Why is The Genre Of 'Country' so maligned?

following on from Why is The Genre Of 'Metal' so maligned?

Country has been mentioned a few times in that thread.

Straw man for know-nothing douchebags.

It's the Christian nutjobs/Republicans connection, surely

Yes, because those people exclusively like country music.

at least, that's why I malign it. But I'm British too, so it's got absolutely no exposure over here.

A lot of people love country music.
A lot of people also love metal.

This is a silly thread.

Apparently there's this lady called REBA Something who's sold "50 million records worldwide"! ha. For "worldwide" read "in the red states"? I don't think anyone in Europe has ever heard of her.

Maybe, but it's an honest question. C&W has always been popular in the west of scotland amongst older people (my late grans loved it and my dad liked some too), and that was probably why i hated it when younger.
But it's certainly never had much critical love is it? and whenever you ask someone what music they like, they will a lot of the time, answer "anything... apart from Country, Metal or Opera".

x-post

I have.

But the C&W that was popular here was the old stuff. I have no idea if the modern day CMT type stuff is. (except for linedancing classes i suppose)

Well aye obviously I've heard of Reba McEntire too (and even know her approximate record sales), but, point stands. WoS grannies DO like a bit a C&W, you're correct! But there's surely no contemporary market for it here (WoS, Britain, Europe).

Is it maligned (and ignored) because it's conservative (ideologically and musically)? It seems (to my no-nothing douchebag mind) to travel about as well as Sarah Palin: it's like the modern folk music of GOP America, as relevant to me as Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham are to the US, but with a much more sizable, committed and visible audience.

Bob Harris needs to replace every other DJ on British radio imo.

Except Mistajam.

"never had much critical love" - er apart from nick tosches, peter guralnick, meltzer, etc etc

i feel like the old "i listen to everything except rap and country" is now "i listen to everything. except country. well, i like you know, good country, the old stuff, but not like the stuff they play on the radio."

I grew up in the heart of U.S. country music land, and I HATED it until I went away for college. I don't think I could separate the artifice from the reality until I had some distance. Also, country heavily trafficks in the kinds of things that give many people the skeeves: unbridled sentiment, unthinking patriotism, redneck values, regressive thinking, nostalgia, patriarchic hierarchies, cornball and kitschy humor, egregious puns, nasal singing and whiney guitars.

unbridled sentiment...cornball and kitschy humor, egregious puns

Pop music and Pfork rock could use more of these, thanks.

Yeah I had a conversation with a friend of mine who grew up in the southern U.S. like I did, and we sortof agreed that if you grew up there and are in any way a progressively minded person, you're probably going to have a special kind of revulsion for country that others aren't necessarily going to understand. It still blows my hair back when I come across Brits liking country for example, but then again, they have that sense of distance from the culture.

Whenever a student applies to the radio station and writes "I like every genre...except country," I want to stuff his earholes with hayseeds.

For most "brits" it's hard to imagine anyone young liking it as its always been granny and grandpa music here really.

It's still "granny and grandpa music here really" as well as "soccer mom music" but so what?

The "hot new country" station out here is fantastic and my main choice on the radio.

Country has always had UK fans outside of the "Granny" and "Grandpa" demographic. John Peel and Andy Kershaw used to play country on their shows back in the 80s, before Kershaw talk to DELETED ON LAWYER'S ADVICE. I knew a bunch of people who were sincerely into it even then.

I confess I am one of those guys who likes the old shit and recoils at the sound of (most) modern country. My cutoff point is like 1985 or so. A lot of the No Depression/Y'allternative stuff leaves me cold and the mainstream stuff is difficult for me to separate from some of the more loathsome cultural trappings.

