Country Singles Jubilee 7.13.09: The Lefty's In A Pickle Edition
Posted by Jasper Jones on 07.13.2009
This week's Jubilee has got a the latest from Tim McGraw, some twins, a Canuck, David Frizzell's brother, and shaggy redhead with a fighting spirit. Come on in and see!
Country Music Tidbits
Carrie Underwood Gives The Troops a Big Welcome Home
The Salute To The Troops Concert to be held on August 16th in Ft. Campbell, KY will be headlined by "America's Sweetheart" Carrie Underwood. The concert kicks off The Week of the Eagles, celebrating the return home of the Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne of Ft. Campbell, KY. Jake Owen will also be performing. This one of select few dates Underwood will be doing this summer. Most of her time is being spent on getting her latest album finished that is tentatively scheduled for a November release.
A Very Special List
Rosanne Cash will be releasing her first album since 2006's Black Cadillac on Oct. 6th. The List consists of 12 classics reinterpreted by Rosanne. The songs selected for the album came from a list of essential country tunes given to her by her father, Johnny Cash. When she was younger, Rosanne was obsessed with The Beatles and mostly into pop music. The fact that his daughter lacked any appreciation for country music disturbed Johnny, so he made up a list of 100 essential country songs for Rosanne to learn. Songs from the album include Merle Haggard's "Silver Wings", Don Gibson's "Sea of Heartbreak", and Bobby Bare's "500 Miles".
MUSIC TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Country Singles Reviews
Steven Lee Olsen - "Now"
The first artist on this week's Jubilee comes to us from The Great White North. Steven Lee Olsen is a Nashville singer/songwriter by way of Newmarket, Ontario. He's a relatively newcomer but has had a measurable amount of success already. Craig Morgan recorded his song "Ordinary Angel" and Swedish Idol star Kevin Borg had an international Top Ten hit with Olsen's "Street Lights". Olsen just finished up the CMT on Tour Live show along with fellow new acts Jason Blaine, Tara Oram, and The Higgins. Now he's got his sights set on a solo career.
"Now" is the first single released from Steven Lee Olsen's first EP appropriately titled Steven Lee Olsen. It's available to download on iTunes right now. It's an up-tempo song about finding a girl that completes the singer's life. The music sounds a lot like Jack Ingram's "Wherever You Are" and Olsen's vocals sound a lot like Keith Urban. Why does practically every young, male country artist have to sound just like this? What happened to a little bit of variety? No one wants to eat nothing but vanilla ice cream, and no one wants to listen to just Keith Urban. The best thing about music is its limitless possibilities, and for Nashville record companies to continuously produce music that sounds the same is a waste of precious creativity. File Mr. Olsen under "country acts I could do without". The song has failed to chart on the American country charts and I suspect that it won't.
Favorite Lyric: None, the song is way too bland
Rating: 1/5
Tim McGraw - "It's a Business Doing Pleasure With You"
Tim McGraw is an artist that in twenty-years will have a catalogue of timeless country songs. "I Like It, I Love It", "Angry All The Time", "Please Remember Me", "It's Your Love", and most of his other hits will stand the test of time. I've got a lot of respect for the man. However, he really hasn't had a huge run-a-way hit since "Live Like You Were Dying" or "Back When", both released back in 2004. Not to say that his last five years have been done dry, but the spark seems to have died. Here's hoping that McGraw can pull it together and reclaim his country throne that he ruled with an iron fist in the late 90s and early 2000s.
"It's A Business Doing Pleasure With You" is the latest single from Faith Hill's husband. It's the first single from McGraw's upcoming album Southern Voice. The song was written by Nickelback front man Chad Kroeger and Brett James. Wow, Tim must be desperate. "It's A Business Doing Pleasure With You" is about a poor fellow who has become smitten with a gold digger. She wants Louis Vitton and Gucci and a million pairs of shoes before she'll give up a little lovin'. It's a bouncy song that certainly amuses me, but there are some things wrong. It's a little rock heavy, but that is expected having been written by Kroeger. The electric guitar solo is great. Leave it in, but the guitar fuzz throughout the rest of the song has got to go. It's distracting and irritating. If the producers had toned down the fuzz and added a little fiddle into the song, it would be leaps and bounds better. It's decent as it is though. A return to upbeat from McGraw is a good thing.
