Conference napalm::guitar

I'd read someplace the Country was THE most popular genre of music
in the world...Or at least in the US.

Just something I read though...

    it has a following here in Scotland though I'm not sure how big.People
    look kinda stupid wearing a stetson and a kilt.....!  8)
    
    
                                           Staynz

    I'd have to agree .... what other type of popular music appeals to kids
    from 9 to 90 ?  
    
    Country is a mix of gospel, blues, rock, you name it.  I'm not
    surprised that it has a strong following.
    
    Jerry

    RE:.2 Yeah.....A stetson and a quilt would be a bit strange...and a set
    of rattleskin boots to top it off would be somthing to behold.

    
    
                             Not quilt, kilt!
    
    For some reason, country music just doesn't sound the same to me when
    it's sung without an American drawl.  Heard some Japanese band doin'
    country on TV and it just didn't sit right...
    
    
    
                     Wow, I can still do Midwestern!
    

    Yeah C&W music is pretty big downunder as well - We have the Tamworth
    Country Festival every year and it drawns thousands, as well as the
    biggest international acts. 
    Traditional Aussie C&W is sung without the American drawl, but with a
    pronouced Aussie twang (ie Slim Dusty). Then the there is the new
    commercial country rock genre (ie James Blundell), the inner city
    country punkabilly - Sheesh ! BTW, I saw a C&W band advertised the 
    other day named "50 Million Beers" - I liked that name.
    
    Jeff.

    Wow, I hadn't even realised that I wrote "quilt"....Oh well, one man's
    quilt is another man's kilt.....I'd better shutup or I'll really get 
    myself into a lot of trouble.
    
    RE. .6: I'd love to hear a good ol' "cry-in-your-beer" red neck country
    tune done in Aussie twang. If I could ever afford to go downunder for a
    while I'd bring some of my stuff with me and a good recorder and find
    some all night jamms, sit in, and WAIL. (of course, they'd have to be
    willing to allow that to happen...sittin' in I mean) Maybe some day.
    

	If you listen to C/W music, you'll hear a lot of 50's & 60's
	rockabilly standards (anything by Buddy Holly, a lot of Elvis,
	as well as many of the Do-Wop bands and early black music). If
	you can play a lot of this and some C/W standards, you can fit 
	into many C/W clubs. I'm not fond of all styles of C/W (as I'm
	also not fond of all styles of Rock or Jazz or Rap - there is good
	music and questionable music in all genres), but there is a lot
	that I like. Where I play (Colorado), you may need to mix up all
	sorts of styles to play some clubs and parties (especially if you
	get into GB work).
							Jens

   "We got *both* kinds 'a music:  Country AND Western!"  :-)

   -- Sam (who admits he's been listening to a bit of George Strait and 
           Randy Travis since moving to Colorado...)

>   "We got *both* kinds 'a music:  Country AND Western!"  :-)
    
    Ah yes...the Blues Brothers!  Great quote!
    
    Greg

    Since we're talking about country here, can someone tell me what Travis
    Tritt said about Billy Ray Cyrus ("Acky Breaky Heart").  It's been
    buzzing around, but I haven't heard the whole story.
    
    Jerry (who thinks Billy Ray Cyrus is a worthless piece of dung)

    Travis?  Billy Ray?  Jerry Jeff Jim-Bob?
    
    Whozat?

    Ya gotta love these names ... 8^)

    Man, you guys gotta start showing some respect for country music. 
    
    Yeah, the singers can be pretty funny (in fact I think most people miss
    the fact that a lot of that stuff is *intentionally* funny) but the
    players are usually monsters.  While MTV lipsynchs its way into your
    home check out all the *live* music on the Nashville Network.  I hear
    plenty of hot soloing and tight ensemble work from guys whose names
    *noone* except the guy who writes the checks out is ever gonna know.
    
    Little known fact:  back in the old days of country (like up until the
    60s) it was commonplace for the bass player in a country group to be a
    comedian as well.  I have decided that I am therefore following in a
    time-honored tradition with my playing  8^)  8^)  8^)
    
    							Brian

    TNN recently had their annual awards show, and Vince Gill won the award
    for "best instrumental performance" or something like that.  This guys
    chops would scare the hell out of most metal players.  Throw in Ricky
    Skaggs, Steve Warner, and a zillion lead men for guys like Travis
    Tritt, Dwight Yoakum, etc ... lotsa talent in those ranks.
    
