Josh Turner - “Everything is Fine”
Songwriter: Josh Turner
When a country artist decides to make a song by stringing together a bunch of examples of how great his life is, it’s usually bad news. Josh Turner’s new single, “Everything is Fine,” trods the same ground that has been traversed ad nauseam by new artists of dubious heritage looking to score a quick hit while establishing country credibility: I’m going to tell you how great things are going in a way that conveniently shows how much of a Christian, family and Southern man I want you to think I am.
There is, however, one important difference between Turner and these scores of lesser contemporaries: Turner does it much better, much better. In a radio world that seems increasingly divided between style-less vocal technicians and effervescent but vocally incompetent starlets, Turner is the rare example of an artist who records material that’s both quality and trademark.
More important to this song is Frank Rogers’ production. It turns out that it’s much easier to sing about being country when the song actually sounds country, and Rogers’ decision to lay the vocal over a banjo and fiddle engenders sincerity before Turner hits the first note.
“Everything is Fine” does, however, validate several important criticisms of Turner. It’s essentially a throwaway single from an artist who hasn’t released many memorable songs and reinforces the notion that Turner is a singer with a very limited repertoire who has yet to tackle a true country heartbreaker. None of these criticisms should be levied against this strong single, even if “Everything is Fine” is the latest installment in a career that I continue to follow with more anticipation than appreciation.
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22 Comments
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August 8, 2008 at 8:46 am Permalink
i share your view regarding josh turner’s career. how can a singer, blessed with his vocal abilities, go on releasing nice sounding shallowness like this? if there’s not a little more going on in his world then i have to say, stop bothering us with your platitudes.
his next album could already be make or break for him. hopefully, it’s going to be the former.
August 8, 2008 at 8:56 am Permalink
I think he has a remarkable voice, but I dont think (with few exceptions) that his song choice comes anywhere near matching or showcasing his vocals. I think “Long Black Train”, “Me and God” and “Your Man” were three that did, but this one (Fine) is just ‘trite’ and drags him down far below what he is capable of. I think “Firecracker” was a good fun song that showed a different side from the three aforementioned songs and showed off his vocals, but most of what he has done is just bland in spite of his great voice.
August 8, 2008 at 9:13 am Permalink
Good point about “anticipation vs. appreciation”. I have caught myself enjoying the vocals and in most cases, the music on the various singles he has released. I have yet to be anything but underwhelmed with the lyrical content. “Will you go with me”, “Be your man”, and this latest track seem to guide the listener down a very worn path. The comments have been made on this site before about how we folks who love “real country” seem to praise something that is simply “ok”, and that isnt horrible, or overly slick and generic. That has also grown tiresome. I find this to be a random song that I will have forgotten that I even commented on a few weeks from now.
August 8, 2008 at 9:44 am Permalink
After a fine tune like ‘Another Try’, I must say I am a bit disappointed in this one as as single release also.
August 8, 2008 at 10:13 am Permalink
Hey, this guy could sing a chinese take out menu, and it would sound better on the radio than Kid Rock.
August 8, 2008 at 10:36 am Permalink
personally, i find more substance in chop suey with fried rice than in this ditty.
August 8, 2008 at 10:36 am Permalink
I’m glad Josh continues to get radio airplay to keep some authentic soumding country on the Top 40 airwaves even if the songs aren’t the greatest.
Josh showed what he is capable of on his “Live at the Ryman” Cracker Barrel CD when he covered songs like Don Williams’ “Lord Have Mercy on a Country Boy” (also on Josh’s second album), Merle Haggard’s “Silver Wings”, and George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today”. Josh is a great traditional country voice desperately in need of some great material to sing. I had always hoped “Loretta Lynn’s Lincoln” would have been released as a single……
Matt C’s Quote of the Day:
“In a radio world that seems increasingly divided between style-less vocal technicians and effervescent but vocally incompetent starlets, Turner is the rare example of an artist who records material that’s both quality and trademark.” (Bingo)
August 8, 2008 at 12:00 pm Permalink
I wish Turner would follow Jamey Johnson’s lead, not in tone necessarily, but in honesty. They both have authentic country voices, but only Johnson an authentic presentation. Turner is content to be seen through the Nashville view of what is acceptable, and that’s boring… though for the record, I think his latest album is head and shoulders above anything he released before.
August 8, 2008 at 12:10 pm Permalink
Once agai, I fully agree with this review.
August 8, 2008 at 12:10 pm Permalink
*again
August 8, 2008 at 1:28 pm Permalink
I loved “Another Try”, but this song underwhelm me as well.
Rick, I sooo wish he’d released “Lorreta Lynn’s Lincoln” too! I, however, thought his take on the Don Williams song was weak on that album. I haven’t heard the Cracker Barrel CD yet, because I resist paying that kind of shipping fee for one full priced CD.
I don’t like this album as much as his Your Man album, but it’s still much better than his first.
I agree that I watch Turner’s career with more anticipation than appreciation, but there have been songs of his that I’ve really enjoyed.
