Now before anybody gets started, I'm from Long Island. In fact, I was born in Brooklyn and was raised there before going to Long Island at age 7. I'm 44 now and I've been living here in North Carolina for about eight years. Now why is it, this Yankee, a "Lawn Guylander", is defending country music? It's not about the "country" aspect, but the American aspect of the music. And the country music I'm defending is not the so-called "new" country but the "old school" country. Back when cowboys rode horses and not Ford F-150's, back when a "badonkadonk" was just a "big 'ol butt", Country Music was Country Music and it was all about THE COUNTRY! In the 70's and before, country music had charm, you can even say it was "cute" (but not in a gay sort of way). And believe it or not, my Southern friends, Country Music made it up North a long time ago.
Back then, we called Country Music "cookout music" or "barbecue music". When urban flight took place in the Northern cities like NYC, Boston, and Chicago; not city dwellers moved in into what they call "the country" which was really the suburban towns and regions that outlined the cities. When I was a child, Long Island and Upstate NY was considered "the country"- pretty much anywhere that has a tree! When some of the city dwellers moved into homes in "the country", they had cookouts or barbecues in their newly built French Colonials and played Johnny Cash or George Jones on their record players as they test out their new Hibachis as their brothers, sisters, and all of their kids came along and enjoyed a day out in the yard. Hence "barbecue music".
Country music radio stations popped up North during the urban sprawl of the 60's & 70's. When I was a kid "Hee Haw" ,was a very popular show especially with adults. I dunno if it was Roy Clark and Buck Owens "pickin' an' a grinnin'" or the half naked "Hee Haw Honeys" jiggling around in those tiny plaid shirts (strategically tied at the right place) and pre-Daisy Duke cutoffs. Then again, I had a strange fascination with LuLu Roman when I was a kid. But then again I know now that it was my love for large women and I think LuLu started the whole BBW craze, so I thank you LuLu! But back to the music, there was an innocence and even a purity to Country Music, just like rock in its' infancy and rap/hip-hop when it first came out. Then something happened, Country gone COMMERCIAL and got cheesy in the 80's!
Country Music faded away and pretty much became a cliche. Country became cheesy in the 80's due to the "been there, done that" technique the songs took on. Y'know what I'm talking about; the classic joke-- Q:"What do you get when you play country music backwards?" A:"Your wife, your house, your pickup truck and your dog!" Everything started to sound the same. Then the worst happened. Now I know some people will kill me for this, but when Garth Brooks started to make records, that's when the cowpies hit the fan! Brooks mixed the 80's standard Country cheese (a la Kenny Rogers and Glen Campbell) and mixed it with some classic rock. But instead of stripping it down back to the bare bones like Lyle Lovett and Dwight Yoakum tried to do, Garth Vader made Country Music extra cheesy!!! Then you had the other ilk; namely Billy Ray Cyrus. Then came Toby "We'll put a boot to their ass, it's the American way!"-YAWN! Keith, Kenny "I wear a hat because I'm bald" Chesney along with Brooks and Dunn (or is it Big n' Rich or the countrified versions of Hall & Oates?). Now before some of y'all get your Daisy Dukes in a bunch, some of the country stuff today is mostly Country Music doing an impersonation of Hair Metal and Gangsta Rap- actually some call it "Gangsta Country" and that scares me and other music purists!
Let me conclude with this little story. When I was 8, my mother and I had a neighbor from North Carolina who lived above our apartment. We heard Charley Pride and Tom T. Hall wafting down from the upstairs apartment and into our ears. My neighbor had a daughter who was a few years older than me, and we played together with the other neighborhood kids. That summer (1975), my mother and I had the opportunity to go along with our neighbors on a trip to Goldsboro, North Carolina, and stopping to Washington DC along the way. Other than getting a nasty stomach virus right before the trip (I threw up in three states!), I was raring to go. Although the main thing I remembered when was in DC was downing Pepto Bismol in a hotel room after I ate a McDonalds (good news was I held the Big Mac down), my biggest memory was in Goldsboro where we stayed with my neighbors' family. I met up with some new friends that summer and I remember the tobacco farm we stayed at in which was about as American as America can get. I remember the kids in NC calling me a Yankee, but there were still very friendly despite the lack of red in my neck. I remember walking down the country road a mile down in 90 degree heat to the "general store" just to get a Coke (in a glass bottle for a freakin' QUARTER!) and walking back to the farm and not getting overwhelmed by the distance and the heat. The oldest one in our group of four or five was 10 and NOTHING HAPPENED! It stood out as one of the best times in my childhood. It was like The Waltons, and I was John Boy for that brief moment- we were both aspiring writers soaking up what God gave us in this countrified setting. I also remember being given some HUGE tobacco leaves from the farm- which made a great "Show & Tell" when I went back to school in Long Island a month later. Unfortunately, the leaves dried up and flakes were falling on the floor of Mr. Caruso's class, but even that time was fun- a 3rd grader sharing his tobacco with the class (and I think a few teachers were trying to buy the dried tobacco from me
). 8 years old, and I was already into "Big Tobacco"!
