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Country Music Is The White CNN!

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Or it was, at least.

Just downloaded two tracks - "Jesus Hits Like An Atom Bomb" by Lowell Blanchard with the Valley Trio and "Old Man Atom" by Sons of the Pioneers. Both are brilliant. Give me other examples of excellent and funny news-commentary country songs, and tell me why the tradition's died out, please.

― Tom, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

(Obviously CNN is the white CNN, but you know what I mean)

― Tom, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

What's with this bomb obsession Mr E?

― RickyT, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

We're all doomed!

(Answer - someone uploaded one to Filepile and then somebody else uploaded the other one as a 'reply')

― Tom, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I've just been googling to try and find a country song called "God, Guts and Guns", which I heard on the soundtrack to an early 198Os movie called "Handgun" (aka "Deep in the Heart"). This song is more social commentary than specific news-event commentary but probably fits broadly with what you're after. Anyway, didn't find it, although I did find a lot of other scary stuff. Are you sure the tradition's died out?

― Jeff W, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Lee Greenwood's trenchant punditry regularly tops the Amazon chart

― dave q, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Well it has kind of I think - or certainly the fairly liberal perspective as seen in the Pioneers track has fallen away. It was foolish of me to start this thread with Anthony on holiday.

― Tom, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Are you into "Convoy" (C.W. McCall) at all, Tom? It's not news, really, but it certainly summed up a prominent pop culture trend in the 70s (the trucker as outlaw). And it is political. It's "fake country" and a novelty, but I love it.

― Mark, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Yes I wuv Convoy. Subject-specific country I seem to almost always enjoy - I can't get enough of trucking songs for instance.

― Tom, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Another for the list of atomic tunes is the Louvin Brothers' "Great Atomic Power".

Also various war-related songs, of course: search "Smoke On The Water" by Red Foley, which is a great tune and a lyric which I find a little uncomfortable.

― Tim, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Would Roy Acuff's "Wreck on the Highway" count?

― Lee G, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Also Loretta Lynn's "The Pill" is probably more social commentary than news commentary but is nevertheless classic.

Also David Frizzell's "I'm Gonna Hire A Wino To Decorate Our Home" is all about homelessness. Oh no, hold on...

― Tim, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I went through a serious Red Sovine addiction about 20 years ago. In his trucker sagas, apocolyptic stuff is constantly almost happening to busloads of schoolkids.

― Curt, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

As alluded to on another thread, there are a couple of corking Uncle Dave Macon tracks on Vol. 4 of the Harry Smith Anthology that exemplify 'country as reportage' - 'Wreck of the Tennessee Gravy Train' and 'Governor Al Smith', not to mention the Carter Family's sublime 'No Depression in Heaven'.

I'm guessing that country's leftist protest tradition partly got annexed by the folks/roots movement of the 50s.

― Andrew L, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Have you seen the American Song Poems? Too Many Babies - abt PREGNOIDS, Daddy Don't You Love Us Any More are two examples of hem hem ISSUES based songs. The best song is JUNKIES AND MONKEYS.

― Sarah, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Ooh--just thought of a nominee: Bobby Bare's Hard Time Hungrys album. Not exactly news, more like '70s-recession-era sociology.

― Lee G, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"I Wanna Talk About Me" by Toby Keith = The View

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Merle Haggard, in his "Fightin' Side of Me" phase, was surely issuing dispatches from middle America. Henson Cargill's "Skip A Rope" has a thing or two to say.

― briania, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I thought CNN was the White CNN?
It might be the White TNN, though. Ho ho ho.

― Lord Custos 2.0 beta, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

CNN is the grey faceless CNN.

― Sterling Clover, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Dave Q, you know as well as I do that your contrarian nature requires you to argue that Lee Greenwood is in fact much better than either a)Joy Division b)Public Enemy or c)The Velvet Underground (Reed/Cale/Morrison/Tucker incarnation). Get to it, man.

― John Darnielle, Thursday, 16 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

check out kinky friedman in his prime - asshole from el paso, they ain't makin jews like jesus anymore - also loudon w 3's second to alst album of political songs - some had a very country feel

― Geoff, Friday, 17 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I've met Lee Greenwood. He's a drug addled asshole. The David Lee Roth of Country & Western...but without the charm. A useless one-hit wonder whose one noisome hit is used by Republican ninnies everywhere.
"...where at least I know I'm free..."
I'd love to see that yoyo sing that when he's a Rex 84 camp wonder when it was exactly that his homeland turned into a fascist police state.
There by gum, *that* should start some fevered debate.

― Lord Custos 2.0 beta, Friday, 17 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

There's a song on John D. Loudermilk - Elloree but I can't remember what it is. About a little old woman who won't sell her house or something.

― Tracer Hand, Friday, 17 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

There are people who claim that Merle Haggard's great Fightin' Side Of Me and Okie From Muskogee were intended as satires. I think that's bollocks, but they are funny. I think Jesus Hits Like An Atom Bomb started in gospel - I have an old version by the Pilgrim Travellers, but for all I know the Blanchard is the original. Country Joe Macdonald and the Fish did some good ones (Feel Like I'm Going To Die Rag is best), but they were hippies, which is different. Kris Kristofferson's Blame It On The Stones is good.

― Martin Skidmore, Friday, 17 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)


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