|
Post by Bingo on Jan 16, 2012 9:10:32 GMT -8
This is an internet fan vote. If anyone would like to participate, the address is www.gactv.com/gac/pac_ctnt/text/0,,GAC_26058_104423,00.html As far as I could see, the Dixie Chick videos selected for the ballot are: Goodbye Earl Landslide Long Time Gone Without You (It also seems possible to suggest "write -ins" in the comments section)
|
|
|
Post by jwaldorf on Jan 16, 2012 12:52:15 GMT -8
Thanks for posting that Bingo, the days half over and yours is the only post. I'm becoming a bit disheartened with the dearth of participation on our girls (Nancy included) board. Even if there isn't much of anything to chat about I'm sure we can all agree there's plenty to gripe about. Sorry to seem to be hi-jacking your thread Bingo. ;D
|
|
|
Post by Bingo on Jan 16, 2012 17:01:10 GMT -8
No - I know what you mean, John. The sad thing is, I've seen this happen before - for example, another board, which turned into the same three or four people, endlessly repeating the same political rants, with virtually no posts on anything else - and, then, more recently, Nici's board - which I really loved, and which was the first of them all, fading out because hardly anyone visited or posted. I suppose the thing at the heart of it all is that we're following a non-active group, and there's a limit to what you can say, without going round in circles. (Which we do anyway!) ;D I'll always find something to post. I'm interested in the whole broad spectrum of the Country Music scene, and that's an interest that has, and will, long outlast any given artist. But of course, I accept that that's not going to interest everyone, and probably no longer interests, and may alienate, a majority of Chick fans. Also, when I find an artist who interests me, I find it increases my interest to speculate and criticise. An uncritical "cheer leaders convention" has little appeal for me - but some people dislike that approach too. I guess things may look up when something new appears
|
|
|
Post by Bingo on Jan 16, 2012 18:30:02 GMT -8
If all that sounds a bit too gloomy, here's a reminder of the four videos which GAC picked for their top fifty fan ballot: Goodbye EarlI know this is a fan favourite, but, from a personal perspective, it's not one that ever got to me. I'm mainly a Roots Country fan, where these wronged wife "killing songs" are a tradition. What spoils it for me is that the Chicks used comedy to make theirs acceptable to the Mainstream, so taking away some of the edge. I guess Lauren Lucas' "Riverstone" (co-written with Hillary Lindsey) was my knockout favourite, of this type, but fans may be interested to know that a new young singer, Margaret Durante, has had the guts to cover a fierce recent example, Lisa Carver's "Whiskey and a Gun" - so the spirit definitely lives on. Anyway, here's the Chicks' viseo: LandslideThis was, in my view, a triumph. The Chicks were covering a song by a favourite artist in the classic "Soft Rock" field, and one that was autobiographical, about the writer's relationship with her father. Despite that the Chicks made the song into a new classic, with Newgrass touches that so suited the song that Stevie Nicks herself incorporated some of them into her live performances. It's a real tribute that they could recast a personal song with such insight and sensitivity. I think it's also an imaginative video, which deserves to be placed in the list Long Time GoneNo prizes for guessing this one would be my out-and-out favourite - one of the songs that defines the decade for me A Darrell Scott song (like Heartbreak Town, also a critique of Nashville), the Chicks were heroes for taking this to the Mainstream. It's special meaning for me is threefold. 1) The general theme is the passing of the older small town and rural way of life - the image that Country (and it's audience) still symbolically venerate, at variance to much of their present reality (This is very relevant to Charlie Robison's ant-tradition rant against Brad Paisley's nostalgia, which I've been discussing in the Emmylou Harris thread, incidently) 2) It's tied in with the brilliant lament against Mainstream radio playlists, with tiredness, money, and Junior taking the place of Haggard, Cash, and Hank. 3) Only evident in the video, the three Mexicans wading into the river. This was a bold clip to include at the end of a Mainstream video, since immigration is one of the political issues that (broadly speaking) divides many in the two wings of Country. Many in the Roots sector have been sympathetic to "illegals" - Tom Russell's "Who's Gonna Build Your Wall" won Song of the Year at the AMAs, and the Flatlanders had a song comparing the new migration to the old Tex-Okie-Arkie Dustbowl of the Woody Guthrie era. For the Chicks to sneak this reference into a video of their most critical song to date is a sign to me that they would have left the Mainstream, even without the "Incident". Without YouPerhaps ironically, in view of the last song, I think this is one in which the Chicks probably do approach the prevailing style of the Nashville female ballad. (Others may disagree, but I can picture something not too different from this on current albums) What I like about this video is the lack of anything over-stressed, which I think suits the mood of the song well; and the fact that all three of the trio are well featured vocally .
|
|
|
Post by erik on Jan 16, 2012 19:49:42 GMT -8
Quote by Bingo re. "Goodbye Earl":
It's the blackest kind of comedy that they use, it seems to me. Alfred Hitchcock would have had a field day with it (IMHO).
And it's still ironic that the Chicks got in trouble for this song, given the fact that it was a male who wrote it: Dennis Linde.
|
|
|
Post by redbarron on Jan 16, 2012 22:21:08 GMT -8
Good-bye Earl and Long Time Gone
|
|
|
Post by Bingo on Jan 17, 2012 3:21:43 GMT -8
And it's still ironic that the Chicks got in trouble for this song, given the fact that it was a male who wrote it: Dennis Linde. There's quite a back story to the song. It was first taken up by a male group, Sons of the Desert, who performed it in their concerts and did record it. However, Sony wouldn't release their version and let the band go. Their decision to give the song to the Chicks instead was obviously right in commercial terms - it played a big part in defining a fan image for the Chicks, among a new audience who had little or no exposure to Appalachian or "Southern Gothic" songs. It's a good song - but the Chicks' treatment of it always seemed to me a bit of a fudge. On disc alone, I might not feel that, but the mood of unreality they bring into the video rather destroyed it for me.
|
|
ELI
Teen Chick
Posts: 304
|
Post by ELI on Jan 20, 2012 21:55:03 GMT -8
Landside and witthout you are great videos. Bingo i enjoy reading about the other groups you find and how they may compare to the chicks.
|
|
|
Post by hilb126 on Jan 21, 2012 0:13:04 GMT -8
I hope to see at least one of their videos place. I was browsing through the list of the top videos of the 90s, and "Wide Open Spaces" didn't place (which I find extremely hard to believe).
I also love hearing about the depth of knowledge you have regarding the industry, Bingo. I hope you continue to keep posting.
One can only hope we'll get wind of a new album soon.
|
|