Burns' County Music

[kaysixteen]

I have long expressed my great fondness for Burns and always look forward to his PBS miniseries, the longer the better.  We're now three quarters of the way through his country music opus, and I was wondering if anyone else here is watching and wished to offer any observations, especially anyone who is actually a country fan.  I confess that as a Massachusetts guy I have never been one, though I have a deep respect for the genre, especially for its historical and cultural aspects, close kinship with Celtic music, which I am a big big fan of.  Thus, my random thoughts and questions would include:

1.  Many of the artists Burns has been discussing sing stuff that could be called country music, but often could be and are called something else, leading to the overall question of whether there really are hard frontiers between country and various related genres, and to the apparent reality that some if these perhaps artificialized distinctions may be due to prejudice against the perceived core demographic of country artists and/or fans, etc?
2. There really has been an astonishing evolution of 'country' music, apparent even by 1972, which is where tonight's episode ended.  And even I know that there has been at least as much evolution in the genre since then as well. 
3. For music primarily associated with the Bible Belt, and whose acts regula
rly cut gospel songs along with their secular stuff, the level of morality and spirituality of many of these acts is not exceedingly high.
4.  Burns probably has downplayed the racism in the industry, though Charley Pride was given extensive and very positive, duly positive, coverage.  Or is my opinion here due to some of that educated Yankee prejudice I myself alluded to above?
5.  How many of y'all are country fans?

[Anselm]

Modern Country music expresses the worst elements of commercialized music for the masses.  It comes across as repetitive, predictable and cliche.  I do like some of the older stuff and the more rock style country like Sonvolt.  I've seen them play live.

Here is my short list of actual talent:

Suzy Bogguss, Kathy Mattea, Randy Travis

I am sure you can add more names but I don't listen to that genre too much.  I suppose there is some alternative underground scene that I have not heard yet. 

[hmaria1609]

To coincide with the "Country Music" broadcast, our local PBS station WETA-26 made a series of short videos about how DC became a bluegrass music hub:
https://watch.weta.org/show/country-music-washington/
Enjoy!

[nebo113]

Modern Country music expresses the worst elements of commercialized music for the masses.  It comes across as repetitive, predictable and cliche.  I do like some of the older stuff and the more rock style country like Sonvolt.  I've seen them play live.

Here is my short list of actual talent:

Suzy Bogguss, Kathy Mattea, Randy Travis

I am sure you can add more names but I don't listen to that genre too much.  I suppose there is some alternative underground scene that I have not heard yet.

If you don't much listen to "that genre", how do you know it's so awful?

[mythbuster]

    So far I've finished three episodes. My father was always a fan of "old country" as he called it, so these first few episodes have been wonderful for hearing many songs that he loved. I appreciate the through thesis that country is about nostalgia, and that it is heavily influenced by non-white sources of music. The other through line that I noticed is that it has always been a highly commercial enterprise. I think this is really how it is different from folk/americana/gospel etc. I really had no idea that the origin of the Grand Ole Opry was as a mechanism to sell insurance!
   The other thing I will notice is that through 3 episodes we have had the Carter ladies and Rose Maddox, and that's it for women performers. I don't count Minnie Pearl, as she isn't strictly a singer. But the next episodes teases Loretta Lynne and Patsy Cline, so hopefully the women are coming soon.

[mamselle]

Country or County?

M.

[Anselm]

Modern Country music expresses the worst elements of commercialized music for the masses.  It comes across as repetitive, predictable and cliche.  I do like some of the older stuff and the more rock style country like Sonvolt.  I've seen them play live.

Here is my short list of actual talent:

Suzy Bogguss, Kathy Mattea, Randy Travis

I am sure you can add more names but I don't listen to that genre too much.  I suppose there is some alternative underground scene that I have not heard yet.

If you don't much listen to "that genre", how do you know it's so awful?

I hear it in restaurants, stores, other people's homes and cars, etc.

[nebo113]

Modern Country music expresses the worst elements of commercialized music for the masses.  It comes across as repetitive, predictable and cliche.  I do like some of the older stuff and the more rock style country like Sonvolt.  I've seen them play live.

Here is my short list of actual talent:

Suzy Bogguss, Kathy Mattea, Randy Travis

I am sure you can add more names but I don't listen to that genre too much.  I suppose there is some alternative underground scene that I have not heard yet.

If you don't much listen to "that genre", how do you know it's so awful?

I hear it in restaurants, stores, other people's homes and cars, etc.

Then I don't think you are truly listening.....It's just noise in those environments.

[monarda]

We are super lucky to have Bill Malone host a radio show each Weds morning. He's such a scholar. Listening to him for 25 years has made me familiar with much of the history. He makes numerous appearances in the series.  Here's an interview  https://www.wortfm.org/qa-with-bill-c-malone/  and here are some playlists from recent episodes of his show https://spinitron.com/WORT/dj/122586/Bill-Malone

[Myword]

As a longtime country fan, traditional styles, and have seen most of the older stars in concert,
I enjoyed the series. Too much time to some stars and not enough to others.
This made me think that some stars donated much money to the film, so it was pay to play. Why so much Marty Stuart and Rosanne Cash? Nothing against them but other stars are more worthy of time. Ray Price, George Strait, etc.
So many artists from Oklahoma! Surprised. Fans should know.
The prejudice and even disdain of northerners to Southern music, especially country was not noted. It is and was regarded as uncouth, unsophisticated, corny hokum--very unfairly.
PBS has ignored country until now. White soul is /was regarded as uncool.
Today's country is not authentic, in same was vinyl is not leather, or margarine is not butter.  But all country is intended to make money, of course.

[mythbuster]

Just finished it last night. Myword gets it about right. Enjoyable, but too much Johnny Cash and especially his daughter. Not enough Dolly, or any of the women, really.
     The last two chapters felt phoned in to me, just skimming from hit to hit without much deeper analysis. The fact that he left the last 20+ years on the table also bothered me. No discussion of the alignment of  country with the hyper-partisan GIP crowd, the Dixie Chicks debacle, Carrie Underwood emerging from American Idol and not Nashville, or the current Country Rap/ Hiphop movement.  I would have loved to hear Merle Haggard's take on the Dixie Chicks, as a contrast to his Okie from Muskogee issues.
   I was interested and wanted to know more about the reclassification of the more folk strains of country into Americana. I may have to now seek that out as an over genre via Spotify etc.

Overall enjoyable, the core first 4-5 episodes were great and informative. I learned a lot about the emergence of radio, and why certain elements of my family would be fans of the Bakersfield sound and other movements.

I'm still left wondering if Marty Stuart is really a big deal, or if he just liked to talk and was backup to a lot of the big players. His faux Beethoven look really bugged me though.

[Bbmaj7b5]

More of a fan of Americana than I am of modern country, but many of those guys are monster guitar players (Brad Paisley in particular).

I'm probably more of a fan of the old-style honky tonk stuff  - early Ray Price in particular.