Opinion: Modern country is the worst musical genre of all time

@jpwarren5: When I saw The Dead (and The Airplane) live in the Summer of ’67 they sounded just like their debut album, which I at the time liked a lot. They still sounded like their choice of drugs was cross-tops (what my friends and I called the little white pills mentioned in Dave Dudley’s "Six Days On The Road") washed down with a quart of beer.

They sounded completely different on their 1968 album Anthem Of The Sun and 69’s Aoxomoxoa, which were very psychedelic (acid had sure influenced their music). While Jerry had a background in Hillbilly and Bluegrass (there are pics of him playing banjo in ’65, I believe it was), you didn’t hear it in the music of The Dead until 1070’s Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty, and even more so in Jerry’s first side project (as far as I know), Old & In The Way (which I bought when it was released in ’75).

But in 1968 the Rock band playing pure Country/Hillbilly was The Byrds, with the release of their Sweetheart Of The Rodeo album (which contains songs written by Dylan, Merle Haggard, Woody Guthrie, and The Louvin Brothers. Anthem Of The Sun and Aoxomoxoa sure don’t ;-) . Bassist Chris Hillman invited Gram Parsons to replace the departed David Crosby, and he did. It is said the album sold poorly, but everyone I knew had it in ’68.

Gram Parsons is given the lion’s share of credit for the Sweetheart album, but Chris Hillman deserves at least as much. Prior to joining The Byrds in 1964, Hillman had in the late-50’s started out playing mandolin in a Bluegrass band, and his band The Hillmen (a quartet whose other members included future Country music star Vern Gosdin) had a single album released in 1963. By the way, Chris’ solo Bluegrass albums on Sugar Hill Records are fantastic, as is his latest album, produced by Tom Petty.

Before joining The Byrds, it was Folk music Parsons was playing, not Country, Hillbilly, or Bluegrass. Parsons is also given credit for discovering Emmylou Harris, but it was, again, Chris Hillman. Chris had heard Emmylou in a Folk club in NYC, and knowing Gram was looking for a singing partner for his upcoming solo album, told Parsons about her. The rest is, as they say, history.

In 1969 Hillman and Parsons had taken their Country/Hillbilly leanings even further than the Sweetheart album, when they both left The Byrds and started The Flying Burrito Brothers. Future Eagles member Bernie Leadon eventually joined the group, and Gram left after their second album to go solo.

In the mid-80’s Hillman started a new Country music group, The Desert Rose Band, Joining him was a fantastic singer and musician named Herb Pederson, formerly of the Dillards. The DRB were very successful, producing a lot of great music and hit records.

You are spot on regarding Gillian Welch JPW. And you audiophiles who might consider listening to this music we are discussing if it was available in high end audiophile recorded sound quality, Gillian’s albums on her own Acony Records label are just what the doctor ordered. Her partner David Rawlings has a couple of solo albums, but they are unfortunately not so hot (imo).

Least you have a Country genre. Real Soul has been dead for decades. No song writers, no industry. My guess is the recording industry figured it’s such a small percentage of people that listen, like jazz, we won’t bother with them. Heck, is there even a true RNR recording industry around anymore?

I neglected to mention that Chris Hillman also penned his autobiography, and it too is a great read (a term I for years have resisted using, but am finally giving in ;-) .

And how can anyone say, “I don’t like jazz.” How can you ‘not like’ what you don’t understand?

If you haven’t ever played an instrument in your life you don’t have a clue what’s going on! If you don’t know what a chord, or chord change is, you’re clueless.

Simply say, you don’t know jazz, because you don’t know music. Jazz is the most complex music ever created, by black people no less. How in the heck did the most disenfranchised create the most creative music ever is the better question. And don’t even tell me a 4 chord tune, that’s a mega hit, is just as good. It’s simply more popular.

You don’t have to be a musician to enjoy jazz, many aren’t. But it helps to have some idea of what is going on.

@coltrane1: If it’s Soul music you want, there is one current "act" I can enthusiastically recommend: The War & Treaty. An unlikely name, but this husband & wife duo of Michael and Tanya Trotter are absolutely fantastic!

They came to my attention solely for the fact that their debut album Healing Tide was produced by a favorite of mine---Buddy Miller. I don’t know who put the Trotters and Miller together, but the results have to be heard to be believed. Buddy started out in the Contemporary Christian Music field with his eventual wife and musical partner Julie. When he evolved into the secular market, he ended up as guitarist, harmony singer, and bandleader for Emmylou Harris (a position previously filled by Rodney Crowell).

A "Country" musician (he’s far more than that) producing a Soul duo?! Perhaps because he came out of Gospel music, as did Soul music. The duo have VERY strong voices, and the album’s material is excellent. Emmylou joins the duo on one song, the result being fantastic 3-part harmony (Emmylou is a master at singing harmony), which we all love. Right? ;-)

Healing Tide is the strongest debut album I’ve heard in a long, long time. No studio tricks were used in it’s making, done at Buddy’s home studio in Nashville. I use the term literally: Buddy turned his entire 19th century house into a recording studio. When Julie isn’t feeling well (she’s somewhat sickly), he runs a mic cable up to their bedroom, recording her in bed ;-) .

While not wishing to appear argumentative, I must take issue with your proclamation that "Jazz is the most complex music ever created." All Jazz? As in all genres, there is a range of complexity found in Jazz. But more importantly to me, are we to ignore the Baroque era in Classical music? Now THERE is complex music! J.S. Bach was an absolute genius, no secret there.

As for a 4-chord song, I’ve heard a fair amount of Jazz that is composed of less than that, sometimes only one chord, as heard in the music of the "Modal" movement. And then there is the issue of the relationship between complexity and quality. Is quality determined solely by complexity? Using that yardstick, ALL Blues sucks.

For an example of a song that superficially sound simple and non-complex, listen to "God Only Knows", written by Brian Wilson. If you try and play the chords of the song on piano, you are in for a surprise. The chord progression and use of modulation, bass inversion, counterpoint, and other musical devices is surprisingly sophisticated. His peers (including Paul McCartney, Elton John, and Leon Russell consider him a genius. But he’s no J.S. Bach ;-) . Another example is "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted", my absolute favorite "Soul" song.