Have people always hated modern country music so badly?

[architype]

I saw the "Stop the snaps" video the other day and realized that I haven't listened to country radio for many many years...I haven't missed much.


As others have said, there is good country music out there, but you won't hear it on mainstream radio. I think mainstream radio is in trouble because of all the options where you can find better music being played. If you don't like what you are hearing then turn it off and seek out all those options.

[Muddslide]

Originally Posted by PorkPieGuy

I think there's room for musicians to do whatever they want. Life is too short to spend that kind of energy hating a certain genre of music. Listen to what you love. Don't listen to what you don't. Don't rag on people who play music you don't like. Play music that brings you joy and don't look back.

You could not be more right on. Agree absolutely.

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

I might draw your attention to another similr video about modern "music" -



I see no difference between this genre and modern country.
Further, it would seem that musicians are pretty much redundant in pop music now, or maybe they are useful as set painters are in modern drama.

Sad but true. Everything I said about modern country applies equally to modern pop and rock IMO.

But there are always outliers/exceptions to the rule, some of whom were mentioned elsewhere in the thread.

There always will be actual musicians with great skill at writing great songs--in any genre--even if they are a small percentage in comparison with the mountains of inane product, pap and cr@p.

[Birdbrain]

But Country Music is manifold, it incorporates legions, including its own haters. I'm thinking of Waylon's "Don't Think Hank Done It This-a-way," among many others unremembered.

[Nyghthawk]

I was 19 in 1975 when a friend turned me on to Shotgun Willie (Willie Nelson) and Viva Terlingua (Jerry Jeff Walker). I was hooked on what became known as Outlaw Country. Waylon Jennings, David Allen Coe, Rita Coolidge, Kris Kristofferson, etc. Now that's country music. No "cryin' in your beer" or over-polished pop, just honest music.

[billybob77036]

As a 38 year old who claims to be a traditional country music fan, and thinks there is NOTHING better than 80's/90's George Strait, I view it as the following:

Country music sounds more like true pop music today, and I can support that by showing how pop stations are airing songs from "country" artists. Traditional country instruments such as fiddles, and steel guitars are no longer normal instruments used, but maybe splashed here or there and quickly disappear. Rarely a solo from either since there is no commercial appeal.

This upsets a TON of people because there IS still good old school country music being made by folks like Randell King, Cody Johnson, Josh Ward, Mike and the Moonpies, and SOOOO many others.

When you play a song from a group like Florida Georgia Line, next to one from Cody Johnson, there's really no comparison as to what "sounds" country. Want to get more extreme? Try a Sam Hunt song next to a Josh Ward song. What "sounds" musically more "country". Without the words, what does the song sound like it should be classified as? Words don't make the song, the music behind them do.

This is a really hot button topic for me because I am so sensitive to it. I tried to answer without much flaming, but it's hard for me on this topic. Mods, please have mercy on me for that reason if something is offensive.

[Mandobart]

Originally Posted by PorkPieGuy

Thanks for everyone's replies!
.......
My philosophy is pretty simple: I think there's room for musicians to do whatever they want. Life is too short to spend that kind of energy hating a certain genre of music. Listen to what you love. Don't listen to what you don't. Don't rag on people who play music you don't like. Play music that brings you joy and don't look back.

Certainly musicians can play what they want. But.....
You shouldn't play a jug band tune and call it classical. You shouldn't play bluegrass and call it jazz. And you shouldn't dress up pop with autotune and a bogus over-the-top accent and call it country.

[RussL30]

Originally Posted by PorkPieGuy

Thanks for everyone's replies!

I think all of this new country "hate" comes primarily from my social media accounts (comprised of a lot of musicians) in addition to some folks I play music with. A good friend who I play music shot me a text with some remark about it, and in my mind I thought "Ok, you're sitting at home right now, and the guys your ragging on are playing stadiums."

My philosophy is pretty simple: I think there's room for musicians to do whatever they want. Life is too short to spend that kind of energy hating a certain genre of music. Listen to what you love. Don't listen to what you don't. Don't rag on people who play music you don't like. Play music that brings you joy and don't look back.

Just because Luke Bryant and Florida Georgia line play their soulless, formulaic music in stadiums that means I can’t dislike it or rag on it?

I don’t understand that argument.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Davis Webb

...Old country was redneck, nasty, mean at times...

So was old blues in its own way - raw, nasty, mean, edgy, an authentic period slice-of-life reflection of its hardscrabble rural roots - and frankly, that's precisely why I like them both; there's a certain shared intrinsic genuineness that's become largely lost in later iterations, whether by accident or design - "sanitized" if you will - in the name of broader audience appeal. To me it's like most blended Scotch, largely generic and interchangeable - okay for a night out with friends, and a very few carefully-chosen examples actually aren't too bad - but I'll take a good Islay malt every time...

