Why does everyone hate Country music?

[Hornblower]

OK, I'm 50 years old and I started playing music when I was 9. I worked semi-pro (jazz bands) from the age of 14 and then pro for 15 years (bands and session work). I've played just about every style of music and love all music provided the quality is there. My iPod contains about 3,000 tracks including Coltrane, Eminem, The Hives, Dinosaur Jr. Polar Bear, NWA, Ornette Coleman, Elvis Costello, Dylan, Wilco, Zappa, Ambulance, Arcade Fire, Keith Jarrett, Kings of Leon; a small selection to illustrate the fact that my tastes are catholic in the extreme. But most of all I ADORE COUNTRY MUSIC! There it's out there now. For me it has everything, from the pure honesty of a Hank Williams song through to the extraordinary production values and musicianship of a Brad Paisley track and all bases in between, this music ticks more boxes for me than any other. My work took me to Nashville for a week in May and that sealed it.

And yet it seems that everone else in the UK hates it. Don't get me wrong, I would rather nail my old fellah to a plank of wood than line dance. And yes, as in all genres of music there is such a thing (or thang) as bad Country. But, why the total derision?

Finally, a true story to illustrate my point. I had the pleasure of meeting a guy called Bobby Herriott recently who played trumpet in the fabulous Buddy Rich band. When Buddy was taken to the hospital for the last time, he's lying on a gurney and being rushed through to the operating theatre when the nurse asks him if he is allergic to anything. Buddy manages to whisper "just two things, Country and Western".

 

[Wozza]

It's not so much the music - it's what goes with it.

The haircuts, the boots, the shirts, the DANCING...

 

[Easy 10]

Its the tassles.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I think it IS the music, as a lot of the 'country' that we are ever likely to hear in the UK media is 'Country-Lite' - Billy Ray Cyrus type bollocks.

I quite like the slower bluesier stuff, but you can keep your 'Yee-haa's thanks.

 

[tinx]

I like Johnny Cash if that counts

 

[Muzzman]

I don't mind country music at all, in fact I think I have a few tracks on My ipod too.

 

[aftershavedave]

i like it too, especially alt-countr stuff like son volt, uncle tupelo, kevin montgomery, peter bruntnell, alison krauss....it rocks!

 

[Icy Gull]

If we are talking Byrds, Poco, Dylan (Nashville Skyline), Gram Parsons and Neil Young, Manassas etc then I LOVE country music

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

I like Johnny Cash if that counts[/QUOTE

Agree. Everyone loves the Cash man don't they?

 

[Easy 10]

Mind you, for TV theme tunes, THIS is hard to top:

Well I\'m not the kind to kiss-and-tell, but I\'ve been seen with Farrah.
I\'ve never been with anything less than a nine, so fine.
I\'ve been on fire with Sally Field, gone fast with a girl named Bo.
But somehow they just don\'t end up as mine.

It\'s a death-defying life I lead. I take my chances.
I\'d die for living in the movies and TV.
But the hardest thing I ever do is watch my leading ladies
Kiss some other guy while I\'m bandaging my knee.

I might fall from a tall building, I might roll a brand new car,
\'Cause I\'m the Unknown Stuntman that made Redford such a star.

I\'ve never spent much time in school, but I\'ve taught ladies plenty.
It\'s true I hire my body out for pay, hey, hey.
I\'ve gotten burned over Cheryl Tiegs, blown up for Raquel Welch,
But when I wind up in the hay, it\'s only hay, hey, hey.

I might jump an open drawbridge, or Tarzan from a vine,
\'Cause I\'m the Unknown Stuntman that makes Eastwood look so fine.

They\'ll never make me president but I\'ve got the best first ladies.
Some days I\'ve got \'em as far as the eye can see.
A morning dive with Jackie Smith, I crash in the night with Cheryl,
But in the end they never stay with me.

I might fall from a tall building so Burt Reynolds don’t get hurt,
Leap a mighty canyon, so he can kiss and flirt,
But, while that smooth talker’s kissing my girl, I’m just kissing dirt,
‘Cause I’m the unknown stuntman that made a lover out of Burt...


