A conversation with Bill C. Malone

Part Two

Politics and Social Conscience in Country Music

Ironically, as conservative as country music's long time fan base is pegged to be, controversial, "sensitive" topics have never been something that's been so noticeably missing from the music until now. Up until recently country music was noted as the genre that incorporated truth and history into its music. Even Alan Jackson who's as traditional as mainstream gets these days had himself and George Strait handing over they keys before settling in for a night of drowning sorrows and drinking memories away in Designated Drinker. Songs that even attempt to explore social issues are filtered, and either remain open ended or get lost in the vastness of political correctness.

In reality, life is far less politically correct than today's country music radio portrays, yet mainstream country's proclivity for political correctness shows no signs of waning. But is the public really as critical of historic country music topics as 'the experts' advise? It's something Bill Malone has experienced first hand as he hosts his weekly radio show, "Back to the Country," in Madison, WI on WORT-FM (89.9). "On my radio show the only real criticism I’ve gotten, and Madison is very politically correct, is from feminists when I play a murder ballad. In so many cases the people that get killed are women. I get calls that say how can you dare play that? It just feeds the abuse of women. Which is true enough, I don’t have an answer," he ponders, "But those were great songs. It’s a tough call, you are definitely careful about what you play. There are some types of songs that I would not play. I wouldn’t play an overtly racist song. Some of those old songs just have such raw emotion, heartache in them and that’s part of life. There are so called experts that top forty stations hire that have convinced them that there’s a big audience out there that doesn’t want to be offended in any way, they pretty much target the audience that wants good feeling, bland songs."

Predicting public reaction to controversial reality topics is something that can't be whittled down to a science. Looking back at the rash of post September 11th songs that attempted to deal with the overwhelming tragedy and loss, Bill Malone himself was surprised by the public's overwhelming preference for Alan Jackson's Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning) over the more aggressive, hard-line approach of Toby Keith's Angry American. "I was surprised that Angry American didn’t do better. I kind of expected it to have the same impact that Okie from Muskogee did in the 70’s. The mood of the country was so angry, but I’m glad that it turned out not to be much of a competition." He shares, "I am glad it got a better response than the Toby Keith song.  I’m glad that Alan’s more reasonable response won out."

Who's gonna fill their shoes?

George Jones' classic hit "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes" comes up often when people are discussing the future of country music. When one considers the age and health of our living legends alongside of the ones we've recently lost, the horizon looks bleak. Time shows no mercy as we inevitably move towards a time when we will have to face country music without the grounding and continued innovativeness we've come to rely on from Merle Haggard, Ray Price, George Jones, Johnny Cash or Loretta Lynn. One would be hard pressed to find more than two or three artists from today's current crop of performers who would be considered a formidable understudy.

Not only is there slim pickin's for future legendary performers, the songwriting gene pool is also shallow. The loss of Harlan Howard in 2002 only served to accentuate the issue. Songwriters today are of a different breed, and outside of Billy Joe Shaver you'd be hard pressed to find a writer that's still commercially viable and vital with the life experience needed to write country music the way we remember it to be.

Recent isolated successes such as O Brother! and the surprise Grammy nominations for Joe Nichols have people wondering if indeed  the winds of country shifted once again to a more traditional sound? "I’ve never been a very good prophet." Bill admits. In fact in his 1985 revision of Country Music, USA he made a prediction that fortunately turned out not to be played out in reality.  "I thought that pop juggernauts were just going engulf music and every body was going to grasp for the crossover songs. Luckily for all of us the neo-traditionalists keep coming. The Alan Jackson's, Ricky Skaggs’, Emmylou Harris’ keep bringing it back to something that still sounds country. I am not overly optimistic I think we are still going to have to keep having to search for it in other venues, out on the fringe." 

Any accuracy in predicting the future of country music are further hampered by the cloning mechanism that kicks in when industry catches wind of a new creative fad that shows marketing potential. "Nashville has a genius for co-oping new trends and then taking them over and watering them down. It happens too often." Malone notes.

So just whose music does Bill Malone hold in high esteem? He makes no bones about who tops his personal list of favorites or why they've garnered his admiration. It should also come as no surprise that they come from the traditional fringe of country music in the form of Dale Watson and Justin Trevino.

