Missing 1990's Country Music While Acknowledging Things Change

I wish they were making country music like they did in the 1990’s. As my favorite artist Alan Jackson celebrates his 25^th year in country music, I find current state of country music to be less than appealing. I like some of the acts, but on the whole it is more or less songs about the same things – trucks, beer, hot women, etc.

The music industry as a whole has changed. Full length albums are out. Album sales are now small and unimportant. Instead the music industry is now about hit singles and touring. This ironically was how things use to be in country music. The 50, 60, and first half of the 70’s were all about hit singles and touring while album sales were small. Then Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kenny Rogers, and Alabama came along and large album sales totals became the thing to have.

What once was is not likely coming back. As time moves on things change, but it does not mean we cannot remember and relive great music from our past. I encourage anyone who likes good music to check out great country artists like Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Reba McEntire, Vince Gill, Clint Black, and two personal favorites of mine Patty Loveless and Pam Tillis.

I learned long ago we do not all like the same thing, and that is a good thing. If we all liked or disliked the same thing life would become monotonous. And while Taylor Swift and Jason Aldean are disliked by many, they are also loved by many.

I started this blog as a graduate school project. I got that Master of Science degree expecting to get a one job field and ended up in another. Life does not always go as planned. Country Music use to be something super important to me. I loved listening to it. I bought lots of albums and went to lots of concerts. But like Taylor Swift – who is following the Olivia Newton John plan on how to morph from a country to a pop star – we all change. I still like to listen to country music, and but I don’t buy albums or go to many concerts much anymore. Part of it is the money it cost; part is the lack of good music from the current artists.

I missed out on the Garth Brooks show here earlier this year, and I will miss out on the Kenny Chesney – Jason Aldean show at Target Field. That is what happens when you cannot afford $200-$500 evening that includes concert tickets, parking, food and beverage. Back in the 90’s I saw Alan Jackson and Faith Hill $25 and got free parking at the Minnesota State Fair. Oh how things have changed.

Country music has changed from the 90’s too. Some think for the better, some think for the worse. I tell people it is okay to think either way. I have my opinion, but that does not have to be yours. 

A Look Back at the 1991 CMA Awards

TV screen shot of President & Mrs George H W Bush with Reba McEntire at the 1991 CMA Awards

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The 1991 CMA Awards marked the 25th Anniversary of the awards which was a big enough reason to celebrate. However, a bigger reason came when noted country music fans President George H. W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush announced they would be attending the show.

President Bush was the first president to attend a music award show, so it made all the national news shows, and generated incredible amount of free publicity for the show and country music.

Hosted by Reba McEntire, the show is significant for another reason. It signaled a new era of country music an era that would propel country to a new huge level of popularity, and alter America and world’s perception of country music.

As you read on remember the show was only two hours in length, and all the awards were given during the show. Also Female Vocalist of Year Kathy Maetta and Lorrie Morgan did not get to perform while fellow nominee Patty Loveless only got to sing on a Vince Gill song. Think that is bad? No one of the vocal group or duo of the year nominees got to perform. Tanya Tucker won the Female Vocalist of the Year, but was not there to accept for perform because she was in the hospital having just given birth.

To open the show Ricky Skaggs, Steve Warnier, Vince Gill sang “That’s Where I’ll Be Found” with an all-star band featuring amongst others Mark O’ Connor, Carl Perkins, Bill Monroe, Marty Stuart, and Earl & Randy Scruggs.

President and Mrs Bush arrived after the first song, introduced by host Reba McEntire. Roy Rogers was the first artist to shake the President’s hand, Alan Jackson was the second. Country legend Roy Acuff sat next to Barbra while Crystal Gayle sat next to President Bush. Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Kenny Rogers, and George Strait sat in front of President who for security reasons was sat in the second row.

It should be noted the seating assignment of Crystal Gayle next to President Bush was intentional. Not only did President Bush love her music, she and her elder sister Loretta Lynn were major supporters of his. It also should be noted that the show as held at the Grand Ole Opry House where there are not seats, but pew benches, so people were literally rubbing elbows with each other.

12 minutes into the show the 2^nd musical performance. Yes, I said 12 minutes. Today award shows probably would have had four performances in the first 12 minutes. George Strait performed “You Know Me Better That”. Strait was a good friend of President Bush who loved his music. Strait was also the two-time reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year.

In a fashion statement worthy of a country music act, The Kentucky Hunters accepted their Group of the Year award wearing their FFA (Future Farmers of American) jackets. I suspect several viewers that night were former or current members of the FFA.

Trisha Yearwood sang “She’s in Love the Boy”. Alan Jackson performed “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” Vince Gill & Patty Loveless did “Pocket Full of Gold”, and Clint Black & Roy Rogers sang “Hold on Partner”. Jackson and Gill were exploding on the scene in 1991, and both would go on to significant success. Black on the other hand would begin to decent from lofty success he had achieved in 1989 – 90.

Namoni and Wynonna Judd appeared to introduce the nominees for the Horizon Award which is given to the best new artist. Each of the nominees was given a performance slot which showed how committed the CMA at the time was to promoting new artists. Travis Tritt “Here’s a Quarter”, Doug Stone “In Different Light”, Pam Tillis “Put Yourself in My Place,” Mark Chesutt “Brother Jukebox” and Mary Chapin Carpenter “Down at the Twist and Shout,” were the performers. Tritt won the award, but Carpenter won the most praise for her performance. I, on the other hand, love “Brother Jukebox” and have always thought Chesnutt was an under appreciated artist though he would be nominated for the award again the next year and win.

Former pro football player and accomplished song writer Mike Reid – did a melody of songs he had written for others and Walk on Faith a song he had recorded in 1990 and became a #1 hit for him. He was followed by one Garth Brooks doing “Shameless.”