Well i do love the No Depression/Alt.Country stuff. But thats the only modern country I can stand. The stuff that used to be on CMT here was horrid. Even my dad hated it.

if I stopped listening to music based on its "loathsome cultural trappings" I don't know wtf I'd be listening to, or appreciating otherwise (thinking of art more generally). But I have a feeling we've had this discussion a million times elsewhere on this message board.

yeah I know its my own problem. the "distance" thing is key - whereas I have plenty of distance from other none-too-attractve (sub)cultures and their music, with modern country .... y'know its the soundtrack to Sarah Palin rallies and whatnot.

or Obama rallies! (Brooks and Dunn at Mile High)

I will add that on the pure musicianship level I do have a good deal of respect for modern country musicians' chops - I am reminded of the time there was some shitty Beatles tribute on at the Grammys, with an "all star" band (I think Elvis Costello was involved? and the guy from Neptunes was playing drums?) and every single member of said band sucked shit EXCEPT for the lone country guy, who nailed all his licks and never missed a beat and didn't do any stupid showboating.

yet all the grannies and grandpas in scotland who listened to C&W were diehard labour voters!
x-posts

Vince Gill was the country dude in question, I think

Country is considered unsophisticated by many, it's also very emotional to the point of being corny.
I personally love country music and many country artists such as George Jones and Johnny Cash seem to get nothing but (deservedly) positive reviews.

Scottish C&W http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=sydney+devine&search_type=&aq=f

>>>unbridled sentiment...cornball and kitschy humor, egregious puns

Pop music and Pfork rock could use more of these, thanks.

Yeah, you know, I blithely dismissed country music until just a couple years ago, and when I finally opened up my ears, a big part of why I responded to it was the fact that a lot of it was funny! And it did a good job of sketching scenes and stories. And the sentiment, too, even: I get a little misty at stuff like "Famous in a Small Town" or "Bible Song." Which is kind of weird because I don't usually pay attention to lyrics at all, but somehow country seems to pull me into its narratives really easily.

My Uncle used to say his father-in-law loved C&W as it told great stories.

To me most of the music on country radio has nothing in common with country of even 15 years ago. It seems to be slick sounding overly produced generic pop. Thats fine, but don't call it country just because you wear cowboy boots and talk with a twang. I agree that good country pulls you in to the story and the musicians are top notch. I just wish modern country radio didn't only play the new stuff. They have a rich history to draw from. It's like most genres I guess.. If you want the good stuff you often have to dig for it.

For me, all the hoo-ha about Garth Brooks and Billy Ray Cyrus in the early 90s, and the subsequent line-dancing craze, embittered me toward the genre for years. Then I discovered Hank Williams, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash as a senior in high school, but did not get over my rockist "pretty much all country sucks except for the old stuff and some alt-country" bias for years. I still don't care for much contemporary pop country, but in recent years have taken a shine to the rhinstone jumpsuit stuff of the 70's.

I grew up in Michigan (the heartland, you see) and can pretty much confirm that these posts sum it up succinctly enough:

Straw man for know-nothing douchebags.

― Neil S, Friday, October 17, 2008 3:49 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

It's the Christian nutjobs/Republicans connection, surely

― bakerstreetsaxsolo, Friday, October 17, 2008 3:56 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

One of my college English profs nearly crapped his johdpurs when I suggested that country music is the most literate pop music we have. But 'tis true. It usually tells a story; it often draws heavily on literary conventions such as charatcer, voice, a sense of place and point-of-view; and it loves wordplay/language. The best stuff is usually funny or scary as hell. (And yeah, I'm a country snob; I don't like much mainstream contemporary stuff, but the stuff from the '50s and '60s is amazing, and some of the jumspsuit country of the '70s is swell as well.)

As for the country/UK connection, I have two words: The Mekons.

Finally this: Dolly Parton is the the greatest living American songwriter and one of the best drag queens who ever lived.

you know there was a lesbian couple in the elevator at my work a few months ago and one of them was trying to convince the other that Dolly Parton was NOT just some dumb sexy bimbo and that a couple of her songs were actually clever and I sorta had to stop myself from putting in my 2 cents about what a totally fucking awesome songwriter and icon she is.

