"I said to Hank Williams, 'How lonely does it get?', Hank Williams hasn't answered yet, but I hear him coughing, all night long, he's a hundred floors above me, in the tower of song".
Brilliant essay! That line "This song is too good for you" is one of the greatest things any man has ever said! I hope it's true that he said it!
It is interesting how those most revered of country singers were so willing to be so "desperate", abject, and pleading in their lyrics, and those songs are still so beloved by conservative, macho country audiences. A great Irish songwriter and musician Paul Brady, wrote a song in the early 00's called "The Long Goodbye". The lyrics include a line "No matter how hard I try, you're gonna make me cry". It was later covered by an American country duo Brooks & Dunn, and they insisted on changing the line to "No matter how hard I try, I always make you cry", because they thought the original would make them sound like big sissies!
I grew up in the south of the USA during the 1960s. Country and pop music were constants in the car and at home with my parents. The music was a result of the Depression of the 1930s and 40s.
My dad used to take me along to taverns sometimes,1960s. I was about the age 7 to 10. In those days, it wasn't swinging clubs with women. It was just men who sat and drank beer. Yeah, once in a while a fight broke out, but it was mostly peaceful, 'Good ol boys' days. In those days there were still separate rooms where the blacks had to drink. Long-gone days, but I remember it.
The jukebox playing country songs sounded so good. Kind of a deep bass sound, it's hard to describe now. Sitting on bar stools were hard men who had grown during the depression. I heard the stories of wondering where the next meal would come from. No shoes in the cold winters. You could see it in their hard faces. Men used to hard manual work, not afraid to work, it was all they knew.
You can hear the longings of such men in Hank Williams' song. Perhaps a woman could take away the hurt of a hard life. But finding out she couldn't. She just makes the pain deeper. Then on to the gal. So it went...
As a non-American fan of country, I think its lack of appeal beyond States is mostly due to politics, rather than content or anything. Frankly, country and blues share a lot of... everything, and both should be equally relevant or irrelevant to foreign audience, in theory: none of us are poor black men in Chicago, and none of us are Texas cowboys or even generic American truckers. And, after giving the birth to rock'n'roll, both genres more-or-less equally stopped being generative forces, and started following others' trends. I like to say that "country" is usually "whatever is mainstream pop music now, but with steel guitar and lyrics about cowboys". But, really, same can be said about blues, to some degree: whether it's blues rock, funk blues, or whatever, if it's not the original acoustic sound, it's usually something that was trendy at some time plus some blues elements.
The main difference to international audience, I think, is that blues is the music of oppressed people, and country is the music of oppressors. Even though country music itself contains very little overt racism (Johnny Rebel songs aside, and those were never mainstream in any sense of word), it's still Songs of White People, and who wants those? (Aside from Australians and Canadians: both countries produced a number of good country acts, and Canada, at least, keeps on giving to these days).
As a matter of personal taste, I prefer faster, rockier, less poppy country, like hillbilly boogie, bluegrass and truckers' songs and neo-traditional country, or more folk/blues-like country, like abovementioned Jimmie Rodgers. For example, one of my favourites is "Tweedle-O-Twill", a song from 40's about lazy summer days, that so strongly reminds me of my childhood dacha that I almost tear up listening to it.
This is a solid perspective, but incomplete: it doesn't quite explain the popularity of white rockabilly artists (the ones who "stole rock'n'roll from the black folks") like Elvis or Gene Vincent, who, from this position, should also be counted as oppressors, yet the young white British kids of the early 1960s worshipped Elvis and Gene while openly laughing at the country boys (cue the Stones, for instance, who would only do country from a parody angle throughout their career).
I do believe there's a general "vibe" to country as such which creates an aura of silly happiness and complacency, as opposed to the dark mystery of the blues or the rebellious spirit of rockabilly, regardless of whether it's being played by white / black, affluent / struggling individuals. There are obvious exceptions - from the great Lee Hazlewood to some of the "outlaw" heroes - but they mostly prove the rule. This is why there tends to be more tolerance for the limited formula of classic blues than the limited formula of classic country.
And it's gotten far worse with time, of course, because country continues to evolve and be a dominant force in the American South, while "modern blues" is pretty much a niche product for select audiences. So when they say "blues", we think "oh, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, etc.", but when they say "country", we go, "oh, Shania Twain?". Sometimes it's better to die young than to fade away.