Dolly Parton simply walked out on stage with no introduction to perform “She’s an Eagle” which dedicated to Mrs. Bush. Reba McEntire finished the performances with “For My Broken Heart."

As he accepted the Entertainer of the Year Award Garth Brooks said “no body is anything without his heroes. I love my George’s – George Strait, George Jones - thank you guys.” (pause) “No offense Mr. President. Sorry.” Everyone roared with laughter including the Bushes.

Roy Acuff, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Ray Price, Barbara Mandrell, the Judds, Eddy Arnold, Anne Murray, Buck Owens, Kathy Maetta, Rickey Van Shelton, Larry Gatlin, Alabama, Roy Rogers and Sweethearts of the Rodeo were all in attendance that night. Still 9 and the 15 performance slots went to Brooks, Jackson, Gill, Yearwood, Tritt, Black, Stone, Chesnutt, and Carpenter all artists who charted the first country single in 1989 or later. The show opening number was a great way to get a lot of older artists like Ricky Skaggs and Bill Monroe involved, but it was obvious which generation the night belonged too. A new generation of country artists was about to take Country Music to heights it had never seen before.

Country Power Index (CPI)

For the fun of it I decided to assign 1 point for every million albums sold, every #1 song, every top 10 song, every CMA award, and every ACM award a country music artist achieved over their career. For example if you had sold 10 million records, had 10 #1 songs, had 30 top 10 songs, won 5 CMA’s and 5 ACM’s you would have 60 points. Artists with say 10.5 million records sold would get 10.5 points.

I used RIAA certifications to measure album sales, and Billboard Magazines country charts to measure #1 and top 10 country songs.

Of course there are possible inequities in this process as older artists from the 60’s and 70’s were not credited with selling as many albums as they did, and in the last few years record sales have flagged due to people just digitally downloading the songs they like rather than buying the whole album. On the other hand older artists had longer careers as artists who could chart songs meaning they were able to amass more top 10 and #1 singles.

Also Brooks & Dunn won a lot of CMA and ACM awards for being vocal duo of the year when really they had no competition whereas male and female solo artists had a great deal more competition for their awards.

I call my measurement the Country Power Index or CPI. Of course CPI does not measure artistic impact, so whether someone is considered a great singer or whether they have classic songs that will last beyond their lifetime is not factored in. Instead CPI shows an artist dominance of the airwaves, retail sales, and award shows.

I also want to point out that while I did my best to be accurate, there could be mistakes in these calculations.

Here now are the top 15 artists of all-time and their scores:

George Strait – 228

Garth Brooks – 207

Alan Jackson – 150.5

Alabama – 150

Reba McEntire – 139.5

Merle Haggard - 136.5

Conway Twitty - 131

Brooks & Dunn – 130

Tim McGraw – 125

Eddie Arnold – 123

Kenny Rogers – 119

Willie Nelson – 109

George Jones - 108

Dolly Parton – 105.5

Ronnie Milsap – 102

Notice only 2 female artists (Reba & Dolly) show up. This proves what has long been known – that country music has always been a male artist format. Otherwise I am not surprised who is on this list as each of these artists were dominate forces in country music for many years.

In case you are looking for country icons named Johnny, Waylon, Loretta, and Tammy. Here are their scores:

Johnny Cash – 96

Waylon Jennings – 86.5

Loretta Lynn – 84.5

Tammy Wynette - 59.5

Here are the top 5 amongst those artists who emerged in the 80’s. You could point out Strait and McEntire benefitted from having great success in the 90’s as the well 80’s while the other 3 artists on this list earned most of their points during the 80’s. I did not have the time to break out Strait and McEntire’s scores by decade. It would have be interesting to see how made points they earned in each decade.

George Strait – 228

Alabama – 150

Reba McEntire – 139.5

Hank Williams Jr. – 82.5

Randy Travis – 75.5

Here are the top 10 amongst artists who emerged in the 90’s. In case you are wondering – and I am sure someone is – Billy Ray Cyrus scored a 19.5 and LeAnn Rimes a 33.

I think this list includes most of the dominate artists of 90’s though again you could point out many of the artists (Chesney and Keith especially) earned point in the 2000’s as well as the 90’s.

Garth Brooks – 207

Alan Jackson – 150.5

Brooks & Dunn – 130

Tim McGraw – 125

Kenny Cheseny - 93

Toby Keith – 86

Shania Twain – 75

Vince Gill – 75

Dixie Chicks – 68.5

Faith Hill – 67.5

Here are the top 5 artists amongst those who emerged in the 00’s. Paisley has won a bunch of awards which is why he is so out front. Underwood and Swift have amassed their numbers with far fewer years in the industry than the others, so I expect them to eventually overtake Urban and RF.

Brad Paisley – 80

Rascal Flatts – 69

Keith Urban – 51.5

Carrie Underwood – 48

Taylor Swift - 39

Finally a look at the group of country artists who in 1989 revived country music, and set the stage for all the success country music has achieved since. They are collectively called the Class of 89. While officially the group consists of Garth, Alan, Clint, Travis, and Mary Chapin. I also added Vince and Lorrie as both really had their commercial breakthrough in 1989.

Garth Brooks – 207

Alan Jackson – 150.5

Vince Gill – 75

Clint Black – 58.5

Travis Tritt – 39

Lorrie Morgan – 24.5

Mary Chapin Carpenter – 22.5

If this was 1995 I would have told you that Black, Tritt, and Carpenter would have had higher scores. However that is not the case. It just proves you have to judge an artists career over an extended period of time, and in its own way CPI does just that.

