20 Underappreciated Songs
I’m proud to introduce a new feature on The 9513. On the first day of every month, one of our editors will present a countdown of his or her favorite songs within a given category.
This month, I present the 20 most underappreciated songs of the modern era (1986-present). After recently seeing Bobby Bare in concert and realizing that this immensely talented artist has only one career number one hit, I started thinking of great songs in country music history that have been grossly underappreciated. The songs were ranked based on the discrepancy between their quality and their prominence among the country music audience. Prominence was measured primarily by radio airplay but also included album sales, critical reception and other forms of exposure. Assessment of quality was based solely on my personal opinion.
While I do rank the songs, the list is not truly definitive because underappreciated often means underplayed, and I haven’t heard everything. Other great songs have doubtless been forgotten. I’m hoping that you readers will help us all discover new music by recommending songs that would’ve made your list.
Chart listing given below correspond to Billboard’s Hot Country Songs. “Unreleased” indicates a song that never made it off of the album.
20. “Strangers” – Martina McBride.
If Martina had had her way, this would have been the single released after “Independence Day.” Instead, RCA Nashville released the forgettable “Heart Trouble” and Martina lost her momentum and essentially had to start over with the release of Wild Angels.
Peak: not released
19. “Back When We Were Beautiful” – Matraca Berg.
Earned Matraca a standing ovation following her poignant performance at the 1997 CMA Awards, yet it never charted. It’s easy to understand why: this song was simply too raw and heartbreakingly sad for hat-act radio.
Peak: did not chart
18. “Down to the River to Pray” – Alison Krauss.
It’s hard to argue that anything on the acclaimed O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack is underappreciated, but this song comes closest. Alison Krauss may be the only modern artist who can sing a capella so beautifully.
Peak: not released
17. “Something Worth Leaving Behind” – Lee Ann Womack.
This single did almost did too well on the charts to be considered underappreciated, but it’s a beautiful piece of songwriting sung by one of the genre’s best female artists who was still riding the wave of a monster hit. Ultimately, I think that “I Hope You Dance” helped to hold this song back: compare the album covers of I Hope You Dance and Something Worth Leaving Behind and you see two very different Lee Ann Womacks, and I’m not sure that the radio audience was ready to embrace the revision. Most importantly, this is a classic example of a song that’s “too smart:” can we really expect a song that hinges on a reference to Andy Warhol to succeed on country radio?
Peak: #20
16. “Fate’s Right Hand” – Rodney Crowell.
Crowell’s 2005 single is another entry to the “too smart” category, but Crowell really seems to enjoy high-brow lyrics that fly in the face of radio sensibilities. In other words, this song never had a chance. Still, if lyrics like “Ken Starr, word man we’re talking absurd / spending 40 million dollars just to give the man the bird” aren’t incisive, I don’t know what is.
Peak: Did not chart
15. “My Brother and Me” – Bruce Robison.
This cut is from the same album that produced “Angry All the Time” and “Wrapped,” so odds are that it won’t remain underappreciated for long. It really deserves recording by a professional vocalist: Robison’s performance is the only thing keeping a really amazing and touching piece of songwriting from climbing the list.
Peak: unreleased
14. “Drinkin’ in My Sunday Dress” – Susan Haynes.
Maria McKee’s original is moderately disturbing and offbeat. Haynes turns something that reminds me of malcontented teenage girls into a kick-ass country beer-swirler. What does she get for her strong reinterpretation? A failed single, an unreleased album and a lost record deal. If that’s not underappreciated, I don’t know what is.
Peak: #51
13. “If I Don’t Make it Back” – Tracy Lawrence.
This little gem was sandwiched between surprise hits “Paint Me a Birmingham” and “Find Out Who Your Friends Are,” and I still can’t figure out why it didn’t become a massive hit. It’s a moving piece of songwriting about an emotional and popular theme,” If You’re Reading This” recorded two years earlier.
Peak: #42
12. “Hank’s Cadillac” – Ashley Monroe.
It’s hard to argue that a track on a digital-only album that is supposedly slated for official release is underappreciated, but it’s becoming increasingly unlikely that Monroe’s first album will ever see the inside of a record store. That’s a shame, because this song in particular really deserves to get out there. One of the most captivating things about Satisfied is that, even after many listens, I’m still not sure if Monroe actually believes in what she’s singing on several tracks. The casual listener might deem this as simply an entertaining piece of historical fiction, but it seems to me that it’s less about the death of Hank Williams than Monroe’s own feelings of helplessness following her father’s death. As she brags that she could have prevented Hank’s death, the listener gets the impression that the only person she’s trying to convince is herself. I’d like to be able to say that this song occupies the same place that “On the Other Hand” would have had I written this list in 1985, but I doubt it.