For me, all the hoo-ha about Garth Brooks and Billy Ray Cyrus in the early 90s, and the subsequent line-dancing craze, embittered me toward the genre for years.
I think part of the widespread distaste for country music is this ^^, that the early 90s country music became overexposed and the market saturated, to the point that the secondhand shop I used to work at had about ten copies of every country album from that era because everyone wanted to get rid of them after the fact but nobody wanted to buy them. On the other hand, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, and the Dixie Chicks (!?) sold pretty steadily. Obv that was ages ago though, and doesn't explain why people would still continue to dislike the genre often blindly, but I think there's some truth to the redneck/Republican/backwater association — not saying it's true, just saying it's a common association people will make. And for people determined to keep disliking and maligning country music, stuff like "Redneck Woman" or Toby Keith's various jingoistic America-fuck-yeah songs provide decent fodder (even though there are obvious acts like the Dixie Chicks who have gone all anti-Bush and so on).

Or, another crap theory I thought of when I should be sleeping instead would be that country music is more easily caricatured than a lot of other genres, maybe. I mean obv stuff like metal or goth or whatever has a certain 'look' and 'emo' definitely gets made fun of a lot, but ... there's something more antiquarian and kitschy about the cowboy 'look' associated with country music, as though it's dated, unhip, strange, etc. I would almost say that the fact Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks are among top-selling country musicians kind of plays into this, because they're both successful as crossover artists and neither play up the cowgirl thing. Almost seems as though album covers for country musicians in the last few years feature far fewer cowboy hats/attire than those of the early 90s, at least as far as female artists are concerned. But then, the fact Garth Brooks is still like the biggest seller evarr, and the successes of the Kenny Chesneys and Tim McGraws kind of cancels that out, maybe. But perhaps it's easier to accept the crossover artist, or the female musician who plays down the cowboy stuff, than it is the dude with the hat and boots. Or maybe it isn't, if the entire genre's still being randomly hated on. Or maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about (that's probably it, really).

Personally, I think I fall into the 'overexposed/need distance' camp.

But uh, I don't know why I'm posting on ILM, so... moving along

I don't think anyone should be apologetic about disliking mainstream contemporary CMT stuff. I mean, for the most part that's some legitimately god-awful, embarrassing shit. I'm sure there's some worthwhile stuff buried in there somewhere, but I'm not sure if I want to go looking for it.

Believe me, you don't wanna dig through it. Like any kind of music as old as it is, digging back to the 40s and 50s and up til now yields enough great stuff. There's some non-mainstream (shit, can I call it underground?) stuff brewing in the South, too - the pre-"Wave on Wave" Pat Green, Cory Morrows, etc were pretty far removed from the auto-tuned Rascal Flatts shit you hear playing out of every 20-year-old girl's car south of the Mason-Dixon. It's not even worth complaining about the stuff on the radio, saying "I wish they iddn't only play new stuff." If you wanna hear any decent country, or rap or post-punk or jazz or pop even, you better be avoiding Clear Channel stations anyway.

"auto-tuned Rascal Flatts shit you hear playing out of every 20-year-old girl's car south of the Mason-Dixon"

pretty much every part of what you wrote there sounds awesome to me!

Rolling Country 2008 Thread

I don't think anyone should be apologetic about disliking mainstream contemporary CMT stuff. I mean, for the most part that's some legitimately god-awful, embarrassing shit. I'm sure there's some worthwhile stuff buried in there somewhere, but I'm not sure if I want to go looking for it.

Can't you say this about pop, hip-hop, soul, or any other genre whose values demand a deep breath from critics who don't share them? Maybe this is presumptuous, but if you're a critic you should try harder to transcend prejudices.

If you wanna hear any decent country, or rap or post-punk or jazz or pop even, you better be avoiding Clear Channel stations anyway.

― skygreenleopard, Saturday, October 18, 2008

Not entirely true about country, rap, or pop...In fact I'll take some of the stuff that gets on Clear Channel stations over American college radio fare

"Why is the Genre of 'Country' so maligned?'

perhaps the answers can be found in 'Butterfly Kisses' and 'Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)', two of the most disturbing songs of all-time.

or this:

perhaps the answers can be found in 'Butterfly Kisses' and 'Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)', two of the most disturbing songs of all-time.

Sorry, brah, but "Where Were You..." is a terrific song. I wish more artists would emulate Jackson's simplicity here. Or is this another case of not being able to identify with the "limited" intellect of the character in the song? I mean, there's a huge difference b/w this and Toby Keith's big one from the same time.

