An Interesting Quote

Steve Feldman · Post by **Steve Feldman** » 10 Apr 2001 7:01 pm

On this, my last day in Elko, NV, before moving back East, I tuned in to my daily 'two-minutes-of-country-radio-that-I-can-stand-before-getting-fed-up-and-changing-stations', when I heard the following promotional announcement for the station:

You haven't heard Country this good: The twang is gone!

Kind of an interesting note to leave on....

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 11 Apr 2001 3:14 am

Steve good luck in your new venture.

The "twang is gone" or something to that effect is echoed by the local "country" music station in Tampa. They even brag about being affiliated with CMT (which is becoming more and more what MTV originally was).

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 11 Apr 2001 4:49 am

*[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 01 May 2002 at 05:10 PM.]

Smiley Roberts · Post by **Smiley Roberts** » 11 Apr 2001 10:27 am

Gene,
Boy,did YOU ever hit the nail on the head!!!
When I attended broadcasting school in Boston,in '58,they "brainwashed" us to lose our "regional accents",to try & sound more "mid-western"
------------------
<pre> ~ ~
©¿© ars longa,
mm vita brevis
-=sr€=-</pre>

[This message was edited by Smiley Roberts on 11 April 2001 at 11:31 AM.]

David Pennybaker · Post by **David Pennybaker** » 11 Apr 2001 11:21 am

When Sara Evans was in college, one of her music professors tried to "get the twang out of her voice".

Nice to know he failed.

------------------
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 11 Apr 2001 11:26 am

* [This message was edited by Gene Jones on 01 May 2002 at 05:12 PM.]

Don Walters · Post by **Don Walters** » 12 Apr 2001 3:29 pm

I've been below the Mason-Dixon twice and I always had the impression that none of the media people were from there!

------------------
Don Walters
Carter D-10, 8p/6k
Session 500 with Lemay Mod

Bob Shilling · Post by **Bob Shilling** » 13 Apr 2001 10:23 am

Reminds me of the line from "Good Old Boys Like Me" (Bob McDill -- sung by Don Williams):

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>"but I was smarter than most and I could choose

Learned to talk like the man on the six o'clock news"<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

------------------
Bob Shilling, Berkeley, CA--MSA S10

Tom Olson · Post by **Tom Olson** » 23 Apr 2001 9:08 pm

You haven't tasted bourbon this good: the alcohol's gone!!

Seriously, folks -- do any of you really think that "twang" refers to a southern accent? NO, NO, NO! it's the TWANG, man!! That magical thing in the music that makes you want to stand up and holler, makes you want to tap you feet, makes you want to play . . . . the pedal steel guitar?!?!? eee gads!

Accents are just pathetic affectations anyway. As for southern accents, they're one of the worst forms of an affectation. I was born and raised in the South and I finally left for good because I got so sick and tired of listening to affected accents every day that it made me puke.

I still LOVE my TWANG, though!!!!

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 24 Apr 2001 3:52 am

*.[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 01 May 2002 at 05:11 PM.]

Neil Hilton · Post by **Neil Hilton** » 24 Apr 2001 7:38 am

Gene - perfect, same package that Hag and Buck packed up and rolled into Bakersfield with.... being a fellow twang-nut, my geographical interpretation of "twang" would simply be OKLAHOMA + TEXAS + BAKERSFIELD

Ralph Willsey · Post by **Ralph Willsey** » 24 Apr 2001 8:24 am

This is all very interesting. I had already been wondering if one of the reasons this "new country" music sounds so phoney and insincere is because the singers are forcing an accent that is not really their own. I know this is probably the least of the problems -- the words are usually stupid and the instrumentation is annoying -- but it's kind of the final insult.
I'd be curious to know what the true Southerners think about this. (I'm thinking more about singers who are exaggerating a Southern accent, not suppressing it.)
RW[This message was edited by Ralph Willsey on 24 April 2001 at 09:26 AM.]

Blane Sanders · Post by **Blane Sanders** » 24 Apr 2001 7:26 pm

It always drives me crazy when I here someone mention the "Twang" in country music!
I can never figure out what they're hearing that I'm not.
I probably sing & play with "Twang" and don't even know it. But if "Twang" is part of what real Country Music is made of, I can definetley tell when it's missing.
So maybe this "Twang" we here about is the Soul of Country Music, and so what the DJ is saying is that they play Country Music with "NO SOUL"!

Tom Olson · Post by **Tom Olson** » 28 Apr 2001 3:34 pm

Blane,

I think I know what you mean. When I read your post I had to stop and think a minute about what "twang" really is.

I guess one could probably come up with a hundred different and really good definitions. Here's one of mine, but I don't know if it's very good.

Twang -- a characteristic sound in music which will immediately identify that music as being somehow based on, or descendent from, American folk music genres which developed or were played in the first half of the 20th century, including those genres known as "Gospel," "Bluegrass," and "Old-timey Country." Typically, such "twang" characteristics include a combination of specific chord progressions, tempos, vocal and instrumental phrasings, and playing styles, as well as the inclusion of specific instruments such as single-coil-pickup-equipped electric guitars, fiddle, pedal and/or non-pedal steel guitars, and in some instances, other traditional acoustic instruments such as mandolin, banjo, and Dobro.