Peak: unreleased
11. “The Red Strokes” – Garth Brooks.
This song is pure lyrical poetry, it’s epic and showcases Garth at his best. It’s also one of the best country videos ever made.
Peak: #49
10. “Ghost of a Chance” – Rhonda Vincent.
The best song that Rhonda has ever recorded according to her husband, and I agree. Give one of the greatest female vocalists alive a fantastic piece of songwriting and you get an amazing product.
Peak: unreleased
9. “Old Violin” – Daryle Singletary.
This is perhaps the most desperately sad lyric that I’ve ever heard. The heartache absolutely drips from every word of Johnny Paycheck’s original, but Singletary, a great cover artist, improves the song by substituting a fiddle — an old violin, if you will — for the corny eighties electronic instrumentation of Paycheck’s version.
Peak: unreleased
8. “Don’t Tell Mama” – Gary Allan.
Several tracks from the excellent Smoke Rings in the Dark project were candidates for this list. If this isn’t a country song, I don’t know what is: a young man crashes his car and, lying at death’s door, his only request to the singer is: “don’t tell mama I was drinking.”
Peak: unreleased
7. “The Blues Man” – Alan Jackson.
I can’t even listen to Hank’s version anymore. Alan’s cover puts a mournful mandolin out front and is absolutely captivating. “Summertime Blues” and “Pop a Top”came off of the same album andwere huge hits, but his best cover songthe best song on the albumbarely made the Top 40.
Peak: #37
6. “Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room” – Dwight Yoakam. Skip the original version and go directly to the masterful reinterpretation on the dwightyoakamacoustic.net album. Both recordings are killer, but Dwight’s mournful crooning, accompanied only by his acoustic guitar, induces chills as he describes the murder of his former lover.
Peak: #46 (Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room version)
5. “Mistakes Like Me” – Melody Guy.
Unfortunately, few have heard this award-winning song. When I heard the first verse, I thought that this was a stark, unabashed abortion protest. Turns out that it’s about a severely mentally handicapped child who, despite the fact that he can’t communicate on a conventional level, can see, hear and feel everything that people are saying about him. In my mind, the two themes are surprisingly parallel. If music is about giving voice to the voiceless, this is music at its very best.
Peak: Did not chart
4. “The River” – Chely Wright.
This song is absolutely haunting. Despite Wright’s foreboding vocal, the river sounds like the archetype of youthful innocence until its waters swallow up a high school cheerleader and a young mother. What a masterpiece.
Peak: Did not chart
3. “In Lonesome Dove” – Garth Brooks.
This is a great example of the three-verse structure that I wrote about earlier this summer, and it’s one of the finest pieces of writing from the neo-traditional era. Familiar Brooks themes emerge as a woman is once again the one holding the gun at the end. The third verse manages to twist your viscera into knots without resorting to clichés.
Peak: Unreleased
2. “There’s More Where That Came From” – Lee Ann Womack.
The title track of the award-winning masterpiece that is arguably the best album released in my lifetime,” There’s More Where That Came From” was recorded at the end of an era. Many of the songs of the late nineties and early 2000s — persisting somewhat to this day — prominently featured the theme of salvation. Things might get bad, but in the end the singer was always delivered, most often by God or a good lover. Womack’s song is stunningly poignant because it is so unredeemed: “the worst part of doing what I never should have done is that I know there’s more where that came from.” The woman in this song is a cheater, and that’s not going to change. It’s the modern-day “The Midnight Oil.”
Peak: Unreleased
1. “The Back of Your Hand” – Dwight Yoakam.
Dwight Yoakam is a first-rate songwriter who primarily cuts his own material. When he chose to end his first independent album with the first-ever commercial cut from a new and unknown songwriter, you knew it had to be good. No one expected that it would be this good. Actor Gregg Henry Lee’s composition is arguably the greatest song in an expansive and consistently great catalog, and one of the few songs Dwight has recorded that portrays incredible heartbreak but holds out the promise of redemption. It’s a stunning portrait of a couple that has fallen out of love but is still bound by their intimate understanding of one another.