I mean, I have little to nothing in common with the "values" of John Prine, Lou Reed, Chrissie Hynde, Dusty Springfield, Mick Jagger, Marvin Gaye, and Al Fuckin' Green. Appreciating great music isn't always effortless.

But uh, I don't know why I'm posting on ILM, so... moving along

That was a good post. You should post on ILM more.

Citing a couple "god-awful, embarrassing" songs to malign an entire genre of music is a good way to help others not expect too many thoughtful opinions from you on any subject, ever.

Apologies for a Huffington Post link here, but...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/19/toby-keith-praises-obama_n_119930.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dansband

If you are familiar with Billy Vaughns Orchestra, I would say their style is a bit influential on the "dansband" genre.

Now indie is mostly "white" music too, but while indie is the music of "progressive" people with higher education and often quite liberal political views, country tends to be the music of the kind of white people who have little or no education and who tend to vote Republican.

― Geir Hongro, Saturday, October 18, 2008 6:34 PM (20 seconds ago) Bookmark

Indie has a mainly white but increasingly mixed audience. Stuff like TV on the Radio, Bloc Party, The Go! Team, M.I.A. et al seem to show that non-white artists are also given more (often excessive) attention by the indie crowd. I have no idea whether that's a genuine musical cross-pollination or a liberal slant unrelated to music. Probably both.

Now, your statement re education sounds elitist and partial. I very much doubt you'd have the guts to say that "hip hop tends to be the music of the kind of people who have little or no education", for instance, yet that would be equally if not more appropriate.

People become easily brave and outspoken when it comes to pointing out country music's shortcomings but rarely bother to compare it to other genres where misogyny, irrational violence and outright illiteracy are rife. So country still has a lot of whiny ill-will stacked against it from certain types out there.

good grief.

oh no

terrible, conservative, redneck, awful, country, music

I very much doubt you'd have the guts to say that "hip hop tends to be the music of the kind of people who have little or no education", for instance

Hip-hop has such a wide audience, plus a huge part of it isn't old enough to have gotten enough education yet, that it is hard to classify in the same way. Note that I am not at all a hip-hop fans, but I wouldn't critizice it for something like that. There are some problems with misogynic and homophobic tendencies, plus gangsta rap has a tendency to glorify crime and violence. But, really, my main beef with hip-hop has always been about music and not culture. A lot of hip-hop has played an important part as "The CNN of Black America", which is actually a good description og rap lyrics at their best.

country makes me feel really good sometimes

also, the great unspoken truth: country is mostly WHITE music (omg!) and some people are so guilt-ridden they try to distance themselves from the genre out of a nonsensical "progressive" agenda.

Guys, take it over here plz

^^^BTW the first pic on that thread is of the guy (Darius Rucker) who had the number #1 Country single a few weeks back.

Indie has a mainly white but increasingly mixed audience. Stuff like TV on the Radio, Bloc Party, The Go! Team, M.I.A. et al seem to show that non-white artists are also given more (often excessive) attention by the indie crowd. I have no idea whether that's a genuine musical cross-pollination or a liberal slant unrelated to music. Probably both.

This is true and I think the indie folk have been incredibly self-conscious about the fact these artists represent diversity in the scene. Remember how much of MIA's initial hype had to do with the fact that she was rather out of place in Indie Land?

Now, your statement re education sounds elitist and partial. I very much doubt you'd have the guts to say that "hip hop tends to be the music of the kind of people who have little or no education", for instance, yet that would be equally if not more appropriate.

People become easily brave and outspoken when it comes to pointing out country music's shortcomings but rarely bother to compare it to other genres where misogyny, irrational violence and outright illiteracy are rife. So country still has a lot of whiny ill-will stacked against it from certain types out there.

This has to do with the fact that white American leftists are not taught to romanticize and sympathize with so much of white underclass culture like they have black underclass culture. Arguments have been made that the materialism, violence, misogyny, and anti-homosexual attitudes in hip-hop are caused by years of white oppression (i.e. blacks aren't really responsible for their own attitudes). Have similar theories been drawn up to explain the unfashionable attitudes in the white country music? We haven't yet found a way to blame history for country music's "regressive" politics.