    Definitely check out "Nashville On Stage", plus there's another show
    that has live performances (airs at 10pm on Saturdays in my area). 
    Real music ...
    
    Jerry

    Don't get me wrong, Brian.  I can definitely appreciate the talent
    required to play the music and after many years of the "I hate C&W"
    attitude, I'm actually starting to like a lot of the "modern country"
    music coming out these days.
    
    And, yes, I do watch a lot of the live performances on TNN.  You're
    absolutely right in saying that a lot of those people are hot players! 
    The inflection of some of the vocals still turns me off though.
    
    Jerry and I were talking offline awhile back and we've both come to the
    conclusion that as we age, the only genre of music which seems to lend
    itself to older players is country.  It's not that you *can't* play
    other stuff as you get older, but it's country audiences seem to be the
    most forgiving in terms of the age/appearance of the performers.  In
    the rock world, you gotta be young and good looking (or at least have
    been when you first made it big) or the audience will turn you off
    instantly.
    
    FWIW, my nextdoor neighbor has been playing country music for many
    years and has a lot of friends in Nashville.  He took a trip back there
    a month or so ago and performed live on the "Nashville Now" show.  He
    keeps asking me to come jam with him, but I'm massively intimidated and
    haven't done it yet...

    Greg
                          

    Greg, go jam with the guy !!!  For my limited exposure to the CW scene,
    there are FAR less ego trip going on, so the guy probably just plain
    wants to jam.  Practice your major scales, 1-4-5 roolz the world,
    especially in G or A, and, uh, take the strat ... 8^)
    
    Yup, the country crowd is a LOT more forgiving, and because of that,
    they really know how to have a good time.  
    
    Jerry (who loves "decorating" the slower country stuff ...)

    To anyone who thinks Country music is as simple as C, F, and G, I'll go on
    record here by saying I think they're idiots. I've always appreciated
    the chops required to pick country. I remember sitting thru the Porter
    Wagner Show and Hee Haw on TV just to get a glimpse of the picker's
    fingers and style. But these days, I'm even beginning to appreciate the
    words of the tunes, how they're strung together or maybe a little twist
    or play added to give a different meaning to an otherwise ordinary
    phrase.
    
    That's not to say I like all of it. The new country I think is pretty
    cool while that old whining, cry in your beer stuff sucked then and
    sucks now. (Remember "Be-cause it's cryyyyyiinnn tiiime agin - you're
    gownna leave me...)
    
    And anyone who thinks steel guitar ain't cool - ain't cool their
    damn selves. I remember noticing the steel guitar in that tune
    Nashville Cats and thinking how cool it really was. Just a couple of
    years ago I was playin in a C&W band in which we had this old fellow
    sit in with us on steel. Talk about some great picking!
    
    I like to think that if I ever won megabucks and had the opportunity
    to leave the normal workforce (remember "Take this Job and
    Shove it"?), that I'd just play music (and golf) for the rest of my time
    on earth. One of the instruments I'd like to experiment with would be
    Steel guitar. I would most definitly tour Memphis and soak in
    everything it has to offer.
    
    "sakman"
    
    the rest of my life. One of the inst

    Nashville ain't country anymore...gotta go to Branson, MO!

    "Will the last person to leave Nashville (for Branson) please
    turn out the lights..."
    
    Edd

  Interesting story on country music last night on CNN. There is some serious
 money-making going on there.

  One of the current male cw rages sold 7 milliom copies of his last album!

  Funny names indeed.......

 
    - Bob

    
    	I dig Mel Tillis!  Alan Clark is cool too!  

Maybe I'm a purist, but I think "new country" is just rock with 
bad vocals...

Long live Hank Sr !
jc

    I'm not a big fan of the "My sweet baby's given me the shaft and all
    I got left is this ole pair of beer-stained jeans and a mangy old
    mutt" type of C/W.
    
    But there's a LOT of GREAT country out there.  There's no limit to the
    form in terms of what you can add to it.
    
    If you want to hear some chrome wheel, fuel-injected C/W I suggest
    you listen to "The Runaway Train" on Steve Morse's latest album, "Coast
    to Coast" (or any of a dozen songs from previous albums), or check
    out Albert Lee, Ricky Skaggs.
    