Peak: #52
Listen: 20 Underappreciated Songs
Columns
- Barry Mazor's "Scanning the Countryside"
- Chris Neal's "Belly of the Beast"
- Drew Kennedy's Column
- On the Road
Categories
Sponsors
Tagged In This Article
Alan Jackson // Alison Krauss // Ashley Monroe // Bruce Robison // Chely Wright // countdown // Daryle Singletary // Dwight Yoakam // Garth Brooks // Gary Allan // Lee Ann Womack // Matraca Berg // Melody Guy // Playlist // Rhonda Vincent // Rodney Crowell // Susan Haynes
Current Discussion
- Country Fan: Steve - I wonder if you knew that Kimberly is in fact a classically trained pianist? In fact all three ...
- Jimmy: Taylor Swift is no Clint Black.She is okay.She writes some good songs,yet there is a major difference between solitarative writing ...
- Marcus: Country is the tales of the life in the south and west. It's a story to tell the world ...
- Paula Gluck: As good as she is George strait is better!
- Paula Gluck: Carrie Underwood who hasn't't put in her time is a member of the grand ole opry but George isn't - ...
- Steve: Like it - like the nostalgia, the bridge and delivery. More Kip!
- dean robinson: Somewhere around 1953 I had a 45 rpm record with Webb singing --I heard my mother call my name in ...
- Hi: when did they join together
- Bill: Did anyone mention Jims "Lights of Albuquerque," I love that song, dang and after all.. he still sounded great on ...
- sharon crumrine: well, i've been a fan of sammy's since he first came out in 1991 and i was widowed 3 years ...
1 Ping
Trackback URI for this postSeptember 4, 2007
47 Comments
RSS for comments on this post
September 1, 2007 at 7:07 am
You are spot on with your comments on Susan Haynes and Daryle Singletary – I don’t know what happened with Ms Haynes CD but she is more talented than many out there. Singletary is just too country for country radio
As for Bobby Bare, I’ve seen him twice in the last two years and he remains an effective performer and concert draw. While he had only one #1 he had thirteen top tens and tons of pop chart action. I’m not sure that Bare was ever too concerned about chart action given his choices of material, which often come off better in concert than they do as radio fare.
September 1, 2007 at 10:41 am
There were rumors that Trisha Yearwood was going to cover “Back When We Were Beautiful” on the album that became “Jasper County”, but it didn’t happen. That’s still one of my favorite songs. I’m hoping that she performs it at Joe’s Pub next month.
Excellent feature, by the way!
September 1, 2007 at 4:14 pm
Nice call on the Chely cut. That’s a slept-on album in general.
September 1, 2007 at 5:40 pm
It’s funny when you look back at some songs and wonder why they were never hits or never released. “Lonesome Dove” was always one of my favorite Garth Brooks songs. There are several songs that I think had potential. “Loving You Against My Will” by Gary Allan only made it to #34. That is one of the sexiest, coolest, un-cliche songs about falling for someone. Even the music can stand alone, the vocals are like icing on the cake. Another one that comes to mind is “What If Jesus Comes Back Like That” by Colin Raye. I was surprised that one didn’t go further that it did.
September 1, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Before reading the list, I was planning on adding “If I Don’t Make it Back” to the list for I was certain it wouldn’t be included. This is a phenomenal song. While I enjoy the Tracy Lawrence version, I highly recommend the original by Bobby Pinson version. Hell, I highly recommend anything by Bobby Pinson.
September 2, 2007 at 7:54 am
Kevin, I agree about Bobby Pinson. Also, re: “Back When We Were Beautiful,” what I heard, and I very well could be wrong, was that he Yearwood team left it in the ground because there were worried about tempo–think about an album with that song AND “Georgia Rain”
September 2, 2007 at 9:50 am
Great list. I have all the songs listed except Mistakes Like Me, so I will have to check that one out. I have a few I would add, but not sure if you would put them on your list. I’ll list them anyway
Bobbie Cryner Daddy Laid The Blues On Me
Carolyn Dawn Johnson Die Of A Broken Heart
Chalee Tennison Mind Of This Woman
Chalee Tennison Someone Else’s Turn To Cry
Deana Carter In A Heartbeat
Elizabeth Cook Down Girl
Gary Nichols I Can’t Love You Anymore
George Canyon I Want You To Live
Hanna-McEuen Something Like A Broken Heart / Ocean
Holly Williams Sometimes
Jedd Hughes Luxury Liner
The Jenkins Getaway Car
Jessi Alexander Canyon Prayer
Joanna Cotten The Prize
Julie Roberts Wake Up Older
Kasey Chambers Pony
Lisa Brokop Hey, Do You Know Me
Patty Loveless Old Soul
Rachel Proctor Where I Belong
Ryan Adams When The Stars Go Blue
The Wrights Rollercoaster
September 2, 2007 at 9:53 am
Am I the only person who doesn’t get Bobby Pinson? I know so many people that are nuts about him, and I’m just not feeling it. I fear something is going over my head.