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

Certainly musicians can play what they want. But.....
You shouldn't play a jug band tune and call it classical. You shouldn't play bluegrass and call it jazz. And you shouldn't dress up pop with autotune and a bogus over-the-top accent and call it country.

I understand your feelings.
Its all about the money these days so the attitude is "whatever it takes" to make money. There's plenty of options for pure country, just not in the mainstream.

[funkymonk#9]

For the Most Part I have always disliked or at least felt guilty about liking Modern Music in every genre since I figured out that popular music played on the radio was trying to hide "real music" from me. That happened in 1988.
The risk of liking modern music is that you don't really know if it will hold up. So I tend to be about 30 years behind....just now I am recognizing the music of the 80's for its contributions in breaking musical barriers of the previous decade.
I don't see anything wrong with constructive criticism, it feels fine to look over an artists music history and see the arc with ups and downs. It goes both ways, tastes are subjective with some objective overtones.
I can say I am a country music fan, after you name your idea of the 20 greatest country artists, i might say....well I am really just a fan of Willie.
Lennie Kravitz said Rock is Dead, in my mind I feel that goes for Country, Blues, Jazz and Classical. But I know there are musicians out there who are relighting the torch.

[Neil K Walk]

As a rugrat I'd watch Hee Haw religiously and grew up listening to Alabama and Garth Brooks - and am glad to see the latter back in the game. While I can tolerate - and even somewhat enjoy Rascal Flatts and the like - it doesn't hold a candle to C&W of old. I blame Charlie Daniels and Hank Williams Jr.

So no, I don't hate country music. Just the "honky tonk" variety that celebrates getting drunk or being a redneck and seems to be rehashing the stylizations of heavy metal from the late 1980s. If you listen closely you can hear Chet Atkins rolling over in his grave.

[Mr. Jelly]

I just got a Smithsonian Folkways CD of Appalachian Blues. Does that answer the question? Pretty darn good recording quality also.

[mdhttr]

Originally Posted by Cypress Knee

Remember Charlie Rich burning John Denver's award on live TV?


CK

Had to google that one, having grown up listening to both artists. In the process came across this from Charlie Rich Jr. disputing that his dad did it out of disrespect to JD:
http://www.charlierichjr.com/controv...elope_burning/

Says he was hyped up on painkillers and alcohol and just thought it would be funny. And that Charlie Rich received the same criticism of not being "country enough."

As for the topic at hand, put me in the hate modern country camp, but I do think it has always been the case to some extent. I attended a Gatlin Brothers concert back in the early 80's where they "apologized" for not having a light show and pyrotechnics. Said they sold it all to the Oak Ridge Boys. Anyone remember when the Oak Ridge Boys were a gospel group?

[Pura Vida]

I can't read through a four page thread on modern country music, so apologies if anything I say has been covered or flamed already.

Early generations of traditional country music were before my time, but it seems to have been mainstream when rock n' roll was born (early rock music was heavily influenced by country and blues music). I was growing up, when country cross-over artists of the late 70s / early 80s happened, but I think there was generally more acceptance of the appeal. Songs topped both country and pop music charts and sold millions of records.

But the "modern" wave of country music seems to have started in the early 90s, where artists came out with a more polished look and sound. In a sense, much of Nashville went pop, and it's largely remained there for the last 25 years.

I think the difference is that there's a percentage of people who resent it from multiple sources. Some country music fans don't like it b/c it's not traditional. Most pop music fans don't like it b/c it's not *their* pop music (although I'd argue that there is a ton of overlap in the music part of the songwriting). And music snobs like me don't like it b/c it *is* another form of pop music and generally lacks the depth, variety, or uniqueness that exists in other music genres. No offense meant to those who love this style of music... just stating what people like myself think (everyone has their own opinions, of course!).

In any case, I think the dislike of modern country is at an all-time high... but so, also, is its popularity. They sell tons of this music, and thousands of people pay to see them perform live. Take that for what it's worth.

[Silly Moustache]

There is a point that just occurred to me.

All/most of the people who have contributed to this thread on this forum are ...musicians..right?

Pop/country music is not produced for musicians - it is produced and aimed at the music buying public who are not so analytic.

They look at the "pretty boy/girl singers and the dance routines and the videos but they don't really "listen" to the music - they enjoy the "vibe" - and that awful click beat is all they need.

I doubt that many of the music buying public even listen on a decent hi-fi/stereo system now - they'll listen on their phones or on their car radio.
Yeah, I know that early '60s '70s pop music was Eqd to sound best on AM radio sets but things have deteriorated.

Modern Pop/country "music" is nothing more than an ephemeral disposable "product" reproduced repeatedly to a strict formula which currently sells to an audience who will buy it ... for a while, then the "artists" those pretty boys/girls will be discarded and others will be found.
I think that the best music, be it coutry or whatever is coming out in the independents

People like :

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...... and so many more.