The Wingnut-TeaBagger political rallies are making me HATE country music

[UTUSN]

It wasn't all that high in my accepted repertoire, but I (still) have some faves. Despite my knowing that even the country artists were mostly Wingnuts, I still love Patsy CLINE's "I Fall to Pieces" and Willie's "I'd have to be crazy" and George JONES's "I stopped loving her today."

But the 'Baggers' cynical abuse of Country-as-FAST-connection-to-rednecks is disgusting. Toby KEITH has said he's not a Wingnut that he just reacted to 9-11 with hyper-jingoistic lyrics like "put a boot up their ass, it's the American Way." Many of the wingnut candidates are not Country, just USE it as a cynical tool.

[catbyte]

1. Isn't that pretty much all they've got what with rock artists

telling the baggers to knock it off or be sued for copyright infringement?

LOL

[butterfly77]

47. What about,,,

kid rock and ted nugent?

[otohara]

2. It's Easy to Hate

I haven't heard a decent country album since The Outlaws LP.

[Zebedeo]

3. It's

"He Stopped Loving Her Today." Not "I."

[fascisthunter]

4. their breed of country music is corporate cookie-cut poser crap

[RoccoR5955]

5. Try some Jazz.

Better yet, listen to some bluegrass, or some American Folk Music. What passes today for "country" music is anything but. There are only three forms of music that I dislike. They are rap, opera, and country.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

21. Have you ever BEEN to a live opera?

It's much different when it's live.

I thought i didn't like it either. Then I saw a production with Surtitles.
They project the words above the stage on a little horizontal screen, in English, so you can follow what's going on.

Everyone I've talked to that hates opera has never seen a live one.
The stages, the sets, the lighting, everything is just as high tech as spectacular Broadway shows.

The love duets have turned into nearly doing the horizontal bop. The singers have to act, not just stand there and sing.

The stories are timeless illustrations of human nature. That's why they are still being performed. Go see Tosca, don Giovanni, Madame Butterfly, La Boheme, one of the standards.

Get back to me after you do so.

[hifiguy]

39. Oh, how right you are!

I'd never had any real appreciation of opera other than bits and pieces of Wagner (I'm of almost 100% German descent, so his music stirs my soul - his politics, definitely not) until a friend took me to see Tosca at the San Francisco Opera a few years ago. He and his wife, a classically trained pianist, have been subscribers for years and the seats were superb.

Zoinks! :wow:

I was completely blown away. Admittedly, seeing a great opera performed by world-class singers and players in one of the best halls in the US, complete with unobtrusive and complete supertitles, made the experience as close as possible to perfect, but still, WOW! The acting was excellent, the staging superb, and the overall effect was overwhelming. Opera MUST be seen live to be fully appreciated.

[Le Taz Hot]

6. What took you so long?

:hide:

[UTUSN]

13. Get yourself out of that bunker, no harm. As to what took me so long...

:hi: As I said, as an entire genre Country has never been more than a tiny part of what I like. The specific songs and artists I mentioned strike me at the heart for the MELODY ABOVE ALL, which is what "my" music has to be about. Lyrics are nothing to me unless the MELODY is there first. After the MELODY has grabbed me, I'll give a scan to the lyrics mainly to see whether they match the MELODY in quality (some don't, like "MacArthur Park"). As for the singers, they need to have a MELODius voice not a thin, screechy thing (Dolly).

In the case of the the 3 songs I cited, the lyrics are simple and heartfelt.

But what really took me so long is that my main music is Classical/Pop-symphonic/Romantic. I'm not great on full operas, but scattered individual arias hit the spot -- MELODY, emotional intensity; opera lyrics usually don't matter for their story ties.


Now it's my turn to use the bunker 'cause I'm going to step into it (can't help it) and squander whatever good will I have seen in the thread: GERSHWIN is the closest I can come to liking jazz, NOTHING else of jazz. :hide:


As for the other suggestions (rap), it's not like I'm looking for something to like. I know what I like and (stepping into it again: ) I haven't exposed myself to rap except for the Big Hits that broke through the barriers of somebody limited like me: I like the rap that is used as counterpoint to soaring, overarching MELODY, as in "Where is the love?" (Blackeyed Peas) and some things in Latino Euro-Pop. Whew, I've done it now!1

Does THIS count as my wild'n'crazy (with a MELODY) : Insane Clown Posse:: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-agl0pOQfs

[Le Taz Hot]

18. Hey, I love Gershwin!

He's got a great mixture of classical and jazz. So does Duke Ellington (the members of his orchestra were almost all conservatory-trained).

