Originally Posted by jimichic
I grew up in the south, am touched by the traditional country my father listened to and have a great respect for the legends of this industry that I thrive in. I take offense to people who say that the something isnt country because it doesnt have a 3/4 time back beat and a lyric about your mama in it.

Country music consists of songs written about life.


Hey Jimichick,

I've got your website bookmarked and enjoy the observations about the biz. I have a question. I'm in my early 50s no doubt older than you and I got into country in the early 70s. My questions is, as you said you have great respect for the legends, do you find this is a common feeling amongst young musicians in Nashville. I mean, a lot of them know who Johnny Cash is, but do they know how big a star like Hank Snow was?

Now........to the topic........

Back in the 80s Buddy Killen was a very prominent producer. He is the man who made Tree Publishing into a worldwide legendary giant music publishing house. His biggest acts in the 80s as a producer were T.G. Sheppard, Exile, and Ronnie McDowell. Exile was a rock group who had one of the biggest rock hits of the late 70s with "Kiss You All Over." Their country was awful close to rock but it hit number one on the charts. T.G. Sheppard started his career with as country a song as you could record called "Devil In A Bottle" but it wasn't long till he turned more pop than traditional country. Ronnie McDowell started his career with a tribute song to Elvis that many people called "cashing in" but I actually cried the first time I heard it--about six days after Elvis died. McDowell's songs under Buddy weren't exactly traditional country but were probably closer than Exile's and Sheppard's hits.

Billy Sherrill produced some great traditional country sounding hits like "Almost Persuaded" by David Houston, "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" by Tammy Wynette and "The Grand Tour" by George Jones. He also produced non-traditional stuff like Charlie Rich's "Most Beautiful Girl."

I love old country music. There have always been pockets of pop in what many today call traditional country music. But while Sherrill and Killen were producing pop music more than country, you still knew they understood country music and it always ran through their stuff. I think that is what's missing today. Many of these people now act like the pop fans in the old days--they think country is beneath them. But I have to admit, I feel the same way about pop/rock from the 80s and 90s.
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Last edited by eb; 05/18/08 01:06 PM.