Random Thoughts on Country Music

Here are some of my random thoughts regarding events in the country music world so far this year.

New Music

The only new country music I have gotten into lately is from artists on the far fringe of the country genre. The Civil Wars is a duo that makes acoustic orientated music that might qualify as country. Whatever it is I have to say it is reverting to listen to even if the subjects and lyrics are depressing.

Crystal Bowersox is a former American Idol contestant who is not exactly country, but is pushing her new single “Farmer’s Daughter” to country radio. The song is about her troubled relationship with her mother. The song is sung with great passion and some anger which sets it aside from the bland, generic music I heard every time I turn on and then quickly turn off my country radio station.

Alan Jackson Down Under

My favorite country singer Alan Jackson is touring Australia for the first time in his 22 year career. I have read and heard he is a big star there, and his all shows are sold-out. While I think it is great he finally got over there, I have wonder what took him so long. 22 years and he never got there? I wonder if it was just too easy and too lucrative for him to keep touring in the United States every year, though we can never know for sure because we are not inside Alan Jackson’s head. Hopefully he won’t wait 22 more years to go back again.

Lady A Grammy Wins

I cannot get pumped up about Lady Antebellum’s big Grammy wins for their massive hit “Need You Know”. I think it is their best song, but for the most part I am not into their music. I know numerous other folks are into them, and I think that is great. We all should be allowed to listen to what we want, not what other people think we should.

Reba McEntire Finally Gets Into the Country Music Hall of Fame

After Alabama and George Strait were elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005 & 2006 respectively, I was certain 2007 would bring the election of Reba McEntire. Alabama, Strait, and McEntire debuted at roughly the same time rose to super-stardom in the 80’s with Strait and McEntire carrying on their super-stardom into the 90’s.

Instead Vince Gill was elected in 2007, and McEntire had to wait 4 more years till she was finally elected this year. I think it was it wrong to elect Gill ahead of McEntire. McEntire has achieved far more than Gill, and has been around longer. She certainly deserved entry into the Hall of Fame before him. He would likely agree.

Unfortunately like all voting, voting for the Country Music Hall of Fame is not a non-bias activity. Gill is a popular guy amongst the voters, and they rewarded him. Other folks like Kenny Rogers and Garth Brooks are not so popular with voters, and they will have to wait for induction.

That is not fair, but it is the way the system works. Nonetheless it is great to see Reba McEntire get her just due. Hopefully Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, the Judds, Dwight Yoakam, and Randy Travis will be amongst those who join her in the next few years.

Country Music's CMA Awards 2010

The country music I loved died a while back and has been replaced by the pop light music now being passed off as country music. A few artists still make music I like such as Miranda Lambert. I was pleased to see Lambert received 9 nominations for this year’s Country Music Association Awards (CMA).

Lambert received two nominations each for Single and Song of the Year. Usually this means she won’t win the either category because the two songs split the vote, but that is not always the case. In 2002 Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You (When the World Stop Turning)” won Single and Song of the Year even though Jackson’s “Drive (For Daddy Gene)” was also nominated for Single and Song of Year. That said “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” had such momentum that no song that year was even close to it in creed and popularity.

I expect Lambert to win Female Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year. Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” will likely win Single and Song of the Year.

Much of the discussion about the CMA nominations centers on Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood being excluded from the Entertainer of the Year nominations. I was surprised too, but there is some precedent to this.

In 1998 the CMA bestowed the Entertainer of the Year on Shania Twain and then failed to nominate her the next year. The same thing has now happened to Taylor Swift who won last year and was not nominated this year. The reason is simple, the CMA voting membership dislikes Swift’s blatant attempt to make pop music and call it country just as they disliked Twain’s similar attempt. Of course the hypocrites who point their fingers at Swift are the same people who are systematically destroying traditional country music by producing the watered down pop music that is today called country music.

Carrie Underwood’s case is more complex, but none less hypocritical. Underwood is artist of great vocal talent who seems to represent all the good traits a country artist is suppose to represent. Underwood has also embraced country music’s past while trying to keep her pop audience gained when she won American Idol.

Underwood was a blessing to country music when she arrived. She was a ready made star who looked fabulous and sang even better. The country music world could not wait to build Underwood up as a mega-star. However, our society loves building people up only to systematically tear them back down. Call it the backlash against being to successful.

Underwood sang too good, looked too beautiful, sold too many albums, got too many #1 singles, and won too many awards. It happened to the Judds and Randy Travis. They were highly successful only to be denied the CMA Entertainer of the Year Award because they were jealously viewed as “too successful”. It also happened to Garth Brooks who after a string of amazing successes was sent into exile by the CMA. Today Brooks is seen as a greedy egoist; no matter that his drive to sell more albums, play to more fans, and be the center of attention was always part of who he was and help him make himself and country music more successful.

George Strait, Alan Jackson, and Brooks & Dunn are about the only people to survive this backlash against success, but even they were not completely immune. Now Brooks & Dunn have retired. Jackson is aging and not the commercial force he once was. Strait is not young either who could retire a moment’s notice.

Underwood may be able to reverse this backlash. She may make that album or record that song that is so good no one can deny her. Until then it is Miranda Lambert’s world, or it is until backlash against her success begins.

A New Era in Country Music

Country artists from different eras come together to honor Alan Jackson at the CMT Giants event in 2008. Pictured are George Jones, Taylor Swift, George Strait, Denise & Alan Jackson, Hank Williams Jr. Martina McBride, Lee Ann Womack, Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, and Brad Paisley.

Carrie Underwood’s back to back ACM Entertainer of the Year wins and Taylor Swift’s 2009 CMA Entertainer of the Year win confirmed what I had been thinking for the past few months, that there is new era in country music lead by co-mega stars Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift. This new era likely started its genesis some time in late 2008, but now has come into full bloom in 2010.

