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Topic: PBS Country Music Special |
b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 13 Sep 2019 10:51 am |
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I'm amazed at how critical some of you are about a country music show at the Ryman. You complain about the state of country music today, but when a bunch of performers get together with a great band to play homage to some of country music's biggest hits, it's still not good enough for you. Too polished? Too scripted? Give me a break. This is show business, after all.
Looking forward to episode 1 tonight. 
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-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Dennis Brion
From:
Atwater, Ohio USA
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Posted 13 Sep 2019 11:53 am
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Yeppir, and every night after till it's done ,I think!
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1969 Custom built d10, Fender 25R practice amp,Dunlop pedal, Peavy Special 130 w/15" Blackwidow, Gretsch resonator, 41 Gibson 7 string lap steel, Epiphone flat top, 67 Epiphone Olympic |
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Kenny Davis
From:
Great State of Oklahoma
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Posted 13 Sep 2019 11:56 am
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| What b0b said |
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Tom Keller
From:
Greeneville, TN, USA
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David Gertschen
From:
Phoenix, Arizona
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Posted 13 Sep 2019 5:06 pm
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Hmmmm, National Public Radio slams a show on National Public Television? That's got to be a first... Oh well, I'm still looking forward to watching it. |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 14 Sep 2019 9:01 am
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| I’m curious if there will be any mention of the great bands in country history, like the Troubadours, The Strangers, Cherokee Cowboys, Buckaroos, Hot Band, Desert Rose, or any of the A-Team session players, and how they elevated the quality of arranging and playing behind “3 chords and the truthâ€. The songs might still have been great without them, but they would have been a lot less fun to listen to. |
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Barry Blackwood
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 14 Sep 2019 10:06 am
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| I think b0b was talking about the pre-documentary concert that aired on PBS this past week. Ken Burns hosted. The critique that has been referenced here three times now is about the documentary itself, not the concert. |
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Michael Sheehan
From:
Everett, Washington, USA - Heading back to Florida 2021
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Posted 14 Sep 2019 10:23 am Re: No Politics Please
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deleted comment
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ZumSteel Encore, 1950s Fender C6 six string
Last edited by Michael Sheehan on 14 Sep 2019 10:25 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Barry Blackwood
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Posted 14 Sep 2019 10:24 am
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| Quote: |
The critique that has been referenced here three times now is about the documentary itself, not the concert.
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Yes, Fred, and is a testimony to how confusing it is.  Too much advanced hype, IMO. Please PBS, just let the games begin...
| Quote: |
| Looking forward to episode 1 tonight. |
b0b, I live in CA like you, and my TV guide says the fun starts at 8:00 PM Sunday evening. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 14 Sep 2019 12:34 pm
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| Barry Blackwood wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Looking forward to episode 1 tonight. |
b0b, I live in CA like you, and my TV guide says the fun starts at 8:00 PM Sunday evening. |
I posted that tomorrow morning. 
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-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Dennis Brion
From:
Atwater, Ohio USA
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Posted 14 Sep 2019 1:49 pm
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Time travel i like it, I knew you were talented but wow!
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1969 Custom built d10, Fender 25R practice amp,Dunlop pedal, Peavy Special 130 w/15" Blackwidow, Gretsch resonator, 41 Gibson 7 string lap steel, Epiphone flat top, 67 Epiphone Olympic |
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Barry Blackwood
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Brooks Montgomery
From:
Idaho, USA
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Posted 15 Sep 2019 10:07 am
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Good writing. I especially liked, “Trying to pin down country is like wrestling a fat man dipped in lard. When it comes to self-definition, country has always been in conflict with itself.â€
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A banjo, like a pet monkey, seems like a good idea at first. |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 15 Sep 2019 11:53 am
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I was particularly impressed with Marty Stuart's 'OBS' on mandolin. What great rhythm chops he has!
A totally solo performance, too - he had to pin the whole thing down on his own; remarkable.
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Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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Craig Stock
From:
Westfield, NJ USA
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Posted 15 Sep 2019 1:34 pm
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Marty is the best, have seen him play OBS 4 times in the last few years with the Fabulous Superlatives and the Byrds.
Just found out he is coming to NJ in November, gotta get my tickets soon.
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Regards, Craig
I cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet.
Today is tomorrow's Good ol' days |
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Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
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Posted 16 Sep 2019 4:21 am
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Fretless banjoes!
It had never occurred to me that 'the rub' created American music. White musicians copying black musicians, copying white musicians....
Fine southern pieces written by guys in Ohio, shameless (or shameful?) blackface orchestras to give the music more authenticity....
and all fueled by radio, and advertising.
