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Topic: New Country Akin to '70s Rock?? |
Chris LeDrew
From:
Canada
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Posted 8 Mar 2010 11:16 am |
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I keep hearing that New Country is nothing but '70s Rock in disguise. I don't get this statement. In my opinion, some of the greatest rock music ever made came out of the '70s, whereas much of today's mainstream Country is dismal. I don't see the connection, especially from a quality standpoint. This comparison seems to imply that '70s Rock was awful. Can someone clarify this connection for me?
_________________
Jackson Steel Guitars
Web: www.chrisledrew.com |
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Ken Pippus
From:
Langford, BC, Canada
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Posted 8 Mar 2010 11:39 am
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I think the instrumentation, tone, and themes of '70's rock approximate the sound of modern country, except that most of the quality and all of the originality has been removed. It would be more accurate to describe it as being like BAD seventies rock. And there was a lot of that around back then, too. The classics were more likely to survive, and you're far too young to remember that other s**t, kid!!
KP |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 8 Mar 2010 12:06 pm
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This is my personal take on this, nothing more.
I think 70s rock influence started becoming very pronounced in country music in the early-mid 90s. Travis Tritt's "Put Some Drive In Your Country" and many other things from this period reminded me a lot of a combination of people like Bob Seger and various southern rock bands. Unless you're adamant that everything has to be classic country shuffles and ballads, I don't think this was all bad. But neither do I think it was all good. First, some of it was (IMO) translated poorly - you'll have this, there's no such thing as a style where everything is 'good'. But second, (IMO) not all 70s rock was good, not by a long shot - please spare me Foreigner, Journey, and some of the other so-called 'corporate rock' that flowed out of LA in the late 70s. If you love it, great - it's just personal taste. But I think much of it was a real bad fit to country music.
But things have morphed a lot since then - it's pushing 15-20 years ago now. The new Nashville sound, to me, has become a dumping ground for all kinds of stuff from different rock and pop music periods. Bon Jovi and Kid Rock aren't 70s rock, but 80s and 90s, and that's just the tip of the iceberg - you can find elements of all kinds of pop music littered about now. To me, it's just another youth-oriented pop style now. This is neither 'bad' or 'good', it's just a matter of personal taste. But most of this feels like surface party music to me. To me, what was great about the good classic country music was that it spoke to much deeper emotions - like playing blues, you needed to have some 'mileage' to really get it. This doesn't mean strictly old peoples' music, but music with a level of personal honesty and intensity about the real world, not a 'virtual party world'.
My guess is that a lot of people that say everything now is 70s rock probably aren't really very familiar with modern rock. But I do think that's where this trend started, and my sense is because there isn't a huge chasm between what we probably term the 'good' 70s rock - especially country-rock - and classic country music. But everything has morphed a lot, both musically and culturally, since this started.
I don't mean to paint with too broad a brush - no broad brush really gets to the essence - but that's pretty much what this type of labeling ultimately winds up being about. So I'll say again - this is just my take, YMMV. |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 8 Mar 2010 12:08 pm
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Exactly Chris. I always say, please don't insult my 70's rock music by comparing it with today's new country. Got nothing in common. 70's music had definition, structure, a melody and a message. It was what it was. It was an honest entity, didn't try to hide behind other styles and was powerful enough to stand on it's own.
Edgy sometimes, yes. Even rough and raucous, and not for everybody that's for sure, but at least it didn't pretend to be something it wasn't.
I have an extensive library of music from that period that I listen to regularly. I can't imagine anything from this new country period that anyone would want to drag out 40 years from now 
Classic rock radio stations are very prominent today. Reckon in another 40 years there'll be "classic new country" programs?  Naw! |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 8 Mar 2010 1:57 pm
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| The term ROCK is a very broad cover. Much of what I hear from today's country music on the radio is rock, really bad rock, but more rock than country. |
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Eric Jaeger
From:
Oakland, California, USA
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Posted 8 Mar 2010 2:14 pm
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Hmmmm. I'd buy the statement only insofar as a lot of current "country" sounds, in arrangement, mix, style, instrumentation, etc. like a blend of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Eagles.
But as far as song quality, innovation, and in my opinion musical integrity... no comparison.
Only my opinions...
-eric |
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Chris LeDrew
From:
Canada
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Posted 8 Mar 2010 3:35 pm
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This is exactly the feedback I was hoping for. It breaks it down a bit for me. And thanks for the compliment on my age, Ken....I'm really not that young!  My Dad was a disc jockey so I heard everything at the house growing up, even the one-hit wonders - ie. "Afternoon Delight" and "Smoke From a Distant Fire." Ha.
