Country Singles Jubilee 8.31.09: The I Just Didn't Want No More Whiskey Edition

Posted by Jasper Jones on 08.31.2009

Inside the Jubilee this week is the latest from Alan Jackson, Jake Owen, and Brooks & Dunn! You'll also find a Hank Williams, Jr. cover and a little-known classic from Townes Van Zandt!

Welcome back, Jubileers!

Country Music Tidbits

The Killer Goes Country One More Time



"The Killer" Jerry Lee Lewis has a new album being released by Shangri-La Music later this year or early 2010. His first single released from the album will be a country tune, his first one released since the 1970s. Much like most of the new album, "Mean Old Man" was written by the legendary Kris Kristofferson specifically for Lewis. Some of Lewis' previous country hits include "Middle Age Crazy", "Another Place, Another Time", "She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye", and "What Made Milwaukee Famous". The 73 year old music legend is currently on tour, mainly overseas.

The Hurtin' Albertan Is Back For Another Round



Country music fans in the United States may not be familiar with Corb Lund or his band The Hurtin' Albertans, but Canadian country fans know him well. Corb Lund and the crew have won a pile of Canadian country music awards a mile high. They've won everything from the Canadian Country Music (CCM) award for Roots Artist of the Year, to the CCM Entertainer of The Year, to the Western Canadian Music award for Songwriter of the Year. In most cases, they've won those awards more than once. Corb Lund and The Hurtin' Albertans make their New West Records debut with Losin' Lately Gambler, dropping on September 29th, 2009. Expect more songs about gambling, whiskey, down-and-out cowboys, and steer riding presented through Corb's storytelling and the Hurtin' Albertans' stand-up bass and steel guitars. If you've never heard of them before I recommended checking out "Hair In My Eyes Like A Highland Steer", "Time to Switch To Whiskey", "I Wanna Be In The Calvary", and "Roughest Neck Around".

MUSIC TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Country Singles Reviews

Alan Jackson - "I Still Like Bologna"



Country music fans like to call George Strait "King George", but give Alan Jackson a few more years and the king could be in trouble. Of Jackson's fifty-six singles to date, twenty-five of them have hit Number 1, meaning 45% of his singles have reached the top of the mountain. That's on the heels of Straits 50%. The problem is that "King George" has been in the game longer than Jackson, which mean he's had more time to release songs. However with Alan Jackson's current rate of success, if Strait slacks off the tiniest bit, Jacksons could usurp his throne.

"I Sill Like Bologna" is Alan Jackson's fifty-seventh single of his career and the fifth to be released from his 2008 album, Good Time. Four of the previous releases from that album went to Number 1. "Sissy's Song" only made it to Number 9. In "I Still Like Bologna", Alan Jackson claims that he enjoys today's technology to an extent (cell phones, plasma TVs, laptops), but he still enjoys some things that technology never will be able to provide or replace (bologna sandwiches, sunshine, and the smell of spring). This seems like a perfect concept for a country song, and you would think this concept in the hands of a capable country musician like Alan Jackson would be an instant classic. However, this song nearly put me to sleep. It's not catchy at all and barely has a hook. It plods along at a snail's pace, and 4:22 is way too long for a song with so little to say. It needs to be cut down to three minutes, the chorus needs to be re-worked into something memorable, and it needs some catchy slide guitar licks something fierce. Shame on you, Alan. If you want a fun catchy song about technology, I suggest passing on "I Still Like Bologna" and listening to George Jones' "High-Tech Redneck" instead.

Favorite Lyric: "I finally gave in and got a cell phone/ That I hardly ever seem to turn on/ I guess I never had that much to say"

Alan Jackson |MTV Music

Rating: 1.5/5

Jake Owen - "Eight Second Ride"



There isn't much to say about Jake Owen. He's a relative newcomer to the country music scene but a pretty successful one. He's only released two albums to date. The first was 2006's Starting With Me. It peaked at Number 8 on the country albums chart, a pretty impressive first outing. Three singles were released from it, but only the title track became a Top 10 hit. Owen's second album was released this year. Easy Does It out performed his debut album by peaking at the Number 2 position. So far only two singles have been released from it. "Don't Think I Can't Love You" was a Number 2 hit single and the newest single "Eight Second Ride" is currently at Number 34.

I must not be redneck enough because I just don't understand the appeal of songs like "Eight Second Ride". It starts out pretty cool. I really dig the banjo-like licks on the electric guitar at the beginning. It's sounds really cool. Even the first verse about noticing the hot girl in the bar is fine. Once the chorus hits the whole damn song goes to hell in a hand basket. It's about trucks, huge wheels, and dipping. What is the fascination with trucks? Like I said, you can haul stuff. So what? What's the fascination with huge wheels on trucks? You can run stuff over. So what? Dipping is absolutely disgusting. I don't understand why anyone would want to do that or would want to be with anyone who does it. At the end of the song the girl says that a true country boy is hard to find, but she's found one wilder than any eight second ride, alluding to bull riding. How exactly is that one particular country boy any wilder than another? They all listen to "Country Boy Can Survive", have trucks with huge wheels, and have a dipping problem! They're not hard to find! I hope I never have to listen to this song again.

Favorite Lyric: NONE



Rating: 1.5/5

A Much Better Song About Eight Second Rides!



