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Songs that weren't country to begin with

Jack Ingram has a song called "Lips of an Angel" which was also a hit by the rock band Hinder. The lead singer of hinder sounds like he as a mouth full of gravel. His vocal chords are totally trashed. Heard them live and it was worse than the CD. Jack Ingram's better. You can actually understand the words
 
^^^ I miss hearing Jack on the radio. To me, several of his songs were really good: "Where Ever You Are", "Love You", "That's A Man", and the re-recording of his song named "Barbie Doll".

God bless you and him always!!!

Holly
 
firepoint525 said:
Back to the countdown, I had no idea that the "Brownsville" referred to in "Delta Dawn" was the one in west Tennessee (between Memphis and Jackson) until recently. Even Stevens (Eddie Rabbitt's longtime collaborator) interviewed Alex Harvey (songwriter of "Delta Dawn") for his "originals" show, and that is how I learned that.
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Along those lines, until a few years ago I actually thought Ricky Skaggs' July 1983 #1 "Highway 40 Blues" actually referred to US-40 in the Midwest (now essentially parallel to or multiplexed with I-70), rather than I-40 in Tennessee (which ironically has US-70 at its side in parts of that state).
 
vchimpanzee said:
I didn't. But the only Laura Branigan song I actually like is "How Am I Supposed to Live without You", except for the loud guitar (definitely better than the mess Michael Bolton makes of it). At least the station I listened to in the 80s cut out the introduction to "Self Control", though parts of that were pretty bad even then.
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I think the DJ 45 of "Self Control" had the shortened intro.
 
BTW, I Will Always Love You was first recorded as a traditional country song by Dolly in 1974, went to #1 on the country charts, in 1982, she re-recorded the song in a more contemporary for the time arrangement and it did get airplay on AC radio and was again a #1 hit on the country radio. The 3rd time that Dolly charted with I Will Always Love You was with the duet with Vince Gill that peaked at #15 in 1995.
 
Tim from Springfield said:
Along those lines, until a few years ago I actually thought Ricky Skaggs' July 1983 #1 "Highway 40 Blues" actually referred to US-40 in the Midwest (now essentially parallel to or multiplexed with I-70), rather than I-40 in Tennessee (which ironically has US-70 at its side in parts of that state).
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Highway 70 parallels I-40 all the way through the Volunteer State (although 70S (aka the "Memphis-Bristol highway"), 70N, or 70A (alt. 70) are closer to I-40 in places).
eriedj said:
I think the DJ 45 of "Self Control" had the shortened intro.
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I remember WRVR in Memphis playing that version. I just assumed that it was their own custom edit. Although I doubt that they would cut that out now, assuming that they are even still playing it at all.
landtuna said:
Definitely not a Country song even when sung by a Country artist (Dolly). Houston's version was just screaming.
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Definitely a country song in its original context, but just totally hijacked by Whitney.
"Islands In The Stream" would be another Parton song which is not Country.
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Not a Parton song at all, just a Bee Gees cover version. On one of Kenny's albums at the time that was nothing but Gibb cover songs. He was getting REALLY desperate for crossover tunes (after having previously worked with Lionel Richie) by that time.
 
landtuna said:
Definitely not a Country song even when sung by a Country artist (Dolly). Houston's version was just screaming.

"Islands In The Stream" would be another Parton song which is not Country.
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Got a point there. Probably be the same if Mariah Carry sings it..Houston's version was OK but I was never was a fan of looong dragged out words in a song.It sounds like screaming/crying to me too.
 
Lionel Richie's "Stuck on You" was played on Country stations when it was new. Nowadays I only hear it on Soft AC stations.
 
kevtronics said:
Lionel Richie's "Stuck on You" was played on Country stations when it was new.
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I was surprised to read that, but you're correct, it charted as high as #24 on the national country radio chart. A few years later, Lionel released "Deep River Woman" with Alabama, and that song peaked at #10. I seem to recall it was on Motown, not RCA. I don't know if RCA promoted it. But I know Alabama & Lionel performed the song that year on the CMA Awards.
 
I remember back in the 1970's and 80's when 1050 WHN NYC played alot of cross over pop hit on the station.Probably too many to list but I enjoyed it.Linda Ronstadt,Eagles,Marshall Tucker too name just a few.
 