NOw thats just GENIUS

 

[Lady Whistledown]

"Your Wife Don't Understand You" - Lurleen Lumpkin

You work all day for some old man
You sweat and break your back
Then you go home to your castle
But your queen won't cut you slack
That's why you're losin' all your hair
That's why you're overweight
That's why you flipped your pick-up truck right off the interstate

Now, you talk so tough and act so rough
But darlin' you can't hide
The heartache and the sadness
That's buried deep inside
There's a lot of bull they hand you
There's nothin' you can do
Your wife don't understand you
But I do
No, your wife don't understand you
But I do
I said your wife don't understand you
But I do

 

[aftershavedave]

If we are talking Byrds, Poco, Dylan (Nashville Skyline), Gram Parsons and Neil Young, Manassas etc then I LOVE country music

stetson-tastic music there icy

 

[Hornblower]

Yes! Alt-Country, Calexico, Giant Sand, The Handsome Family, Pernice Brothers, Felice Brothers, The Mendoza Line, Nadine, Lambchop etc.

But also, Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Sarah Evans, Lucinda Williams Emmylou, Randy Travis, Travis Tritt etc.

 

[Franks Wild Years]

Gillian Welsh
Willard Grant Conspiracy
Rosie Thomas
Calexico
Handsome Family
Alison Krauss
Iron and Wine
Bonnie Prince Billy

etc etc etc

All good new country acts. And not a tassle between them.

 

[Monkster]

Mind you, for TV theme tunes, THIS is hard to top:

Well I\'m not the kind to kiss-and-tell, but I\'ve been seen with Farrah.
I\'ve never been with anything less than a nine, so fine.
I\'ve been on fire with Sally Field, gone fast with a girl named Bo.
But somehow they just don\'t end up as mine.

It\'s a death-defying life I lead. I take my chances.
I\'d die for living in the movies and TV.
But the hardest thing I ever do is watch my leading ladies
Kiss some other guy while I\'m bandaging my knee.

I might fall from a tall building, I might roll a brand new car,
\'Cause I\'m the Unknown Stuntman that made Redford such a star.

I\'ve never spent much time in school, but I\'ve taught ladies plenty.
It\'s true I hire my body out for pay, hey, hey.
I\'ve gotten burned over Cheryl Tiegs, blown up for Raquel Welch,
But when I wind up in the hay, it\'s only hay, hey, hey.

I might jump an open drawbridge, or Tarzan from a vine,
\'Cause I\'m the Unknown Stuntman that makes Eastwood look so fine.

They\'ll never make me president but I\'ve got the best first ladies.
Some days I\'ve got \'em as far as the eye can see.
A morning dive with Jackie Smith, I crash in the night with Cheryl,
But in the end they never stay with me.

I might fall from a tall building so Burt Reynolds don’t get hurt,
Leap a mighty canyon, so he can kiss and flirt,
But, while that smooth talker’s kissing my girl, I’m just kissing dirt,
‘Cause I’m the unknown stuntman that made a lover out of Burt...


NOw thats just GENIUS

Arhhhh, Lee Majors - MY Ringtone

 

[csider]

Simple answer..............its shit, and way too much Yeehaa.....keep it in America along with Michael Jackson.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille...

 

[Row Z Creased Shirt]

There's more to country than the cheesy spangly nonsense associated with the worst excesses of Nashville. I also must be outed as a fan of country, particularly bluegrass and the more modern alt-country stuff.

If you do like this sort of music then there are worst place to be than Brighton, thanks to people like the Gilded Palace of Sin who manage to get acts as diverse as the honky tonk legend James 'Slim' Hand, bluegrass boys The Chatham County Line, and the Steve Earle meets Johnny Cash tortured soul that is Stephen Simmons.

And there are fair few Brighton bands too including The Mountain Firework Company, Jamestown Union and The Blue Hearts. And on the darker side of noir-country there are the excellent Salter Cane and She Said.

 

[Hornblower]

Simple answer..............its shit, and way too much Yeehaa.....keep it in America along with Michael Jackson.

Ahhh, now that's more like it! A musicologists opinion.

 

[bhaexpress]

It could be that it's dreay and simple and it portrays to a 'T' the insular approach of so many Americans. I had to enure a lot of it in Oklahoma and it's dire ! Still, to be fair I like reggae even less and I have never been to the West Indies !