Your Take: Recycled Songs
In Thursday’s review of Trent Tomlinson’s new single “Angels Like Her,” we learned that although the song is set to appear on his upcoming sophomore album A Guy Like Me, it originally appeared on his debut album Country Is My Rock.
Commenter Jordan Stacey noticed this is the latest song in a string of singles to pull that trick:
I’m also a fan of the song from the original album, but I’m getting tired of releasing songs from previous albums, it seems like everybody’s doing it. “Eight Second Ride” – Jake Owen, Kellie Pickler’s “Didn’t You Know How Much I Loved You”, Brad Paisley – “Waitin’ On A Woman”, Keith Urban’s “You Look Good In My Shirt”, etc.
To Jodan’s comment, Jim Malec and Waynoe both replied:
Jim: I also attribute it to the fact that great songs are now commonly passed over for songs that test well at a given point in time and within a given demographic. “Waitin’ on a Woman,” “Didn’t You Know How Much I Loved You” and “Angels Like Her” were all among the top two or three strongest songs on their respective albums. Not releasing them as singles the first go-round was criminal. There has to be some residual pressure there, when looking at potential material for the next project.
Wayneo: Jim, A good observation. The “testing” of songs is the driving force. It more used to be that the songs could cut or create the path in the wilderness; now the path is already cut due to demographics and other criteria and it’s simply finding a song to fit the already prescribed mold.
What do you think of releasing songs from previous albums as singles, even though they didn’t “cut it” the first go-round? Are you glad deserving songs get their chances at radio airplay, or do you think artists should promote current material?
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18 Comments
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October 24, 2009 at 7:18 am Permalink
I have no problem with the practice – and it is nothing new, although in the past, the song would be re-recorded (Jerry Reed “Alabama Wildman” or Johnny Cash “Folsom Prison Blues”) overdubbed (various post-1964 Jum Reeves singles) before being issued as a single
October 24, 2009 at 8:32 am Permalink
there’s nothing wrong with recycling in general but in this day and age overlooking a good song doesn’t make the people involved look very smart.
October 24, 2009 at 9:03 am Permalink
So there’s still hope for Aldean to release “Back In this Cigarette”?
October 24, 2009 at 10:28 am Permalink
You look good in my shirt! 1,2,3,4! Nashville: Too many rules, haha! A good song is a good song. I don’t care if a song is on a record five years ago!
twitter.com/zaynjones
October 24, 2009 at 11:25 am Permalink
With Kellie Pickler’s latest single, she had wanted to release it as a single but didn’t get the chance so she insisted that the label let her re-record it for her sophomore album so it could be a single
That’s perfectly fine by me, because the re-recording is even better than the original =) I love that song
October 24, 2009 at 3:35 pm Permalink
Kenny Chesney’s “The Tin Man” was re-recorded twice and it barely went anywhere. It was on his first, second and greatest hits. He just liked the song a lot!
to Wade. There’s a lot of Aldean songs that should’ve been singles! Especially from “Relentless”.
October 24, 2009 at 5:40 pm Permalink
I don’t care, as long as the labels acknowledge it to the extent they say something like, “we’re including an EXTRA song on the album (to make up for the repetition)” and then, for real, put an extra two or three more songs on the album. It sort of happens anyway.
I’d be pissed if some song was re-recorded then including on a 10-track album.
Identify the re-recording as an “extra track” on the second album it appears on. I was okay with the Keith Urban re-release, as well as all the Waitin’ on a Womans, but upon first release of the album, the Kellie Pickler one seemed a little shifty, like we weren’t supposed to notice it.
October 24, 2009 at 7:01 pm Permalink
“to Wade. There’s a lot of Aldean songs that should’ve been singles! Especially from “Relentless”.”
ya, lots. But the one’s that really stand out are Back in this Cigarette, Good to Go, I Use What I Got, A Grown Woman, No, and Not Every Man Lives.
And if Aldean doesn’t release On My Highway and Keep the Girl, I am gonna be so disappointed She’s Country was released over them.
October 24, 2009 at 8:15 pm Permalink
Karlie, I think you forgot a somewhere. This whole page is showing up in bold.
Wade, John Corbett released Good to Go. I remember it bouncing back and forth for weeks, plummeting to #60, zooming up to #43 and STILL not making Top 40. Bizarre chart run indeed.
October 24, 2009 at 8:57 pm Permalink
I’d be all for it if the particular songs selected were Gretchen Wilson’s “Skoal Ring”, Ashton Shepherd’s “The Bigger The Heart”, Amber Dotson’s “Good Ole Boy’s Kinda Girl”, Catherine Britt’s “I’m Gone”, Ashley Monroe’s “That’s Why We Call Each Other Baby”, and Susan Haynes’ “Long Way To Memphis” for starters….
October 24, 2009 at 9:27 pm Permalink
(I like the bold – I can read it easier).
October 24, 2009 at 9:56 pm Permalink
Regarding Waynoe’s accurate comment: “…now the path is already cut due to demographics and other criteria and it’s simply finding a song to fit the already prescribed mold.”
A perfect case in point is the new Kate and Kacey Coppola song they’ve just added to their MySpace player. After finding their female version of the Everly Brothers sound is about as welcome as roadkill at Top 40 AirHead Country radio stations, they’ve moved closer to today’s acceptable mold. If the new “Honky Tonk Party Song” doesn’t do well at radio its not due to a lack of trying on Kate & Kacey’s part.
Link: http://www.myspace.com/kateandkacey
(PS – If the last song on their player “Good Life” were recorded by gals named either Carrie or Taylor it would probably be a number one hit. Oh well…)
October 24, 2009 at 11:24 pm Permalink
I love Kate & Kacey =) Their debut single, “Dreaming Love”, was a great song, real shame it didn’t get farther than #51 on the chart.
October 25, 2009 at 12:29 pm Permalink
It would not be that hard to list talented country acts, signed for what was special about them, with a first single selected by alleged commercial geniuses that was the one track they recorded that was Most Like Everything Else on Radio rather than what was unique. The single never gets started, the CD–if the album even gets released–tanks, and the act disappears to the island of “What Ever Happened To?”…
If Second Chance Singles lead to second chances for acts like that, great. But they will likely have to revive them, when they can, themselves.
October 25, 2009 at 3:46 pm Permalink
JMO, but Jason Aldean shouldn’t have recorded any songs one time, let alone record them again. Everything about that guy, his singing, his appearance and his songs make me want to smash any audio device I hear him on.
October 25, 2009 at 6:17 pm Permalink
Most of Aldean’s best song’s arent released, which is really unfortunate.
October 25, 2009 at 7:58 pm Permalink
“JMO, but Jason Aldean shouldn’t have recorded any songs one time, let alone record them again. Everything about that guy, his singing, his appearance and his songs make me want to smash any audio device I hear him on.”
Same here
October 28, 2009 at 6:16 am Permalink
I like Jasons cover of “Asphalt Cowboy” I’d like to cover that one myself, that’s a great modern day “cowboy” trucker song. The World needs more “cowboy” songs. I hate this Nashville pop crap. The world has enough “Pop” Hollywood thinks were gay (Brokeback) and Nashville has no soul. Pretty soon they’ll have a good collection of their own “Beats”
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