Et Tu, Rod Stewart?
Enough is enough. When I read yesterday that Rod Stewart wanted to make a country album, all I could think of was, “Get in line.”
I mean, I thought a countrified Snoop Dogg was pushing it. But there’s been a whole string of country-come-latelys, like Darius Rucker, Jewel, Jessica Simpson and Bon Jovi. Then there all those so-called collaborators — like Nelly, Jack White, Akon, Robert Plant and Nelly Furtado — who take the side door into Nashville by finding duet opportunities with country’s hottest stars.
The irony, to me, is that while so many artists from other genres are vowing to make genuine country albums, a lot of established country artists aren’t. Some of what’s on country radio right now doesn’t sound very traditional at all. It doesn’t really even sound country. Like LeAnn Rimes new “Good Friend and a Glass of Wine.” Or Kenny Chesney’s “Shiftwork.” Or Sugarland’s “All I Want to Do.” (Although, Chris Gaines aside, no country artist I remember has ever gone full-tilt into another genre. Can you imagine the betrayal fans would feel if, say, Brad Paisley announced he was going to make a hip-hop album?)
It’s the potential blurring of the lines that scares me the most. People like country because it tells a story with the help of a lot of steel guitar and banjo and fiddle. And I’m sure the fans of rock have their reasons for liking rock. The music’s just better when the artist stays true to his or her roots, whatever those roots may be. If every artist leans into this unclassified territory of country-inspired or rock-influenced music, then won’t we just we end up with one big unclassifiable genre?
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Dave says:
Not sure that I’d lump Jack White in the list of “so-called collaborators.” His work with Loretta Lynn produced an album that was significantly better (and more traditionally country) than 99% of the stuff that being played on commercial country radio right now.
kayefun says:
OK, Alison….I’m am ‘collaberationally suspect’ of just about everyone. Ol’ Rod was our male hottie back in the day(yeah, you guessed it - got a soft spot the size of Texas for ol’ Rod).
Many of his vocals have the ‘roots’ sound. Put the ‘roots’ sound w/the gravel in his vocal chords adding just the right country song choices and studio production - a new ‘country rock’ could just be born.
Also, the ol’ boy knows how to croon, again comes down to song choice and production, we could get an original country balladeer.
I don’t know for sure, but think ol’ Rod still has plenty of presidents left, so I would think his venture might gear to the artistic first and possible financial gain second. (I think his heart in the right place.)
Based on my own bias - I give Rod the nod, come on over, baby and you better be good, real good.
bkb says:
one more over the hill singer going into country where they think it will be easier for them to make money.
matt says:
What country singer did Akon collaborate with?
Bri’anna Joy says:
I don’t know. Think about the music landscape today. Where do artists get to sing story driven songs now? Country. Radio formats are so strict and suffocating. Of course Rod Stewart wants to make money by going into country! Where else is his music going to be played? Name a genre other than jazz or rock where men in their 60’s are still respected. Country. Now pick which format is making money. Country. Pop radio, where Rod used to play, is filled with faux punk boy bands, R&B clones, Disney starlets, and hip hop. I didn’t think much of Robert Plants version of “country” (was a waste of Alison Krauss, IMO), but Rod Stewart might fit right in with the right songs and lyrics.
As for all the non-country being played by Country stars, Country has gone through these growth periods before. People need to stretch their wings a little. The listeners will choose what is Country in the end. If the artists stray too far, their poor album sales will be all the reminder they need to come back. ;)
Bri’anna Joy
http://BitzofBrin.com
badrockandroll says:
I agree with some of the artists that you list, but not all, and certainly not about Rod Stewert. If you listen to some of his earlier records, like “Every Picture Tells a Story”, and “Gasoline Alley”, you will hear music that is far more country than most of what is being played today on commercial country radio (& CMT I might add). Personally, I love trad country; I think that some of the songs are masterpieces. If Rod treats older material from Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizell etc. with the same artistry and respect that he’s treated other portions of the Great American Songbook, then I think that we may be in for a treat.
