CMA Awards!

[Nine Miler]

Stringjam- nailed it.  Great post. 

First record to make the country and pop charts? 1948 if I have my facts right.  Pop-Country?  What about Glen Campbell, Bellamy Brothers, Ronnie Milsap, John Denver? You guessed it.  All had success on the pop charts.

[Stringjam]

Most new country isn't good IMO.

The reason a lot of people who like outlaw/classic country don't like new country is because it sounds like pop music. There is a difference if you weren't aware.

To say country has been pop music since the 60's isn't all true. Some of it has been been, but you can't say Hank Jr. George Jones, Haggard, Willie, Waylon, or Verne Gosdin (to name a few) have ever been considered pop.

Actually, I don't really see much of a difference. Look through some country Billboard charts for those decades and you'll find a whole buncha "pop" country. Charley Pride, Glen Campbell, and a bunch of other super-orchestrated, campy, pop country. I grew up listening to that stuff on classic country radio.

If that's what people like, that's fine with me. Heck, I think Wichita Lineman was a great song. But that, and half the other hits of the time were just about as pop as you could get.

IMO, there is just as much, if not more, straight-up country now as there was back then. The genre, like every other, has always had its share of fluff and gems.

[dave]

Stringjam- nailed it. Great post.

First record to make the country and pop charts? 1948 if I have my facts right. Pop-Country? What about Glen Campbell, Bellamy Brothers, Ronnie Milsap, John Denver? You guessed it. All had success on the pop charts.

Especially the Kelly Clarkson reference.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

yall forget "pop" isnt a kind of music it means popularity is all just cause country makes the pop charts dont mean it aint country just means it makes a lot of diff ppl happy

[OHIO]

Most new country isn't good IMO.

The reason a lot of people who like outlaw/classic country don't like new country is because it sounds like pop music. There is a difference if you weren't aware.

To say country has been pop music since the 60's isn't all true. Some of it has been been, but you can't say Hank Jr. George Jones, Haggard, Willie, Waylon, or Verne Gosdin (to name a few) have ever been considered pop.

Actually, I don't really see much of a difference. Look through some country Billboard charts for those decades and you'll find a whole buncha "pop" country. Charley Pride, Glen Campbell, and a bunch of other super-orchestrated, campy, pop country. I grew up listening to that stuff on classic country radio.

If that's what people like, that's fine with me. Heck, I think Wichita Lineman was a great song. But that, and half the other hits of the time were just about as pop as you could get.

IMO, there is just as much, if not more, straight-up country now as there was back then. The genre, like every other, has always had its share of fluff and gems.

I agree with you, but I was just trying to say that not all country back then was considered pop music.

There are by far more pop country singers today than there were back in the 60's.

[KU_Bassmaster.]

All of these "real country" posts are starting to crack me up. ;D

Ya know what - how about the the novel idea of listening to music because it's good, and leave the all the incessant sub-categorization to the kiddies.

The idea that country music is "going pop" is just a bit late.....country music isn't going there, it has been there since the 60's - - or maybe people have just decided to ignore its existence, despite how prevalent "pop" country has been on the charts since way back when all they supposedly played was "real country." After all Hank Williams invented country, right? Please.... ;D

There's just as much of the good stuff now as there ever has been. The overall level of musicianship in country circles (and especially among studio players) is stellar.

Singing is always a big variable......it isn't pure singing ability that draws people. Some of the greats hardly have an ounce of range or real singing skill.....it's the ability to write songs and convey them in a way that makes the music relevant to the listener.

That's why Taylor Swift is famous......if you're some 30 year-old+ dude that doesn't "understand" her, than that's fine, because SHE ISN'T WRITING MUSIC FOR YOU. Her crowd is pre and teenage girls, and she nails it. Good for her.

And yes - live vocals tend to be on the pitchy side unless you're dealing with top-shelf vocalists, or if they aren't running the signal through an auto-tuner.

If music was purely a singing contest, then everybody else might as well have left when they let Kelly Clarkson in the door. There is no "pitchy" going on there....girl has it locked down like a human tuner.

Still plenty of great raw singing talent among the ladies though.....Martina McBride and Carrie Underwood can hang with any country female past or present. I'll throw Alison Krauss in there, too - as her live vocals could pretty much pass as a spotless studio track.

I'm not even the biggest country fan, but there's plenty of cool stuff, even from some of the very mainstream crowd. I would rather listen to someone like Brad Paisley or Keith Urban than a derivative caricature of a dead country star, copying and pasting the same old country songs into a new album and calling it "real."

Is it a sin if I like both old and new?  And yes even the poppy stuff.  To me, music (mostly country music) is kind of like politics.  People choose their views based on their party affiliation and struggle to think for themselves.  Kind of like music ... if it's new it sucks. 

[grimlin]

You guys are gonna hate me...I really dig the pop-country songs by a lot of the newer artists.

Country has gotten better in my eyes.The old country to me sounded like it was about singing about how his cow just caught Mad cow disease or something. Sounded way too depressed.

However i can understand how you older country folks are...I feel the same way about the "new" rappers out there....I love the Old school rap from the 80's and 90's.

[gobig]

Music in general has gone to hell. There are very few bands worth listening to. No one writes their own music any more. They are all riding of someone else's shirt tails. The main stay is one hit wonders and a bunch of crap that sounds the same. Good bands in any genre are few and far between any more.