NASHVILLE MUSIC

I've been a professional musician and entertainer and songwriter for 42 years, and I love music as much as any fan - and care very deeply about the choices of music - or lack of - presented to us (consumers).

When I was in Nashville ('65 through '75), music business execs, and many writers who wanted t' please 'em, tried t' convince me that WORDS're more important than th' music, and that STORY songs (best if they're about LOVE - especially SLOW ones) are more important, 'cause they're #1 in SALES through th' years, even though very good ones're rare.

That sounds about right, when y' look at it that way. Great WORDS to a SLOW LOVE STORY - with good music. So most concentrate on developin' recordin's that follow that narrow "formula", thinkin' they'll make th' most money for themselves - so much for variety!

The SINGER doesn't even really matter to 'em, as long as he/she can technically sing, and looks good, or interestin'! They really don't want independent-minded artists like Jerry Lee 'r Elvis, no matter how much excitement they generate! Nobody's s'posed t' "stand out".

Most of 'em seem t' be unaware o' th' fact that when one guy hits big it tends t' bring th' whole industry up. It 'causes consumers get excited again, and it spills over to other artists for a while, while other artists feel pressured into followin' th' trend it may start.

Garth Brooks got "through" (he's excitin'), but I'd like t' see his contract, an' what all he's not allowed t' do with his personal (and professional) life! But, economics bein' th' way they are (the dollar not worth near as much as it used t' be) it takes a "huge" investment t' get somethin' goin', thatcha gotta secure somehow - that's understandable.

(Actually, $250,000 for an album today, is still only $2,500 in money from thirty 'r forty years ago. It's just that most people don't earn enough t' keep UP with "inflation" - which is actually caused by th' Federal Reserve printin' money [for vote-buyin'] like it's goin' out o' style [which it may well be], and chargin' banks interest for it [which our government's not originally s'posed t' do] NOT by people raisin' their PRICES, t' keep things BALANCED! And t' make it worse, our bein' off th' gold standard has made our money really not worth anymore than we personally THINK it is, at any given time.)

But, artists with unpredictable "spit 'n fire" - who actually may not have a slick technically-trained voice - have made th' best attractions, and th' most interestin' music, but are th' hardest t' handle through th' years. Th' "suits" tend t' push 'em aside an' hope they'll go away.

So we're gettin' more an' more "go along" kind o' artists - no guts, no real substance, and th' creativity suffers! It's just a fact o' life that unpredictable music (th' best kind) comes from unpredictable people. It's a chore t' control it all. Well, if a "suit" doesn't want t' WORK hard…

All the accompanying MUSIC, itself, (in Nashville, New York, Chicago 'r Hollywood) is played by th' same (in Nashville, 80 'r 90 'r so?) "crack", dependable recordin' musicians. They do all th' sessions, in a "get 'em in, an' get 'em out" manner not unlike a stockyard routine, because studio and musician time is "expensive", an' they're all convinced that th' individual creativity of th' music is - while very important - not as important as th' technical perfection!

Sam Phillips mentioned "perfect imperfection". You won't find that in Nashville very easily. Th' recordin's are perfect, period. They're perfect, but they can be so boring. There's not much room for true "happy accidents", in th' words of th' late painter, Bob Ross. Some would've removed th' accidental "fuzz" in th' guitar licks on "Don't Worry About Me", by Marty Robbins.

Th' studio musicians are under pressure t' keep comin' up with those catchy "licks" an' "hooks", but after a while, th' same guys can only come up with so many different sounds. It gets t' soundin' th' same overall, after a while, right? Predictable. No surprises anymore! Takes th' "eager expectation" out of it for us.
It's SOUND FIRST, folks - not WORDS!

I've noticed all my life that th' SOUND of th' music (vocal and backup) is most important - for example you've heard many hit instrumentals (remember those?), but have you ever heard a hit POEM - just WORDS, no melody, without ANY bg music? NEVER! Maybe some comic routines, but still not real "hits" in th' mainstream music charts.

There've been some hit recitations, but never without musical support. So overall SOUND is #1, regardless - no matter what statistics y' pull out. If y' push that aside, you're takin' away th' main attraction!

(Didja catch that hot, new Australian kid at th' Ryman recently? He inadvertantly confirmed that we hear th' sound first, lyrics later.)

Jerry Lee, Elvis, 'r Ray Charles, for example, could've sung th' phone book 'r th' dictionary, and we'd've bought it. That shows that th' ARTIST can be more important than th' words. My "theoretical (best) formula" would be MUSIC (SOUND), ARTIST and THEN th' words, overall. There're exceptions, of course, but mainly speakin'.

