Country Singles Jubilee 3.02.09: The Perfect Country and Western Song Edition
Posted by Jasper Jones on 03.02.2009
This week's Jubilee includes songs about drunk driving, the good ole days, Waylon Jenning's impact, and someone's mama getting run over by a damned old train. Sound like a good time to you?
Welcome back for another edition of The Country Singles Jubilee! I'm glad to have you! I picked up a great country album this week, Buddy & Julie Miller'sWritten In Chalk. If I can find some extra time this week, I might throw up a review. It's great, and I swear by that! Todd Snider announced on this Myspace page that he's releasing a new full length album at the end of April. Last year's Peace Queer (just an EP) didn't live up to Todd Snider-like standards in my opinion. Hopefully he's back in full force for the new record. If you are not familiar with Snider's work, I recommend starting out with his live cd Near Truth and Hotel Rooms. His trademark wit and charm shine like a beacon on that one. Don't let the fact that it's live scare you. I know that most live albums blow, but this one is the exception to the rule.
MUSIC TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Top 40 Country Singles Reviews
Tim McGraw - "Nothing To Die For"
Tim McGraw can be counted on to produce good country music. It may not be exceptionally great, but rarely is it exceptionally awful. He's never had to use a gimmick to sell his music like some other country artists. (Trace Adkins' and his goofy songs, Kenny Chesney's carbon copying of Jimmy Buffet, etc.) McGraw is just a consistent hit-making country musician. He'll be waiting in the wings to take over George Strait's spot once George is done. McGraw might even break Strait's record of most number one country songs someday. Time will tell.
"Nothing To Die For" is the seventh single from Tim McGraw's 2007 album Let It Go. In the song, McGraw tries to talk a friend out of driving drunk. He wonders why this man would risk his life in such a manner when he's got a wife and kids to live for. "You'd give your last breath to your wife/ take a bullet for your kids/ lay your life down for your country for your Jesus for your friends" The second verse explains why the man has been drinking so much. Apparently he's a workaholic and never takes the time to smell the roses. "And the inbox-outbox locks you in/ and the money you make ain't worth the time you spend to make your pay" McGraw continues to point out things that the man has to live for, but it does him no good. The man drives drunk anyway, has an accident, and dies. Bummer, huh? The vocals are backed by some pretty simple music that includes a synthesizer and electric guitar. This is definitely not a song to listen to if you need a cheering up.
Favorite Lyric: "You sure do act like you don't got a thing to lose/ but every car you pass might be the one's you take with you"
Rating: 3/5 - Like I said before, Tim McGraw consistently produces good country tunes. "Nothing To Die For" is no different, which can be considered a good or bad thing.
Lady Antebellum - "I Run To You"
Dave Haywood, Hillary Scot, and Charles Kelly make up Lady Antebellum, a new country act formed back in 2007 who's had some major success over the last year. The band originally formed to provide background vocals for a Jim Brickman song. Since they sounded so great together, the guys and the gal decided to give it shot as a trio. They released their debut self-titled album on April 15th, 2008 and hit number one the same week. Lady Antebellum holds the record of being the only new duo or group to hit number one within the first week of their debut.
The third single from Lady Antebellum is "I Run To You", co-written by the three members of the band and Tom Douglas. "I Run To You" marks the third Top 40 country hit for the band. It's a steady, moderate tempo-ed song in which Charles Kelly and Hillary Scott declare their love for each other by claiming that they run to each other in times of need. When the world becomes too much for them to bare, they run into each other's arms for comfort. If it weren't for the two great, attention-grabbing previous hits, "I Run To You" would not be doing as well on the charts. "Love Don't Live Here" and "Lookin' For A Good Time" were both great, stand-alone songs. I think "I Run To You" will ride on their coattails, because it's just not as strong. Folks will give "I Run To You" an undeserved chance just because they liked the other two songs.
Favorite Lyric: "And when it all starts coming undone/ baby you're the only one I run to"
Rating: 2/5 - Good timing to drop lazy song, Lady Antebellum. So much for your momentum.
James Otto - "These Are The Good Ole Days"
James Otto has been kickin' around Nashville since 1998. He was finally signed to Mercury Records in 2002 and released his first album Days of Our Lives. However, none of the singles from the album had much success (The highest charting single from the album was 2003's "The Ball", which peaked at a number thirty-three), and Otto was soon released from his contract. Things soon turned around for Mr. Otto. Warner Bros. Records Nashville signed him in 2007 and released his second album Sunset Man. The first single, "Just Got Started Lovin' You", hit number one and was even named the Number One Country Single of 2008 according to Billboard. Take that, Mercury Records!
