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Topic: Will we let quality country music die too? |
TomP
From:
Encino Ca
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Posted 4 Jul 2001 12:39 pm |
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It is so sad to hear of the passing of some of our greatest players and teachers. The contributions of Chet Atkins and Roy Nichols and others recently gone cannot be measured in records sold, played on, licks invented, etc. There is no accurate measure for developing and thereby promoting the kind of QUALITY these people stood for. I will forego the usual lamenting about the current state of country music to pose a more important question for discussion:
WHAT THE HELL ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT???
I would suggest befriending all the young players we can and doing things that will promote good quality playing.
Maybe we could get some suggestions here for encouraging, and not alienating young players.
I'll start the list with:
1. Don't tell them their music stinks. We all should know from experience this
is a fatal mistake.
2. Show them some licks or songs that are too hard for them to play and
maybe inspire them to go for it. "You think country music's dumb? Play this
hot shot." Most young people love a challenge.
Just an idea. It might help. God knows, the music world will have to look long and hard to find replacements for the likes of all the greats we've lost in the last couple of weeks. Man, it's like a plague.
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-Tom www.tompowell.org |
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Larry Miller
From:
Dothan AL,USA
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Posted 4 Jul 2001 4:35 pm
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| Will we let quality country music die? That is not the question, believe me, there are plenty of great young singers to carry the torch, but we might not get to hear them because they're not pretty,tall,don't sound like Mr. Haney when they sing, they have crooked teeth, a little on the heavy side,older than 25.....you get the picture! MR. DOUGLAS, MR. DOUGLAS have I got a deal for you. [This message was edited by Larry Miller on 04 July 2001 at 05:36 PM.] |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 5 Jul 2001 8:04 am
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Kids will be kids...can't change that. But, we can let them listen to Jimmy Bryant playing "Arkansas Traveler", or "Turkey In The Straw". Most guitar players today can't do what Jimmy was doing in the '50s! Back when Duane and Scotty were the hottest thing around, Jimmy was smokin'!
The same holds true for guys like Billy Sanford or O'Dell Martin. The stuff they were doing back in the '60s is strangely similar to what guys like Scaggs, Mason, Paisley and Warriner are doing now.
IMHO, the '60s were "it" for any kind of music.  |
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TomP
From:
Encino Ca
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Posted 5 Jul 2001 3:54 pm
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I'm not talkin' about sangers, there are, sure, lots of good ones and will be as long as we have kareoke machines. But it seems the pickers are thinning out (maybe thanks in part to the aforementioned, misspelled machine).Of course there are lots of young players out there, what worries me is: Are there enough to sort through to find the likes of Chet and Roy? Lord knows how many beer joints you'd have to visit to find another Jimmy Bryant. All I'm saying is we should do all we can to get kids to focus on their fingers instead of their hairstyle and stage lighting. If enough young people do that and promote it (along with us dinosaurs), then maybe the radio will start sounding a little more pleasing to the ear.
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-Tom www.tompowell.org [This message was edited by TomP on 05 July 2001 at 05:02 PM.] |
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Ed Miller Jr
From:
Coldwater,Mi USA
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Posted 5 Jul 2001 4:53 pm
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Tom, your point is well taken. I manage a small music store here in Michigan, The kids like rock but there is a suprising number turning back to rockabilly and old country. I was talking to one of their dads the other day and the kids are dusting off the old Jonny Cash, Ferlin Husky,Webb Pierce, and Farron Young records, I've tried to teach some of them the Atkins thumb style and it looks like some of them will make it.
I've got a couple that are discovering such artist as Merle Haggard, Dave Dudley, and Del Reeves! I don't think were out of the woods yet; But their finding out that the Pablum on the radio taste bad and they want to try something else. Heck, Even my Tele sales are up!...Maybe there's hope for them I've had my Steel set up at work for a couple of days and Iv'e got one guy that's now saving his Nickels for a carter starter!
It takes some time, but we're winning some of them to our side.
Ed[This message was edited by Ed Miller Jr on 05 July 2001 at 05:57 PM.] |
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Larry Miller
From:
Dothan AL,USA
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Posted 5 Jul 2001 5:47 pm
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| Tom, if you've been to any Old Timers Fiddlers and Guitar Conventions, then you know the world will be well stocked with up and comers, youngsters that would make you want to lay your instrument down and never pick it up again. Larry |
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TomP
From:
Encino Ca
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Posted 5 Jul 2001 6:58 pm
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Larry, I been to a ton of those contests, and you're right, some 12 or 14 year old kid walks away with it every time. I stopped entering talent contests the time I got beat by a 12 yr old boy tap dancing.
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-Tom www.tompowell.org |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 8 Jul 2001 6:27 pm
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Well I won't! Anyway, I'm trying to do my part by buying mostly "indie" stuff. I buy about 10 "indies" for every "major" I buy. The only thing I fear is that indie studios will someday be "bought out" like the little indie radio stations were.
Then we're really in trouble!!! |
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Geoff Brown
From:
Nashvegas
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Posted 8 Jul 2001 9:42 pm
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I wouldn't be too worried about indie labels disappearing. As long as there are folks who are passionate about the music, the labels will be there.
I think that some of the people who sulk and complain about country music going down the tubes are unwilling to do a little exploring to prove themselves wrong. No, it's not on the kitchen radio anymore. And you know what? It's not gonna change anytime soon, either. There are a lot of good musicians out there carrying the torch. You just have to look a little harder to find them. There is enough good country music on indie labels out there to make anyone's head spin. |
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ESnow
From:
Berryville AR USA
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Posted 9 Jul 2001 11:38 am
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| As long as we have Alan J, George S, Brad Paisley Darryl Worley recording they won't let country die. We just need more of these guys. It will come back. |
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Joe Casey
From:
Weeki Wachee .Springs FL (population.9)
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Posted 10 Jul 2001 9:04 am
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A very important part of Country music has not been mentioned.The songwriters. There are plenty of would be singers that can belch out the crap they write now.What is needed is more well written Country songs with the feeling and stories like the Howards,Shafers,and Haggards wrote.We can almost cut out a decent living on the the standards but new good and Country songs and songwriters need to step forward.
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CJC
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ESnow
From:
Berryville AR USA
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Posted 10 Jul 2001 11:49 pm
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| I agree 100% about the songwriters. But there are great songs written all the time, so why do they get over looked while some of the songs you hear on the radio get picked? It's like the producers only cut what the programers will play on the radio, not always what the public would really like to hear. To me it's not just country either, I keep my radios on classic country or classic rock. For my ears rock and country during 60's -80's was the best. |
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Oldpicker
From:
Weatherford Ok, USA
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Posted 16 Jul 2001 5:02 pm
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In the late 50's when country music was almost dead commercially I made a comment during a discussion that someday country music would be the number one music in America. But being young I did'nt know why I
said it but it has happened. However most of what is called country today is what was Pop
music in the 40's and early 50's when we had
very distinct music classes. Now the big corporations have taken over country music
and to them it is strictly a money business
and I don't argue with that except they could
quit calling it country. So my point is country will continue to decline until more
country oriented record companys and managers move into and take over the market and refuse to sell to the big companys when they become successful.
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