As others have noted, I like authentic country music. I love Bluegrass and am a lifelong fan of the Carter Family (they recorded regional rural music which might otherwise have been lost to us). Also adore Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Eddie Arnold, Marty Robbins and many others. The newer stuff -- not so much, though there are several exceptions (Vince Gil, LeAnn Womack).

[Manifestor_of_Light]

22. Dolly Parton does NOT have a thin, screechy voice.

She has a full, beautiful voice. She doesn't whine either, which is why I like her.
Don't know what you're hearing but it ain't the same voice I am.

I studied piano for twelve years, violin for ten years, voice for two years, played in many community and school orchestras, sang in countless church choirs, and I think I know a good voice when I hear one.
I've been reading music since I was five years old.

Lady Gaga also has a beautiful voice.

[UTUSN]

27. Agreed re: Lady Gaga, who has a rich voice, melodious, AND her big songs are anthem-like

in the MELODY department, which makes my point. But I had to find out that she's an Eyetalian, for gudness' sake, so that explains everything!1 As for PARTON, we'll just have to disagree about her voice, although her "I will always love you" is one of my greats picks. Let's just say it's MY tinny ears that are poor receivers of her voice.


As for your post #21 about live opera: "The stages, the sets, the lighting, everything is just as high tech as spectacular Broadway shows. The love duets have turned into nearly doing the horizontal bop. The singers have to act, not just stand there and sing."


Uh, what do all those components have to do with invididual pieces of MUSIC, the MELODY of specific pieces. I mean, I love very many of the arias in "Carmen" and have seen it in full 3 or more times, but far more often it's a few of the arias that I have heard and wanted to hear specifically a hundred or a thousand times. This fits into the topic in that I have no BROAD interest in Country music (or opera), just in a score or maybe even a hundred individual SONGS (or arias).


Re: my tin ears vs. Dolly::


Credit: "F Minus"

[Manifestor_of_Light]

31. I'm talking about the total sensory impact of the show.

The sets, costumes, lights, staging all add to the impact of the music. And makes it a great experience.

I don't listen to whole operas at home. I get the Highlights CD, with the good arias. I agree with you there.

I have the Highlights from Don Giovanni, by Samuel Ramey. That's pretty good.

[UTUSN]

35. I'm with you, but I'm not talking about "the total sensory impact" of opera.

I'm talking about individual pieces (whether songs or symphonies) that are my personal "greatest hits" list and what makes them resonate with me, which is, as I've said, MELODY. I might like one or six songs out of an opera but am not talking about the opera in full.

Friends?!1

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. Tell me about it.

There was a time Country music could stir something American pie in me. Not anymore. But this predates the teabaggers.

[hifiguy]

8. Emmylou Harris is the only "country" artist

I've ever been able to listen to, other than some really old school stuff like the first Hank Williams.

[Kalidurga]

9. Don't hate just laugh and point.

Baggers love themselves some Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash was not a conservative....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x2622775

[hifiguy]

11. Shoulda mentioned Johnny

I have several albums of his that he did with Rick Rubin from the later part of his career. He was a true American classic and a good guy.

My fail. :spank:

[Bucky]

37. If Willie singing "You Are Always On my Mind" doesn't make you cry, you have no heart

[hifiguy]

40. I deserve a minor beatdown

for forgetting Johnny Cash and Willie, both national treasures. Geez, louise, I own multiple albums by both of them. Alison Krause, too. Brain is fogging over at week's end, I think. :silly:

[pipi_k]

10. IMO, everything after the 70s is crap...

I do have my older favorites, like Patsy Cline, Charlie Rich, Conway Twitty, etc.,

But just about all this modern stuff is garbage.

[Gold Metal Flake]

12. Earwash

Tennessee Ernie Ford. Early stuff.

[MadHound]

14. Oh, you can find non RW whacko country music out there

For instance
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si0WTCMrksw>
or anything by
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEg9FbuaSCk>
or if you want to get off the beaten country track, check out
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYDGFZ5e6HA>
and
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK4Nmp6nJxQ>
or even
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUPK9z59yUc&ob=av2e>

You can still enjoy country and not have to deal with the Teabagger aspect at all. Just have to dig a little.

[UTUSN]

15. Yeah, it's just the specific jingoistic junk and th'exaggerated twang & the politics that is irksome

[MadHound]

16. Understand that,

That's what an iPod is for. You can have your favorite music without the blather that accompanies it on the radio.

[Dawson Leery]

41. This should include those many "artists" who sing the praises of

the "good ole days" in the back country. I have noticed that this theme has become more prevalent since 04'-05' and is regularly part of many of today's most popular songs.

[Initech]

48. The late, great Johnny Cash was definitely not a right-winger.

[mmonk]

17. What made me hate the industry the most is what was done to the Dixie Chicks.

More hateful things are said about Democrats and Obama than were ever uttered by them. It's a sewer industry for humanity's sewage. I do appreciate Willie Nelson, Faith Hill and others who aren't pure scum on the music side.