Below I have provided a handy guide to each country era of the last 25 odd years, and highlight some of the super-stars of those eras.

The New Traditionalist era (1984-1989)

Traditional country music made a comeback in this era, but album sales were still stagnate. Many people romanticize about this era as being the last great era of country music, but that is simply not the case. In fact during this era country music was still considered an ugly step child mocked by mainstream music media and critics. It was only after the Class of 89 pushed country music to a new level of acceptance that mainstream media and critics began to romanticize about this era’s greatness as a way to “put down” the Class of 89. It seems with the mainstream media and critics the past is always better than the present.

George Strait – Strait transcends all country music eras, but this was the era that launched him. He is the only artist in music to chart a top 10 single for 30 years straight.

Reba McEntire - She was big in the 80’s then became huge in the early 90’s. Today she looks like an aging mother, or dare we say grandmother compared to Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift, yet somehow she keeps rolling on though not a consistently as George Strait has.

Randy Travis – In 1986 he took country music by storm and may well have been this era’s biggest star, but by 1990 he already was on the fade. It was roughly a three album reign as a superstar.

The Judds – Mother Namoni and daughter Wynonna formed the hippest act of this era. People forget that the Judds were once so cool that even many non-country fans were into them. The Judds music has worn well, but the ladies themselves have spent to much time living out their personal dramas in public.

Hank Williams Jr. – Son of the greatest country singer of all-time, Hank Jr. carved out of very success solo career that spanned the 80’s. Commercial success disappeared in the 90’s, but he remains an icon.

Alabama – They were the superstars of the era before this one, but their success carried over. Others artists get more shout outs than Alabama when it comes time to talk about the legends of country music who have made an impact in the 80’s, but Alabama is more deserving than people think.

Class of 89 era (1989-1996)

The Class of 89 not only saved country music, but made it a major player in the greater entertainment world. While some believe this era’s artists (mainly Garth) started the ruin of country music, the truth is this group carried on the traditional country mantel, and never really courted pop radio. The goal of these artists was not to go and cater to pop music fans, but to lure pop music fans to country music and country music radio. In my opinion (and growing number of others) this is the greatest of the eras covered in this piece of writing.

Garth Brooks – He dominated this era. His greatest achievement was getting droves of non-country music fans to take notice of the genre. He boosted every country act’s sales by his ability to promote not only Garth, but country music as a whole.

Alan Jackson - An amazing artist whose commercial and artistic success is unparalleled. He will be the artist most remembered from this era because his body of musical work is unmatched.

Vince Gill – A gifted singer, songwriter, and guitarist who won 18 CMA Awards. Amazingly he won only 4 ACM Awards. That disparity is the largest among any artists. Why did it happen? Who knows, but what is known is Gill’s commercial success had faded by the late 90’s.

Clint Black – His first album “Killin’ Time” was great. His subsequent albums were not so great. He spent too much time wanting to record only songs he had written, and fighting with his ex-manager Bill Ham.

Travis Tritt – Another artist who started strong then faded. He should never have gotten into that feud with Billy Ray Cyrus. He also never had the songs to make good use of his great voice.

Mary Chapin Carpenter - In reality she had one truly successful album – “Come On Come On”. This album produced 4 of her 9 top ten hits and sold 4 million copies which is almost half of her total sales.

Brooks & Dunn – Ronnie Dunn has one of the greatest voices in country music history. Kix Brooks had great stage presence and energy. Both were gifted writers. 20 years of successes will come in an end in 2010 as the duo is retiring as an act.

Wynonna Judd – After her success with the Judds and her wildly successful debut album, Wynonna seemed set for a ten year run as superstar. It never happened.

Billy Ray Cyrus – One monstrous (“Achy Breaky Heart”) hit propelled him to superstardom. It also doomed his career. Luckily he had a daughter (teen pop sensation Miley Cyrus) who was able to get a job to pay the bills.

John Michael Montgomery - He was one of the least acknowledged country superstars ever. He had three straight multiplatinum selling albums and a string of hit songs, and yet no one seems to mention him among successful artists of this era. Personally I was not a big fan of his music. In fact I think it’s downright bad.

The Women Rule era (1996-2002)

This is the era when country music became country pop. Shania Twain was the first to cross over to pop music by making pop version of her country songs, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, and others followed. While creating pop versions of country songs was not invented in this era, it became an epidemic. Instead of bringing pop fans to country music, the country artists morphed into pop stars and went to the pop fans on the pop fans’ terms.

Country radio however wanted to have captive audience; an audience that would listen only to country radio because that was the only place you could heard a particular artist. Once country radio realized they no longer had this with most the female superstars (Shania, Faith, LeAnn, and others) of this era, country radio shifted to artists less likely to be heard on pop radio which brought forth the Return of the Men Era.

This era marks the beginning of the end of the country music industry as a homogonous entity. No longer were country artists promoting themselves and country music as a whole, but the artists were now just promoting themselves.

Shania Twain - Twain was the master of living in both the country and pop world. Twain mixed country instruments with pop music arrangements and came away with big success. She made lots of fans and lots of enemies in the process. Twain has not released a studio album in 8 years, so it will be interesting to see what happens if or when she releases a new studio album.

Dixie Chicks - This traditional leaning trio was much loved for their music, but their outspokenness ended their hold on country music. Now considered more a pop group, the question remains where will go with their next album? The political foils (President Bush, Toby Keith, country radio) are either gone (Bush), fading (Keith), or on to other things (country radio is living large with Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift). Now 11 years after their debut, the Chicks may not find the commercial success they once had. Do they care? Who knows, but it will be interesting to see what happens.