The opening of this essay reads as quite off, writing from Sweden in the present day at least. Here country is very big indeed, both imported and domestically produced (adapted of course). Has been since the 70s at least, but growing exponentially in recent years as a cult object. Most Swedish artists seem under contract to travel at least once to Nashville and take pictures in cowboy boots and hat. I would guess its part of our general over-fascination with everything US, although I'm not sure we're generally worse than others in this. There seems to be a belief that country is "genuine real working-class (White) American music", the idea of which apparently holds great appeal to all kinds of people.
As for the domestically produced stuff, much of it is drivel of course, or just fodder for the adult (middle-aged) dance scene (and at last scores high on Adequacy). The good stuff generally gets by, as you note of the original, on personality.
On a different note: Ween is one subject where I never could agree with your overall assessment. But then I generally do not warm to the Meta-Rock tricksters, less so as I age.
I don't know if you do requests George, but I'd be very interested in what you'd have to say about Lonnie Donnegan - Rock Island Line.
I suppose in terms of One Artist, One Song it might probably be more about its influence and cultural significance rather than the merits of the recording itself... but as far as I can see it's almost a Rosetta Stone for British/Irish music.... and there isn't a musician worth thinking about from the Sixties in particular who doesn't speak about Lonnie Donegan - Rock Island Line as some sort of epiphany.
Uh, I have reviewed Lonnie Donegan's near-complete discography from the 1950s, in case you haven't noticed - both here on Substack and on the stable site.
Agree with you 100%. This is Country for Everyman. I'm no fonder than you for 99% of it, though I would add that a decade or two later a certain duo of Jimmy Webb & Glen Campbell added another few songs for all to appreciate, notably Wichita Lineman and By the Time I Get to Phoenix (the former has recently been cited as Bob Dylan's favourite song of all time). But as you say, Hank is the man who set the standard and I don't think there's anyone to naysay that.
Might just go out and buy his greatest hits for my car stereo, where it will sound best.
"I said to Hank Williams, 'How lonely does it get?', Hank Williams hasn't answered yet, but I hear him coughing, all night long, he's a hundred floors above me, in the tower of song".
Brilliant essay! That line "This song is too good for you" is one of the greatest things any man has ever said! I hope it's true that he said it!
It is interesting how those most revered of country singers were so willing to be so "desperate", abject, and pleading in their lyrics, and those songs are still so beloved by conservative, macho country audiences. A great Irish songwriter and musician Paul Brady, wrote a song in the early 00's called "The Long Goodbye". The lyrics include a line "No matter how hard I try, you're gonna make me cry". It was later covered by an American country duo Brooks & Dunn, and they insisted on changing the line to "No matter how hard I try, I always make you cry", because they thought the original would make them sound like big sissies!
George, your insight is so interesting.
I grew up in the south of the USA during the 1960s. Country and pop music were constants in the car and at home with my parents. The music was a result of the Depression of the 1930s and 40s.
My dad used to take me along to taverns sometimes,1960s. I was about the age 7 to 10. In those days, it wasn't swinging clubs with women. It was just men who sat and drank beer. Yeah, once in a while a fight broke out, but it was mostly peaceful, 'Good ol boys' days. In those days there were still separate rooms where the blacks had to drink. Long-gone days, but I remember it.
The jukebox playing country songs sounded so good. Kind of a deep bass sound, it's hard to describe now. Sitting on bar stools were hard men who had grown during the depression. I heard the stories of wondering where the next meal would come from. No shoes in the cold winters. You could see it in their hard faces. Men used to hard manual work, not afraid to work, it was all they knew.
You can hear the longings of such men in Hank Williams' song. Perhaps a woman could take away the hurt of a hard life. But finding out she couldn't. She just makes the pain deeper. Then on to the gal. So it went...
Damn, this reads like a cross between Hemingway and Cormac McCarthy.
Thank you.
