Alice Cooper and Classic Rock

[Kolchak]

I'd say my music library is about 85% rock and 15% country. As a genre, I was never really big on country for the simple reason, to me it was fake. Now before you string me up, please hear me out.

In the late 70's and into the early 80's, country was real popular. To me it seemed that people got onto the country band wagon, simply because it was the in thing to do. You had Urban Cowboy type places everywhere, and a whole bunch of want-a-be cowboys. In other words phonies.

People like Reba, the Judds, the Oak Ridge Boys, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton where on every radio station there was. To make matters worse, most couldn't play an instrument and most had never written any of their own songs. The Oak Ridge Boys were proud of the fact they didn't write their own music. The Judds didn't even use their real names. Naomi and Winona are not their birth names. They changed them to sound more country. Kenny Rogers multi-platinum album, the Gambler, did not have a single song on it that he had written. I knew a man who had worked in Nashville in the recording business, and he had helped produce 6 of Reba's albums. He had them framed and hanging in his office, and showed them to me once. Each album had between 10 and 12 songs, and not a single song was written by Reba. Garth Brooks became a multimillionaire along with his, Patricia Yearwood, and neither of them write their own songs.

Since forever it seems that we have been sold a bill of goods that says country singers are just like you and me. They work the farm all day, and then come home at night and play music. That is far from the truth. Most are from the suburbs of major cities, and one of the Oak Ridge Boys is from Philadelphia.

Okay, so I was lamenting this fact among others to a buddy in the rap music genre. No, I'm not big on rap either, but it is important for the story to say that. After hearing my rant, my buddy said....So What?

He then gave me a quick but honest music lesson.

Music. All music is meant to be enjoyed. Regardless of who, what, where it comes from and how its presented. If you claim to be a music lover, you must love and appreciate all of it, and you must listen to it from their and not your perspective.

Pretty simple and straight forward huh? He was right and today I judge each song on its individual merits, and don't get hung up on the silly stuff.

Music makes us feel good. That's all that matters.

[Murfreesboro]

Oh, I am very familiar with the era you are speaking about. I remember when country changed and became more "pop" oriented. That is the type of country that really caught on. The stuff that was being produced at the Grand Ole Opry from, say , the '20s to the '50s or early '60s was quite different from what is embraced as "country" today.

My first love in music, when I was an adolescent I mean, was probably Broadway. I was into collecting OC Broadway albums, which made me something of a freak growing up in Mississippi during the '60s and '70s. Naturally, none of the Broadway singers was singing music they had written. They were actors, interpreters of songs, and most of them had excellent singing voices. That was all that mattered to me. I would say, also, that the "crooners" of the Big Band era (My mother's generation), and all those folks who had TV variety shows back in the '50s and '60s, were not songwriters, either. They, too, were interpreters of songs others had written, and they were successful because they had voices most people liked to listen to.

I think to some extent the singer-songwriter became the ideal because people could make more money off the records if they had also written the songs they were singing. They didn't have to divide up the royalties. I can see how, economically, that would be advantageous. But from my POV, most of the time the people who write the music do not have exceptionally fine voices for singing it. As a singer myself, that grated on me and still does, to a degree.

But for sure music is a very subjective taste. What one person loves, another cannot stand. It's all good.

[Kolchak]

Remember Enya? For awhile Celtic music was all the rage and Enya had a beautiful voice. Half the songs you couldn't understand, but it didn't matter because she sounded wonderful. People asked why she didn't tour and they found out that she sang all the parts in her recording songs. It would be impossible for her to tour and sing the melody and the harmony and the refrain all at the same time. I read she finally did do some touring after getting some background singers to help her out.

A few years back they were showing this Celtic group of guys called Celtic Thunder. They're like 6 guys ranging from a young teenager to some guys in their 30's. They've been really big on PBS stations. They were supposedly started in Ireland about 7 or so years ago but they seem to spend most of their time touring in the US. They're main thing is singing different kinds of Irish/Celtic music, but they've performed modern stuff from the Eagles and Bob Dylan for example.

They've been to Atlanta a couple of times and I know some people who went to see them. They perform with an orchestra and background singers and their stages are set up to look like ancient Celtic stuff.