Faith Hill – At first she seemed to be a refreshing good old gal from Mississippi, but then Hill made herself into the blonde Shania. It worked for a while then things started going wrong. In a way the country music industry seem to feel worse about Hill going pop than Twain as Twain was never seen as a part of the country music family while Hill was.

Tim McGraw - He is not a great singer, but for the most part he has mastered the art of song selection. With some exceptions McGraw has recorded and released good songs which touch people one way or another. He may never be Strait, Jackson, Brooks or Gill, but he is a cut above most male country artists

Martina McBride – She tried to remain more country than Twain and Hill, and it helped with awards and country radio play. However, it seems that her time is up. Her latest album “Shine” is tanking. McBride never sang true traditional country, and her penchant for singing “preaching” songs grew old.

LeAnn Rimes - Many expected more from Rimes. She has such a great voice, but instead of a superstar career in country music, she became a so-so country artist and a mediocre pop star.

Deana Carter - A true one album wonder. Who would have thought her career would have ended so quickly. She seemed to have it all voice, songwriting talent, and good looks.

The Return of the Men era (2002-2007)

Women 25-55 have always been a key demographic in country music radio’s listening audience. It is in this era that female 25-55 demographic became literally all encompassing. The wishes of this soccer mom audience became the command of country record labels and country radio. The soccer moms wanted good looking guys singing songs of love. An occasional funny ditty was welcomed as well.

Knowing that male artists had a harder time getting played on pop radio thereby making country radio the only place male artists could be heard, and knowing that playing male artists would keep the 25-55 female audience tuned in, country radio went male artist heavy.

George Strait, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Tim McGraw, and Garth Brooks were allowed to continue on, but female artists were thrown aside. This era had some good music, but the complaints of water down country music began to rise exponentially during this era. Kenny Chesney and Rascal Flatts especially came under attack.

Also this era begins to see albums sales decline. Fans of pop music began getting their music via the Internet not on cd. Country fans lagged behind on this trend, but the trend started to take hold during this period.

Kenny Chesney - It took years for Chesney to finally hit the big time (his big break came off publicity generated from his stealing and riding a police horse at the George Strait Music Festival in the late 90’s), and it was a great run. However, trends seem to show the days of his tropical island flavored countrys seem to be coming to an end.

Toby Keith - His macho country help make him a super-star, but he spent to much time on it instead of the great ballads he use to sing.

Keith Urban - He can play guitar, sing, write, and has huge stage presence. The fact he is married to movie star Nicole Kidman only adds to his hipness, and yes likely his happiness.

Brad Paisley - He was more traditional country when he started, but Paisley seems to be in the zone right now. Like Urban he can sing, write and play guitar.

Rascal Flatts - Loved by many hated by many, RF continues to charts hits, sell records, and draw big crowds on the road. They will never garner many industry awards or respect though

Gretchen Wilson and the Muzik Manfia - The only female artist to rise during this period, Wilson redneck pride image eventually worked against her with the arrival of the more beautiful and youthful Carrie and Taylor. However, for a brief moment Wilson seemed to be the queen of country music.

The Raise of the Young Women of Country era (2008-

The soccer moms are now discovering that they have company - their daughters and sons. While other eras of country music most notably the Class of 89 era bought in the youth audience, this era seems to have made major inroads to the youth market. Give credit to Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, and Taylor Swift for this change in country music’s audience demographics.

Teenage girls see Carrie, Miranda, and Taylor as friends and role models. Teenage boys see Carrie, Miranda, and Taylor as someone they want to date and possibly marry.

Taylor Swift has shown the country music industry the new way to reach young fans is via Internet social media sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Now a presence on social media sites is a requirement for all country artists.

Surprisingly no solo male superstars have emerged since the arrival of Brad Paisley, Keith Urban back around 2000. Country audiences continue to migrate toward getting their music from the Internet, but many fans still cling to their cds.

Carrie Underwood – Winner of the wildly popular televised pop music competition “American Idol”, Underwood stormed into Nashville already a star. Her rise to mega-stardom has been marked by a surprise clinging to country music tradition. She has joined the Grand Ole Opry and espoused the music of Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, and other country legends. While many see her only as country pop singer, she seems to be lending more towards mixing traditional country with her country pop. Without a doubt Underwood is one of the most gifted singers to appear in country music in decades.

Taylor Swift – Swift is a talented singer-songwriting teenager whose writing ability is far superior to her actual singing. Her gifts don’t stop at songwriting. Her ability to understand that her fan base now communicates with each other in new way (via social media on the Internet) put her on the cutting edge of a new music marketing era.

Sugarland – This once time group is now a duo that consists of gifted lead vocals Jennifer Nettles and her male music partner Kristen Bush. Sugarland is the country version of the Eurhythmics where the lead singing female vocals comes to dominate the group. Sugarland members do not have much in the way of country music backgrounds, and their sound are definitely country-pop, but the music and personalities have engaged a country music audience.

Miranda Lambert – Her kick ass traditional country music may not get played as much as some on country radio, but it sure sells cds. She beloved by music critics and music industry professionals, and her new album Revolution was the best album released in 2009.

Lady Antebellum – Hilary Scott, Charles Kelly, and Dave Haywood form an interesting trio. Scott (daughter of country artist Linda Davis) and Kelly share lead vocals. In a way they are the country Fleetwood Mac.

Class of 89 - Garth Brooks

In honor of the 20th anniversary of debut of Country Music Class of 89, I am writing a series of posts on each of the artists. I am including those artists who debuted in 1989 – Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Travis Tritt, and Mary Chapin Carpenter. I am also including artists – Vince Gill and Lorrie Morgan – who had their first true commercial impact in 1989.

