Larry Cordle Can Get Away With Murder
What goes around, comes around, so they say. Back in 1999, Larry Cordle was singing and writing about “Murder on Music Row,” bemoaning the lack of fiddles and steel guitars in the music that Nashville was producing. He found allies in George Strait and Alan Jackson, who recorded the song as a duet, which went on to win the 2000 CMA Song of the Year. Fast-forward to this week, and Larry Cordle celebrated the release of his new album, Took Down and Put Up, by having a party on -- you guessed it -- Music Row!
The performing rights organization BMI hosted the early evening bash last night on the ground floor of its impressive Nashville office. The double doors swung open to reveal a host of well-dressed characters milling around with a glass of white wine in their hand. The conversations were of publishing deals, people pitching songs and others casting their net wide to find the next hit for their latest project. I sauntered to the bar myself, and decided if you can’t beat them, you really must join them.
So, Pinot Noir in hand, I watched as Larry took to the stage and played songs from his latest record. He continues to perfect his craft and play the kind of music he loves. Backed by a great bluegrass band he sang of the stuff you only find in bluegrass music – a train robbery and a tribute to Keith Whitley, who was a close friend. Music poured from the speakers set in the ceiling, and it sounded awesome. Further inspection of the band revealed all the microphones onstage were wireless and hooked up to a professional sound board, which was in turn linked to top-quality speakers in the ceiling – this is certainly not their first rodeo at BMI!
As Larry thanked the writers and industry types who had come to support him, he closed his set with “Murder On Music Row.” Everyone broke into applause at the first few lyrics. There may well have been homicide here on the Row in the past, but this evening Music Row made peace with its old whistle blower.
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Rick says:
As much as I love “Murder on Music Row”, I’ve always felt the sentiment is a bit misplaced. Sales of mainstream country music are driven by radio airplay on Top 40 style mainstream country stations, and they have been the dark side of the force trying to kill off traditional country for a couple of decades now. The trend accelerated when the Clinton administration disassembled the radio station ownership limits and corporate giants like Clear Channel gobbled up stations in major markets all over the country. Many of the programmers placed in charge of country music stations came from rock and pop radio backgrounds and hated music with too much twang. They considered music that they deemed “too country” to be suitable for rednecks, hayseeds, and trailer trash. These snooty programmers considered traditional country to be beneath them out of both ignorance and arrogance.
This trend was accelerated primarily by Garth Brooks with his unbelievable sales levels after mixing pop in with his country, and Shania Twain with her seductive pop rock songs that quickly replaced her initial country leanings. The huge sales figures these two generated signaled to pop and rock oriented programmers that shunning traditional country music was the way to expand their listening audiences and advertising revenues.
As the gatekeepers of what ultimately gets played on radio, the programmers hold the music labels hostage. Rather than wanting their artists to create unique, inventive music the labels seek to have their artists manufacture radio friendly songs that might actually get played and may become hits. The net result is a me too, sound alike bland musical landscape like mainstream country radio is today with new artists sounding like slight variations of the current radio darlings. As long as radio stations are financially rewarded with this strategy it will continue and traditional country music will fade further from the scene. Satellite radio has stepped in to cater to the traditional country listener, and internet sources like WSM online do as well. Its a sad fact the Top 40 mainstream country radio establish is indeed the guilty party when it comes to the demise of traditional country music on Music Row, with the big labels being willing accomplices under duress of varying degrees. Heather Myles can bemoan that “Nashville’s Gone Hollywood”, and Billy Yates can sing “Anywhere But Nashville” but its the country radio programmers across the nation that have led to traditional country music being marginalized and pushed out into the Americana realm.
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[...] writing “Murder on Music Row” back in 1999 “Larry Cordle celebrated the release of his new album, Took Down and Put Up by having a party on — you guessed it — Music [...]