These is also a flip-side to this thinking. As we've seen from this very thread, one of the things so intolerable about country music to some is its orthodox Christianity (or "Jesus-centrism"). But why is it that country music's Christianity is always thought to be kitschy, cliche or insincere but no similar skepticism is found in the Jesus-centrism found in so much black American music? Why do the same people who constantly roll their eyes at country's religiousity so constantly give the benefit of the doubt to the rapper's name-dropping of Jesus? Why is there tolerance for Al Green being a pastor but no similar sympathy or respect paid to the Christianity in country?

It's funny the amount of people who say they don't like country APART from Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton and of course Tammy Wynette. So you do like some country then!

Jim Reeves C/D?

I've got 10 Merle Haggard albums, two or three Willie Nelson albums and that recent four-CD box, four Dwight Yoakam albums (his first three and the recent Dwight Sings Buck), and multi-disc compilations by Hank Williams, George Jones, Waylon Jennings and Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys in my iPod. No Johnny Cash - I go through stretches where I love listening to him, but then there are other stretches where he annoys the shit out of me for some reason.

I too wonder why it is that there's no "classic country" radio format the way there is "classic rock." If there was, I'd listen to it.

Where is cameron carr here?

I'm surprised there's no classic country radio.

there is classic country radio, at least out here in Kansas; and it's badass, with a really wide-ranging draw of songs. So maybe this format has legs.

There is classic country on the satellite radio services as well.

But why is it that country music's Christianity is always thought to be kitschy, cliche or insincere but no similar skepticism is found in the Jesus-centrism found in so much black American music?

Yes this is interesting because I spot that inconsistency in myself.

it is an interesting point but i doubt one that can be debated properly on ilm..

..so prove me wrong..

fwiw, and not to say a musician's religious choices necessarily affect whether I'll listen to him/her/them, I find most mentions of Jesus/God/Christianity cringeworthy or cliche regardless of genre.

I don't know if I'd say insincere, though. I doubt there are many people faking their personal faith via song. I'd say 'hypocritical' might be a bit more suitable in some cases, but at the risk of triggering an argument I don't want to have, I won't say it (officially).

The feigned, nasal vocal drawl is the deal breaker for me.

In interviews, many of the stars seem to have normal suburban American accents, which converge on the midwestern accent favored by national media. But on record, they invariably attempt to invoke some Southern nasal accent that actually exists in only a fairly narrow strip of the American South.

Older country singers (admittedly, my knowledge is limited to a handful: Carter Family, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash) did not rely on this artifice to create some patina of authenticity. They had accents, to be sure, but they weren't exaggerated to the point of self-parody.

In interviews, many of the stars seem to have normal suburban American accents, which converge on the midwestern accent favored by national media. But on record, they invariably attempt to invoke some Southern nasal accent that actually exists in only a fairly narrow strip of the American South.

"invariably"

Has it ever occurred to you that a "studio voice" is different from one used in conversation?

"invariably" was a term used out of vexation. "Usually" would have sufficed.

Of course there's a studio voice. My question is really why did the standard studio voice in mainstream country suddenly shift in the 1970s from the sound of Eddy Arnold, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, into some alternate reality where everyone was parented by Merle Haggard and Dolly Parton. And then became more affected from there.

Its not the only vocal style that makes me cringe. I far prefer Dylan on the page.

It's called "creating a character."

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the standard studio voice in mainstream country suddenly shift in the 1970s from the sound of Eddy Arnold, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, into some alternate reality where everyone was parented by Merle Haggard and Dolly Parton

this is crazy wrong

Haggard doesn't even have this nasal twang you're talking about.

Whats the best Haggard album to start with?

These is also a flip-side to this thinking. As we've seen from this very thread, one of the things so intolerable about country music to some is its orthodox Christianity (or "Jesus-centrism"). But why is it that country music's Christianity is always thought to be kitschy, cliche or insincere but no similar skepticism is found in the Jesus-centrism found in so much black American music? Why do the same people who constantly roll their eyes at country's religiousity so constantly give the benefit of the doubt to the rapper's name-dropping of Jesus? Why is there tolerance for Al Green being a pastor but no similar sympathy or respect paid to the Christianity in country?

