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Post by Dianna on Sept 22, 2016 0:43:54 GMT -5
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Post by the Scribe on Sept 22, 2016 0:58:39 GMT -5
That reminds me of this tribute:
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CMA's 50th
Sept 30, 2016 18:42:51 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Pete on Sept 30, 2016 18:42:51 GMT -5
Chely Wright doesn't seem to get acknowledged anymore when it comes to singing at any of the Country award shows.
It sickens me.
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Post by erik on Sept 30, 2016 20:29:51 GMT -5
Quote by Damien:
I am afraid that at least some (if not indeed all) of it may have to do with her officially coming out of the closet. I know it definitely isn't fair.
It's interesting to note that one of the songs used on that Forever Country video is "Take Me Home, Country Roads", by one John Henry Deutschendorf. Of course, we knew him as John Denver (he wrote "Country Roads" with Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert); but I think everyone remembers when he won the CMA's Entertainer of the Year in 1975, and Charlie Rich (the Silver Fox), who was allegedly heavily medicated, proceeded to burn that winning envelope with his lighter--part of that really pointless (in my opinion) backlash against country and pop crossovers in the mid-1970s (and it wasn't like Mr. Rich didn't have a couple of hits, and big ones, on the Hot 100 himself). Times sure have changed--but it's terrible to know that Mr. Denver isn't around to enjoy this little renaissance.
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Post by Dianna on Sept 30, 2016 21:34:45 GMT -5
yes. really like John Denver. my mom is also a fan. I had his albums.Too bad Linda didnt duet on any of his songs like ONJ did..They would have sounded great together on John's "High Calypso" Jacques Cousteau tribute song
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Post by erik on Sept 30, 2016 23:05:42 GMT -5
Quote by Dianna:
I could have easily seen/heard Linda do "Sweet Surrender".
I think one of the problems the country music "establishment" had with John Denver, besides the fact that he wasn't one of "them", was a lingering problem of outsiders from the folk or folk-rock world invading their "territory". He was, after all, part of that New York City folk music scene of the 1960s that gave us Bob Dylan; Joan Baez; Judy Collins; Peter, Paul, and Mary (who, of course, made Denver famous when their recording of "Leaving On A Jet Plane" became a huge hit in the fall of 1969); and even a young Emmylou Harris. To the Nashville establishment, save maybe for Johnny Cash, who was very open-minded, folkies were kind of like "carpetbaggers". I never considered their treatment of him in the mid-1970s to be anything more than shabby at best, and downright grotesque at worst. The odd thing now is that Denver, for all his clean-cut middle-of-the-road image, did produce a lot of great folk-influenced music with more country music elements than could be found on most of what is played on country radio today and a lot of today's best artists seem to actually get that..
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Post by Dianna on Oct 1, 2016 11:21:21 GMT -5
yeah erik your're right . surrender is right up linda's alley. "calypso by todays standards would be more disney sounding . but I loved it as a kid.
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Post by erik on Oct 1, 2016 11:51:49 GMT -5
Quote by Dianna:
And for the record, I believe "Calypso" was written by Denver in honor of the legendary maritime explorer Jacques Costeau (whose vessel was named Calypso), and it revealed his love for the sea, just as "Looking For Space" revealed his advocacy for space exploration.
I thought of "Sweet Surrender" as being right for Linda because of its sense of freedom and uncertainty, and because both Linda and John are of the West, he being from New Mexico originally, and Linda being from Arizona. There is that sense that something is captured in that song that there is in a couple of other songs Linda did during that time ("Desperado"; "Colorado"). There are probably others of his that would have been well suited to Linda, but "Sweet Surrender" seems to stand out for me.
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Post by Pete on Oct 3, 2016 14:44:09 GMT -5
Erik - Yeah it's 100% because Chely Wright is gay. As a gay guy I find it beyond offensive, but at the same time I don't waste my time trying to defend myself to anyone who is homophobic. Some people think it's more important to hate a person for being gay than two gay people loving each other (It boggles the mind).
I've ordered Chely Wright's new album I Am The Rain and I'm looking forward to hearing it.
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Post by erik on Oct 3, 2016 19:51:08 GMT -5
Quote by Damien re. Chely Wright:
Chalk it up to the country genre's ultra-conservative politics (even if some of its biggest stars, like Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, were much more open-minded). Chely knew intuitively that this kind of political conservatism extended towards sexual orientation, which is why she kept hers under wraps for so long until she didn't think she could any longer. It was demonstrably unjust and unfair that she was forced to do so just to have a career in that genre since it was country music that she loved. But realistically, it is the industry's loss that they shunned her for such petty s***, and not Chely's (IMHO).
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Post by Pete on Oct 4, 2016 8:42:54 GMT -5
Erik - If I thought someone at the other end of an e-mail would actually listen I would let them know. I'm from England, UK and country music isn't really popular, the big hits by certain artists are but I remember when Shania Twain's sucdess went HUGE with the Come On Over album and people here claimed to like Country music because they had her album, all the Country sounds were taken off the European release to make it more Pop. I love Pop music, but it's all about marketing and hitting the right audiences. The quality of Chely Wright's albums is high and you're right, it's the Country music worlds loss. Even when Chely explained how she had no business being in a relationship with Brad Paisley, the media/fans sided with Brad Paisley and "felt sorry" for him, not thinking for a second how hard it was for Chely to try to make herself love someone and also the years of trying to cover up her sexuality so she could remain being a Country music singer.
Of all the typical fan bases for each genre of music, Country music is my least favourite. Get drunk, beat your wife = acceptable/the way things are. Being gay = Straight out NO.
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Post by erik on Oct 4, 2016 10:17:14 GMT -5
Quote by Damien:
While I would caution against simplifying or codifying the genre down to just a few simple things, I do agree that there is a certain streak of hypocrisy that runs through it in terms of what bad behavior it will accept. A lot of the criticism that Chely got was not only her saying she was gay, but also the way she said it, and how she aired her grievances. For the life of me, I don't know how she could have handled this in a way that wouldn't have caused such a fiercely negative reaction, because of the judgmental nature of the genre's fan base to stuff they don't understand, not to mention some of her fellow performers (including John Rich [of Big & Rich], who really behaved like a moralistic prick towards her).
Chely, however, does have her supporters, including Mary Chapin Carpenter and Emmylou Harris; and since her music now falls under the Americana umbrella, she'll likely find a newfound level of success there (IMHO).
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