Let's Go Country?

[philipchevron]

I was in a class with a friend of mine from work and it was the holiday season. After class, we headed to the hotel bar where they were playing all sorts of nauseating versions of the Little Drummer Boy when my friend said "why do you never hear Fairytale of New York here in the states?" I had never heard of it so I asked what he was talking about. We headed to his room where he had a CD player and he put on the CD "If I Should Fall From Grace With God". I borrowed the CD that night and have been hooked ever since!! By the way, I STILL cannot get a radio station her to play Fairytale of New York during the holiday season lol

At one point, Rod Stewart and Tina Turner were going to exploit our lack of US success with the song by doing a joint cover version, but they ran across the same problem as ourselves, the lyrics. You have to be a country star in America to get away with lyrics about drinkin´and gamblin´and fightin´.

[Jimmy Jazz]

I was in a class with a friend of mine from work and it was the holiday season. After class, we headed to the hotel bar where they were playing all sorts of nauseating versions of the Little Drummer Boy when my friend said "why do you never hear Fairytale of New York here in the states?" I had never heard of it so I asked what he was talking about. We headed to his room where he had a CD player and he put on the CD "If I Should Fall From Grace With God". I borrowed the CD that night and have been hooked ever since!! By the way, I STILL cannot get a radio station her to play Fairytale of New York during the holiday season lol

At one point, Rod Stewart and Tina Turner were going to exploit our lack of US success with the song by doing a joint cover version, but they ran across the same problem as ourselves, the lyrics. You have to be a country star in America to get away with lyrics about drinkin´and gamblin´and fightin´.

ain't that the truth... the FCC is so uptight

[Sportin' Life]

Some of The Pogues' songs would make some damn good country songs, though. Streams of Whiskey, A Pair of Brown Eyes, Fairytale, IFSFFG (obviously), Thousands. Of course mainstream Nashville musicians would never touch it.

I would have loved it if Rubin had thought to have Johnny Cash do 'A Pair of Brown Eyes' during that period where he was doing everyone else's covers.

[colormeblushing]

Frank Zappa had the right idea about censorship in this country. Parents here will let their kids go to movies to watch people get tortured and slashed to pieces but God forbid you put the words shit, feck or bastard in the lyric of a song. It's puritanically (is that a word? lol) ridiculous!! A lot of Americans are missing out on some great music due to big brother!!

[The Duke of Ingmar]

At one point, Rod Stewart and Tina Turner were going to exploit our lack of US success with the song by doing a joint cover version, but they ran across the same problem as ourselves, the lyrics. You have to be a country star in America to get away with lyrics about drinkin´and gamblin´and fightin´.

At least they decided to leave it instead of ridiculously changing the lyrics like Ronan & Maire did.

Or like The Pogues themselves with "Boys from the county Hell" ...

[Low D]

At one point, Rod Stewart and Tina Turner were going to exploit our lack of US success with the song by doing a joint cover version, but they ran across the same problem as ourselves, the lyrics. You have to be a country star in America to get away with lyrics about drinkin´and gamblin´and fightin´.

... and the world is a far, far, better place for that version not ever being produced.

[WagesOfSin]

You have to be a country star in America to get away with lyrics about drinkin´and gamblin´and fightin´.

Sadly, modern country radio in the USA is pretty well bereft of drinkin', gamblin', and fightin' these days. It's as bland as you're likely to hear - formulaic pop music with different instrumentation.

[philipchevron]

You have to be a country star in America to get away with lyrics about drinkin´and gamblin´and fightin´.

Sadly, modern country radio in the USA is pretty well bereft of drinkin', gamblin', and fightin' these days. It's as bland as you're likely to hear - formulaic pop music with different instrumentation.

......or to quote Doug Sahm's great song about CMT, from his final album, "Oh no, not another one!"

[James]

Didn't Hank III get played on country radio with the latest album?

I can't get enough of Hank III at the moment. I left the ol' WIlliams train round Junior but dammit if they ain't pulled me back in. And get me a talking in poor folksy would be down South ways. Consarnit.

[WagesOfSin]

......or to quote Doug Sahm's great song about CMT, from his final album, "Oh no, not another one!"

Hadn't heard that before, nice one!

See also Robbie Fulks' (rather un-pc) "F*** This Town":

That ain't country-western, it's just soft-rock feminist crap
And I thought they'd hit bottom back in the days of Ronnie Milsap
Now they just can't stop the flood of ***holes
There ain't a big enough ASCAP

[girlfromcountyhell]

Um, and also, after reading the aforementioned discussion, I hope I never hear a pop-country artist do a cover of any Pogues song. I think I might have to keel over, and I am far too young for that. Please, Phil, don't let them do that if you can help it. It's blasphemy. The day I hear some twangy faux-cowboy screwing up The Boys From County Hell or the like is the day I lose all faith in humanity.

[DzM]

Um, and also, after reading the aforementioned discussion, I hope I never hear a pop-country artist do a cover of any Pogues song. I think I might have to keel over, and I am far too young for that. Please, Phil, don't let them do that if you can help it. It's blasphemy. The day I hear some twangy faux-cowboy screwing up The Boys From County Hell or the like is the day I lose all faith in humanity.

The other day I heard a blue-grass, twangy cover version of If I Should Fall From Grace With God (no, not the one on the Straight To Hell soundtrack). It adapted to the format remarkably well.

[Cdn Steve]

The other day I heard a blue-grass, twangy cover version of If I Should Fall From Grace With God (no, not the one on the Straight To Hell soundtrack). It adapted to the format remarkably well.

A band called The Sweet Colleens http://www.sweetcolleens.com do a respectable cover of If I Should Fall... they're based in Minneapolis - anyone seen them live?

[DzM]

Um, and also, after reading the aforementioned discussion, I hope I never hear a pop-country artist do a cover of any Pogues song. I think I might have to keel over, and I am far too young for that. Please, Phil, don't let them do that if you can help it. It's blasphemy. The day I hear some twangy faux-cowboy screwing up The Boys From County Hell or the like is the day I lose all faith in humanity.

The other day I heard a blue-grass, twangy cover version of If I Should Fall From Grace With God (no, not the one on the Straight To Hell soundtrack). It adapted to the format remarkably well.

Here it is: The Onion Creek Crawdaddies
http://www.archive.org/details/occ2007-07-13.sbd.flac

[girlfromcountyhell]

Thanks DZM! They did do a good job. My distaste for country music goes not further than the crap that is so popular nowadays that's barely recognizable as country music. I've heard far too much of it here at my University, and I really think I'd be scarred for life if I ever had to hear a Taylor Swift/Kenny Chesney (or whoever is putting out this pop country nonsense) cover of If I Should Fall. Seriously. I'd never be the same.