October 10, 2006
When the Stars Go Slummin'
Posted by James Goodfellow at October 10, 2006 10:36 PMThis week the new Jimmy Buffett offering, Take the Weather with You, will be hitting the shelves of a Wal-Mart near you. The Conch-Republican has become a Nashville darling recently (and about 35 years late) thanks to the mega-hit duet he performed with Alan Jackson a few years ago. While I'm more than certain that the tracks on this release will never reach the epic status of those on his Songs You Know by Heart collection, its likely that this new Nashville backing will guarantee him platinum status and a few more guest spots with Kenny Chesney…maybe we can hope for a Crossroads (Yipee).
I gave the album a once-over on the CMT site and it isn't bad…nor is it great. One thing did stick out to me about the track list on this new CD though – the songwriters. Included on this album are songs by some really great writers. He includes Gillian Welch's "Elvis Presley Blues", Guy Clark's "Cinco de Mayo in Memphis", and "Wheel Inside The Wheel" by Mary Gauthier- very talented songwriters all. As a topping, he also throws in Haggard's "Silver Wings" and a tune by Mark Knopfler.
From here I started thinking about the other recent instances where great Americana songwriters popped up on a major release. A previous post on this site discussed how Faith Hill pulled included several songs by soccer-mom-turned-killer-songwriter Lori McKenna. Tim McGraw followed suit by including Ryan Adams' "When The Stars Go Blue" on his recent Greatest Hits – as well as releasing it as a single. Guy Clark and Darrell Scott's "Out In The Parking Lot" just recently showed up on Brad Paisley's Time Well Wasted. Speaking of Darrell Scott, his songs have been showing up all over Nashville recently.
So, here's my question(s): Is this a good thing for Americana Music? Sure, its good for a songwriter's wallet – assuming they have a good publishing deal. But, does it really shed any well-deserved light on these hard-working composers? Are there any examples where this has turned out really well? Let me know if I missed anything.
I doubt the people who buy Kenny Chestnut are looking for discs by Guy Clark, Gillian Welch, etc. at WartMart. If they do, they aren't gonna find them and if they find them, they'll be edited.
Who bothers to track down someone because they wrote a great song that somebody covered? Obsessive music freaks (if you're reading this site you know what I'm talking about) with hundreds, if not thousands of cds.
My (uneducated) guess is minimal longterm career impact. I know Nick Lowe was thrilled that "(what's so funny 'bout) peace, love and understanding" was covered and then included on a Whitney Houston movie soundtrack. I read in an interview the royalties allowed him to build a recording studio in his house in England. A bit off topic but I guess Gary P. Nunn is pretty happy everytime Austin City Limits plays "London Homesick Blues"!
Everybody's got to eat, so keep those royalty checks coming.
I read somewhere that "Gentle On My Mind" made it possible for John Hartford to do pretty much whatever he wanted with the rest of his career. I don't know that artists benefit in direct audience exposure. But if royalties from a cheeseball Glenn Campbell cover make an album like Mark Twang possible, then it definitely benefits Americana music.
Posted by: Brendan at October 11, 2006 8:36 AMUsually good for an indie performing songwriter to get covered by someone on a major, as long as they haven't given up all of their rights. It allows them more free time to write (instead of scaring up more macaroni & cheese gigs) which means their fans may get new material to listen to.
Posted by: Jim Pipkin at October 11, 2006 9:02 AMI think it is a good thing...not all commercial music is bad, and not all independent music is good. And when a songwriter can cross over into the mainstream, you never know who may be influenced to discover further. I doubt many of those on this site, when say in high school, weren't buying off the top 40 charts...I know I was, maybe not all, but definitely some. We need to make sure we don't become such snobs that we think we have some transcendent understanding of music, and the rest are all sheep...music is a matter of taste, albeit probably like wine or cheese, where the more you delve, the more astute your preferences become. And as Jim said, it gives them some time to write more instead of scrounging for gigs, or working at gas stations to pay their rent.
Posted by: Waylon at October 12, 2006 9:19 AMTo expand on Waylon's comment -- not only is it a matter of taste, but age and experience... call it "wisdom?" There's something about heartache that gives you a wisdom that can only be heard through country music. God bless it!
Posted by: larry at October 12, 2006 9:21 AMDeep info!
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Deep info!
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Deep info!
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