Country Singles Jubilee 10.12.09: The English Cowboy Edition
Posted by Jasper Jones on 10.12.2009
The Jubilee returns to it's original format with the latest from Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, and Taylor Swift. Inside you'll also find Dan Seal's biggest hit and a country song from Reginald Kenneth Dwight!
Welcome back, Jubileers!
Country Music Tidbits
Lambert Hits #1!
Miranda Lambert hit Number 1 last week when her latest effort Revolution knocked Taylor Swift's highly successful Fearless from the top of the country album charts. Revolution makes a three-peat for Lambert. Her previous two albums (Kerosene and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) were both Number 1 albums. The Zac Brown Band's The Foundation fell one spot to Number 3, Hannah Montana: The Movie Sound-track fell to fourth, and Jason Aldean's Wide Open held on to Number 5.
Another New Album from Hank, Sr.?
Last year's Unreleased Recordings will be followed up by a three-disc box set of even more unreleased recordings. Revealed: Unreleased Recordings will feature 50 previously unreleased songs preformed by Hank Williams, Sr. and his band on the Mother's Best radio program from 1951 and several interviews and conversations with the country legend. This three-disc box set is set to be released on November 3rd, 2009. "To me, this is even more exciting than the first set because you get to hear my daddy talk and you get a sense of him, not just as an entertainer, but as a person," said Jett Williams. "That's why we called it 'Revealed.' The song selection is as strong as the first volume, but this time we've done three thematic CDs."
Watasha Gets Re-Issued
Six of Waylon Jennings' albums from his RCA years in the 60s and 70s are set to be re-issued by California-based record company, Collector's Choice. The albums will be packaged two to a cd, Folk Country/Waylon Sings Ol' Harlan, Love of the Common People/Hangin' On, and Waylon/Singer of Sad Songs. These albums include early Waylon hits like "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man", "The Chokin' Kind", "Stop the World (And Let Me Off)", and "Singer of Sad Songs". The albums also feature a number of covers by songs that Waylon liked including "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town", "Man of Constant Sorrow", "Busted", "Tiger By The Tail", "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away", "Gentle On My Mind", and "Honky Tonk Woman". All three albums will be released on November 24th, 2009.
MUSIC TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Country Singles Reviews
Tim McGraw - "Southern Voice"
Tim McGraw needs another big hit. He needs another "Don't Take The Girl", "I Like It, I Love It", or "It's Your Love". It's been almost five years since his last blockbuster hit that got everyone talking about how much they love Tim McGraw. Not to say that he hasn't had any substantial hits the last few years. "Last Dollar" hit Number 1 in 2007 and "Let It Go" was a Number 2 hit last year, but those songs are far from classics. In my opinion, McGraw hasn't released a truly classic country song since "Live Like You Were Dying" back in 2004. Fortunately for him, he's one half of country music's "golden couple" (along with Faith Hill), and he's had so many great songs over the course of his career that this dry spell will do him no harm. Folks are still going to request his new songs on the radio and buy his records, but it seems like that certain spark that McGraw used to have is gone...at least for now.
"Southern Voice" is the latest single from Tim McGraw. It's the second single and title track to his tenth studio album, Southern Voice, set to be released on October 20th, 2009. "Southern Voice" is one of those over-used "I'm proud I'm from The South" country songs that are oh so popular today. However, it's cleverly disguised in a catchy, laid-back package that makes it seems a million times more real that Jason Moore's "Small Town, USA', which is phonier than Sasquatch. I love the name dropping throughout the choruses, although some of it doesn't make sense. What does Michael Jordan have to do with the south? He was born in New York and played basketball for Chicago. Overall, "Southern Voice" is enjoyable and a step in the right path, but it's still not going to be the big hit that Tim McGraw needs to propel him back into the game with the likes of Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, and Taylor Swift.
Favorite Lyric: "It's hi ya'll did ya eat well/ Come on in child/ I'm sure glad to know ya/ Don't let this old gold cross/ In this Charlie Daniels t-shirt throw ya/ We're just boys making noise/ With the southern voice"
Taylor Swift, Kanye West, MTV and whoever else was behind the VMA fiasco are marketing geniuses. They were able to sucker the whole country into believing that what happened was absolutely real when in fact it was likely staged. Taylor Swift comes off looking like a sweet little girl who was taken advantage of, Kanye West gets more bad publicity which he seems to enjoy, and MTV gets a guarantee that even more people will tune into next year's VMAs to see what crazy thing happens next. Everybody wins. Next summer when Kanye and Taylor collaborate on something or do something crazy like go on tour together, it will seal the deal on my theory. Those two working together and "mending the fence" means millions of dollars for the both of them. Still, it was entertaining TV.
"Fifteen" is the latest single from country-pop crossover sensation Taylor Swift. It's the fourth single from her highly successful, quadruple platinum Fearless. Swift is an excellent singer, an excellent songwriter, and knows how to hone right in on her target audience. "Fifteen" is not a song that I'm going to listen to on a regular basis, but that's simply because I'm a 25 year old dude and certainly not the target audience of the song. A song like "Fifteen" is inspirational to a fifteen year old girl and retrospective to a 35-40 year old mom. It's about being a fifteen year old freshmen female dealing with the first day of school, boys, and finding out who you really are. Then towards the end, Swift wraps it up with the old "if i could just tell myself then what I know now" line that hooks all the older female listeners who were reminiscing while listening to the beginning of the song. Excellent stuff, especially for a young musician like Swift.