September 2, 2007 at 10:28 am
I listened again to both Tracy’s and Bobby’s versions of “If I Don’t Make it Back” prior to finishing the list and I liked Tracy’s much better. However, I’m a sucker for the neo-traditional stuff.
September 2, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Unbelievable…..This blog is extactly what is needed. I hope more people would see this. Amen to everything on this list. I would like to also add that being a songwriter myself I’m in constant contact with songs that most people dont get a chance to hear.
I dont know if this is the right place to make other suggestions, but a new comer named Sarah Johns has an incredible CD out. She has a song out right now that for some unknow reason (Label issues) isnt doing well. But the song is called “The One In The Middle” This has an attidute that ranks with Gretchen Wilson’s Red Neck Woman and Jody Masena’s “My Give A Damn’s Busted”.
Being a guy you would think that I wouldnt like songs like this, but strong woman is what makes strong men. Ask my mom………
Enough rambling….i apologize if this isnt what this is about.
This blog is perfect…..
Greg
September 2, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Jim,
I’m actually not the Kevin who wrote about Bobby Pinson…another Kevin has DARED to post on The 9513, and on the same thread as me to boot!
That makes sense about the Yearwood decision. Jasper County was pretty ballad-heavy, though I still wish they’d found room for her to do “Back When We Were Beautiful.” Matraca Berg songs were meant to be sung by Trisha Yearwood. Trisha’s the George Strait to Matraca’s Dean Dillon.
September 2, 2007 at 9:18 pm
I wanted to mention earlier, regarding “Something Worth Leaving Behind” – I didn’t care for the song much until I heard the alternate version that closes the album. I agree that it was a little too smart for country radio, but I think the production of the original version cribbed so much from “I Hope You Dance” that it sounded more like a calculated record than it was. I personally prefer the philosophy of “Something Worth Leaving Behind” over “I Hope You Dance.”
September 3, 2007 at 5:55 am
Great post. A list of worthy songs that is sadly enough, more of a lamentation on the state of corporate radio than a celebration of great songwriting. Many of the above artists are “mainstream nashville” artists and still couldnt get their own songs that are of a higher quality than their “hits” onto radio. A list could be made solely of Crowell’s under-appreciated cuts, as well as great writers like Berg and Robison, who have yet to break through as performers.
September 3, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Actually, the most under-appreciated artist of them all was Tom T Hall – he was issuing albums full of revelations but at the time only one or two songs per album were being issued as singles. Another act that had countless nuggets buried on their albums was the Statler Brothers in their pre-Jimmy Fortune period. My favorite of their songs was “The Strand” but no one knows the song since only a few stations gave it any airplay since it was “only” an album track
September 3, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Gregor: thanks for the kind words.
Kelly: I don’t consider it a lamentation. Several of the artists on this lists are legendary and have had many great songs become radio hits. No matter what the state of radio, great artists are always going to have back-catalog gems, and that’s one of the things that I like about really digging into music. Robison and Berg have never quite fit on mainstream country radio but have managed to make their mark with their writing and these artists are overall properly appreciated. Rodney Crowell more or less chose his own fate. The only thing worth lamenting on this list is the failure of artists like Susan Haynes and Ashley Monroe. That is to blame on the state of radio.
Paul: Of course, I limited the list to post 1986, but I was hoping that you’d bring some older stuff into the mix. You have much greater expertise in that area.
September 4, 2007 at 6:14 am
There is a song that must be on one of you guy’s lists. It was a Steve Seskin/Allan Shamblin tune called Cactus in a Coffee Can, that was released on the 1999 Jerry Kilgore album Love Trip. The label folded just as this was getting going…I think it charted at 72 just as they folded. This one had people pulling over their cars to cry. If you can appreciate a good tearjerker. You should check this one out. And, by the way, Jerry who has written many hits and records almost all his own songs chose this one. It says something.
September 4, 2007 at 7:58 am
Cactus in a Coffee is a tear-jerker for sure. And it’s very well constructed. My main problem with that song is that it comes off somewhat unbelievable and a bit calculated.
