What was once toxic...........
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Artist:
1969 was a great year for music. One song became a lightning rod however, running straight down the growing schism that was opening between the culture & the counter culture....where your head was was defined by which side of this song ou stood on.
Damn, I'm pretty sure the viciously eloquent Mike The Knife has lacerated this song once in his Toxic Tueday series.....I wish i had a link.... but yeah, Merle Haggard's shot across the bow of the Hippies' Wooden Ships...in it's plainspoken espousal of alleged "traditional values"....struck a strong chord in the Amerucan public at large even as it earned the scorn & vilification of rockers everywhere. As I watch this....or rather...as I listen to this....I'm amazed & amused by the changes.....in me. I understand the anger and resentment. I see i all around me today. I'm amused at the changes that have taken place....the "role reversals". The people that Merle was raging against had a huge & healthy distrust of government interference in our personal lives,,,,,,,,now their ideological descendents consider the government the answer to everything.
We here in the USA are heading to what may be shaping up to be one VERY historic election in Nov. The voters have some difficult choices to make
and it doesn't seem there are any easy answers. Cody B & I have gone 'round & 'round on this & related subjects over the last yr or so..........Are we on the cusp of something big? Or is this just another off-yr election....where the reigning party historicaly loses seats in government? Let's let it play out.........(If you're still reading...i guess you're expecting more music.....ok....here's a track from a great new band that has captured my attention of late.......Handful Of Lovin.........This Man..
From the Dayton Tribune........
President Obama signed the $26 billion dollar bailout package for teachers unions that will be paid for mostly by cuts in the food stamp program and the Department of Energy's renewable energy loan guarantee program.
The House vote went mostly along party lines passing with a 247-161 margin. Two Republican's voted for the measure three Democrats voted against the bill.
...........i guess we know where their loyalties lie.........(Lie being the operative word wih this current administration.(and yes, i am speaking comparatively)
.......But back to Okie From Muskogee. Its now considered a classic.
I hope someone posts David Peel's (I'm Proud To Be) A Freak From New York City)
one more song.........Gomez..........Revolutionary Kind
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Locating MOG account...
Comments (17)
I prefer this read on city vs. country:
I nowdays play Okie to stoner friends just to be ironic and edgy! LOL it makes a good prelude to a veiwing of Reefer Madness!
Hey, you straightened me out on ol' Merle some time ago ;)
I sometimes muse over whether the management of (overcrowded) human affairs has grown beyond human capacity. There will always be somebody ready willing and able to try, but results are more and more fraught with failure, corruption, and lack of patience. Do we get to watch as the world falls to pieces? have we been watching for some time? It seems you can fool most all the people most all the time anymore...
To this day.....the Hip crowd still knocks Country music....I think they detest the (simplistic black & white) patriotism.
But Merle's patriotism isn't simplistic..and hey, I thought the hip crowd liked country..Didn't Merle's, If I Could Only Fly album come out on ANTI-, home of Tom Waits, Bettye LaVette,Mose Allison, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, etc.
The hip crowd might not like pop country though, you are spot on there..but they don't like pop anything.
Country music these days, the garbage they call country, is almost too simple. Fail to tow the line and you're off the dial. Merle's complicated and he always has been. Remember that he wanted to follow "Okie" with "Irma Jackson"...
Imagine that as the follow up to "Okie From Muskogee". Instead, "The Fightin' Side Of Me"- Dick Nixon's favorite song- was the follow up and "Irma Jackson" was donated to Tony Booth who had a hit with it. Merle's version, the version above, was issued two years later.
"Country music these days, the garbage they call country, is almost too simple"
Wow! What a sweepung condemnation! The odd thing is I'd tend to agree with you 'cause i believe you're talkin' 'bout the country-pap that gets played ad nauseum on so many faux country radio stations. But we both know that country music can be as complex & imaginative as any other genre & more so than quite a few.
Exactly. I wasn't talking about the great country acts of the past or those newer acts who exist almost exclusively off of the dial, I'm talking about the rancid, predictable crap that the interchangeable radio stations promote as "country". Being relatively young, I can't remember decent country on the dial. But that's applicable to most any genre over most of the last three decades or so. The best music has largely fallen through the cracks.
& the cracks are getting bigger. All of the old-school paradigms of distribution & exposure are shriveling. It can be an exciting time for the imaginative artist/band. It can also be frustrating as hell. Just like its always been, but radically different in nature & scope. Does that make sense? The Felice Brothers, as a good for instance, caught lightning in a bottle & became the flavor of the month a while back. They got massive exposure. But short of hiring a media blitz for each "release"....how do they remain connected with their fans and win new ones? The answers are all around us...we just gotta recognize them.
I don't know why anyone would hate one genre or another llike country just based on some generalization, but we can generalize most popular mass-marketed music sucks and theres plenty of countr in there. on the other hands there's plenty of reason to dislike music that seems contriuved. What is patriotism today, in black and white terms? I hope it has nothing to do with race, but rather principles. In that case I see very few country groups (what is country anyway, cowboy music? genres are coined for novelty sake, how about lets say natural sounds and rustic sound portraits? these can be found in groups called rock or americana or folk and contain elents of "country", or anyone in particular talking about those things. Porbbaly more in progressive groups and thinkings man's bands. But those can be in any genre. Just be careful about how patriotic you think you are, you don't know what you might be doing that infringes on other's rights, freedoms, and pursuit of happiness.
and for the record if you think any of this government can help, us on either side of the fence you're nuts, cause if everyday people can't work things out, how are bickering politicians with constitents and loyalities going to? Maybe there's another way out, through the people. But I suspect the problem here isn't the government, it's the people, since we make the government too. Let me know when you find someone who actually cares for the greater good of all and the things that are country was made to protect. If it's you then step up because no amount of reportage, criticizing, bickering etc is going to enlighten the public, cause as it stands now it's just a distraction like this loose anarchy they call government.
you also forgot to mention the teachjer aid laos being covered by "in part by closing tax loopholes that encourage corporations that ships American jobs overseas." according to Fox, so that sounds pretty good. I think it's important to invest in our future, literally the kids of America so it's something that I think's very important, and the food stamp cuts only bring it down to pre-stimulus levels so let's stimulate the kids so we can avoid whole societal problems like this again.
Quick questions (just throwing it out there)
Would you (anyone) consider what Faith Hill does as "Country Music"?
Just curious.
Faith Hill makes music 'cause there's money in it.
Frank...there is so much to chew on in your comments...I will not be drawn into a discussion tonight....not with the Patriots plasying....& although its only preseason football....its better than no foot ball. Gimme a shout tomorrow night.
Wait - so you are saying that Faith Hill has no musical "soul" and just wants to "make money"?
I don't believe that.
If "having money" was her only ambition - she would have married some rich dude.
Dave, It is difficult to articulate what i mean here. But I'll tell you this.....There are some artists that need to sing, as much as they need oxygen or sustanence, or at least they project that feeling.....Ms Hill does not. Though in all honesty I'm only superfialy familiar with her ouevre.
An honest answer. I can always appreciate that.
I bring her up only because that has been my own somewhat recent experience of a personal flirtation with what they call "Country Music."
I do have a history with bands like Poco and The Byrds and Eagles - the "Country Rock" stuff - Neil Young certainly has gone there as well.
Hell, even the Stones. Exile on Main Street, anyone?
I do like Faith Hill though ;-)