They're not bad. Actually they sound pretty good. Except for one teeny-tiny detail.....They lip sync all their music. I've spoken to people who have heard them perform in different locations, and even with an orchestra, they lip sync their songs.

To my way of thinking that is totally uncool. The voices are their own, so they aren't doing the milli vanilli thing, but you pay money to see a live performance, you expect to see people really sing.

I watched one of their lip sync shows on PBS once, and this one guy who had a background in opera was singing "You Raise Me Up" He was good, but Josh Groban would have kicked his butt all the way back to Dublin, because Josh sings it so much better.

[Andybev01]

I'm old country.

Hank SR., Pasty Cline, Gene Autry, Dwight Yaocam, etc.

[Murfreesboro]

My husband had an Enya album, so I am familiar with her music. Yeah, Celtic stuff has had quite a vogue. My husband and I enjoy watching the Celtic Women concerts on PBS, but he has never shown any interest in seeing them in person. I don't know if they lip sync or not. I hope not. I agree that when you go to see someone in person, you expect to hear them sing live.

Andy, I am not a hard-core country fan, but I do like some of the older stuff. Patsy Cline had a great voice, I think. And Hank Williams, Sr., was a very gifted songwriter IMO.

[Kolchak]

I like Hank Jr. stuff. He's as anti-political correct as I am.

Dwight Yoakam actually writes a lot if not most of his own music. I saw him in concert back in the late 80's and he put on a good show. He's a Kentucky born boy, that was raised in California and plays what is referred to as the Bakersfield sound. It was a mishmash of different sounds and instruments. Merle Haggard and Buck Owens were known for the Bakersfield sound too.

[MauEvig]

If the music is good, I can listen to it whether it has lyrics or not. Sometimes the singing is just terrible, or can even ruin the song. I hate when they recycle background music and put different vocals in it. Recently a new pop song came out that uses the Munster's theme song, and I think it sounds awful!

Plus I used to sing when I was little...of course my Grandma liked it and my Mom loved going to Christmas Chorus concerts. But when I'd sing for the joy of singing on the school bus, I was always told to shut up. So, I quit chorus. I liked the idea of having a study hall instead anyway. Plus I had a music teacher who made me cry when I was in 2nd grade. My Dad was ready to give the Music teacher a piece of his mind though.

If I tried to sing now you'd probably throw tomatoes at me.

They have programs out now that can change the way your voice sounds though. I believe Amy Lee of Evanescence does such.

Indeed I have heard of Enya. They're alright, but I can't see myself blaring it out of my speakers. I do think Mordred's Lulliby is an interesting song that's kind of a dark-celtic sound and it does have vocals. I think it was meant for some kind of King Arthur series, but I love how people pieced it together for a Lion King music video since the song nearly fits for the way Zira trains Kovu to get revenge on Simba in TLK II: Simba's Pride. (Although SP had tons and tons and tons of plot holes in it. I am a TLK nerd though so I know. Here's the video if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9BR6BvKhhA )

[Murfreesboro]

I like The Lion King movie and took my kids to see the play when it toured here. The original movie/play was basically a kid's version of Hamlet. It was good, I thought, and the staging was uber-imaginative. Those sequels they release straight to video/DVD are rarely very good.

If you could carry a tune as a child I expect you could still sing, Mau. Of course, singing is a very physical thing. Like any other physical activity, your strength and dexterity increase with practice.

We hear plenty about the Bakersfield Sound here in the Nashville area. If you tour the Country Music Hall of Fame you will see an entire section dedicated to that.

A little Enya goes a long way with me. Her singing has that "soft focus" sound that Is not really my preference, but you hear it a lot with the more romantic Celtic stuff. I like a clear, bell-like voice. Not into the whispery stuff.

[Kolchak]

Enya is an acquired taste to be sure. Back in the early 90's I think about half the people I knew went out and bought new and expensive cd players so the could play her music in the best possible manner. I think we have at least 5 or 6 of her cds but haven't heard one in over ten years!

I was reminded that some couples would play Enya when they were trying to conceive a child. Whatever floats your boat!

[Murfreesboro]

Whatever indeed. She would have been a distraction to me.