My "take" on it caused me some grief when I was in Nashville - some important people tended t' psychologically push me aside because of it.

But how many songs (all genres) have people initially responded to (got excited about) over th' years, but never really noticed th' words until later? How many people knew what th' words were to "Louie, Louie"? It became a game t' try t' figure 'em out!

"Johnny B Goode" WAS a story song (incidentally, not a LOVE song) but where would it've gone without Chuck Berry's vocal and musical SOUNDS t' get us into it?

And Country fans all over th' world love these "crossover" types of releases. Th' fans aren't as polarized as some think! Nashville's pervasive attempts t' record "crossover" stuff shows that they realize this fact.

But they shouldn't be pushin' "country" aside, 'cause true country was hittin' better on th' main charts in th' late fifties an' early sixties, remember? "Wolvertine Mountain", "Please Help Me, I'm Falling", "Hello Walls", etc., etc.

"Soundscan", these days, shows an average of only three 'r four "country" (Nashville) on Billboard's top hundred. It ain't workin', y'all!

Both o' those songs I mentioned earlier may not've been #1 records, but they're still precious t' people after all these years. Even teenagers today're requestin' those songs! They'll dance an' sing along, an' maybe not really even know th' right WORDS! Get it?

Th' same goes for country music, although it usually contains clearer lyrics. The words still, mainly, come second in interest. Th' SOUND grabs us first, usually.

I've got many examples o' what I'm sayin' - it'd take too long t' go over th' list. And, I personally think it's a close race between "fun" songs an' "love" songs as to what kind is most durable. Nashville tends to eschew "fun" songs as "novelty" material, tendin' t' ignore such songs. They'll accept 'em, then put 'em on th' shelf, lookin' for that magic, serious love song! Again, so much for variety.

It's like Garth Brooks' "I Got Friends in Low Places" compared to "The Dance". They try t' emulate th' latter, an' tend t' turn down songs like th' former. So we're hearin' many, many, many, SLOW, LOVE STORY, songs by just anybody who can sing, who's cute, with th' music 'way in th' background.

(Most fans don't know that most songs in Nashville are precut for th' "track" - without th' finished vocal - then shopped around to labels who pick a singer t' put a voice over it So much for individualized SOUNDS! Economics" forces us t' cut our own throats, creatively.)
That's why so much of it is "boring". Let's mix it up more, like a well-balanced meal! Where're th' Ray Stevens' of t'day? Shel Silverstein is a great example of what good a departure from "th' formula" can do.

Incidentally, did y' pick up on th' "Old Dogs" albums sold on TV by Jennings, Bare, Reed an' Tillis? Wonderful! Totally out of th' standard AGE "formulas"! But notice that th' songs still tend t' be WORDS, LOVE STORY - not much on new musical SOUNDS, but great ARTISTS, and FUN. 'Cause o' th' age factor, they couldn't "break" these albums on today's polarized radio stations, I guess.

So, too many execs aren't lookin' so much for "what we like" as for th' money they think they could make, accordin' to th' "statistics". Therein lies th' problem. That attitude creates an entirely different kind o' product. Then it's presented to us t' accept 'r reject, but it's become too predictable an' massive of a field for us t' wanna wade through it all, before we hear somethin' that excites us. So we tend t' tune out.

Most of it's aimed at young people, too - another understandable formula - but it means th' majority of people're bein' ignored. (We loved music when we were little kids, an' I don't think we quit lovin' music just 'cause we reached "middle age"!) Older people may not be buyin' big, 'cause they're not hearin' anything that moves 'em!

Think what th' internet's gonna do for music! I hope it'll shake up th' "system" so we can get more interestin' music - more variety.

More an' more, th' radio stations've caved in to th' music industry centered in th' big towns - major label issues - in an automatic way. I don't think most country radio programmers even really listen t' what they put on th' air, as long as it's from a major label in Nashville. Economics may be th' reason, but economics controlled by fewer an' fewer people now. Where's th' ol' American spirit o' individuality? It's showin' up on th' 'net!

Th' Web's givin' "formula people" a fit! Best thing t' happen t' music in years! When y' check it all out, there're so many new people makin' music it's unbelievable! The big labels're gettin' their due. They let things get too "formulized". Their FOCUS (understandable, too) is t' sue - like Napster, etc. instead o' loosenin' up on what they choose t' present. I wish they'd get away from th' "Muzak" approach - not wantin' t' draw technical criticism.

People would be buyin' more o' their stuff, an' be more glad t' do it! There's a revolution goin' on!

"Boogie" Buck Fell and his Jumpin' Piana
Chattanooga

(Except for the recent inclusion of the “hot, new Australian kid” comment, this piece was written in 1999)