As a non-American fan of country, I think its lack of appeal beyond States is mostly due to politics, rather than content or anything. Frankly, country and blues share a lot of... everything, and both should be equally relevant or irrelevant to foreign audience, in theory: none of us are poor black men in Chicago, and none of us are Texas cowboys or even generic American truckers. And, after giving the birth to rock'n'roll, both genres more-or-less equally stopped being generative forces, and started following others' trends. I like to say that "country" is usually "whatever is mainstream pop music now, but with steel guitar and lyrics about cowboys". But, really, same can be said about blues, to some degree: whether it's blues rock, funk blues, or whatever, if it's not the original acoustic sound, it's usually something that was trendy at some time plus some blues elements.
The main difference to international audience, I think, is that blues is the music of oppressed people, and country is the music of oppressors. Even though country music itself contains very little overt racism (Johnny Rebel songs aside, and those were never mainstream in any sense of word), it's still Songs of White People, and who wants those? (Aside from Australians and Canadians: both countries produced a number of good country acts, and Canada, at least, keeps on giving to these days).
As a matter of personal taste, I prefer faster, rockier, less poppy country, like hillbilly boogie, bluegrass and truckers' songs and neo-traditional country, or more folk/blues-like country, like abovementioned Jimmie Rodgers. For example, one of my favourites is "Tweedle-O-Twill", a song from 40's about lazy summer days, that so strongly reminds me of my childhood dacha that I almost tear up listening to it.
This is a solid perspective, but incomplete: it doesn't quite explain the popularity of white rockabilly artists (the ones who "stole rock'n'roll from the black folks") like Elvis or Gene Vincent, who, from this position, should also be counted as oppressors, yet the young white British kids of the early 1960s worshipped Elvis and Gene while openly laughing at the country boys (cue the Stones, for instance, who would only do country from a parody angle throughout their career).
I do believe there's a general "vibe" to country as such which creates an aura of silly happiness and complacency, as opposed to the dark mystery of the blues or the rebellious spirit of rockabilly, regardless of whether it's being played by white / black, affluent / struggling individuals. There are obvious exceptions - from the great Lee Hazlewood to some of the "outlaw" heroes - but they mostly prove the rule. This is why there tends to be more tolerance for the limited formula of classic blues than the limited formula of classic country.
And it's gotten far worse with time, of course, because country continues to evolve and be a dominant force in the American South, while "modern blues" is pretty much a niche product for select audiences. So when they say "blues", we think "oh, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, etc.", but when they say "country", we go, "oh, Shania Twain?". Sometimes it's better to die young than to fade away.
The opening of this essay reads as quite off, writing from Sweden in the present day at least. Here country is very big indeed, both imported and domestically produced (adapted of course). Has been since the 70s at least, but growing exponentially in recent years as a cult object. Most Swedish artists seem under contract to travel at least once to Nashville and take pictures in cowboy boots and hat. I would guess its part of our general over-fascination with everything US, although I'm not sure we're generally worse than others in this. There seems to be a belief that country is "genuine real working-class (White) American music", the idea of which apparently holds great appeal to all kinds of people.
As for the domestically produced stuff, much of it is drivel of course, or just fodder for the adult (middle-aged) dance scene (and at last scores high on Adequacy). The good stuff generally gets by, as you note of the original, on personality.
On a different note: Ween is one subject where I never could agree with your overall assessment. But then I generally do not warm to the Meta-Rock tricksters, less so as I age.
I don't know if you do requests George, but I'd be very interested in what you'd have to say about Lonnie Donnegan - Rock Island Line.
I suppose in terms of One Artist, One Song it might probably be more about its influence and cultural significance rather than the merits of the recording itself... but as far as I can see it's almost a Rosetta Stone for British/Irish music.... and there isn't a musician worth thinking about from the Sixties in particular who doesn't speak about Lonnie Donegan - Rock Island Line as some sort of epiphany.
Uh, I have reviewed Lonnie Donegan's near-complete discography from the 1950s, in case you haven't noticed - both here on Substack and on the stable site.
Ah! Apologies, I'll go and check those out.
Agree with you 100%. This is Country for Everyman. I'm no fonder than you for 99% of it, though I would add that a decade or two later a certain duo of Jimmy Webb & Glen Campbell added another few songs for all to appreciate, notably Wichita Lineman and By the Time I Get to Phoenix (the former has recently been cited as Bob Dylan's favourite song of all time). But as you say, Hank is the man who set the standard and I don't think there's anyone to naysay that.
Might just go out and buy his greatest hits for my car stereo, where it will sound best.