I just bought George Straits "50 Number 1 Hits".

A great album, and truly country.

To paraphrase Roger Miller, country music swings like a pendulum do.

Right now there is a pretty broad range of music that is called "country." The bubblegum country will lose its flavor and the more traditional styles will resurface.

Look back at the history of country music. There are more pop-ish periods, then the core comes back. It'll happen again (I hope).

Regards,
Chris

Quoted: Garth Brooks killed country music.

Nope.  The Dixie Chicks beat him to it.

Quoted: Quoted: Garth Brooks killed country music.   Nope.  The Dixie Chicks beat him to it.

Heck, their first album was pretty damn good.  Then the music got stupid ("Earl") and so did they.

Quoted: Said it once, here it is again... www.khyi.com Better than anything else "country" on the radio. -hanko

Thanks for the tip!  I've been listening all morning.

Quoted: Quoted: Garth Brooks killed country music.   No, he made it popular. I like Garth Brooks' music.

+1

I used to enjoy C&W, but today it is all Country-Pop and Country-Rock.  That crap turns my stomach.

There is a classic country show on bluegrasscountry.org that I listen to sometimes.  I think I might give khyi.com a try.  

I don't think Country music has gone to Hell.
If you are one of those folks that collects MP3s, and are anal like myself about classifying them, you know how difficult it can be to pigeonhole some groups.
There is a segment that has "sold out"; but there is a traditionalist element as well that is relatively thriving.

"The old man was covered with tattoos and scars; he got some in prison and some in bars, and the rest he got working on old junk cars in the daytime"

If THAT ain't country, it'll harelip the Pope!  

I stoped listening in 1966.  

Just kidding.  I like some of the new stuff (eg. Letters from Home, There Goes my Lfe, etc.)  However, there's nothing that will get you in a whiskey drinking, pistol suck starting mode like George Jones, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings or Hank Jr.  

George Strait kicks ass too.

Okay, skipped two pages of this, but oh well....Dissing Save A Horse Ride A Cowboy! It's a different kind of country...I like old country and new country...I don't like Nelly, but I like Tim McGraw...don't remember him doing any music videos with Nelly or whatever, but that's because I don't have CMT which I would REALLY like to have...I like his new song Back When which I am actually listening to right now... ANYWAYS, done rambling...
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Garth Brooks killed country music.   No, he made it popular. I like Garth Brooks' music. +1

+1

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Garth Brooks killed country music.   Nope.  The Dixie Chicks beat him to it. Heck, their first album was pretty d*** good.  Then the music got stupid ("Earl") and so did they.

I'll have to disagree with both of you - most of their music, up to and including their last album, was more traditionally country than most of what gets played on "country" stations today (Long Time Gone was a great song IMO, with a strong bluegrass influence).  But their mouths & egos got too big and, as much as I enjoyed their music, I do not listen to them or support them anymore.


As for Rascall Flatts (sp?), etc.?  IMHO they are just '80s hair bands in a time that is no longer the '80s and a world that has no more use for hair bands - if they hadn't found Nashville, they would be rappers by now...

Sorry son, country music has sucked for a long time ago.

It's mostly crappy pop with a twang. And sometimes not even that.

Yep, I don't know what happened to good country song writers, but they are a thing of the distant past for sure........

On the topic of country music random question: Does anybody know who wrote the song Me And Charlie Talking? goes like this "...catch it in a mason jar with holes in the top and run like hell to show it off...oh promises were made when we went walking...That was just me and Charlie talking..." okay sorry for random question just been wondering for a while

Hank Williams III and Wayne Hancock are what you’re looking for.

We are lucky here in Vegas. We have this old guy that plays songs that have to be at least 10 years old on Sunday mornings and Sunday evenings. I love that old '60s and '70s country music. That twangy shit about getting loaded and heart ache is the best. I grew up watching Hee-Haw with my grandmother and it just brings back memories. The wife hates that old-school country like you wouldn't believe. She can handle Randy Travis and George Straight but hates the old school. The DJ's name is Country Chuck and you can just tell he's a salty old bastard

On the other hand.... I have tried to make a change in my life towards the Lord. I have noticed that country music speaks alot about the Lord and Jesus now. I actually like to hear music that has more positive in it than just rambling on. Songs like "Help pour out the Rain", "Long Black Train", and "Live like you were Dying" are a good thing. My oldest son just turned 16 and we work on a '65 mustang together and go shooting almost every weekend. He listens to country so much that he acutally likes it now. He still prefers rap and hip-hop but for him to notice that country music is more spiritual satisfies me.