Ken Burns does history. He may not know more about country music than he does the civil war, but I love his presentations more than most TV.
I find myself watching history, not a separate thread of music. Looking forward to Marty Stuart, hopefully not to be reminded again by Garth Brooks
that country music "comes from right in here, this heart and soul that we all have." Following Merle Haggard? Rock n roll with cowboy hats, it's not the same.
Stuart knows his American music history, and this special is about where it comes from, not (so far) where it's gone.
Jimmie Rodgers meets Louis Armstrong!
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Those that say don't know; those that know don't say.--Buddy Emmons |
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Mark Hershey
From:
New York, USA
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Posted 18 Sep 2019 7:45 am
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I love how in this interview him and Marty both highlight how important the involvement of Women and African Americans have been to the art form.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NzmAAzq9hs |
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Paul Strojan
From:
California, USA
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Posted 18 Sep 2019 9:01 am
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I got turned off when they were talking about Leon McAuliffe while showing a clip of Bob Koefer. Heck, if they were to play the sound, we would have heard Wills announce take it away Bob. In an age were it takes ten seconds to google what Leon looked like, it shows a disrespect for the source material.
I want to respect this space and the wishes of the moderators not to devolve into a political urinating contest. But it really bothers me when abolitionist like Stephen Foster and supporters of African American performers like Al Jolson are categorically dismissed racist because of their genre. Ken Burns and PBS are pushing a simplified narrative about race instead of merely telling the story of country music. |
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Mitch Drumm
From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
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Posted 18 Sep 2019 9:05 am
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| Paul Strojan wrote: |
| Ken Burns and PBS are pushing a simplified narrative about race instead of merely telling the story of country music. |
Did you really think there was a 1 in 10,000 chance of that not happening? |
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Mark Hershey
From:
New York, USA
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Posted 18 Sep 2019 10:16 am
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| Paul Strojan wrote: |
I got turned off when they were talking about Leon McAuliffe while showing a clip of Bob Koefer. Heck, if they were to play the sound, we would have heard Wills announce take it away Bob. In an age were it takes ten seconds to google what Leon looked like, it shows a disrespect for the source material.
I want to respect this space and the wishes of the moderators not to devolve into a political urinating contest. But it really bothers me when abolitionist like Stephen Foster and supporters of African American performers like Al Jolson are categorically dismissed racist because of their genre. Ken Burns and PBS are pushing a simplified narrative about race instead of merely telling the story of country music. |
Well their work is dated and not acceptable by today's standards so... Plenty of scholars call this out and also note the good work both did. I'm going to trust that Ken Burns did a good job on this given his track record. |
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Joe Alterio
From:
Irvington, Indiana
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Posted 18 Sep 2019 4:39 pm
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Hardly any mention of Hank Snow and Hank Thompson, but we get the life story of Hank Williams - I'm not trying to be funny with the common first names, here. Seriously - Hank Snow held the record (for almost 50 years) for a song at #1 for 21 weeks, "I'm Movin' On." Hank Thompson's band included no less than Merle Travis, Curly Chalker and Joe Maphis and were one of the top country bands for YEARS.
They're not even represented on the album set.
I realize we can't get everything/everyone - but these seem like two gaping holes in the history of country in the '50s/'60s.
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 18 Sep 2019 7:28 pm
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I thought tonight's episode (episode 4?) was well done. Of course, it covered the era when I was just waking up to music of any kind ('53 onward) and the 'smoothing out' of the Nashville product was well related.
I'd seen most of the Elvis archive footage but there was one short clip I hadn't ever viewed. The whole programme held my attention.
Oh - and I got very excited when I saw trolleybus wires in some early-'50s views of downtown Memphis!!!
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Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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Curt Trisko
From:
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2019 6:04 am
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| Joe Alterio wrote: |
Hardly any mention of Hank Snow and Hank Thompson, but we get the life story of Hank Williams - I'm not trying to be funny with the common first names, here. Seriously - Hank Snow held the record (for almost 50 years) for a song at #1 for 21 weeks, "I'm Movin' On." Hank Thompson's band included no less than Merle Travis, Curly Chalker and Joe Maphis and were one of the top country bands for YEARS.
They're not even represented on the album set.
I realize we can't get everything/everyone - but these seem like two gaping holes in the history of country in the '50s/'60s.
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Sometimes what seems important at the moment doesn't end up being historically significant. I haven't seen more than the preview for the special and a brief clip of one of the first episodes, but I bet some of their judgment about what is meaningful "history" versus what is just a chronology of what happened in the past is striking.
Also, I'm sure there's a bunch of discomfort when someone explains a group's history from an outside perspective for outsiders compared to how that group feels their own history should be described. |
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