September 4, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Melody guy is the best unsigned artist ive ever seen She has poise and charm and a great ability to write whether she is singing live or on a disc one of the best ive ever heard reminds me of patsy cline meets janis joplin the world is missing out on a grat talent
September 4, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Melody guy is the best unsigned artist ive ever seen She has poise and charm and a great ability to write whether she is singing live or on a disc one of the best ive ever heard reminds me of patsy cline meets janis joplin the world is missing out on a grat talent ps if ya get a chance to catch her live do before it will cost ya 50 buck at a stadium near you
September 4, 2007 at 2:46 pm
The Red Strokes one of the best country videos of all time?
So tell me, do you get totally high when you watch music videos all the time, or only for that one?
September 4, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Pretty much for all of them :-)
September 4, 2007 at 5:31 pm
You just relived some haunting memories of that Dwight song “Back of Your Hand.” I always loved that song.
And yes….gotta love Alan Jackson’s version of Blues Man. :) Another classic that I can hear over and over.
September 4, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Melody Guy’s “Mistakes like me” is moving, touchin and eye-opening when 90% of other musicians are yelling and screaming, she is a voice that cuts through and reminds you that you are, indeed – human after all.
H.Childers
September 4, 2007 at 7:53 pm
The song, “Mistakes Like Me” really touched my heart. It puts in perspective what really makes us human and what it means to truly love someone.
September 4, 2007 at 8:07 pm
Melody Guy is truly one of the most gifted singer/songwriters out there. She has many, many more songs that have not received the attention they deserve. Wake up Nashville!!!!
September 4, 2007 at 8:24 pm
anyone who cannot appreciate Melody Guy’s song Mistakes Like Me must be a punk rocker or deaf, maybe both. Makes almost everyone dab at their eyes, captivating.
September 4, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Come on Ben, all they’re doing is throwing paint around. They did that all the time when I watched Nickelodeon.
September 4, 2007 at 10:06 pm
The first time I heard Melody Guy sing Mistakes Like Me, she was sitting on a bed in a hotel room in CA just playing her acoustic guitar. By the time she was halfway through that song…I wasn’t just teary-eyed…I was sobbing out loud. That song just reaches deep inside your gut and makes you FEEL the pain. Melody is an incredibly gifted songwriter who can put more pathos in her vocal delivery than any other female vocalist I know.
September 4, 2007 at 10:16 pm
dude, I’ve honestly watched that video and laughed the whole way through at how awesomely bad it is. In fact, ever since I’ve seen it (which was pretty recently on CMT Pure) I’ve never been able to think of Garth without thinking about it.
I actually like Garth (its almost shameful, but I have all of his studio albums) but that video is a perfect illustration of why Garth Brooks is a clownshoes figure in country musis whose legacy will forever be closer to Billy Ray Cyrus than to serious country figures like Merle, Hank, and so on. The white suit and piano, the paint pouring everywhere, his “dramatic intensity” mixed with pensive piano playing.
I mean, just picture him in a dark viewing room with record executives and the film crew around for the viewing. The lights dim, the projector fires up, and for three plus minutes its like Wal-Mart and Captain Eeo had a baby that threw up all over a Garth Brooks Video. The lights go up, and Garth stands, pauses for dramatic effect (you so know he’s one to pause for dramatic effect) and then declares “it’s absolutely….perfect!”
Garth Brooks man, freakin Garth Brooks.
September 5, 2007 at 6:41 am
Well there are some of these that I have never heard. But some of these are songs that I have and are some of my favorite songs. The ones I I have heard and love are 20 – 18 – 17 – 8 – 7 – 4 – 2. The sad part is most of these I would never have heard if it was for purchasing the albums. I am not a big radio station listener because all they do is play the same music over and over. I wish that radio stations were allowed to play music other than just what has been released from an album. Some of the best songs never hit the radio airways, it’s sad because there is alot of great music that never gets to be heard.
September 5, 2007 at 7:16 am
Melody Guy (who is signed with RYSrecords), is clearly one of the best unknown songwriter/performers in the business today. Once you hear her music you get it. She has the ability to get to your soul just as the likes of: Garth Brooks, Janis Joplin or even Patsy Cline. Her 5th and newest album Freedom is simply phenomenal.
September 5, 2007 at 8:10 am
I so agree about so many of the songs and many of the songs listed by Jordan. I am a huge fan of Ashley Monroe and hate that she cannot get her album released. As for country radio, I would rather listen to satellite where at least I have a chance of hearing new music.
September 5, 2007 at 8:55 am
“Garth Brooks is a clownshoes figure in country musis whose legacy will forever be closer to Billy Ray Cyrus than to serious country figures like Merle, Hank, and so on.”