Decided to do two post today. This post will be on Garth Brooks.

Garth Brooks seems like a complicated figure, but he is not. Garth Brooks is simply a performer. He is not a singer or a songwriter though those are part of his performer makeup. He is an artist, but he is a performance artist not a music artist. Garth Brooks is all about the performance – not just when performs music in concert, but when he holds a news conference, makes an appearance, or even seems to go into retirement.

When Garth debuted in 1989 he seemed an unlikely success story. But by the time his back to back career hits “The Dance” and “Friends in Low Places” had finished their runs at #1, he was more than a success story – he had altered how people perceived country music.

A truly great performer needs to command a stage. Garth Brooks commanded the stage. Whether he was singing alone with nothing but a guitar before a rapt audience of 50,000 or swinging from ropes above the same 50,000, Garth commanded attention. Garth had the ability to make even the person in the last row feel like they was part of the performance. Garth insisted they be part of his performance.

In 1996 Garth did not just sign autographs for people at Country Music’s Fan Fair for a couple of hours. He signed till everyone who wanted one got one even if it meant staying 23 straight hours. He was a performer; he could let the audience down. When he arrived for that autograph signing he did not come in limo with body guards. He drove his pickup truck right through the crowd then hopped out and walk right through the crowd which parted before him, awe at the sight of this superstar who seemed to be so real yet to transcendent.

I was always impressed to see when he won an award that was presented to him by a female he would remove his cowboy hat from his head. He was ever the gentleman, ever the heroic figure in the performance.

This is what people missed about Garth Brooks. It was never about his supposed rock concert performances. Other country artists before him (Hank Williams Jr.) and after him (Brooks & Dunn, Shania Twain, others) have performed rock like concerts, but they lack the mythos of Garth. Garth the heroic figure in the center of a never ending performance – the performance is not about the music, but the man. Garth is the performance, the songs are about him. He is the central figure in a never ending opera that continues on from the concert stage. His fans clung to his saga making it their own.

Garth climbed to the highest peaks; he sold the most albums, won the biggest awards, had the highest rated television specials a country artist ever had, brought country music to its highest heights. Yet once you get to the top you have to come down. Garth saw the drop coming, rode it out for awhile then decided the performance was over. He retired. Once in a while he comes out of retirement for brief moment back in the spotlight, but it is not the same. The audience is not what it once was.

Garth Brooks made country music better, he made it worse. He exposed country music to new audience made it new fans. He destroyed country music by making it too commercial; driving his successors to make it more like pop music in order to make it sell like Garth’s sold.

I like Garth Brooks’ singing. He has a great voice. I like “Much Too Young (To be This Damn Old)”, “The Dance”, “Friends in Low Places” and “The Thunder Rolls”; but since his second album “No Fences” his music has been ordinary. Garth simply became too much about Garth and not enough about the music. Too bad really Garth could have made some interesting and bold albums. Instead his only real attempt at doing something different he created an alter ego name Chris Gaines. Maybe Garth Brooks felt it would be anti-heroic to put out something other than was expected of him. If so, I think he was wrong.

Garth Brooks does not allow his music videos on YouTube or any other video site. Even CMT is not allowed to have any. Garth does not let his music on itunes. Instead Garth keeps his music only available on his album. He releases compilation albums of his old hits and include 3 or 4 new songs on them. Maybe it is his way of ensure good albums sales. Whatever his reasons, I think it is a mistake. He should allow fans to views his video; hear his songs on the Web. He might be surprise, people might really enjoy the performance.

20th Anniversary of the Class of 89

In February of 1989 Garth Brooks and Clint Black released their debut singles. Later in 1989 Alan Jackson and Travis Tritt did the same. These four men along with Mary Chapin would come to be known as the Class of 89 the greatest set of country music artists to debut in one single year. They helped re-shape country music in terms of music, marketing, and popularity.

Many years ago I built this Web page and wrote an article on the Class of 89. I still believe this group will be remembered as an amazing group of artists who made great music. 2009 marks the 20 year anniversary of the Class of 1989. Some folks like to add Vince Gill and Lorrie Morgan to this group because though they had released singles and albums before 1989 neither artist ever had any real commercial breakthroughs till 1989.

I was listening to country music back in 1989, so I got to experience the Class of 89 from the start. I have also seen some of them in concert. Here are some of my thoughts:

I was really into Garth Brooks when he first came out. “No Fences” was THE album to have if you were a country music fan. However by 1993 I felt his music was not as good. “The Chase” and all his albums since have never really grabbed me. I don’t mind his music, but I have no real passion for it. I think he will be remembered for his commercial success and for his two mega hits “Friends in Low Places” and “The Dance”.

I am a massive Alan Jackson fan. I have seen him concert 7 times including 94, 95, 96, 98, 99, 00, 04. I have all his albums and consider many of them brilliant. It’s ironic that in 89 he got off to a much slower start to stardom than Garth and Clint, but now he is only member of the Class of 89 still charting #1 hits and selling records. I believe Alan Jackson is the modern day Hank Wiliams Sr. and will be remember as one of the greatest country artists of all-time.

When I first heard Travis Tritt I thought he is an artist who could be something. He had a great voice. He could sing uptempo songs and sing ballad equally well. When I saw him in concert he was electric. It was rocking show with an amazing acoustic set where he did some of his ballads and a couple of classic country songs. I thought once he records that career album, gets that career song, he will be a massive star.

Of course that career album, that career song never really came. By 96 he was on the way down. He had a brief comeback in 2000, but that did not last. He is presently suing his most recent record label. Sad, I thought he would be more than he turned out to be.