_________________
Jackson Steel Guitars
Web: www.chrisledrew.com |
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Theresa Galbraith
From:
Goodlettsville,Tn. USA
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Posted 8 Mar 2010 4:34 pm
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| It's subjective. |
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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Posted 8 Mar 2010 11:24 pm
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Early Seventies Rock I liked. American, not succesful: Mad River, NRBQ, Ohio Knox. Moderately succesful: Little Feat, Poco, Bonnie Raitt. Succesful: Doobie Brothers.
British, not succesful: Mighty Baby, Kokomo,Brinsley Schwartz, Terry Reid. Moderately succesful: The Kinks, Faces. Succesful: Wings.
Late Seventies Rock... I'll spare you this because it seems like I am name dropping 
Strangely, most everything I liked did not make it in the charts. |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 9 Mar 2010 11:03 am
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| Joachim Kettner wrote: |
| Strangely, most everything I liked did not make it in the charts. |
Not strange at all when you consider good taste.
Terry Reid! |
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Chris LeDrew
From:
Canada
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Posted 9 Mar 2010 9:43 pm
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I would like to add a disclaimer, saying that while I think the songs in today's mainstream country are sometimes dismal, I do believe that the musicians - namely our steel playing friends and heroes - are playing some great stuff on these recordings, enhancing the song in every way possible.
_________________
Jackson Steel Guitars
Web: www.chrisledrew.com |
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Cliff Kane
From:
the late great golden state
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Posted 9 Mar 2010 10:23 pm
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| Maybe who ever said that new country sounds like 70's rock got ahold of some 70's acid. |
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Skip Edwards
From:
LA,CA
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Posted 9 Mar 2010 10:34 pm
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Well, the '70's weren't my favorite decade for music, but suffice to say that there's good and bad in all genres from all decades.
On another note...didn't Don Henley - awhile ago - make a tongue-in-cheek apology for the state of today's country music? Something along the lines of (and I'm paraphrasing)...
"If we knew it would come to this we never would've started the Eagles." |
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Chris LeDrew
From:
Canada
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Posted 9 Mar 2010 11:14 pm
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Yes, Skip, I heard that quote somewhere as well. I guess he's referring to the "watered down for the masses" approach to country rock, distilled from the Burritos/Gram Parsons days.
_________________
Jackson Steel Guitars
Web: www.chrisledrew.com |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2010 6:58 am
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That was the decade that my brain was plugging in, so to speak, and I was there to witness the death of rock. The very first time I heard the first Boston album, I got this eery, bad feeling. In short succession, Foreigner, Journey, Oreo Speedcookie, Styx, Jefferson Starship confirmed it. The early 70's and the late 70's music were far more different from each other than the late 70's were from all of the 80's and 90's put together. There's a book called "I Hate New Music" by Dave Thompson that pins this down beautifully.
If by 70's rock you mean Foreigner & Styx, well that's one thing - if you mean the Duane-era Allman Brothers & the Mahavishnu Orchestra, that's something else entirely. |
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Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
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Posted 10 Mar 2010 7:56 pm
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| I think the common thread between New Country and '70s rock is that there's what for lack of a better term could be called "corporate anthem-ness",permeated with melodies,hooks,lyrics,and themes that are proven to push people's buttons.It's all pretty calculated and no more authentic than "Sugar,Sugar" or"Yummy,Yummy,Yummy,I got Love in My Tummy",but it IS kinda fun.Besides that,who says pop-rock-country music has to take itself seriously? |
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Rick Campbell
From:
Sneedville, TN, USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2010 9:32 pm
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I'm not sure that any of us know the answers to define this. I can't explain it. It's not just country, but music in general seems to have lost it's "spirit". There's so much hype, reality shows, etc... associated with music that it seems unable to stand on it's own two feet anymore.
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Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
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Posted 15 Mar 2010 9:26 am
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I just got ahold of the CD for Elf's album "Elf".
Clean, uncompressed, good ole' rock and roll.
Also Edgar and Johnny Winter on CD. Great stuff with no preservatives added.
They don't record it like that anymore.
Of course playing Boston's "Foreplay/Longtime" thru an Ipod is just wrong if you expect to get the full effect, but that is where today's product is expected to end up I guess.
Gimme a set of Altec "Voice of Theatre" stacks, some classic rock, and I'll make you some sound. Cranking up the new stuff is just amplifying a lot of confusing blather (kinda like audio paisley...) |
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Ken Lang
From:
Simi Valley, Ca
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Posted 15 Mar 2010 8:58 pm
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Ray. Did you move. I thought you were in upstate NY.
_________________
heavily medicated for your safety |
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Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
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Posted 17 Mar 2010 9:08 am
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Interstate flight to avoid nasty behaviors. I moved 7 miles south, from Limestone, NY to Bradford, Pa. (both about due south of Buffalo).
It didn't get any warmer.
The roads are worse.
No more IT-201-ATT's or IT-112R's.  |
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