Brooks & Dunn - "Honky Tonk Stomp"



By now everyone has heard about the eminent break up of arguably the greatest duo in country music history, Brooks & Dunn. It is a shame that they've decided to part ways, but no one ever really breaks up for good in music. Eventually every band or duo gets back together, if only for just one show or album. So, Brooks & Dunn fans have that to look forward to in the future. What are the boys going to do after the split? I imagine that Ronnie Dunn will strike out on a solo career. I read an interview where Dunn says that Randy Owen of Alabama told him that he wished he had recorded solo material many years ago. Dunn's got a great voice and should have a ton of success. Kix Brooks is the current host of American Country Countdown, a syndicated radio show that counts down the weekly Top 40 country hits. He also is part owner of Arrington Vineyards based out of Nashville. Kix could survive leisurely without recording new music, but something tells me that he's going to fly solo as well.

"Honky Tonk Stomp" is the latest single and probably the last single from country duo Brooks & Dunn. It comes from their current album Number1s...and Then Some. The album features two discs of greatest hits material and two previously un-released tracks. One of the previously un-released tracks was their last single, "Indian Summer", and the other is "Honky Tonk Stomp". If Brooks & Dunn intended to go out with a loud bang, they picked the right song. "Honky Tonk Stomp" is like "Hillbilly Deluxe" turned up to eleven. It's pretty much the same theme, having fun in a country sort of way. It's about blasting music in pickups, getting drunk on whiskey, playing pool while checking out chicks, and all sorts of country shenanigans. What really pushes the song over the edge is the work of Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top. His guitar and his line in the chorus gives "Honky Tonk Stomp" more credibility and weight than "Hillbilly Deluxe".

Favorite Lyric: "Cowboy camped on a bar stool, shootin' double whiskey with a longneck back/ and Billy with a pool cue starring down an eight ball, lookin' at Kelly with a rack"



Rating: 3.5/5

Retro Country Single

Mark Chesnutt - "I'll Think of Something"



Mark Chesnutt is another name you don't hear or read about much these days. He had a string of hits in the 90s that included great country songs like "Bubba Shot the Jukebox", "Your Love is A Miracle", "Brother Jukebox", "Almost Goodbye", and "Broken Promise Land". For some reason by the time the 2000s rolled around, country music seemingly left Mark Chesnutt in the dust. Maybe Mark was just too country for today's pop influenced country radio. Over his twenty-plus years in the music business and counting, Mark Chesnutt has yet to score a Number 1 country album. However, he's racked up nine Number 1 country hits. His latest album is 2008's Rollin' with The Flow.

"I'll Think of Something" was a Number 1 song for Mark Chesnutt in 1992. It's from his album Longnecks & Short Stories. It's actually a cover of a Hank Williams, Jr. song. It was a Top 10 country hit for him in 1974 off his Living Proof album. It's a classic sad country song about the pain of loneliness and how to get over it. The man in the song is having a very, very difficult time getting over a woman. He doesn't know how to get her off his mind, but he knows that in time he'll come up with something that works. Every instrument in the song seems to convey the man's pain and loneliness. The piano, the fiddle, the slide and electric guitar all sound so woeful and helpless. The electric guitar work at the end of the song is especially great.

Favorite Lyric: "I'll find so many things to do that I won't have the time to think of her/ And then if she's still on my mind I'll try to drink enough to drown the hurt/ And if that don't work, I'll think of something"



I Bet You've Never Heard This Song

Townes Van Zandt - "Waiting Around to Die"



Allmusic calls Townes Van Zandt "one of the greatest country and folk artists of this generation", and I couldn't agree more. It sounds like Townes speaks right from his own soul directly to yours. It's almost creepy. Much like most the greats, Van Zandt had his demons. He had numerous drug problems and battled alcoholism for the majority of his life. Because of this, Townes spent most of his life poor, living in cheap motels and playing in dive bars. It really wasn't until his death in 1997 that the majority of the public took notice of his music and how great it was. However his peers within the music industry always knew of his talent. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard recorded Townes' "Pancho and Lefty" as a duet and made it a Number 1 hit in 1983. Many artists claim that Townes and his music are an inspiration to them including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Caleb Followill of Kings of Leon, Robert Plant, and many others. In fact, Steve Earle is quoted as saying "(Townes Van Zandt is) the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that."

"Waiting Around to Die" is my favorite of all Townes Van Zandt's songs. It first appeared on Townes' 1968 debut album For The Sake of the Song, but later showed up on his 1970 album Townes Van Zandt. It's a haunting and brutally sad song about a man whose life has been lonesome, hard, and mean. The lyrics, the mood, and Townes' voice makes you feel the song right down to your bones. It shakes your soul and leaves an impression. Townes was one of many country musicians featured in a 1981 documentary called Heartworn Highways. The scene in the film that features "Waiting Around to Die" is simply incredible. I've included it with this entry. The video includes the introduction to the song followed by the performance. I recommend watching it all.

Favorite Lyric: "Now I'm out of prison, I got me a friend at last/ He don't steal or cheat or drink or lie/ His name's codeine, he's the nicest thing I've seen/ Together we're gonna wait around and die"



That's all for this week, folks! Come on back next week for some more good times and better music!