August 8, 2008 at 1:32 pm Permalink
I think Josh Turner is better than this song.
August 8, 2008 at 4:13 pm Permalink
I agree with Lucas, although I also agree with those who have said this is a lot better than the dreck most people are releasing on the radio these days.
While we’re on the subject of the last album, I’m probably the only person who wishes he had released “No Rush” as a single. For this album, I’m wondering if he’ll release “The Way He Was Raised,” at least to Christian stations.
August 8, 2008 at 7:56 pm Permalink
I have to say that somewhere in Josh Turner is a great country voice full of great waves of emotions. Every song he has put out as single has hinted at a deep well of truth. This one is the same. Imagine if you will if he was being cynical. That the feeling on the outside was fake,and his feelings really had a darker undercurrent. He could do that with his voice if he really wanted to. He has a sound vocal gift- and he is very easy on the eyes .But time and again he is afraid of going a little darker like Randy Travis use to do, Willie does, and Cash was proud of.
What holds him back? His faith? Maybe he is afraid that his fans might leave if he over turns too many rocks. I have to say I always want to believe him but his faith always gets in the way. He is like a failed Christian singer-and I mean that in the best way. He can now sing without being limited to a smaller group. He just seems to not want to jump too far, to make his music more raw. Within his faith and his feelings there must be a darker force. Maybe he feels trapped too. His voice hints at that too. I hope he finds a strong place soon because his songs are starting to sound as though he is bored.
August 9, 2008 at 12:28 am Permalink
This is an ok song, certainly nothing special but it is pleasing to the ear. I’ve never been a big fan of Josh but I would say it’s my second favorite single from him behind one of my guilty pleasures “Backwoods Boy.”
August 10, 2008 at 6:56 am Permalink
Um, it bugs me that you guys here at the 9513 always make “Is” lower case in titles. Only articles (a, an, the), prepositions (at, on, to, of, by, over, etc.) and conjunctions (and, but, or, etc.) are supposed to be lowercase in titles. “Is” is a verb, so it’s suppsed be capitalized. Sorry to be a grammar Nazi, but it really bugs me.
Anyway, this song is exactly what its title says. Everything is fine; nothing terribly special, but Josh’s voice and the solid instrumentation really bring it up two notches.
August 10, 2008 at 12:10 pm Permalink
It bugs be that you use a generalized absolute to say we do something when that isn’t the case. Of the 38 articles that have the word “is” in the title, it’s only lower case in 8 of them and you’d have to go back to March to find the most recent instance. Oh, and the T should be capitalized when you write out The 9513 since it’s a part of the name.
I hope you know I’m only joking with you. We’ll work on correcting it, though.
August 10, 2008 at 2:14 pm Permalink
What struck me about Turner from the beginning is the mismatch between his vocal gift and his image. At first, I just felt a dissonance listening to this deep, rumbling, mature man’s voice coming from someone who looks so young and earnestly boyish.
Then it became a disconnect between what that voice seems made to sing and Turner’s image. Josh Turner’s a handsome guy, but he is no where near as sexy to look at as he is to listen to. That voice is… something, all right. It’s a pleasure to hear him use it to sing something sensual like “Your Man” and something playful and slighty dirty like “Firecracker,” but then I remember that he’s this ultimate squeaky clean Baptist boy and it intrudes a bit.
I’d love to hear him take on darker material, but I do appreciate his faith. I’m always slighty suspicious these days of religiously themed country songs, because they can be so manipulative; designed by a commercial, corporate business to appeal to what is seen as country’s core audience. It took me a few listens, but I eventually allowed my self to love “Long Black Train” (which I wanted to, because it’s such a great sounding traditional song) because I believed in Josh Turner’s sincerity. Meanwhile, I hate “Jesus Take The Wheel” because it’s a badly written mess and because I’m cynical, not necessarily of Carrie’s feelings and performance, but of how the song was selected for her and marketed and pushed. I don’t trust the AI machine to have any respect for country fans.
August 10, 2008 at 2:50 pm Permalink
Just like everyone else this song is not that good but his voice is better. I hope future songs are better.
August 11, 2008 at 3:16 pm Permalink
Brady: It’s okay. I just hadn’t noticed a case where “is” was properly capitalized in a title, so I mistakenly assumed you always did it. I knew you were joking with me.
September 4, 2008 at 6:19 pm Permalink
I think he should release “The longer the waiting” as his next single as there is something so timeless about it, from the powerful lyrics tinged with sadness and longing to the scottish tint to the music. It would become an instant classic in my humble opinion.
I am a big country music fan from Scotland
September 22, 2008 at 11:05 am Permalink
I love all his music and my heart receives all of it as genuine and an honest expression of who he truly is. I feel totally blessed that it is enhanced by his God given gift; that deep beautiful voice! I believe that true music is self-expression, not people pleasing pieces. I pray he stays true to his self–aka–his faith; for you cannot separate the two and remain true to yourself. I pray he does not compromise his faith for the sake of the music industry.
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