Favorite Lyric: "'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you/ You're gonna believe them/ And when you're fifteen feeling like there's nothing to figure out/ Well, count to ten, take it in/ This is life before you know who you're gonna be/ Fifteen"
Rating: 4/5
Carrie Underwood - "Cowboy Casanova"
The mass popularity of Carrie Underwood is something I don't quite understand. I've really only liked one of her singles so far, "Before He Cheats" from 2006. The rest have been overly preachy or just forgettable. I gave her cover of "I Told You So" a pretty good review, but I regret that now. After hearing it over and over again, it hurt my ears. I think she over did it. I blame Underwood for opening the "country career for reality stars" window that gave the world Kellie Pickler and the worst country song of 2009, "Best Days of Your Life". On the other hand, that did open the door for Miranda Lambert too, and she is quite talented. Maybe that all balances out.
"Cowboy Casanova" is the lead-off single for Carrie Underwood's upcoming Play On, dropping November 3rd, 2009. This song WILL hit Number 1. It's already the fastest rising country song of 2009 and climbing. Finally, Underwood has returned to the "Before He Cheats" style. "Cowboy Casanova" is a warning to women about the smooth operator "leaning against the record machine". He might be suave and handsome, but he's a "snake with blue eyes". It's almost the perfect blend of pop and country. It mixes heavy, ominous electric guitars with the fiddle and slide guitar making a sound that's really unique on today's country radio, especially for a female singer. Props must be given to Miss Underwood for this one. Here's hoping she ditches the preachy and bland stuff in favor of more original tunes like "Cowboy Casanova".
Favorite Lyric: "He's a, a good time cowboy Casanova/ leanin' up against the record machine/ Looks like a cool drink of water but/ He's candy coated misery/ He's the devil in disguise/ A snake with blue eyes"
Dan Seals first gained fame as England Dan in the pop duo England Dan and John Ford Coley. The pair had a string of hits in the the late 70s including "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight", "We'll Never Have To Say Goodbye Again", and "Nights Are Forever Without You". After the two split up, Dan Seals started a solo career in country music in the early 80s. He was a very successful country star in the 80s, racking up fifteen Top Ten hits. Of those fifteen, eleven were Number 1 hits. In fact, Seals had a string of nine Number 1 country hits in a row from 1985 to 1988. Some of his biggest hits included "Meet Me In Montana" (with Marie Osmond), "Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold)", "Addicted", "Love On Arrival", and "You Still Move Me".
His biggest hit solo hit was 1985's "Bop", from the album Won't Be Blue Anymore. It's a catchy and infectious song about wanting to boogie with your baby. "Bop" was one of the first songs that I can remember really, really liking. Of course I was about four years old when it came out. It was a major crossover hit as well, peaking at Number 42 on the pop chart. and Number 10 on the adult contemporary chart. Seals' popularity waned in the 1990s. He only released a handful of singles from 1991 till he died, and the majority of those didn't chart. He was a victim of the "changing of the guard" that occurred about 1990 when it seemed that all the really popular country acts of the 80s lost steam. Dan Seals passed away last March after battling mantle cell lymphoma cancer.
Favorite Lyric: "I want to bop with you baby, all night long/ I wanna bebop with ya baby 'til the break of dawn/ I wanna make it a night like it used to be/ When our hearts were young and free"
I Bet You've Never Heard This Song
Elton John - "Turn The Lights Out When You Leave"
I really got into the music of Elton John after getting into a argument with a friend about who was better, Elton or Billy Joel. I was steadfast in my claim that Billy Joel's music was better, that was until my friend changed my mind. He played a couple of songs from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, "Daniel" and the title track to be exact, that I'd never heard before was pleasantly surprised. Up until that point I was really only familiar with "Rocketman", "Candle In The Wind", and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me". Afterwards, I dived into Elton's back catalog and discovered so many great albums and songs. I highly recommend Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player, Honky Chateau, and Tumbleweed Connection. I began to see a recurring theme is some of his music. A lot of it seemed to be inspired by country music. In fact the majority of songs from Tumbleweed Connection could be considered country songs. When I find out that a musician from another genre has respect for country music, my opinion of them instantly gets better. Musicians like The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Elton John, Darius Rucker, Dave Matthews, Bob Dylan, and many others have all, at one time or another, recorded country music.
The Elton John song I've chosen as an example is from his highly underrated 2004 album Peachtree Road. "Turn the Lights Out When You Leave" was the second single released from Peachtree Road, an album totally infused in the country style. It only peaked at Number 32 on the US charts, but it's really great country tune. Elton performed a sampling of the song at the 2004 CMA awards with Dolly Parton as a duet. In fact, it sounds like an old school country song that could have been recorded by Parton, Loretta Lynn, or Tammy Wynette in their hey-days. It's a break up song about a girl who's leaving her man, but the guy is cool with it. He saw it coming, doesn't care, and basically tells her to "not let the door hit you where the good Lord split you". In fact the exact line is, "So if everything's been said/ I'm heading back to bed/ Oh and darlin' turn the lights out when you leave". That's the ultimate "good riddance" line. The song was written by Elton's longtime business partner and songwriter extraordinaire Bernie Taupin. The excellent lyrics are backed by the mixture of mellow piano and the whine of the steel guitar. If you enjoy this song, I highly recommend checking out Elton's 2005 country duet with Catherine Britt, "Where We Both Say Goodbye".
Favorite Lyric: "You might still look pretty/ In that lacy little dress/ But I think you've got your signals crossed/ If you think that I'm a mess"
That's all folks! Tune in next week for more good times with country music!