I wouldn't say going to hell in a handbasket but going through some changes. I stopped listening to country for about 5 years because it got so commercial. It seems that it's trying to get back to it's roots but band like Rascal Flatts need to be sent to France or Germany.

thanks,
Ron

(I am sure there are MANY typos but I am at the office and speed typing)

Tim McGraw is a great singer - but he is a pop singer. His wife is hot - but she has about as much emotion in her voice as I do in my farts.  I think her rendition of "Take Another Piece of My Heart" was one of the lowest points in the hostory of the Country genre.  I think that was the same year that some other country musician remade "Feels Like Makin' Love."  Disgusting.

Nowadays, Pop is dominated by dance songs, so there is no room for more story-oriented songs - so they sem to have to market it as Country.

As for hair bands - hair bands LIVE!  You just have to know where to look - most of today's hair bands are from Scandinavia and other parts of Europe.

Isn't complaining about new music a sign of getting older?  

Nobody saw him running from sixteenth avenue.
They never found the fingerprint or the weapon that was used.
But someone killed country music, cut out its heart and soul.
They got away with murder down on music row.

The almighty dollar and the lust for worldwide fame
Slowly killed tradition and for that someone should hang.
They all say not guilty, but the evidence will show
That murder was committed down on music row.

Chorus:
For the steel guitars no longer cry and fiddles barely play,
But drums and rock ‘n roll guitars are mixed up in your face.
Old Hank wouldn’t have a chance on today’s radio
Since they committed murder down on music row.

They thought no one would miss it, once it was dead and gone
They said no one would buy them old drinking and cheating songs (I’ll still buy ‘em)
Well there ain’t no justice in it and the hard facts are cold
Murder’s been committed down on music row.

Chorus:
Oh, the steel guitars no longer cry and you can’t hear fiddles play
With drums and rock ‘n roll guitars mixed right up in your face
Why, the Hag, he wouldn’t have a chance on today’s radio
Since they committed murder down on music row
Why, they even tell the Possum to pack up and go back home
There’s been an awful murder down on music row.

Quoted: Said it once, here it is again... www.khyi.com Better than anything else "country" on the radio. -hanko

And it's local for me :-)

Alabama, thats coutry and one of my favorites.
Nothing else to add as everything I would have said has been already.
CH

I have three country stations in my area and I have to shuffle between all of them to keep good stuff on. If I ever meet Rascal Flatts I'm gonna end up in jail. I hate that shit.

<--- Has never heard of Rascall Flats, and is starting to think that is a blessing.

CW music going to hell in a handbasket ?
"Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy". Well then, nuff said right there.
Been taking a shine to Gretchen lately. Somethin a lil trashy goin on there

If it isnt the old stuff<(no offence)..Its just country flavored pop music...sad to say, but true.hinking.gif

There are NO DRUMS in real country music!

If That Ain't Country


Written By David Allan Coe/ Fred Spears

Recitation:
THE OLD MAN WAS COVERED WITH TATTOOS AND SCARS
HE GOT SOME IN PRISON AND OTHERS IN BARS
THE REST HE GOT WORKING' ON OLD JUNK CARS
IN THE DAYTIME
THEY LOOKED LIKE TOMBSTONES IN OUR YARD
AND I NEVER SEEN HIM WHEN HE WASN'T TIRED AND MEAN
HE SOLD USED PARTS TO MAKE ENDS MEET
COVERED WITH GREASE FROM HIS HEAD TO HIS FEET
CUSSING' THE SWEAT AND THE TEXAS HEAT
AND MESQUITES
AND THE NEIGHBORS SAID WE LIVED LIKE HICKS
BUT THEY BRUNG THEIR CARS FOR PA TO FIX ANYHOW
HE WAS VETERAN-PROUD, TRIED AND TRUE
HE'D FOUGHT TILL HIS HEART WAS BLACK AND BLUE
DIDN'T KNOW HOW HE'D MADE IT THROUGH THE HARD TIMES