    If you want to hear some really progressive Bluegress check out Bela
    Fleck and the Flecktones.  To me, they are the Dixie Dregs of Country.

    
    
    
       So, what is the scoop on the Travis Tritt and 
    the Billy Ray Cyrus thang?
    
       Rick.
    
    

    I've always enjoyed the country flavor of alot of the older Stones stuff-
    Honky Tonk Women(aka Country Honk), Sweet Virginia, Dead Flowers, etc.
    In fact, alot of their hard rockers have a definite southern touch that
    I wouldn't necessarily label as blues or R/B.

    The new trend in country is blending traditional country with southern
    rock and/or pop.  A lot of new country stuff has cross_over written all
    over it.  Hey, I've even heard a "cowboy rap" .... it stunk up the
    place, but hey, rap is rap ...
    
    Jerry

    
    	VH-1 on Sunday morning is Country - it's great to read the
    	paper to!!  
    
    	Vince Gill's "Liza Jane" smokes and I always look for
    	Albert Lee's shit eating grin in the backgrounds on TNN.
    
    	Country players have such great slurred, passing notes and
    	like a previous noter wrote, they OWN the keys of G and A !!
    
    	Country = Peavey Odyssey split to single coil middle position
    	straight into clean set presence on 3 reverb on 3 Boogie combo...
    
    	Tom
    

    Hey, this is great!...I had no idea that there were so many advocates
    of country and especially the varied mindsets about it.(I must be
    leading a very sheltered life.) At any rate, regarding the note on
    desiring to play steel guitar, these are my sentiments exactly. My
    problem is that the price for a good Emmons or Showbud was way too
    high for me in my "learning" years so I developed a style that created
    an "audio-illusion" on my Jazzmaster that emulated steel. Tom Brumley
    was my hero for that period of time for that Buck Owens bounce. Then I
    picked up on Jimmy Day and, of course, Buddy Emmons and Curly Chalker.
    (I'm not sure as to Curly's name spelling but it was his talent that I
    was interested in more than his name.)
    
    Then I got my Microfret Spacetone and the tonal qualities of that gui-
    tar lent itself so well to the brilliance and body of the steel sound
    not to mention the sustain of the guitar. Anyway, I started to work on
    another sound emmulation...a fiddle. I did this by brushing the string
    and pushing the volume with the pedal more rapidly than with steel type
    moves, and doing a lot of hammer-ons and pull-offs. It worked and the 
    guitar had such a mellow sound that it really did sound like the old
    Ray Price single string passing notes fiddle you hear on the old Cher-
    okee Cowboys albums. It was fun and sort of profitable too.
    
    As far as today's country music styles are concerned, in my humble op-
    inion, I think that it really has gotten away from the real, yes, "cry
    in your beer" sound that really made country COUNTRY. Dwight Yokem and
    a few others like Scaggs and Clint Black are sort of hanging in there
    and using that honky-tonk country feel and it is still selling to the
    majority of the country fans. I hope that they never stop. It's what
    country music is all about.
    
    Jerry.....I'm still waiting for that tape! Hope to hear from you soon.
    
    pushing the volume with the volume pedal

re: .24
    
>    If you want to hear some really progressive Bluegress check out Bela
>    Fleck and the Flecktones.  To me, they are the Dixie Dregs of Country.

Well, Bela Fleck *used* to play bluegrass, but he doesn't much anymore. 
The Flecktones are far more of a jazz group.  Let me tell you, jazz
played on a five-string banjo is interesting indeed! 

I *do* recommend seeing Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, but I wouldn't
want somebody going and expecting Bluegrass, as they'd be likely to be
disappointed.

    
    re: .22 
    
    Meant to say Alan Jackson, not Alan Clark.

    re:  .24, .31  Bela Fleck
    
    Yeah, Bela Fleck could hardly be described as bluegrass anymore; can't
    really be described as _anything_ anymore, but I guess you could say he
    composes progressive jazz on a 5-string banjo... that still wouldn't
    tell you much.  If anything defies category, it's his music.
    
    On the topic, catch the PBS Austin City Limits if you want to see
    outstanding musicianship week after week (especially if you are
    cable-disadvantaged like us).  They have had everyone from Stanley
    Jordan to SRV.  They had Trisha Yearwood and Hal Ketchum on last week.
    If you haven't heard of them you may want to step outside the ol'
    comfort zone every now 'n then and hear what else is happenin' out
    there.
    