"I like the fact that both of them are loyal to the roots of the music. They are very quick to admit their influences. The people that influenced them, the people that are like them, but they are not flagrant imitators of them. They came up with something sounds new. I like to call Dale Watson a honky tonk singer but you compare him to Merle Haggard or Ernest Tubb and he’s very different. He does have more of a rock attitude. I just like the fact that he’s able to use the material that was created by those heroes he claims and acknowledges and come up with something of his own. I like the stand he takes. He’s not afraid to express his opinion about things that are happening in the music world. Across the board I like his music and I like his attitude."

And Justin? "He’s got a real sincerity, a tear in his voice, which I like. Seems to me he throws himself into his music, and gets very emotional about it. Part of being a true country singer is being able to put your heart and soul into the music and make you identify with what it says. You get the feeling he’s singing those words to you and that he understands your story. They do it for the love of the music, despite the pay check at the end of the night. They have to provide for their family but they don’t let that overtake them and destroy their integrity."

Can we turn the tide?

Where is country music headed? Could things ever be the same as they were in country music's heyday of the 50's. Most likely not, life has changed to much and since country music reflects life things are bound to be different. Will it ever again have the heart and soul it had. We can only hope. "I don’t think people want to hear music that’s nothing more than an imitation of something in the past. They want someone to come along who’ll use the old material but add something that sounds fresh. Steve Earle does it, Lucinda Williams Tim O’Brien, and Iris Dement."

Malone admits he has no crystal ball and would fail if employed as a prophet, but he's willing to toss his best bets into the ring. "I think there’s always going to be a form of music that’s marketed as country. I think it’s going to continue to be very commercial, it’s not going to be something I care to listen to too much. The kind of music I want to listen to I’m going to have to look elsewhere I am just going to find new venues and find new forms of making it known like you do."

If there's hope Malone believes it will most likely be found on the fringes of the genre, where typically country music salvation has come from in the past. Rest assured, despite outward appearances country music is indeed alive and well, thriving in its underground home where millions of spurned country music fans seek out the music that's been hiding in dark recesses nurturing its industry inflicted wounds.

Throughout country music's history an obvious cyclic pattern has developed. Time and time again it's been fringe movements with solid artistic roots bases that have put country music back on its heels. The new creative genius is quickly fawned over in back rooms, DNA patterns intricately observed in order to best determine how to clone the hot new commodity. While the new found commodity is treasured and revered it leaves breathing room for spontaneity and creativity before the genetic formula is discovered and the cycle of monotony begins again.

"Commercial" used to cover a broader range of sounds and emotions in the not so distant past - from traditional/honky tonk  to country-pop to outlaws & renegades to western to comical novelty songs. For every "Crazy" there was a "Folsom Prison." For every "For The Good Times" there was an "Okie From Muskogee." For every "Achey Breaky" there was a "Straight Tequila Night." Somehow that eclectic evolution that appealed to a mass collective audience has been abandoned for a singular one. With country music painted in safe beige hues in order to appeal to a faceless urban society, country music has not only lost its uniqueness but it's heart and soul. Traditional country cannot, and should not be carried on the shoulders of Alan Jackson alone.

With mainstream radio and media re-defining the genre in order to meet mass appeal, more now than ever country music fans the effort to find real country music is going to have to come first hand. "I guess it becomes a matter of social direction. You have to reject that which you don’t like, which doesn’t have your values in it, and search for that which does. Happily for us there are people out there like Dale Watson, bluegrass musicians and all the great people coming out of Austin. Rather than moan and cry about what we don’t like we just search for what we do like and make it known to other people.”

Sadly, Malone believes that a proliferation of traditional country music may never be found in the conventional avenues as it once was. Evolution has taken it too far off the road. Instead of relying on mainstream radio and industry, traditional country music fans have been primarily left to their own devices when looking for country music that is relative to their lives. The only salvation for the music so many of us cherish has come full circle, back into the hands of those who write and sing it and those who listen to it. 

Laurie Joulie Take Country Back January 2003

TCB note: Obviously it's difficult to tackle such broad based topics in depth in the space and time we have. As a starting point we encourage those of you who are looking for more information, deeper analysis and discussion or more on the history of country music to seek out Bill's books:

Country Music, USA
Don't Get Above Your Raisin'

TCB's editorial: Does Political Correctness Belong In Country Music? also may be of interest.