HE BOUGHT OUR HOUSE ON THE G.I. BILL
BUT IT WASN'T WORTH ALL HE HAD TO KILL TO GET IT
HE DRANK PEARL IN A CAN AND JACK DANIELS BLACK
CHEWED TOBACCO FROM A MAIL POUCH SACK
HAD AN OLD DOG THAT WAS TRAINED TO ATTACK
SOMETIMES
HE'D GET DRUNK AND MEAN AS A RATTLESNAKE
AND THERE WASN'T TOO MUCH
THAT HE WOULD TAKE FROM A STRANGER

THERE WERE THIRTEEN KIDS AND A BUNCH OF DOGS
A HOUSE FULL OF CHICKENS AND A YARD FULL OF HOGS
I SPENT THE SUMMERTIME CUTTING' UP LOGS FOR THE WINTER
TRYING' LIKE THE DEVIL TO FIND THE LORD
WORKING' LIKE A NIGGER FOR MY ROOM AND BOARD
COAL-BURIN' STOVE, NO NATURAL GAS
IF THAT AIN'T COUNTRY, I'LL KISS YOUR ASS

IF THAT AIN'T COUNTRY,
IT'LL HAIR LIP THE POPE
IF THAT AIN'T COUNTRY, IT'S A DAMN GOOD JOKE
I'VE SEEN THE GRAND OLE OPRY,
AND I'VE MET JOHNNY CASH
IF THAT AIN'T COUNTRY, I'LL KISS YOUR ASS

RECITATION:
MAMA SELLS EGGS AT A GROCERY STORE
MY OLDEST SISTER IS A FIRST-RATE WHORE
DAD SAYS SHE CAN'T COME HOME ANYMORE
AND HE MEANS IT
MA JUST SITS AND KEEPS HER SILENCE
SISTER, SHE LEFT 'CAUSE DAD GOT VIOLENT
AND HE KNOWS IT
MAMA SHE'S OLD FAR BEYOND HER TIME
FROM CHOPPING TOBACCO AND I'VE SEEN HER CRYING'
WHEN BLOOD STARTED FLOWING' FROM HER CALLOUSED HAND AND

IT HURT ME
SHE'D JUST KEEP WORKING' TRYING' TO HELP THE OLD MAN
TO THE END OF ONE ROW AND BACK AGAIN LIKE ALWAYS
SHE'S BEEN THROUGH HELL SINCE JUNIOR WENT TO JAIL
WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT SHE AIN'T NEVER FAILED
TO GET DOWN ON HER KNEES AND PRAY
BECAUSE SHE LOVES HIM
TOLD ALL THE NEIGHBORS HE WAS OFF IN THE WAR
FIGHTING' FOR FREEDOM,
HE'S GOOD TO THE CORE AND SHE'S PROUD
NOW OUR PLACE WAS A GRAVEYARD FOR AUTOMOBILES
AT THE END OF THE PORCH THERE WAS FOUR STACKS OF WHEELS
AND TIRES FOR SALE FOR A DOLLAR OR TWO
CASH

THERE WAS FIFTY HOLES IN AN OLD TIN ROOF
ME AND MY FAMILY WE WAS LIVING' PROOF
THE PEOPLE WHO FORGOT ABOUT POOR WHITE TRASH
AND IF THAT AIN'T COUNTRY, I'LL KISS YOUR ASS
IF THAT AIN'T COUNTRY, IT'LL HAIR LIP THE POPE
IF THAT AIN'T COUNTRY, IT'S A DAMN GOOD JOKE
I'VE SEEN THE GRAND OLE OPRY,
AND I'VE MET JOHNNY CASH
IF THAT AIN'T COUNTRY, I'LL KISS YOUR ASS
I'M THINKING TONIGHT OF MY BLUE EYES
CONCERNING THE GREAT SPECKLED BIRD
I DIDN'T KNOW GOD MADE HONKY-TONK ANGELS
AND WENT BACK TO THE WILD SIDE OF LIFE