    By the way, there has never been a time in American recorded music
    history that C&W has NOT been far and away the most popular genre, that
    is, that it has NOT had the most airplay AND sold the most records.
    This includes when the Beatles/Stones/Dylan were releasing.
    
    The reason everyone notices now (1992), is that Billboard has gone from
    # of units shipped (old system) to # of units purchased at point of
    sale (new system).  This new system is genre-independent, so Garth
    Brooks now shows up on the same chart with G&R (and outsells them).  
    He always would have, but they would have been on separate charts
    before now.
    
    BTW, I am not a 'C&W bigot' - I like all good music, mostly blues at
    the moment.
    \Gary 

    Travis Tritt is cranked at Billy Ray Cyrus because Travis thinks that
    both 'Achey-Breaky-Heart' and BR are way overrated...and he said so.
    
    IMHO, Travis is jealous of the splash that BR made, because he (Travis)
    is trying hard to be 'the next big thing' in C&W and he see's BR as a
    threat.
    
    BTW, 'A-B-Heart' is two stinkin' chords.

    Yup, 2 &*^% chords, dorky lyrics, millionaire ....
    
    I thought Travis Tritt's music was pretty cool when he first hit
    the scene.  The first album (I guess it was his first) that had "Put
    Some Drive In Your Country", "Help Me Hold On", and "Country Club" was
    a great album.  The latest one doesn't hit me very hard, and this
    collaboration with Marty Stuart isn't doing either one of them much
    good ...  on the TNN awards show, they stunk up the place.
    
    Jerry

    Yeah, There's no doubt about "A,B,Heart.....Two chords........Sooo re-
    diculously generic with a heavy bass push.......THAT"S IT!! I think it
    is a bit over rated....But B.R.T. is laughing all the way to the bank.
    All the more power to him. I would love to have a piece of that action.

    "Achey-Breaky Heart"???  What kinda cheezoid name is that?
    
    Man, I think I'm starting to remember why I didn't like country music...
    
    gh

I had never heard of this guy Billy Ray until I started reading these notes,
but last night on Arsenio Hall, who shows up but... singing Achey Breaky what-
ever... I laughed all the way through... puh-leeze.... I hope this guy isn't
taking himself seriously. IMHO, of course.

Suegene

    In an interview I saw on TNN, he gave me the impression that he
    probably couldn't spell his name without looking at his driver's
    license.  But, in the music biz, that doesn't matter does it ?  What I
    find absolutely hilarious, is how a LOT of other country music
    personalities are mocking the song, his stage movements, etc.  It's
    funny, but yeah, he's laughing all the way to the bank.
    
    Jerry

>    In an interview I saw on TNN, he gave me the impression that he
>    probably couldn't spell his name without looking at his driver's
>    license.  But, in the music biz, that doesn't matter does it ?  
    
    "Ya jest dip the peen in this-here blood, oh-kay?  I'll hold yer
    drivers license up here fer ya."

    I bet he can spell "potato" though ... 8^)

    I saw this guy, Billy Ray, on some show just recently. This dude is de-
    finately not a country singer...(or any singer). He just creates a bit
    of excitement that certainly appeal to the women in the audience. He
    is, or was, a Chipendale dancer so his moves are practiced and and very
    deliberate and have extremely little to do with the music he tries to 
    sing, but everything to do with the emotions of young ladies and how to
    move them. He is successful and he's getting paid big money, and he is
    doing what we would all do.......Enjoying it!!!

    
    well, after hearing a few seconds of Madonna talk in that movie the're
    showing on Cinimax, this Billy Ray sounds like a genius. With all
    the right-sizing going on, maybe it's time to get real dumb and rich
    since there is so many even more stupid people out there to consume
    this garbage....
    
    clear the stage, it's time to yodel, yodel lay-he-hoo!
    
    billy bob

    Billy Ray Cyrus may be dumb as a rock, but his management company
    isn't, that's for sure.  I heard his album, and it's pretty boring.  I
    have to laugh at "Achey Breaky Heart" ... the 2 chord wonder that stole
    the world.  8^)  Unfortnately, I'll probably have to play it 4 times a
    night this weekend ... ack !  But, it'll be fun to watch all those
    drunk heffers try and do the "Achey Breaky Dance" to it ... oh yes, the
    greatest song of the century also has it's own dance.  Hammer ... move
    over ... hurl ...
    
