Listen to the Lion

Grammys and good music

A quick take on last night's Grammys is here at PoliticalMavens.com where I've been asked to blog along with a lot of other good writers.

Find out what was actually the best music of 2006 with my annual National Review Online list here.

The British only taxed tea

I can't believe this could happen in New York.

Must-read music books

Here's my contribution to NRO's summer books series.

Let me here reiterate my strenuous praise for Peter Guralnick's Elvis biographies. If someone asked me for a reading list to learn about American music, or America itself, I would tell him to start here.

Van Morrison, Hank III and the best country so far this year

A survey of my favorite country music so far this year here at NRO.

Best Music of 2005

Here's my annual list of best CDs at National Review Online.

Countrypolitan Blues Redux

I published several articles and reviews in 2005 in various places, but, by far, the one that generated the most response was my review of the telecast of the 39^th annual Country Music Association awards show for National Review Online.

The article generated dozens and dozens of emails, about 95 percent of which were, I’m genuinely amazed to say, positive and even congratulatory. (I was remiss in checking the LttL mailbox for a couple of weeks after the piece ran on Nov. 16, and I apologize to everyone who took the time to write for not responding to your thoughts sooner.)

There were a few common points that kept popping up in the insightful and passionate responses, so I’ll address those here and hit some of the specific ones in private correspondence:

Dwight Yoakam

My tagline stating that I was putting on Yoakam’s Blame the Vain to cleanse my palate was greeted warmly by about half of those who wrote me. I’m glad and not at all surprised that he has such a strong fan base of people who love not only country music, but music in general.

Dwight is a very stylish guy with quite a polished public persona, but unlike many of today’s cookie cutter country stars, you get the sense that that’s really who Dwight is, and the depth of his self-penned lyrics and soulful singing confirms that sense.

He’s the perfect example of someone who doesn’t strictly play by the rules of country music – whether those imposed by the modern Nashville orthodoxy or by traditionalists like me – but succeeds in being a great country artist, like Cash, Merle, Willie and others with the same individualist bent. It’s not surprising then that he has never won a CMA award or that country radio barely plays him, which leads me to the next point…

Country radio

Many people asked what I thought about country radio. Let’s face it, over-the-air radio as a venue in which to hear new, exciting essential music or the true classics that never fade – in any genre of music – is practically dead.

I’m not blaming that on Rupert Murdoch or Clear Channel or Newt Gingrich or the FCC, like some people do. I’m more interested in what comes next, and I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be satellite radio, at least in the current XM vs. Sirius mode.

Those two companies may succeed, but from what I’ve heard so far, I think even specialized channels on the satellite networks will soon become as computer-programmed, bland and commercial-laden as regular radio. More subscribers will drive the content to the middle of the road or the lowest common denominator, whichever cliché you prefer.

There are two things that will work for real music fans:

1) Personalized radio programs, like the one here, that use preference-matching applications to generate a constant stream of new and old music that each listener might like.

2) Good old-fashioned DJs who will be able to create playlists with an actual human imagination and be able to broadcast, narrowcast, podcast or whatever over the Web.

Check out a couple of my favorites at BluegrassCountry.org and WDVX.

Garth Brooks

Some people stood up for Garth, but more agreed with me that he is a musical criminal of the first order. The fact that a very modestly talented musician sold millions of records and became the face of American country music to the entire world got Nashville to follow the same style-over-substance marketing credo of mainstream pop, which has in turn succeeded in selling Shania Twain, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban and the like as country artists.

Sara Evans and Martina McBride

I took a swipe at the live performances of these two, and I stand by it. They both sounded even worse than they normally do that night. I’m pretty sure that Martina is always a microtone or two flat and I think Sara’s singing is nasal and overwrought. It’s actually hard for me to say things like that about these two ladies, not only because I fancy myself a gentleman, but because I have heard them interviewed and I think that they are both really great people. I just think that their beauty (especially in the case of the stunning Miss Evans) and personality in this post-Garth world has carried them a lot farther than their talent alone.

With all that said, I invite further comment – about this piece and about the music you love and hate - at the LttL mailbox, which I promise to check regularly in 2006.

Countrypolitan blues

My take on the 39th annual Country Music Association awards show at NRO is here.

Springsteen's Devils & Dust

My review of Bruce's latest is now up at NRO here.

I admit my initial strong negative reaction to my first listen to the disc, as posted in this space earlier, was half wrong.

Soul Survivors

My piece on the new CDs from Al Green and Solomon Burke is up at NRO.

A very Grammy Sunday

Read about how I spent my Sunday night here.