Amy says:
emmm…im goin 2 disagree on ur collab bit wen u say Nelly i assum ur talkin bou his song wit Tim Over and Over….that sng is 1 of the bst sngz ever made so if i wer u id stop accusin every hiphop artist hu did a collab wi a country singer of bein bad bcas mostly soundz realllllly good….and 1 mre ting wa sng did akon do wi a country singer?
Fran C says:
Any more than anyone here is going to change their opinion on who or who cannot make a record in Nashville, based on my opinion, I’m 62 and pretty stuck in my music ways. I don’t like mopey, dopey, hang your head & cry a river stuff. Never have, never will. I will forever love whatever Bon Jovi does. I will forever love whatever Alison Kraus or Sugarland does. I will bounce & dance to any song that is bouncy & happy and hopeful and fills people with the joy of living instead of crying in their beers. Tuff…no one can really change your opinion of what you like…..especially some know it all review writer who thinks they know it all and their opinion is so RELEVENT.
john ezell says:
All I can say is listen to Every Picture Tells A Story..This is as country as it gets.
Steampacket says:
Strangely the feeling amoungst the majority of Rod Stewart fans is ‘What a Country album. What next’. So I can respect that single minded country fans may object. As to raiding the genre you gotta be joking. Vocalists dont come more rootsy than Rod Stewart. Listen to ‘An old raincoat wont let you down’ or ‘Gasoline Alley’. Some tracks on these albums couldnt get more country. Rod Stewart’s version of ‘Man of constant sorrow’ is second to none. I must admit that it would certianlly be Rod’s choice of ‘Country’ that would make or break this album. It could be a cracking album with the right choice of material.
So country people open up those barnyard doors and breath a breath of fresh air.
Steamy.
kayefun says:
BadRockandRoll: Thanks for supporting Rod…..”Maggie May” is even more relevant today than when Rod recorded it with all these ‘cougar’ women around. I support every 16+ (okay, so as not to make any mamma’s angry 18+ year olds) young man that pulls up a pair of jeans to know about that tune.
Rod also has ‘world wide cred’, the man has paid his music dues over and over again. He can rock, he can croon, he can wail and does them all with excellence. He certainly has the ‘earthy’ sound to pull of the country genre and he’s easier on the eyes than Robert Plant.
I’m not sure I’d want another album of duets with other country artists,(they have begun to bore me) maybe one or two, most I’d like to hear “All Rod”.
Dogevpr2 says:
Mama you been on my mind( 1972) , What’s made Milwaukee famous,are 2 of the many songs Rod has done that were country. He pioneered “country rock ” and use of “non -traditional” instruments like banjos in rock.
JG says:
Rod - in the seventies - made country ROCK in a way that it had never done before and hasn’t done since. He should do it again, as long as he puts some guts and feeling into it unlike his recent, so-called return to rock which sounded sterile and manufactured.
Just check out…
Cut Across Shorty
Man Of Constant Sorrow
Wild Side Of Life
You’re In My Heart
What Made Milwaukee Famous
Sweet Lady Mary
Mandolin Wind
… every one a country classic!
Inmy heart says:
Rod can do Country ! Has done it before and can do it again !! He’ll do it with style and he’ll do it well.
No one else can do it like Rod Stewart !!!
bestdays says:
The most hardened Rod fan has been tested to the limit of late. It’s all about the choice of material. Rod has proved he can deliver bluesy grass roots country and do it with real soul. His unequalled vocal talent lends itself perfectly to this kind of music, and we could be awaiting a masterpiece. I still believe….
CB says:
I am at a place now where is country music going. I thought I would blow a gasket when the eagles perform and was up for a country music awards. yes i like the eagles but that spot on the show took the place of a country music performer who has been in nashville for years. Another problem i have is say i own a record company and rod stewart walks in and says i want to record a country music cd and at same time joe blow walks with a demo and he want to make a country music cd at the same time who do you think that record company going to go for. this is all about record sales & ticket sales, so i call on true country music fans not to support this artist and they will go away.
