Comments on: Kix Brooks Schedules New Tour; Turkey Hunting with James McMurtry; ‘Nashville Scene’ Covers Americana

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:54:40 +0000

But another reasonable choice would be to discount it on the theory that in such a situation Lynn is unlikely to say harsh things about these artists, regardless of whether she really thought they did a good job.

What situation would that be?

By: Nelson

Nelson — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 18:52:35 +0000

“But another reasonable choice would be to discount it on the theory that in such a situation Lynn is unlikely to say harsh things about these artists, regardless of whether she really thought they did a good job”

It’s called being polite. Jon should try it sometime.

By: sam (sam)

sam (sam) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 17:55:37 +0000

I disagree with Jon that concerning Lynn’s statement “the only reasonable thing to do is to take the comment at face value.”

Taking it at face value certainly is reasonable. But another reasonable choice would be to discount it on the theory that in such a situation Lynn is unlikely to say harsh things about these artists, regardless of whether she really thought they did a good job. To do that isn’t to imply that she is lying or that she never made the statement; rather, it is to say that in such a situation it is difficult to know whether her statement genuinely reflects her beliefs. There are other reasonable courses of action here as well. Deciding not to care one way or another is probably reasonable.

I don’t know the best thing to do. But certainly there are responses other than taking the comment at face value that are still within the realm of the “reasonable.”

By: Paul W Dennis

Paul W Dennis — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 15:04:45 +0000

Luckyold sun – you might want to explain kayefabe to the folks – the only context I’ve ever seen the term used was in connection to pre-1990 professional wrestling

By: Nelson

Nelson — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 14:39:36 +0000

“lacking the ability to peer into his mind on my own *and* the arrogance to believe that his thoughts *must* be the same as mine, I left it at that.”

You, lacking in arrogance? That’s the best laugh I’ve had in a long time.

By: Jon

Jon — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 14:19:01 +0000

Here’s a little story. Back about a dozen years ago, I did a story on Ralph Stanley, when his big Clinch Mountain Country project came out, with a big, long list of guests. One of them was Bob Dylan, who sang “The Lonesome River.” Now, that song, written by Carter Stanley and first recorded by the Stanley Brothers, is one of the greatest trios in the history of bluegrass; it’s been done by everyone from Vince Gill to the Infamous Stringdusters, and it is *always* done as a trio. It’s a fabulous trio. Well, Dylan’s singing on the chorus, where he took the lead, wandered around the actual melody of the song so much that Stanley and producer Bil VornDick basically gave up on trying to put two harmony parts on it and settled for one – Ralph, singing a line that perforce wandered around just about as much as Dylan’s. The whole thing is a radical departure from the way that Ralph – and everyone else – had been singing the song for nearly 50 years, and that Ralph – and everyone else -has been singing the song ever since.

So when I interviewed Ralph, I asked him about that; I was really curious to know what he thought about this, since his musical instincts are, to put it mildly, conservative. But no matter which angle I took, and no matter how delicately and non-judgmentally I put the question, got the same answer: “he done a good job.” That, and that alone, was what he had to say about it.

Do I believe that he fully expressed what he felt about the recording? Maybe not. But that’s what he had to say, and lacking the ability to peer into his mind on my own *and* the arrogance to believe that his thoughts *must* be the same as mine, I left it at that. And at the end of the day, that’s all anyone can reasonably do.

Here’s what Lynn is quoted as saying: “I am so happy that these singers wanted to do this record. I love ‘em all, and it was so great to hear all the different ways they did my hits,”

Now, who here has actual information that either 1) Lynn didn’t in fact say this or sign off on it one way or another, or 2) was lying? Because without actual information supporting one contention or the other, the only reasonable thing to do is to take the comment at face value. Projecting one’s own tastes and opinions onto an artist, no matter how much we may like that artist’s music, and no matter how much we would like to think that their tastes and opinions are a perfect reflectino of ours, is a bad idea.

By: CountryFan

CountryFan — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 05:47:15 +0000

I’m sure Loretta don’t even know who the majority of the people on that album are, LOL.

By: luckyoldsun

luckyoldsun — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 04:45:11 +0000

The artists for the Lynn tribute were chosen by the producer and the record company based on what was commercial and who was available to paricipate. The claim that they were “personally chosen by Lynn” is just kayfabe.

By: Jon

Jon — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 03:54:47 +0000

I’d say the PR here has about as heavy a touch of spin as the PR surrounding Van Lear Rose. And you seriously believe that the picture of Lynn being presented with a blank piece of paper on which to inscribe her list of preferred artists exhausts the list of scenarios for which “the artists were chosen by Lynn” furnishes a reasonable description?

By: Razor X

Razor X — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 00:56:50 +0000

You seriously believe they asked Loretta who she wanted on the tribute album and she said, “How about Paramore and Kid Rock?”

No.