WPPCProductions said:
I remember back in the 1970's and 80's when 1050 WHN NYC played alot of cross over pop hit on the station.Probably too many to list but I enjoyed it.Linda Ronstadt,Eagles,Marshall Tucker too name just a few.
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And at the same time, a lot of country legends recorded songs written by all three of those. Waylon had a huge country hit with Marshall Tucker's "Can't You See." Conway recorded the Eagles song Heartache Tonight. There was nothing country about Conway's version. It was a note for note copy. Ronstadt was so admired by country stars that she was included in The Trio with Emmylou Harris & Dolly Parton. Ronstadt recorded Wanda Jackson's Silver Threads & Golden Needles and Roy Orbison's Blue Bayou. Speaking of Roy, do you consider him rock or country? His records were made in Nashville using Nashville musicians.
 
TheBigA said:
Conway recorded the Eagles song Heartache Tonight. There was nothing country about Conway's version.
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Conway had a string of cover hits in the early '80s that also included "Slow Hand," "The Rose" and "Three Times a Lady." He added nothing to them but his down-home Mississippi accent. The arrangement of his "Slow Hand" featured guitars more prominently than the Pointer Sisters' pop/r&b version did, but there was no essential difference in the delivery of the lyrics.
 
CTListener said:
Conway had a string of cover hits in the early '80s that also included "Slow Hand," "The Rose" and "Three Times a Lady." He added nothing to them but his down-home Mississippi accent.
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I never met him, but people I know who did said he was of the opinion that if he recorded it, it would be a country hit, regardless of the song.
 
TheBigA said:
I was surprised to read that, but you're correct, it charted as high as #24 on the national country radio chart. A few years later, Lionel released "Deep River Woman" with Alabama, and that song peaked at #10. I seem to recall it was on Motown, not RCA. I don't know if RCA promoted it. But I know Alabama & Lionel performed the song that year on the CMA Awards.
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I don't remember ever hearing a country station play "Stuck On You", but I do remember "Deep River Woman" getting some time of course because Alabama was a part of the performance.

God bless you and them and Lionel always!!!

Holly
 
TheBigA said:
I never met him, but people I know who did said he was of the opinion that if he recorded it, it would be a country hit, regardless of the song.
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Ralph Emery used to call him "the best friend a song ever had" when he'd talk about him on "Nashville Now." Although he had none of the personality of contemporaries like Cash, Nelson, Jennings and Haggard, his distinctive voice won him a legion of loyal fans who supported him on radio, in concert and at the record stores.

I saw him in concert with George Jones and Haggard in Springfield, Mass., a couple of years before his death and he barely budged on stage and couldn't have said more than a dozen words to the audience through his whole set, but no one cared as they warmly applauded the nonstop string of hits he delivered. He was a singer, pure and simple.
 
^^^ Wow, thank you for letting me know what I didn't miss out on. I am glad that Conway gave the crowd what they came for, but in my opinion, there should be something in between the songs. I love when the singers have a story or two about themselves or the songs that they sing. My most favorite person that I have seen in concert is most definitely Alison Krauss because in my opinion, you get your money's worth with her. I don't know if it is her every intention, but she is funny in between the songs that she and the guys sing. :D :D :D

God bless you and AKUS always!!!

Holly (a fan of Alison for 25 years now)
 
James Otto Sweet Heart said:
^^^ Wow, thank you for letting me know what I didn't miss out on. I am glad that Conway gave the crowd what they came for, but in my opinion, there should be something in between the songs. I love when the singers have a story or two about themselves or the songs that they sing. My most favorite person that I have seen in concert is most definitely Alison Krauss because in my opinion, you get your money's worth with her. I don't know if it is her every intention, but she is funny in between the songs that she and the guys sing. :D :D :D

God bless you and AKUS always!!!

Holly (a fan of Alison for 25 years now)
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May I recommend Kathy Mattea? I saw her in concert for the first time 30 years ago this August and a couple of dozen times since. She puts on a great show, full of funny stories and slightly off-color asides, and of course that rich voice (lower in register now but still a pleasure to listen to) and consistently outstanding backing musicians. These days, her shows are more folk/gospel than country, although she still plays plenty of hits and personal favorites from her chart-topping years. Definitely worth the price of admission if she's in your area.
 
^^^ I've never seen Kathy in concert, but I did get to meet her at my one and only Fan Fair (now known as the CMA Music Festival) in 2000. She was great!

God bless you and her always!!!

Holly

P.S. Her Good News release is one of my most favorite albums to play at Christmas time. :) :) :)
 
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