"These Are The Good Ole Days" is the third single from James Otto's Sunset Man. It was co-written by Otto and Shannon Lawson, who had a minor country hit in 2002 with "Goodbye On A Bad Day". The lesson of the song is nothing new or ground-breaking. "Live in the moment" seems to be a standard country song subject. Otto claims that a person cannot live a happy life stuck in the past or worrying about their future. By living in the moment, you can always be living your good old days. "These Are the Good Ole Days" is an alright country song in theory. However, it has very little to do with country music in execution. It sounds more like a bouncy pop tune than a country song. The poor slide guitar is buried in the background. Plus, Otto's American Idol like vocal performance annoys me.
Favorite Lyric: "Ain't gonna live my life through no picture frame"
Interesting Fact: James Otto is a member of the infamous MuzikMafia, which includes other country acts like Big and Rich, Gretchen Wilson, and Cowboy Troy.
Rating: 2/5 - "These Are The Good Ole Days" continues the trend of blurring the lines of country music. Where does country start and where does it end? Just because you insert a banjo or a slide guitar into a song doesn't make it a country tune.
Retro Country Single Review
David Allan Coe - "You Never Even Call Me By Name"
Mystery surrounds David Allan Coe. He claims to have been on death row for killing an inmate who demanded oral sex, but the Ohio prison where he served his term had no death row. In 1978 and 1982, Coe recorded two albums full of very racist and misogynistic material including songs like "Fuckin' in the Butt", "Little Sussie Shallow Throat", and "N*gger Fucker". When confronted about the vulgar material, Coe defends it by claiming it was all tongue-n-cheek and and at the time his drummer was a black man. On the other hand, David Allan Coe's second album, Requiem for a Harlequin, contains songs condemning the KKK, praising soul music, and defending homosexuals. Who knows the true David Allan Coe? I bet David Allan Coe doesn't even know the true David Allan Coe anymore!
Coe has written upwards of 280 original country songs. A few of which have been major hits for other artists. Tanya Tucker had a hit with Coe's "Would You Lay With Me (In A Field of Stone)" and "Take This Job And Shove It" was a major country hit for Johnny Paycheck. Despite Coe's country songwriting talent, he didn't write the song he is associated with the most. "You Never Even Call Me By My Name", written by Steve Goodman, is Coe's second highest charting single (peaked at number 8), and chances are you've heard some drunken hillbilly do a karaoke version at a bar. The song is a drunkard's anthem about a guy upset with his lady friend for not giving him enough attention. After the second verse, Coe goes into a recitation about how he told Steve Goodman that he had not written the perfect country and western song, because he hadn't said anything about Mama, trains, trucks, prison, or getting drunk. So Goodman wrote another verse and sent it back to him. The third verse sums up the essence of country music.
Favorite Lyric: (3rd Verse) "I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison/ and I went to pick her up in the rain/ but before I could get to the station in my pick-up truck/ she got runned over by a damned old train"
I Bet You've Never Heard This Song, Review
Roger Alan Wade - "First Time I Saw Waylon"
According to his Myspace and Lastfm pages, Roger Alan Wade's songs have been recorded by huge names like Johnny Cash, George Jones, and Hank Williams Jr. I couldn't find any other sources to back this up, but it seems plausible. Wade has been an under-the-radar country singer and songwriter for a couple of decades now. He finally got a break with the help of his cousin, actor Johnny Knoxville, who featured some of Wade's song in Jackass and eventually signed him to Johnny Knoxville Records. Wade's songs are usually satirical, acoustic numbers about being a hillbilly and doing redneck-ish things. Some of his more well known songs include "Butt-Ugly Slut", "D-R-U-N-K", and "BB Gun".
Roger Alan Wade released his second album Stoned Traveler last year on Johnny Knoxville Records. The lead off single is a song called "First Time I Saw Waylon", about Wade's inspiration to be a musician. He mentions some of his favorite acts as a young boy like Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash. However, he credits Waylon Jennings with changing his life and making him want to be a musician. He wanted to be just like Waylon. So he immediately learned to play the guitar, began working on his songwriting skills, and hit the road running.
Favorite Lyric: "First time I saw Waylon/ Elvis and The Beatles didn't mean a damned thing to me"