I think Clint Black’s debut album “Killin’ Time” is one of the greatest country albums of all-time. His next two albums were not that bad either. After that most everything he released was garbage. Lots of people, including me, thought Clint was going be a big, big star for a long time. By 1997 Clint was done as a star. He is also suing his most recent label which is a shame as he was a part owner of that label.

I was into Mary Chapin Carpenter before most. I was really into her uptempo songs. When I saw her in concert in 1992, she was great. When her 1992 album “Come On Come On” sold 4 million copies and she won back to back CMA Female Vocalist of the Year in 92 and 93, I thought here is an artist who will charting hits and selling records for another ten years, but 95 marked the last year she had a top ten hit.

In the end Mary Chapin just wanted to make folk style ballads. Her uptempo songs disappeared and she just seemed adverse to fame. I have read where she said she battled depression for years before getting it under control. I wonder if that hindered her career.

Lori Morgan battled her ex-husbands. She has been married five times. I never really got into her music, but I knew people who did. She had the least success of the group, and was the first to really start fading. However she had a strong country roots, and she not bad looking. She even dated former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman and former U.S. Fred Thompson.

After Alan Jackson, Vince Gill was my favorite artist of early 90’s. I loved his voice, songwriting and guitar playing. He seemed to love country music and have a great personality. When I saw him in concert in 95 he exceed my expectations. I did get a little irritated with him when he kept winning all those CMA Awards. I felt others were others deserving and that people in the industry were voting for Vince because they personally liked him. However that never stopped me from loving his music.

By the late 90’s Vince Gill’s moment in the sun was gone. He has not done much commercially since 98. In 06 he release a four cd set of all new music that was good, but has not released any new music since. I have a feeling he will soon be leaving his long time label – MCA Nashville – and start recording for an independent label. Or he just might be kicking back and taking it easy.

The Class of 89 was amazing group, but the arrival of Shania Twain and her pushing country music more towards pop music really kinda sank most of the Class of 89. Still I believe the era of the Class of 89 (roughly 89-96) will be remembered as a great country music era. They really pushed the country music genre into the mainstream making it possible for other country artists to have even greater commercial success.

2008 CMA Award Nominations

The nominations for the 2008 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards have been announced. Overall I think they were alright. There were a few people I think should not have been nominated and a few who should have been.

Brooks & Dunn’s “Cowboy Town” should not have been nominated for Album of the Year. I thought Reba McEntire’s “Duets” album should have been nominated. LeAnn Rimes and Reba should have joined Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, and Miranda Lambert as Female Vocalist of the Year nominee. Also Alan Jackson’s “Small Town Southern Man” should have been nominated for Song of the Year.

However you can nitpick these things to death. I was pleased to see my prediction that Sugarland would be considered for Entertainer of the Year come true. I was also pleased to see my man Alan Jackson up for Male Vocalist, Album, Song, and Video of the Year.

Here are my predictions for the winners.

Entertainer of the Year will be Kenny Chesney. This will give him four EOY wins tying him with Garth Brooks for the most wins. I personally think Keith Urban should be the choice. I think his live performances and his music are superior to Kenny, but that is a personal preference.

Male Vocalist will be Brad Paisley. Since 1991 only one person, Toby Keith in 2001, has won this award and not won it at least a second time in a row. Paisley won last year for the first time, so the laws of percentages say he will win again. I prefer Alan Jackson here and he deserves it, but it is hard to not say Brad deserves it too.

Female Vocalist will be Miranda Lambert. Miranda is definitively deserving, and she is really making some great music. Of course Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift are the two best selling artist in country music right now. Underwood has won the last two FOY awards, but I get the feeling the industry is tiring of her winning all the time. There was a time in the 90’s when the CMA used the Female Vocalist Award to push female artists to the new level of stardom. I think that will happen here with Miranda.

Group of the will be Rascal Flatts. I think the CMA is tiring of RF as they were not nominated for Entertainer of the Year even though they had a big tour and sold some albums. It seemed to me that RF was never really accepted by the CMA and its voters. I think Lady Antebellum is more to the CMA voters liking, and will soon be taking over this award.

Duo of the Year will be Sugarland. I think they will have a big night. Nashville biggest female stars (Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, and Taylor Swift) are young, and country music core 25-54 female audience may not see them as one of them. Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles (age 34) is someone they can related too more wholly. The country music industry knows this and also knows Sugarland is selling a lot of albums. Country Music needs more superstars, especially with female voices, and the CMA will do its part in promoting Sugarland for that role.

The New Artist of the Year will be Lady Antebellum. Music folks think these guys are great, and the CMA voters will agree. I think Ashton Shepherd should have been dominated and won, but I was not consulted.

Album of the Year will hopefully be “Good Time” by Alan Jackson. I think it is the best album nominated. Of course the CMA could go for a more commercially successes album like Carrie Underwood or Kenny Chesney’s.

Single of the Year will be “Stay” by Sugarland. Simply put this song is sung powerfully and masterfully by a gifted vocalist in Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland.

Song of the Year will be “Stay” by Sugarland. Why? See above.

Video of the Year will be “Stay” by Sugarland. I still remember watching it for the first time on YouTube. Not much happens in the video, but it was definitely powerful.

Vocal Event of the Year Sugarland will win here with “Life in a Northern Town.” Never released a single, and only recorded during a live concert, this song was an improbable success.