    Scary

    Just out of sheer curiosity, which two chords are they!?
    \Gary

    I haven't even played the song yet, but it smells like A and E ...
    
    Jerry (cover slut)

    You sir are correct!  Key of A and a V chord for variety =8^)
    
    My band does this tune.  I kinda like the rhythm. Because we're a
    country band we don't tend to play a lot of interesting grooves...at
    least this one lets the band gather some steam.
    
    This is also a surefire get-em-up-and-dancing tune.  I get the feeling
    it's going to be gone as quickly as it came, though.

    "Backroads" by Ricky Van Shelton cooks pretty good too !  But I gotta
    tell ya, Reba's voice is really starting to get on my nerves ! 
    Especially since she re_did "Fancy" (which s*cked already) and "The
    Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia" (ditto).  She's still a babe, but
    SHADDAP already !

    How bout' the new one by Clint Black ...... awesome picking at the end.
    
    RJ

    Something just hit me concering this Billy Ray Cyrus thing.  "Achey
    Breaky Heart" is a 2 chord wonder, but it sounds a lot like another
    song I've been listening to a lot lately, and doncha wanna know what it
    is ?  8^)
    
    
    "Tulsa Time" by Eric Clapton.  Almost the same beat, same chords (yeah,
    both of 'em ...).
    
    Jerry (adding insight into your Thursday afternoon ...)

    Hold on there, seems to me Tulsa Time had three chords last time I 
    played it! But then maybe we "adapted" it and added our own artiste to
    it. I played bass in a country band then and I had a real problem tryin
    to play root - fifth, root - fifth.  I was always tryin to spark it
    up some, I even played a fretless.
    
    Also, I know Clapton did it, but I don't think he wrote it.

    Is that the same tune that Don Williams of country fame does?
    Perhaps Don wrote it.

    Tulsa Time is by Mel Tillis.
    
    Peter

    I'm sure it was written by someone ...
    
    2 chords ... A and E ...
    
    
    Jerry

    The time I saw Dwight Yokum in concert (1987), the man played in
    "E" all night long!!  (E, A, B)
    
    Yey!

    
>    Tulsa Time is by Mel Tillis.
    
    Oh my god!  I like a *country* song...
    
    Next thing you know I'll be buyin' some boots and then I'll stop
    pronouning the endin' g of present tense verbs.  I can feel the urge
    for a lobotomy already...
    

    
    
    Maybe Mel Tillis is really a closet rocker???
    
    

    Tulsa Time by Don Williams... 2 chords.... E & B.  Play it at least
    once a weekend.
    
    RJ

    Eeeesh .. brain f*rt on my part for sure.  RJ, you're dead on the
    money.  I used to do that tune in a country band a LONG time ago. 
    Yeah, it all comes back like a bad dream now ...  8^)
    
    Jerry

    On the Billy Ray Cyrus discussion ... I heard the tail end on his *new*
    song last night.  Pretty lame, but after it was over there was about 5
    seconds of silence.  The radio announcer came on and said something
    like, "That pause was to honor Billy Ray Cyrus, may he rest in peace,
    this song STINKS !".  I 'bout fell outta da truck.  8^)
    
    Jerry (who did "Achey Breaky Heart" during sound check and folks were
    dancing among the cables and guitar cases strewn on the dance floor)

   I actually heard it!  Well, the last 30 seconds of it.  "It", of course,
   being "A-B Heart".  Doesn't sound a thing like a country song to me...

   Now, "Ocean Front Property", "Are We Still Over", "Can't Buy Your Way Out
   of the Blues" - now THAT'S country.  :-)

   -- Sam

    Yeah, the way we played it last night at soundcheck didn't sound too
    country either.  More like Dwight Yoakum meets Megadeth.  The locals
    loved it though ...
    
    Billy Ray Scary

    The Year:  2022
    
    The Category:  Show Biz Trivia
    
    The Question:  Name the highest grossing one-hit act in music.
    
    The answer:		Achey-Brakey Heart
    			Billy Ray Cyrus
    			1992
    \Gary