In any case, the definition of "twang" is admittably hard to nail down and is extremely objective.

Ken Lang · Post by **Ken Lang** » 28 Apr 2001 4:39 pm

As I recall, the whole "Twang" thing started with Dwane Eddy way back in the dark ages of rock and roll. Of course it refers to the "whammy bar" as it's called today.

Anyone who refers to country music as having "twang" or not having "twang" is totally ignorant of the original context.

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 29 Apr 2001 3:55 am

* [This message was edited by Gene Jones on 01 May 2002 at 05:12 PM.]

Bob Hayes · Post by **Bob Hayes** » 29 Apr 2001 4:15 am

Being a transplanted damn Yankee(who's lived in the south at least half of my life).I've tried to get rid of that Yankee drawl and get a twang. But some people still say "you ain't from around here, are you"!!!!.And the new country is more like the 60' & 70's rock n' roll. Alot of it I like....but some is...well it ain't the Opry.....
My thing this morning is....I was watching the Opry last ( Brad Pasley), just chillin' and taking iy easy before my surgery Monday AM, when the commercials came on...and the advertisement was MTV..and all those other things about TNN being POP..and now you've got it right..and ratings.....So that is what happened..RATINGS &MONEY!..The only way Traditional Country will stay alive is by people like us. Jean Shepard indicated that she and some of the "older Girl singers" are now in Branson at a theater...Branson is where the Center or Capitol of Country Music is headed. All of the older Traditional C&W Stars are headed there! The "twang" has to stay....but WE CAN Play other types on the steel because WE ARE VERSITLE.....Keep those Jams and shows, and get togethers going..and we'll keep it alive!!![This message was edited by Bob Hayes on 29 April 2001 at 05:21 AM.]

Fred Martin · Post by **Fred Martin** » 29 Apr 2001 12:21 pm

The one out here that gets me is one that says " Its not your fathers music anymore."

They got that right I guess but seems funny they actually try to run listeners off.

Neil Hilton · Post by **Neil Hilton** » 30 Apr 2001 7:06 am

Bob, that TNN/MTV/PopCulture add in the middle of what was I thought a good Opry session, really aggravated me too - just further illustrates the disconnect that exists at the corporate level.

and Fred, for a guy like me that cut his teeth(ears) from mom's passion for Hag and Buck, and grandpa's reverence for Hank Thompson, Hank Williams, ET, Faron Young, Mr Acuff and Brother Oswald.... you are absolutely right, this comment always bristles my spine too! - Neil H.

Boomer · Post by **Boomer** » 30 Apr 2001 9:57 pm

Growing up in Texas (speaking of "Twang") there was only three sayings you needed to know to get by in that state: 1)"aire y'go" (if you agree with somebody) 2)"I eard dat" (another form of agreement), and finally 3) "Well, he needed killin'" (self-explanatory) Best, Boomer

Theresa Galbraith · Post by **Theresa Galbraith** » 1 May 2001 12:53 pm

I've been listening to singers that have the twang and it doesn't work with today's music.

erik · Post by **erik** » 1 May 2001 2:13 pm

Theresa, i agree with you. But this opens another can of worms... the recording process. I find todays style of production to be lifeless, accept for the occasional steel or tele lick. You'll never convince a major record executive or producer to cut looser sounding tracks with some personality when they are paying for 48 and 64 multitracks with digital editing. Perfection is the name of the game today. And what it brings is soulless music.

You can listen Elvis' recording of Jailhouse Rock and it blows the doors off anything you hear on the radio today because it was cut live... many takes, but still live. Todays music is the equivalent of a Disney animatron. You can blame it technology, i guess.

Theresa Galbraith · Post by **Theresa Galbraith** » 1 May 2001 3:04 pm

eric, Lifeless is twang in my opinion!

Boomer · Post by **Boomer** » 1 May 2001 8:35 pm

Congratulations, Teresa. You've just summarily negated the likes of Jimmy Rogers, Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, Red Foley, The Everly Brothers, Patsy Montana, Roy Acuff, Uncle Dave Macon, Tex Ritter, Bill Anderson, Ricky Skaggs, Lefty Frizell, Wynn Stewart, Keith Whitley, Brad Paisley, Freddy Hart, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Skeets McDonald, Johnny Paycheck, Johnny Russell, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Porter Waggoner, The Wilburn Bros., Gary Stewart, The Carter Family, Bill Monroe, The Osborne Bros., Flatt & Scruggs, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Charley Pride, Mel Tillis, Conway Twitty, Granpa Jones, Hank Snow, Minnie Pearl, Tennessee Ernie Ford, The Whites, Sonya Isaacs, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Tracy Lawrence, Travis Tritt, The Dixie Chicks, and last but certainly not least, the participants of the #1 country album in the nation (soundtrack from "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?"). Best, Boomer

Theresa Galbraith · Post by **Theresa Galbraith** » 2 May 2001 5:20 am

Boomer you got me! I admit I don't care for alot on your list. You forgot Chesney, McGraw, Worley, Lovelace and too many to mention that sing with a twang.
I was thinking of artists such as Urban, Twain, JoDee, Wariner, Rogers, Vasser, Martina, Andrews and so on. Maybe that's what the DJ meant too.