"Terry A. Smith" wrote:
>
> And are those suburban singers really the anita kerr singers? Sheesh.
Yep, they and the Jordanaires were all over Nashville records.
> One
> more thing, people today hear things differently, have different attitudes
> about production, so, I'm curious, was Atkins slick production really the
> "normal" way folks expected to hear country tunes produced in the 60s? I
> just have to think that it still bothered a lot of folks back then. Of
> course, I'm just guessing. -- Terry Smith
Well, there was some grumbling from the purist camps when people like
Ray Price went countrypolitan and Chet started to gussie up the product,
but since most of them were the same 10,000 drunk males who had bought
every other record for the past ten years, nobody much cared. There has
always been the push-pull of "keep it country" vs. "pop it up" in
nashville music. However, nobody thought it was odd to have singers on
country records, they were a staple. Strings was usually the dividing line.
>
> ps I just got a press release from a publicist for Atlantic Records' "Old
> Dogs" session, a record with Bobby Bare, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Reed, Shel
> Silverstein and Mel Tillis that was originally sold via telemarketing. It
> really stresses their outlaw status. Check this out:
>
> "Unlike the glossy 'flatbellies' or more homogenized icons of today, these
> country music trailblazers were the discontented and brilliantly
> expressive Marlon Brandos and James Deans of country music. If they
> couldn't have done it their way, they wouldn't have done it at all....
> Included in their touring legends is the template for many of the 'bad
> boy' bands that came after them..."
Although much of this is patent nonsense (they did it both ways, in
fact), I think it is striking to think about how utterly different and
original each of these men were.
--
Joe Gracey
President-For-Life, Jackalope Records
http://www.kimmierhodes.com
