine that many others will like it more than I do.
1957 (Sales):Singing the Blues — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1957 (Jukebox): Singing the Blues — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1957 (Disc Jockeys): Singing the Blues — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1967: There Goes My Everything — Jack Greene (Decca)
1977: You Never Miss a Real Good Thing (Till He Says Goodbye) — Crystal Gayle (United Artists)
1987: What Am I Gonna Do About You — Reba McEntire (MCA)
1997: Nobody Knows — Kevin Sharp (Asylum)
2007: She’s Everything — Brad Paisley (Arista)
2017: Blue Ain’t Your Color — Keith Urban (Capitol)
2017 (Airplay): Blue Ain’t Your Color — Keith Urban (Capitol)
1957 (Sales):Singing the Blues — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1957 (Jukebox): Singing the Blues — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1957 (Disc Jockeys): Singing the Blues — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1967: There Goes My Everything — Jack Greene (Decca)
1977: Broken Down In Tiny Pieces — Billy “Crash” Craddock (ABC/Dot)
1987: Give Me Wings — Michael Johnson (RCA)
1997: Nobody Knows — Kevin Sharp (Asylum)
2007: She’s Everything — Brad Paisley (Arista)
2017: Blue Ain’t Your Color — Keith Urban (Capitol)
2017 (Airplay): Blue Ain’t Your Color — Keith Urban (Capitol)
My Kind of Country 