"Here You Come Again," Again
Years ago, Tom T. Hall had a hit called “Country Is” that built its lyrics off the difficulty in establishing a perfect definition of country music. A Dolly Parton record that turns 30 this week ends up demonstrating the problem perfectly. Released on Oct. 6, 1977, “Here You Come Again” was the record that took Parton from a respected singer in the country ghetto to an ambassador for the genre across all pop culture. She expected it to generate controversy. She’d already dropped her Nashville management in favor of Hollywood representation, and the song -- written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, also responsible for “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” -- had an overtly pop melody. Parton was so sensitive about its reception that she asked her producer to throw a steel guitar in the background just so she could say one was there.
For all the predictable hand-wringing the song generated among country traditionalists, the public at large loved it. “Here You Come Again” topped the Billboard country chart for five weeks and peaked in pop’s Top 5, right between the Bee Gees and Rod Stewart.
At the time, I was a high school student who loved pop music and I resented hearing Dolly Parton’s country junk on my station. In time, of course, I grew to love the record, and country music too, but I can still see why traditionalists were unhappy. It didn’t sound anything like older Dolly Parton records, and certainly nothing like the honky-tonk-steeped music of George Jones or Moe Bandy.
Today, a lot of traditionalists are mad about current country; it sounds too rock to their ears. If you compare Keith Urban and Jason Aldean hits to old George Jones or Moe Bandy records, or even “Here You Come Again,” they’re right. But they’re also living in a vacuum. If you listen to those songs next to Nickelback or Maroon 5, Urban and Aldean are undeniably country. As a Country Music Hall of Fame member probably should, Parton ends up a good teacher: A country song is defined not by history, but by the era in which it appears.
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Dave says:
My guess is that in 30 years, Keith Urban and Jason Aldean’s songs will be remembered much as Here You Come Again is today, popular during their time but relatively inconsequential.
Rick says:
I’d love to see a response to this blog from Chet Flippo! While Tom’s point about what defines country music’s place in the overall music scene at any given point in time are stylistic cues has some validity, I’d say relative style differences are a limited indicator at best. The twang of steel guitars and dobros and the sound of fiddles and banjos and mandolins made traditional country music a distinct art form that any listener could quickly identify as country music. On the other hand pop influences have always crept into country music to expand the listening audience as country music evolved over the years with each era having a certain sound that defined country music at the time. Until recent years though the overall sound of mainstream country was still clearly identifiable as country music while today much of it is merely pop-rock music with little or no country influence.
I turned to country music in the mid 1980’s when I got burned out on rock and roll but now much of mainstream country is totally rock music plain and simple. Those listeners who like rock music will embrace it and laud the broadening definition of what constitutes “country music” while folks who prefer traditional country sounds and styles (like myself) decry the bastardization of country music into a watered down form of pop and rock music. When I’m listening to a mainstream country radio station and the rock oriented artists come on the air I just change the station or pop in a cd. The list of such artists seems to grow each month and includes Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, Jack Ingram, Big and Rich, Jason Aldean, and even Miranda Lambert due to her edgy alt country sound these days. Jack Ingram’s cover of a song by the rock group Hinder was as unbearable as the original and Jason Aldean’s “Johnny Cash” sounded like a rip off of an old Aerosmth song. The overtly pop sounding divas on mainstream country radio don’t do anything for me either whether it be Carrie Underwood, or Faith Hill, or Martina McBride, etc. These artists are hugely successful because their pop styles appeal to a huge audience but that doesn’t make them country singers in any traditional sense. I’ll take a Sunny Sweeney or Elizabeth Cook or Jeff Bates or Daryl Singletary any day of the week as there is never any question that the music great artists like these sing is real country music not defined by what is happening in other areas of the music scene…..
Kent says:
Finally, someone else realizes that mainstream country music really is country music! When people say Big & Rich is not country, I have to think they are crazy. As tom said, if you play one of these country songs next to a REAL rock or pop song, they simply don’t compare. Country music has evolved over time, just as other genres such as rock have, and will continue to. It’s a fact of life that people are just going to have to accept.
christine says:
Does anyone know who was the Nashville recording studio or management that Dolly dropped prior to RCA producing it in Los Angeles?