But it's moments like those that made country music, maybe any kind of music should be about that innocence.I guess nowadays music cannot capture those fun times like barbecues and trips out to the "real" country. Maybe that's why I'm into the old school when it comes to everything in life. "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" will never represent my past nor my present. Maybe it's the Americana that sticks with the old school Country Music. Then again, we should not pursue "The American Dream", but the American existence!
Back then, we called Country Music "cookout music" or "barbecue music". When urban flight took place in the Northern cities like NYC, Boston, and Chicago; not city dwellers moved in into what they call "the country" which was really the suburban towns and regions that outlined the cities. When I was a child, Long Island and Upstate NY was considered "the country"- pretty much anywhere that has a tree! When some of the city dwellers moved into homes in "the country", they had cookouts or barbecues in their newly built French Colonials and played Johnny Cash or George Jones on their record players as they test out their new Hibachis as their brothers, sisters, and all of their kids came along and enjoyed a day out in the yard. Hence "barbecue music".
Country music radio stations popped up North during the urban sprawl of the 60's & 70's. When I was a kid "Hee Haw" ,was a very popular show especially with adults. I dunno if it was Roy Clark and Buck Owens "pickin' an' a grinnin'" or the half naked "Hee Haw Honeys" jiggling around in those tiny plaid shirts (strategically tied at the right place) and pre-Daisy Duke cutoffs. Then again, I had a strange fascination with LuLu Roman when I was a kid. But then again I know now that it was my love for large women and I think LuLu started the whole BBW craze, so I thank you LuLu! But back to the music, there was an innocence and even a purity to Country Music, just like rock in its' infancy and rap/hip-hop when it first came out. Then something happened, Country gone COMMERCIAL and got cheesy in the 80's!
Country Music faded away and pretty much became a cliche. Country became cheesy in the 80's due to the "been there, done that" technique the songs took on. Y'know what I'm talking about; the classic joke-- Q:"What do you get when you play country music backwards?" A:"Your wife, your house, your pickup truck and your dog!" Everything started to sound the same. Then the worst happened. Now I know some people will kill me for this, but when Garth Brooks started to make records, that's when the cowpies hit the fan! Brooks mixed the 80's standard Country cheese (a la Kenny Rogers and Glen Campbell) and mixed it with some classic rock. But instead of stripping it down back to the bare bones like Lyle Lovett and Dwight Yoakum tried to do, Garth Vader made Country Music extra cheesy!!! Then you had the other ilk; namely Billy Ray Cyrus. Then came Toby "We'll put a boot to their ass, it's the American way!"-YAWN! Keith, Kenny "I wear a hat because I'm bald" Chesney along with Brooks and Dunn (or is it Big n' Rich or the countrified versions of Hall & Oates?). Now before some of y'all get your Daisy Dukes in a bunch, some of the country stuff today is mostly Country Music doing an impersonation of Hair Metal and Gangsta Rap- actually some call it "Gangsta Country" and that scares me and other music purists!
Let me conclude with this little story. When I was 8, my mother and I had a neighbor from North Carolina who lived above our apartment. We heard Charley Pride and Tom T. Hall wafting down from the upstairs apartment and into our ears. My neighbor had a daughter who was a few years older than me, and we played together with the other neighborhood kids. That summer (1975), my mother and I had the opportunity to go along with our neighbors on a trip to Goldsboro, North Carolina, and stopping to Washington DC along the way. Other than getting a nasty stomach virus right before the trip (I threw up in three states!), I was raring to go. Although the main thing I remembered when was in DC was downing Pepto Bismol in a hotel room after I ate a McDonalds (good news was I held the Big Mac down), my biggest memory was in Goldsboro where we stayed with my neighbors' family. I met up with some new friends that summer and I remember the tobacco farm we stayed at in which was about as American as America can get. I remember the kids in NC calling me a Yankee, but there were still very friendly despite the lack of red in my neck. I remember walking down the country road a mile down in 90 degree heat to the "general store" just to get a Coke (in a glass bottle for a freakin' QUARTER!) and walking back to the farm and not getting overwhelmed by the distance and the heat. The oldest one in our group of four or five was 10 and NOTHING HAPPENED! It stood out as one of the best times in my childhood. It was like The Waltons, and I was John Boy for that brief moment- we were both aspiring writers soaking up what God gave us in this countrified setting. I also remember being given some HUGE tobacco leaves from the farm- which made a great "Show & Tell" when I went back to school in Long Island a month later. Unfortunately, the leaves dried up and flakes were falling on the floor of Mr. Caruso's class, but even that time was fun- a 3rd grader sharing his tobacco with the class (and I think a few teachers were trying to buy the dried tobacco from me
). 8 years old, and I was already into "Big Tobacco"!But it's moments like those that made country music, maybe any kind of music should be about that innocence.I guess nowadays music cannot capture those fun times like barbecues and trips out to the "real" country. Maybe that's why I'm into the old school when it comes to everything in life. "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" will never represent my past nor my present. Maybe it's the Americana that sticks with the old school Country Music. Then again, we should not pursue "The American Dream", but the American existence!
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