Cuma 15 May 2009, 10:03
Considering that The 9513 Group jumped up to 65 members this week, I was interested to see how that would affect the charts. Would we start to turn into every other group on Last.fm and have Radiohead among the top artists? Thankfully, no. Instead, the infusion of new blood created one of the best Top 10 charts we’ve ever had.
Sure, we’ve got our share of chart-toppers, with George Strait (22 listeners), Alan Jackson (19), Sugarland (18) and Martina McBride (17) all being well-represented. But right at the top, with 23 listeners, is Dwight Yoakam, who hasn’t had a Top 10 single on the Billboard charts since 1993 (sad, I know). I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for Dwight, as “Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc.” was the first cassette tape I ever bought with my own money, and he and Randy Travis introduced me to country music.
Speaking of, Travis is also in our Top 10 with 15 listeners, and he’s had exactly one Billboard Top 10 song in the 21st century. To go even further back into country music’s history, Johnny Cash (who charted on the Modern Rock chart better in this century than he did on country charts) and George Jones (no Top 10s since 1988) also crack the Top 10 with 17 listeners each. It’s nice to see a little bit of every decade from the 1950s through the 2000s represented here.
The Top Albums chart is a little more topical, with two of Sugarland’s albums, Enjoy The Ride and Love On The Inside having 9 and 8 listeners, respectively. Also with 8 listeners are Some Hearts from Carrie Underwood, Time Well Wasted by Brad Paisley and Shine from Martina McBride. The bottom part of the Top 10 gets more eclectic, with albums from Ashton Shepherd, Dixie Chicks, Emmylou Harris and Cash appearing. And the 4 of you who listened to something off of Beyonce’s I Am… Sasha Fierce need to report to the Dale Watson School of Reeducation immediately.
As has been pointed out on this site and elsewhere, we’re at the 20th anniversary of Keith Whitley’s death, and some people took the time to replay some of his greatest moments, with “When You Say Nothing At All” (5 listeners) and “I’m No Stranger To The Rain” (4 listeners) both appearing in the upper half of the Top Singles chart. Leading the way with 6 listeners was Jones’ “The Race Is On,” Sugarland’s “The Last Country Song” and Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me.” That would be your “one of these things is not like the others” moment for the week. Also in the Top 10 are something old and something new from Reba McEntire (“Fancy” and “Strange” respectively), a couple more Sugarland tracks and “That Kind of Happy” by Emily West. Jim Malec’s review of West’s single asked country radio to play it and country fans to buy it. So far, half his mission is being accomplished.
Every now and again, I like to add a recommendation for free music. Sometimes it’s a couple of free tracks offered by Last.fm or elsewhere. This week, it’s a free album brought to you by a couple of Bloodshot Records veterans. Deano Waco Meats The Purveyors is a Dean Schlabowske (singer/guitarist for the Waco Brothers and Dollar Store) solo album backed by the Meat Purveyors, a Texas kinda-bluegrass group — maybe punkgrass would be more appropriate. Their epic “Madonna Trilogy” was a highlight of a Bloodshot singles compilation released a few years ago.
The album isn’t the least bit bluegrassy, as Deano’s electric guitar is front and center. The mandolin and acoustic guitar strumming in the background help keep things on the country side, but it’s got more than a few rocking moments. Deano’s bar-band growl of a voice isn’t radio-ready, but it’s warm and inviting just the same. The combination of the two acts works pretty well, though a few songs would definitely benefit from a full band.
A few of my favorites are “Workin’ For The Devil”, “Maid Of The Mist” and “Box Store.” Download it for free at www.deanowaco.com. Thanks for reading, and we’ll be back next week.