The main difference between Garth and Billy Ray, of course, is that if you the current and upcoming generations of Country Music performers who their influences are, they will almost always list Garth Brooks.
September 5, 2007 at 10:06 am
“The main difference between Garth and Billy Ray, of course, is that if you the current and upcoming generations of Country Music performers who their influences are, they will almost always list Garth Brooks.”
We’ll see wont we. I’m of the opinion that despite Garths unparralled commercial success, and a string of huge hit songs (many of which I really like), that he doesn’t have the substance to make it into the “country music canon” so to speak. I feel the same way about most popular country singers nowadays. I don’t see kids 15 years from now going out and trying to collect “classic” Garth Brooks albums. I don’t foresee artists with a true passion for country music sitting down to study “Fresh Horses” to try and probe the depths of Garth’s soul and talent.
Coutry music has placed an extremely high premium as of late on being “feel good music”. Hell, in San Diego there is a billboard for a country station with a picture of a freakin baby, it says “US95.7 – Feel Good Country” and then has the slogan “have you found your smile lately?” This may be a succesful way to sell radio advertising, and certainly many people like it, but the artists who play this game are making a tradeoff. They receive success and popularity as long as they are current, but they are not making music artistically worthwhile enough to be re-examined once their moment has passed.
September 5, 2007 at 2:38 pm
But I think it’s unfair to classify Garth Brooks as “feel good country.” It’s easy to write him off because he’s popular, and because he’s successful, but Fresh Horses is a freakin’ incredible album. One of the most perfect albums I’ve ever heard, in fact, including two very soulful love songs–a cover of Bob Dylan’s, “To Make You Feel My Love,” and “She’s Every Woman,” which, in my opinion, ranks among the top handful of Country love songs of all time.
When I think of “feel good” Country, I think of fluff. I think of songs that could bleed over to AC, songs that don’t make you think, or care, or, most importantly, change the channel. Those songs are songs that don’t take risks. And I think Garth has taken a lot of musical risks over his career.
We just can’t force the genre to sound like it did in 1970.
September 5, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Great List…I think all of us could create our own…and I just might! The only thing that bothered me was your mention that “Summertime Blues” was off of UNDER THE INFLUENCE…though a good cover, it was not off that album. It came from WHO I AM…released 5 years earlier. “The Blues Man” by AJ is classic. Peace…
September 5, 2007 at 11:16 pm
Jim,
at some point we have to agree to disagree I suppose. But I’ll take one more stab and making you see things my way.
First off, you address two arguments that you are under the impression I was making. I don’t write him off because he’s popular. Nor because he’s successful. As I said before, I’m a Garth fan (after a sort) and I don’t begrudge him success or popularity.
Second, I’m not one of those who thinks country is dead and gone and the only way its good is if it sounds like it used to in (insert era here). I can think of talented country performers who performed weighty, important country music from every decade (albeit in the 90′s and 2000′s its tougher to find examples who made significant commercial impact).
I would, however, classify Garth Brook’s music as “feel good country”, or at the very least music that is striving for entertainment rather than “truth” or “art”. The thing is, he’s wildly succesful at it. He has great, entertaining, fun, captivating songs. He has a nice voice, he has a showman’s sense of drama, and he keeps the music vanilla enough for his personality and the songs to shine through. He’s like a living, breathing version of a country music Andrew Lloyd Weber musical being performed in Las Vegas.
But Hank Williams he’s not. Nor is he any of the other artists who have made country music such a rich legacy. I think that it’s nearly undeniable that for all his success, he stands far apart from any of the “canonical saints” of country music.
His songs, even his best songs, lack the sort of quiet dignity that is so compelling in the best country music. There are songs like “The Dance” that, despite its sweeping chrous, the dramatic vocal trill on the word “the” and the slight pregnant pause before “dance”, (more likely because of those things), rings hollow, plastic, and immature when measured against the emotional and spiritual space of classic country songs such as “mama tried”, “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”, “when I stop dreaming”, Lyle Lovett’s “If you were to wake up”, Steve Earle’s “Valentine’s Day”, or br549′s “Lifetime to prove” (I tried to pick a cross decade, cross topic selection of songs)
Was Fresh Horses a good album? Sure man, I have the original and the box set re-issue (the one with “To Make you Feel My love”). Will we, the people who were fans when it came out, always look back on it fondly? Absolutely! But the kids who are being born right now who one day will go out and aspire to make country music their life, will they seek it out so they can really know what country music is all about like they do with “red headed stranger”, “Live at Folsom Prison”, “Kristofferson”, “The best of Hank Williams”, “Old Five and Dimers Like me”, “Guitars and Cadillacs”, “Guitar Town”, and so on? I don’t think so man.