Favorite Lyric: "You got more purses than Versace / Got more rings that Liberace / Fill your closes full of fancy shoes"
Rating: 3.5
The Carter Twins - "Heart Like Memphis"
The Carter Twins are a new country duo made up of real-life brothers Zach and Joshua Carter. They're currently working with producer Frank Rogers, famed for his work with Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker, on their debut album. So far, the boys have written upwards of 80 songs for the album, set to drop in August. Let's hope all 80 don't show up on it. The nineteen year old twins grew up around music with their mom working in country radio. Zach is proficient on the piano and Joshua plays guitar.
"Heart Like Memphis" is the first single released from the duo. It was released back in March, but this is the first time they've shown up on my radar. I just don't understand this song. It's about a girl with a broken heart, trying to get over losing her lover. I get that part. What exactly is implied by saying she has a heart like Memphis? Is her heart and Memphis strong? Is her heart and Memphis easily broken? Is Memphis full of blood? Is her heart the birthplace of rock n' roll? I get their metaphors for "smile like California" and "cool as a Carolina breeze", but having a heart like Memphis doesn't mean anything. The song comes off very "boy-band-ish" which is not a good thing, but what did I expect from a couple of nineteen year old boys? This song would probably capture the heart of some thirteen year old girl, but it diddly-bupkis for me.
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Favorite Lyric: "She's got a smile like California/ She's got a spirit like New Orleans/ Eyes like the lights of New York City, yeah/ Cool as a Carolina breeze"
Country music owes a lot to Left Frizzell. He was pioneer of early honky tonk and an exceptional singer and songwriter throughout the 50s and the early 60s. His relaxed, un-polished style of singing directly influenced the careers of current country legends like Willie Nelson and Dwight Yoakam. Some of his signature songs that you might know include "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time", "Saginaw Michigain", and perhaps his biggest hit "Long Black Veil". Lefty was heavily admired by his peers, even long after his death in 1975 from a massive stroke brought on by years of alcohol abuse. Willie Nelson recorded his 1977 album To Lefty, From Willie as tribute. Roy Orbison loved Lefy's music so much, that he adopted the name "Lefty Wilbury" when he joined the famed Traveling Wilburys.
Reading the covers on Rosanne Cash's The List reminded me how much I really love "Long Black Veil", and I am not alone. Artists from all genres have recorded it or added it their live shows at some point. Some of these artists include Johnny Cash, The Band, Marianne Faithfull, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Dave Matthews Band, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, and many more. "Long Black Veil" is haunting song about a man who is accused of murder, but will not reveal his alibi because he was sleeping with his best friend's wife at the time of the crime. He'd rather die than reveal this secret. He's found guilty and executed on the gallows. He then goes on to describe the woman coming to visit his grave in her long black veil. Danny Dill, one of the writers of the song, explained that the idea for "Long Black Veil" came from a newspaper article about an unsolved mystery of a priest and the stories of an un-identified lady dressed in black that would visit Rudolph Valentino's grave.
Favorite Lyric: "The scaffold's high and eternity near/ She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear/ But sometimes at night when the cold wind blows/ In a long black veil she cries o'er my bones"
I Bet You've Never Heard This Song
Ben Kweller - "Fight"
Ben Kweller is a name I had heard for a while but wasn't familiar with until recently. He was in band called Radish back in 1993. They hit it minorly big, but mostly in the UK where their song "Little Pink Stars" was a huge hit and they opened for much bigger acts like Faith No More. The band appeared on shows like Late Night With Conan O' Brien and The Weird Al Show, but never garnered a big following in the states. Kweller moved to New York City in 1999 to pursue a solo career. He produced an EP called Freak Out, It's Ben Kweller that caught the eye of folks like Jeff Tweedy and The Lemonheads who started taking him on tour with them. His star took off from there and has been growing ever since. Kweller's style is a mish-mash of rock, folk, country, and indie music.
"Fight" comes from Ben Kweller's 2009 album Changing Horses, which he admits is much more country heavy than his past works. This rings true in the first few seconds of "Fight" when the influence of Gram Parsons, the grandfather of Americana music, fills your ears. Everything from the pacing, to the melody, to lyrics, to Kweller's vocals screams with Gram Parsons' influence, and that is a very good thing. It's a song with the message of never giving up, played in the style of a southern gospel country song. Kweller describes the plight of a trucker, the struggle of a love-lorn intern, and the fighting spirit of his dear old grandma. It's an extremely catchy song that will bounce around in your head and will be there when you need a little inspiration to get past whatever roadblocks are in your way.
Favorite Lyric: "I'm like my grandma, short but I stand tall/ Playing every single card that's dealt to me/ You know some days are aces and some days are faces/ Well some days are twos and threes"
That's all for this week, folks! Tune in next week for more good-time country music with The Jubilee! Until then, keep your tomorrows coming and don't go near the water!