This is kind of easy to answer, as conservative white Christianity has traditionally parted with the oppressors while black Christianity has parted with the oppressed. See also South Africa during Apartheid, where white and black people had their own separate churches, playing completely opposite parts politically.

I agree that a belief in such a theory would definitely explain the attitudes we've been discussing in this thread, but that doesn't make such a Marxist conception of how the American religious tradition grew between blacks and whites any closer to the truth. Radical religious sects like the Claphams look like a 19th civil rights group for starting the abolition movement, but then they were also the main religious group putting pressure on those in power to censor Enlightenment writings and thought. And where would MLK and countless other 20th century civil rights leaders come from had they not come out of the school reforms brought about by New England Puritan women who moved to black areas to become teachers at the beginning of the century? Such women brought a New England Puritan's discipline to the schools they set up and I believe it was WEB DuBois himself who said that those schools were America's single greatest accomplishment. How you reconcile the Black Proletarian Christian Rebel Club (hooray!) v.s. the evil, repressed, Protocols of the Elders of White Christianity (boo!) dichotomy when there was obviously too much overlap for it to have been really possible?

And to proclaim some minorities as mascots for the oppressed ipso facto eventually creates a PC train wreck when the former group shows hostility to newly anointed proletariat minorities (i.e. when black hate gays as much as any other group). Is that not one of the reasons white leftists have a bit of a problem speaking out against anti-gay sentiments in hip-hop? What happens when your mascot for fighting oppression shows no tolerance for the groups you now say are their spiritual brothers?

But why is it that country music's Christianity is always thought to be kitschy, cliche or insincere

I would say they're exceptions to this, namely when Christianity intersects with Appalachian styles such as bluegrass. It seems to be white liberal types are a bit more open to, say, Del McCoury singing a country gospel tune than INSERT BIG NAME CHRISTIAN COUNTRY-POP SINGER HERE. I don't know much about this stuff, so I don't know why that is. But it does hint to the fact that white/Christian/country/Southern/whatever isn't the monolith that some believe it to be. I don't think it's simply white Christian = corny/black Christian = cool.

Having moved to Asheville, North Carolina last year, there seems to be a fairly large population of white liberal types who romanticize the idea of the small mountain church where Appalachian folk practice a simple and pure Christianity. They also love them for their good music, great food and awesome crafts.

>>why did the standard studio voice in mainstream country suddenly shift in the 1970s from the sound of Eddy Arnold, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, into some alternate reality...

Don't blame it on Dolly and Merle. Blame it on Michael Bolton, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey et al who pioneered the "squeezing out the high notes is akin to taking a good dump" school of over-singing. I'm serious here. Nowadays a lot music made for the masses insists on over-singing. You can't blame that on country. That's one of the fascinating things about American Idol. It subsumes all genres into vocal acrobatics, affectations and pyrotechnics. Let's just go back to opera.

My Uncle used to say his father-in-law loved C&W as it told great stories.
Was your uncle's father-in-law Charlie Parker?

no

This question of religious content in Country is making me take a look at my own secularist prejudices-- I don't have any problem with explicitly Christian lyrics in Bluegrass or older Country (like "Great Speckled Bird" or most of the Carter Family's songs.) There's even a subgenre of Country Gospel that many current stars (like Alan Jackson, Josh Turner, or Randy Travis) dabble in to good effect. Also, songs like Willie Nelson's "The Troublemaker," where Jesus is portrayed as a kind of Outlaw, don't bother me at all.

I guess it's when the lyrics sound like Jesus-by-numbers, and the music is aggressively bland that I'm reminded of Contemporary Christian music. But sometimes even Pop Country songs with a religious or uplifting message (like Sara Evans' "You'll Always Be My Baby") can move me.

BTW, I didn't mean to malign Haggard and Parton. Their singing accents seem quite natural in the context of their cultural background.

I haven't had an interest in listening to recent country in my lifetime. In my college days, I was subject to a LOT of Garth Brooks pouring out the windows of dormitories. But I do find Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves moving. In investigating some history of country websites, it seems like the critical era for feigned accents going off my map was in the early to mid 70s, and that move was forefronted by the lightly accented Haggard and the to this day heavily accented Parton. The group Alabama seemed to cement it. It just became more stylized, more prevalent, and to my ears more quite frankly self-parodic to this day.