Pick Up Man girl says:
I guess I still like to think that country singers drive around in pick-up trucks, go fishin, love drinking whiskey and all that so Rod Stewart just doesnt fit that image even though his voice is good and I can hear him doing country. But the skinny jeans and crazy hair would have to go. Would he ever look okay in Wranglers and acowboys hat????
True-Blue says:
Rod Stewart can sing anything he wants. He’s a voice first (and a damn fine one) and a genre’ second. It couldn’t be a more natural transition for him to want to cut a country album. His roots always were country and if this writer had done his research, he’d know Rod was a cowboy at heart. He likes mud, horses, blond women with big hair, guitars, Kentucky Bourbon, fast cars and a girl name “Annie” from Ohio.
Ride ‘em cowboy….I bet you look good on a horse, Mr. Stewart!
True-Blue says:
Beg your pardon, missy…I thought some jealous guy wrote this article (didn’t know it was a woman). Anyway, get out some of those songs listed by the others here in comments and give them a good listen and you will find out how very wrong you are about Rod the Stewarty.
Buffalogrrl says:
Actually, there have been country artists who have gone full-tilt into other genres. Grand Ole Opry member Hank Garland made an extremely successful crossover to modern jazz.
I don’t agree with your idea that music is better when the artist stays true to his or her roots. I think the music is better if the artists stays true to the art form wherever that may lead. Country music has been mixing with other styles before Jimmy Rodgers recorded with Louis Armstrong. If an artist changes in order to explore new musical directions that’s great. If it’s a change as a novelty or to simply gain new fans and make more money, as I suspect Rod is doing, then I don’t agree.
As far as one big unclassifiable genre, who cares? It’s the music that counts not if it fits into a preconceived box of what it should sound like.
martin baker says:
i hardly feel rod would be putting himself on the line to record a country style album for the money. rod has amassed a fortune estimated to be around the 100.000.000. mark. why cant rod sing what the hell he likes. he is the best interpretor of songs there is. you cowboys out there, go & find some other outlaw to shoot. yeeeeeehaaaaaaaaa.
PHR says:
I personaly think Rod Stewart could make a blast of a good CW album.
He just has to stick to the truth in Country and not produce an album that’s to poppy like most CW singers do now a days. Bluegrassn Apalachan, in short, The White Man’s Blues, that’s where the true good music lays and Rod has to make a precousious choice.
He has the voice and he lived the live, why not sing it then?
lilithevemc says:
as a avid music lover, i enjoy all music. i grew up in a household that listen to everything from james brown to the oakridge boys. my older sister loved Charlie Pride and i first record my mother bought me as Dolly Parton’s “two doors down.” with that said not everybody needs to make a country(crossover)CD. but i don’t think that we should just pigieon hole people, why not break out of the box. the world is about experience life, tasting what they have to give. yes, i know that trad. country is somewhat long gone. but sometimes the story are they same just with a different beat. do i think that Snoop Dog will make a good or even fair country CD i don’t know, should him be able to try,,,well yes. let people take risk, opening themselve up to life, a different world view and the beautiful that can come from story telling the country way.
Jacqueline Luellen says:
I heard Red Foleys recording of Peace in the Valley from my fathers 78 he played when I was a child. I have put on accoustic/drug free bluegrass festivals. I enjoyed Texas progressive country. I danced at the honky tonk my daddy hung out in many years after he quit doing that. Yes I am a Red Neck, it is undeniable, but I have a college degree. I sing like Patsy but I will never be caught dead singing like Snoop Dogg. I will forever be resigned to listening to oldies thanks to the desecration that has been put upon The Mother Church, The Rhyman. I bid you farewell, and I am taking my money with me.