[RZM]

23. I actually think the Dixie Chicks thing was an interesting case

It's interesting that a benign off the cuff remark sparked such a flap, seeing how so many other musicians have done truly despicable acts and not seen a whole lot of damage to their legacies.

James Brown is still considered a legend, though he quite possibly raped his assistant. He was never charged with the crime though (she claims she was too scared of him -- she filed a civil lawsuit around the time he died but it was tossed).

And then there's Chuck Berry, who installed cameras in his restaurant bathroom, apparently so he could watch women defecating.

http://rulefortytwo.com/secret-rock-knowledge/chapter-8/chuck-berry-bathroom-cameras/

Boy George apparently pulled a Rick James not too long ago as well. Last I checked, there was not outcry for 80s stations to stop playing 'Do You Really Want to Hurt Me.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jan/16/boy-george-sentenced-handcuffing-male-escort.

Apparently people are willing to tolerate a whole lot of misbehavior from their favorite musicians, as long as they don't bring the wrong politics into it.

[Dawson Leery]

33. Certainly.

There is more to the story than the 16 words though. The country klan never cared for the Dixie Chicks style or their fights with the labels.

[mmonk]

42. But they are the most hypocritical humans on earth.

[Dawson Leery]

43. That would include those in country who openly went on the attack against the Dixie Chicks

and have since attacked President Obama from day 1.

[Dawson Leery]

44. kick

[Manifestor_of_Light]

19. I hate country music because it's SO NEGATIVE.

And most of those people whine and sing with a clothespin on their nose.

There are two country singers I like because they do not whine: Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton.

Other than that, forget it.

[MadHound]

20. I suggest that you get a bit deeper into country music

Country is a great story telling type of music, and there are some great musical talents in country, talents that don't have a nasal twang.

[JustAnotherGen]

24. Ditto you!

I'm thinking from back in the 1990's - John Michael Montgomery, Doug Stone (his voice melts me), George Strait. Suzy Bogus, KT Oslin, etc. etc. Dottie West's voice rocked. The original Lesson in Leaving never should have been ruined by Mindy "(ucky) Mcready.

[TwilightGardener]

36. Suzy Boggus! Where'd she go? Where'd Patty Loveless go? Where'd Mary Chapin Carpenter go?

All replaced by teen-girl pop star/models like Taylor Swift. No more adult women in country music. Edit to add: no more adult women in MAINSTREAM country music--I know there's still the Gillian Welches and Alison Krausses and Emmylou Harrises out there.

[Sugarcoated]

25. Yep

We discovered that when we started to going to music fests . . . there are so many amazing soulful, unique, well written artists out there that haven't been homogenized by the Kountry Muzak Nashville conveyer belt. There was a time I thought I hated country music, then I realized what the Nashville machine puts in your face isn't real country.

[MadHound]

26. I had to grow up to appreciate country

When I was a kid I was into classical, rock, reggae, etc. Country was what my dad played at six in the morning when I was just rolling out of bed, a horrible way to wake up.

It took me until my mid-late twenties before I started investigating, and enjoying that old style country.

The new country, what started filtering in during the late eighties, I never could get into, outside a few artists and songs. It was all too commercial, too much like southern fried rock for my taste. But the older stuff, the bluegrass and alt-country, that's great music.

[Sugarcoated]

30. Beautiful stuff

I go for newer artists, storyteller/singer-songwriter, bluegrass, harder to catagorize artists with twang, Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle, Drive By Truckers, Lucinda Williams, Terri Henrix, Gillian Welsh & Dave Rawlings, Buddy Miller, Patty Griffin, to name but a few. I like older artists as well, Emmylou, Johnny, Dolly, Gram Parsons. I shake my head when people say they don't like country, because, in most cases, they don't know what real country is, just the snippets they hear in Country Music Awards promos, or commercial Kountry stations.

[sakabatou]

29. What about the Dixie Chicks?

[Sugarcoated]

34. The Chicks are one of those rare exceptions to the rule

Commercial and authentic.

[sakabatou]

28. I stopped liking country around 9 or so

Then I stopped liking teen-pop after 12. I'm into jazz, rock, and other music now.

[Sugarcoated]

32. Good authentic country

and teen-pop is like comparing Jazz or rock to teen-pop. Commercial country is an accurate comparison, maybe, but not the real stuff.

[sakabatou]

38. Well, most of the stuff I listen to doesn't come from the US

[City Lights]

45. I've never liked it. eom

[Raine]

46. I don't have that problem, I have always hated country music

can't stand that whiney twang. :puke: