The Galaxy Playlist

February 12, 2007

Just a few things I had laying about....

In the best of circumstances, I would have centered a theme around tonight's Grammy Awards. It becomes more and more difficult to do this in recent years, as the Grammys focus more and more on the mainstream, and less and less on high artistic achievement. Most of the performances we saw on the program tonight struck me as being more of the same. If this is reflective of the state of the music industry at the moment, then, to me at least, there is little wonder why music sales have been so notably recently sluggish (see the February issue of Spin Magazine). Maybe it isn't a question of incompatible song formats and DRM, but rather a lack of artistic drive.

At least tonight we saw some recognition of the Dixie Chicks, who we have championed on the Galaxy for a number of years now. This last album of theirs is more middle of the road, with none of the bluegrass that they did so well on "Home" back a few years ago. But it might be said that any music of theirs can be considered a statement about what is wrong with certain aspects of the music industry. When we break things down to the most basic of elements, music is music, whether it be bluegrass, country or rock, and they do their music consistently well. Sometimes we might place a little too much emphasis on what type of music a musician plays, and not enough on the fact that they play their music well, whatever it is that they play. So it was nice to see the Dixie Chicks rewarded for their efforts.

It was also nice to see the tribute, however brief, to the influence of Bob Wills. Although I have historically refused to play "New Country" material, and Bob Wills might be considered to be part of the lineage that resulted in "New Country", his music is substantially different. When I listen to Bob Wills, I hear a great deal of spirit in the work that they did (something that is a rarity in much of the "New Country" that I hear). This spirit freely translates into the musical excellence which inspired such greats as Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline and Willie Nelson, all of whom have recorded Wills' songs. I have to say that Carrie Underwood did a nice, respectful performance of New San Antonio Rose. It was also nice to see Johnny Gimble, one of many sidemen who played with Wills over the years, playing fiddle during the Grammy tribute, and the interaction between Gimble and Underwood, who appeared to enjoy the opportunity to work with such an esteemed sideman.

Unfortunately, I don't have much Grammy material this year - in fact, I don't have any, although I have had access to a few of the nominated albums over the course of the past year. But I thought it would be appropriate to start with the aforementioned Bob Wills.

Composer's name is listed where notable (i.e. Classical Performance, Jazz Performance).

For more information on any of the rock, pop and Jazz music featured on this program, I frequently utilize AllMusic , an excellent free database holding a huge plethora of information about music and the artists that make it.

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Last Update: February 12, 2007

Email: saxman@siu.edu

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