But they may seek out the Red Strokes video, just to say “dude, weren’t country music videos in the 90′s LAME!!!!!!” word.
September 6, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Kurt, you are right. My memory was faulty and I should have double checked. I’ll correct it.
September 7, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Ben, I respect your opinion a great deal, you’ve made excellent points in this thread.
A couple of comments related to your last post:
I’m not sure I agree with the general principal that songs themselves contain “truth” or “meaning” or “emotion”. There are two reasons we listen to music–self definition and self elaboration, and although songs can be crafted in a way so as to suggest certain feelings, the music we hear has only the truths and meanings that we assign to it.
This doesn’t always happen individually–it can happen culturally, too. And since you used “The Dance,” and “Mama Tried,” as an example, I’ll continue with that.
We live in a very different world than we did when Merle Haggard released “‘Mama Tried.” I’m pretty young, and I didn’t grow up in that world. I can go back and listen to his records (which I have done many times), and I can think about what those records meant, but they will never, ever mean the same thing to me as they did to the people who first heard them.
“The Dance,” however, means a great deal to me and to the generation of Country Fans who were growing up when it was released. When I heard that song for the first time, it seemed to explain exactly how I felt about the crazy world of love–that even though it was stresful, and painful, and sometimes more trouble than it seemed worth, in the end I never regretted falling in love because the good moments were worth more than all of the bad.
And it became a communal property, because as this song played on the radio, it was something I shared with my friends and my enemies. Some people loved it and I had a bond with them, and some people hated it, of course, and I defined myself against them in one way or another.
Music helps us find identity. It is interpersonal, and that’s one of the reasons it’s so damn hard to critique, especially across generations.
We can critique the craft and the art of the music, however, and in that I agree with you 100%–”Mama Tried,” is a much “better” song than “The Dance.”
The problem is, though, that we can’t judge the longevity of a song or an artist on creative or artistic merits alone. While “The Dance,” might be simple, abstract, or over-dramatic, in the social context it is very important.
And it has an advantage over “Mama Tried,” because whereas the Haggard song is a relatively narrow topic, “The Dance,” is a song that people can come to for a variety or reasons and with a variety of emotions.
And that’s partly a shift in the way the genre is constructed, because a song like “The Dance,” would not have worked as well in an era when Country songs were expected to tell a very specific story, and “Mama Tried,” is probably too specific to be widely successful today.
September 9, 2007 at 10:33 am
Thank you Matt
September 9, 2007 at 11:10 pm
It’s true that at one time Country songs were expected to tell a story. Even though Tom T Hall was the artist called the storyteller, most country songs told stories.
Under appreciated songs
1) the “Sounds of Goodbye” – not the Crystal Gayle song but the first recorded hit written by Eddie Rabbit. Unfortunately, three acts issued singles on it at the same time and split the action – each of the three (Tommy Cash, George Morgan and Vern & Rex Gosdin) had regional success with it, but no one had a national hit with it
2) the following Tom T Hall songs:
I Can’t Dance
Ode To A Half Pound of Ground Round
Pinto The Wonder Horse Is Dead
Salute To A Switchblade Knife
Ballad of Forty Dollars
Pamela Brown (Leo Kottke had a good recording of this song – I don’t recall if he issued it as a single)
The Monkey That Became President
St Louis Named A Shoe After Me
The World According to Raymond
3) any serious song written by Roger Miller – peolpe know him for the offbeat stuff but Roger was an excellent tunesmith writing a bunch of hits for others. “Tom Green County Fair” is a good place to start
September 9, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Jim,
this is why the 9513 is such an awesome blog. Intelligent, informed, serious discussion about country music. I, too, have deep appreciation for your opinions. Now onto your points.
“I’m not sure I agree with the general principal that songs themselves contain ‘truth’ or ‘meaning’ or ‘emotion’….the music we hear has only the truths and meanings that we assign to it.”
How very post-modern of you Jim. I understand that a text (any text, song, poem, play, novel, whatev) is partly defined by its relationship to the reader. However, I am not in the radical post-modern camp of “things don’t have meanings per se, but only the meanings that we ascribe to them individually or as a society” I think that the reason that we still read Greek tragedies, recite ancient creeds, study Milton and Dante, and have Shakespeare festivals is that those pieces of art contain something that we recognize. (I’ll drop the term “truth” since its a pretty weighted term that puts a discussion on the fastrack to getting bogged down.) But in any case “art” (suchas country music) when it is what its supposed to be, contains something that resonates with people across different times, cultures, economic systems, and so on and so forth. My asserion is that weighty country music is equally appealing across time, culture, etc etc becuase, like Milton, Dante, Shakespeare and so on, it contains something that truly and deeply rings with people. I would claim that the best country music, like any great art, helps people feel more alive, more real, and expands their sense of personhood and their understanding of the human experience. And for all his majestic glory, I would not place the music of Garth Brooks into that category.