I'm sure like any other of our increasingly polarized music communities, isolation and insularity leads to the predominant vocal style seeming like the only natural singing style. Country has nothing on metal in this regard. I just really, really hate the modern country studio voice and all the cultural baggage it carries.

btw best Haggard record to start with is the fabulous comp "Songs I'll Always Sing"

^^^OTM, but it's hard to find (I spent years looking for a copy to replace my dad's 8 Track.)
The recent comp called "Hag: the Best of Merle Haggard" is very good, and covers his work on several labels.

Spirituality in music only works when invoked from a position of powerlessness or destitution. (This is especially true in the case of Christianity.) Hence, shout-outs to Jesus in black gospel or old-school country seem authentic, while the same in slicker modern country songs or white CCM doesn't.

You mean economically, as in only poor musicians can be spiritual?

Spirituality in music depnds heavily on authenticity. (1) As someone who grew up as an outsider in the Midwestern Bible belt (2), I often found myself musing on that atheists’ prayer that goes, “Dear God, please save me from your followers,”(3) but I also have been deeply moved by songs of faith that come from a place of intelligence and deep personal feeling (see: Iris Dement’s “Let the Mystery Be,” Labi Siffre’s “Let’s Pretend” (4), Jessye Norman’s “There Is a Balm in Gilead,” just about anything from Mahalia Jackson or Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and even the Velvet Underground’s “Jesus.”) So dismissing spirituality because it's misunderstood and misappropriated by 31% of the American electorate (or whatever McInsane and ImPalin’s numbers are today)is a bit like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

(1) I am somewhat loathe to use this term as it has become rock criticism's favorite cudgel for beating down things the beholder doesn’t like or understand.
(2) Fond memories here of seeing Bette Midler live on a Sunday night at an Indianapolis outdoor amphitheatre. She strolled out on stage to thunderous applause, shushed the crowd, cupped her hand to her ear and said, “What’s that I hear? Could it be the sound of a hundred thousand Bibles being THUMPED?”
(3) Updated to great effect by a friend who defines herself as a apatheist: “I don’t care if God exists and She doesn’t care if I exist.”
(4) Check out this amazing number from Siffre’s 1973 “For the Children” lp. It seems to have been written as an answer to John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Sample verse:
Let's pretend that the Pope sells all his jewels
To feed the hungry, ooh let's pretend
Let's pretend religious leaders say war is wrong
No matter who is strong, let's pretend
Let's pretend religion excommunicates those
who deal in hate and leaves them to their fate
Let's pretend these evil people give a damn
and start loving their fellow man
Let's pretend

This post was made in loving memory of DFW as I was up half the night in despair over the piece about him in the latest Rolling Stone.

Spirituality in music only works when invoked from a position of powerlessness or destitution.

wtf

The cut-off point for spiritual authenticity-- $250,000 per year or $5 million?

Let's ask Joe the Evangelist

Okay, maybe not spirituality in general, but certainly Christian spirituality only works when one enters into the role of the oppressed. Practically everything in the Bible, from the condemnation of pride to the focus on the martyrdom of saints and prophets can be read as a glorification of those who get continually fucked over. By its very nature, Christian rhetoric is underdog rhetoric -- which is why even Christians speaking from positions of power have to depict themselves as persecuted minorities. And of course this is going to come across as inauthentic.

As a former devout Catholic, I find the notion that one needs to feel "oppressed" in order to experience Christian spirituality rather myopic at best. Unless you mean that by "entering the role of the oppressed" one is engaging in a spiritual dilettantism.

Catholicism is sort of a different deal - early Christianity transformed itself into what we'd recognize today as Catholicism at the the exact point that the powers-that-be embraced it and turned it into an institution of power. However, at the risk of stereotyping, I would say that most country musicians are not part of the "High"-Church/Catholic/Orthodox axis of Christianity, but rather the Puritan/Protestant strain that reclaims Christianity's underdog status by positioning itself against "the world".