Running the Table at the CMA & ACM

I have been doing some research on who wins CMA and ACM awards. What I have found offers some surprises

Amazingly only six Country Music artists can claim to have won both CMA & ACM Entertainer of Year and both CMA & AMC Vocalist (Male or Female) of the Year. They are:

George Strait, Reba McEntire, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, and Barbra Mandrell

I thought there would be more people. What happened to the others? Here are some notable near misses and what award or awards they are missing:

- Garth Brooks & Kenny Chesney have never won CMA Male Vocalist of the Year

- Alan Jackson, Vince Gill, Tim McGraw, Kenny Rogers, Glen Campbell, and Keith Urban have never won ACM Entertainer of the Year

- Toby Keith has never won CMA Entertainer of the Year

- Willie Nelson & Hank Williams Jr. have never won a Male Vocalist of Year Award from either the CMA or ACM

- Shania Twain has never won a Female Vocalist of the Year Award from either the CMA or ACM

- Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings have never won ACM Entertainer or ACM Male Vocalist of the Year.

- Tammy Wynette, Randy Travis, Faith Hill, and George Jones have never won Entertainer of the Year from either the CMA or ACM

- LeAnn Rimes, John Michael Montgomery, Travis Tritt, Billy Ray Cyrus, Dwight Yoakam, Roasanne Cash, have never won a vocalist or entertainer of the year award.

- I did not include groups or duos in my research.

I think it shows how hard it really is to win awards. While it seems like the same people always win that is not necessarily the case.

Six Country Songs Run the Table

What is the greatest country music song? For 40 years the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM) have given awards for Single and Song of the Year. However, only 12 times have they awarded Single of the Year to the same song. Those songs are:

Friends in Low Places – Garth Brooks
Chattahoochee – Alan Jackson
Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning) – Alan Jackson
Check Yes or No – George Strait
I Swear – John Michael Montgomery
I Hope You Dance – Lee Ann Womack
Okie From Muskogee – Merle Haggard
Behind Closed Doors – Charlie Rich
He Stopped Loving Her Today – George Jones
Always On My Mind – Willie Nelson
Forever and Ever, Amen – Randy Travis
Happiest Girl in the Whole USA – Donna Fargo
Eighteen Wheels & Dozen Roses – Kathy Maetta
Live Like You Were Dying – Tim McGraw

All of these are well known songs. However, only six of them have won both Single and Song of the Year from both the CMA and ACM. Those songs are:

Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning) – Alan Jackson
I Hope You Dance – Lee Ann Womack
Behind Closed Doors – Charlie Rich
He Stopped Loving Her Today – George Jones
Forever and Ever, Amen – Randy Travis
Live Like You Were Dying – Tim McGraw

So out of 40 years these are the only six songs who basically have run the table at the CMA and ACM shows. Is one of these six the greatest country music song? Maybe, maybe not, but one thing is for sure. Only one artist has taken home all four awards for the one song – Alan Jackson. Why? The CMA awards the artist for Single of the Year, and only the songwriters for Song of the Year. Of the above six songs, only Alan Jackson wrote his song.

Grammy Awards

The Gammy Awards were held yesterday and they continue to give the Grammies for country music to acts that did not deserve them. Usually the Grammy voters either go for a big-selling crossover country artist or an artist who is out of the mainstream. An actual mainstream, non-crossover country artist almost never wins.

Example, George Strait and Alan Jackson have never won a Grammy for Best Country Male Vocalist. Neither have Brad Paisley, Clint Black, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Travis Tritt, and Josh Turner. Garth Brooks and Dwight Yoakam have only won one apiece.

Vince Gill has won eight times. I love Vince Gill but he does not deserve eight wins, but the Grammy voters have become fixated on him.

Patty Loveless, Martina McBride, Pam Tillis, and Miranda Lambert have never won a Grammy for Best Country Female Vocalist while Reba McEntire has won only one.

Mary Chapin Carpenter has won four times, Shania Twain and Faith Hill twice. All of them were cross over artists whose music is more pop than country. Giving an award to a traditional female country artist seems almost to never cross Grammy voters mind.

This year winners were Keith Urban, who seems to known more for being Nicole Kidman’s husband then anything else, and former American Idol champion Carrie Underwood. I think Urban and Underwood make fine music, but they were not the best of this year’s nominees. Alan Jackson and Miranda Lambert were.

That does not matter to Grammy voters who think little of mainstream country music. All these voters want to push mainstream country music aside.

The Class of 89 - Country Music's Renaissance

Their arrival signaled a new era in Country Music. An era filled with platinum selling records, standing room only concerts, and new found respect for a music form perpetually looked down upon. They were called the Class of 89, a group of young, dynamic, singer-songwriters who emerged together over the course of the year 1989. They were diverse in style, sound, and background. Some of them exploded onto the scene, others would build up slowly, emerging with greater success in the years to follow. What they shared was a love of Country Music and a legacy of changing the Country Music landscape.

Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Travis Tritt, and Mary Chapin Carpenter are names recognizable to even the most peripheral country music fan. In January of 1988 it was a different story. Country Music was going through dramatic change. The new traditionalist movement lead by Randy Travis had taken Country back to its roots and made commercial inroads with record buyers. Travis entered 1988 on top of the Country charts with his hugely successful “Always & Forever” album, which would go multi-platinum within a year of its release, a nearly unheard of feat in Country Music.

Randy Travis’ success proved Country was ripe for a commercial boom, and every label in Nashville wanted to be part of it. With many aging stars fading, Nashville record labels were looking for young talent to supplement the new traditionalist artists. What the labels found was more than a supplement, it turned out to be new foundation for Country Music. Every member of the Class of 89 would come from a different record label. In fact one, Alan Jackson, would come from a label, Arista Nashville; that did not even exist in Nashville in 1988.

(The rest of the article can be found by following the link below. Back in the day, I had to prove I could use HTML to build a basic Web site. I dedicated the site to some of my favorite country music artists. One of the articles I wrote for the site was this.)

http://www.angelfire.com/country/countrystateofmind/class89.html

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