As far as the “Mama Tried” and “The Dance” comparison, a few things.
First of all, I’m 24, so generationally I assume we are on roughly equal footing.
Secondly, its a good observation that a song does not often exist in a vacuum, especially a Garth Brooks song, and that a song (like, for example cheesy 80′s children cartoons) can gain worth because of communal recognition. However, I think that the worth of communal recognition is super trumped by the “test of time” so to speak. The real question we are addressing (Garth’s legacy being similiar to Billy Ray Cyrus’, i.e commercially impressive, but artistically not so much.) can really only be decided by the test of time. I mean, if in 30 years noone who is serious about country music can find any value or worth in “The Dance” because they weren’t around when it came out, it means that “The Dance” didn’t have enough real substance to retain meaning when its era was over. (which, in fact, is what I predict will happen to most of the popular country music of the past 20 years, like I said before, I belive that once this whole pop country thing has passed, future generations wont find enough artistic merit in the music of Kenny Chesney, Trace Adkins, Big and Rich, and the like, to re-examine them.)
And one last point as to the “narrowness” of Mama Tried. I don’t know man, I mean, I know its a specific story of a guy growing up in a single parent house who ends up in jail, but I think that it artfully and concicesly tackles many many very timeless and universal themes. One’s obligation to present a return on the investment their parents place in them and balancing that obligation with one’s own right to self destruct, having to endure hardships as a child, struggling to take responsibility for ones failures when faced with the heartbreaking results of ones actions on loved ones. I mean, I think that the ability to address the human experience so broadly and deeply via stories that are short and concise is the real triumph of country music as a medium. That’s why no matter how many building pre-choruses, reflective bridges, and sweeping choruses that radio country has, I feel that it by and large misses the mark.
September 12, 2007 at 7:39 am
Very interesting blog. As much as I love listening to music, the only one on this list that I can really comment on is Gary Allan. I discovered Gary back in 2000, after hearing Smoke Rings on the radio. I bought the cd that day, and Don’t Tell Mama hit me hard. It’s such a wonderful song, and I do believe would have held its own as a radio-released single. I think the problem there was Gary was trying to be pushed into being moe “cheerful” in his music. Some critics have deemed him as “brooding” and “dark” in the past. Funny thing is, that what most of his fans like about him the most.
In addition to “Don’t Tell Mama” and “Lovin’ You Against My Will”, Gary has a few others that a wonderful, and most won’t know it unless they buy the album.
Check these out:
What Kind of Fool~ Tough All Over
I Just Got Back From Hell ~ Tough All Over
See If I CAre~ See If I Care
September 22, 2007 at 9:33 am
“Mistakes Like Me” by Melody Guy should be the theme song for everyone affected by a mental illness. This song touches everyone who is lucky enough to hear it!! It is from the heart!!!!
September 25, 2007 at 12:53 pm
I completely agree with you list!!
Side note: I love, “Mistakes like Me”. I watched Melodee perform this song with just her and the guitar at Fuel downtown during a writers night. In a bar with beer and drunks, it made me tear up — beautiful choice
October 20, 2007 at 4:28 pm
I totally agree with the two Garth songs on your list. “Red Strokes” is a great song and super video; and I listen to “Lonesome Dove”, as well as “Ireland” over and over and over………
March 27, 2008 at 10:52 am
I am very impressed with your top 10 song selection … while my own list might be in a different order, it would be essentially the same. I would of course have to make one major change toward the summit and add the Jesse Winchester masterpiece recorded by Reba McEntire for her stellar ‘Rumor Has It’ album in 1990. The song – “You Remember Me” – spins the tale of musician on the road who goes to see an old flame while she’s on the road. This guy has apparently gotten too big for his britches. So it’s up to Reba to remind him of his upbringing – in a subtly biting way.
The song is a masterpiece in subtlety really. The story unfolds slowly without plodding while Winchester paints an array of vivid of images. Also, this was one of the first recordings that showcased Reba’s unequaled grasp of divine interpretation of a lyric.
Leave a Comment