Pop singers join stampede to Nashville

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33778, 26 February 1975, Page 4

Pop singers join stampede to Nashville

' By

B. DRUMMOND AYRES,

, of the Neu< York Tinted Neu s Nertve. 'hroiijlh N Z P A I

NASHVILLE (Tennessee).

four or five years ago, when Kris Kristofferson. the Rhodes Scholar drop-out whose tell-it-like-it-is-today lyrics have done as much as | anything to make country mod. shuffled on to the stage all hirsute and layered in leather. He rasped acceptance ’for a "Song of the Year” award for “Sundav Morning Coming Down.” And Hank Snow, cleanshaven and sequined in Western wear, was the epitome of country couture to many. Now Kristofferson's musical kin—albeit some distant —are everywhere. John Denver eschews Nashville for the Rockies, a sort of geopraphical heresy. But he is at the top of the country charts with “Back Home Again.” Tom T. Hall eschews the ! “opry,” the ultimate heresy, I because the “opry” eschews ; the fancy instruments he ! likes for a back-drop. He, too, is at the top of 'the charts. Then there is Wayion Jen- ' nings, who sometimes ieschews this world, but more often can be found putting it on with a macho beat, brought over from the rock planet he once inhabited. “If I’m not country and ! I’m not a Mongolian aviator, I I guess I’m just singing Wayion’s music,” he says. The charts show that they i I love Wayion’s music, out i there in the country. And what of Charlie Rich, I the silver-maned old rockI and-roller named “Top Male ! Vocalist of 1974” by the same people who honored (Miss Newton-John? Some insist his country is > now so ‘soft’ that he is really a crossover to pop. Yet his current hit, “She Calls me Baby,” is right at the top, fighting it out with John Denver’s "Back Home i Again.” "You just can’t argue with success,” says Bill Williams, of Billboard, He adds: “You have to keep in mind that half of this countrrv’s 6500 radio

Olivia Newton-John is a pretty Australian vocalist who has spent most of her musical career singing English pop tunes.

But a few weeks ago, having “crossed over" and joined the stampede to the Nashville sound with a country-style gold record called, “Let Me Be There,” she was voted, “Top Female Vocalist of the Year” by the Country Music Association, the major trad? organisation of country music. Most artists and technicians working on music row said, “Well, that’s show biz.” No matter that Miss Newton-John is basically a pop singer in a long white gown who goes around singing things like, “I Enjoy Country Music But I Don’t Know Much About It.” A few artists and tech- , nicians decided, however, that they would rather fight, | than see another pop or rock musician switch and steal all the glory. Miss NewtonJohn is only the latest in a 'long time.

Noted names I An association whose mem[bership includes not only [Paycheck and Walker, but [also Roy Acuff, Porter WagI oner, Conway Twitty, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton and 40 [others of like fame, is not [exactly a collection of alsoj rans. Sensing this, the trade 'association has vowed to [work closely with the new [group. There is even talk of a new “standard” for future awards. Those musicians and technicians who saw Miss Newton-John’s award as show biz reasoned that the choice had to be correct, since it was made by the rank and file of the Country Music Association. “That’s democracy,” said Jo Walker, the association’s executive director. So after several weeks of brooding, these. concerned pickers and singers have [boldly cracked country 'music’s one-big-happy-family ; facade.

■ Association formed | [ They have formed the’ [association of country enter-i tainers, an organisation | whose purpose is “to pre- 1 serve the identity of country! music as a separate and distinct form of entertainment.”; Membetship is limited ~“ex*i clusively to those persons: who make their living as country music entertainers [ and who identify themselves’ primarily as such.” “We don’t want somebody; out of another field coming in and taking away what we’ve worked so hard for all year,” says Johnny Paycheck, a singer who helped form the new group and one of a handful of members willing to talk openly about its grievances. Billy Walker. another singer who helped set up A.C.E., worries about what; he calls “the outside influences” now in country music.; He adds: “We’re mainly the [ ’people who made country[ ■ music what it is today, try-; ing to protect our business because we see it flaking off, in thousands of directions. ■ “We’re trying to keep it at | home.” “It is also the wave of the future, and a sure sign that; [country music is alive and [growing and unwilling to[ ■ stagnate,” added Bill Wil-’ iliams, the highly-respected Nashville editor of “Bill- 1 ■ board,” the news weekly of music.

Membership

i C.M.A. membership is made up of that burgeoning band [of people who pick, sing, re- [ cord, sell and broadcast country tunes. [ Collectively, they have made the country sound the hottest thing in the song industry, moving it to the profitable musical middle with the addition of mod (lyrics and pop instruments,( (such as harps, drums and[ ; trumpets. The people who formed the new association are also, members of the C.M.A. Some; have flirted with modern 'sounds, but most tend to be i traditionalists. Many were out paying: their musical dues in rowdy honky-tonks and at dusty state fairs, when country was still being put down by the masses as “hillbilly” all nasal and scratchy, and Olivia; Newton-John was just another kid growing up in a foreign land. The blow-up resulting from' this clash of musical wills is embarrassing to both sides. Unlike other segments of the strong industry, where bad-mouthing is a way of life, 1 country musicians pride themselves not only on the friendly folksiness of their tunes, but also on their own friendly folksiness. “We don’t want to fight with our friends like a bunch of children. We just want to be a positive force,” says Bill Anderson, a singer who is official spokesman for the new association. Some folks on music row maintain the blow-up was inevitable: that it has been building right along with the growing popularity of country music.

Trend set These people say that thei [lines were drawn that night,j

stations now pla\ country music a good part of the day. It used to be that fewer than a hundred were country. • Most of the disc jockeys out there grew up on rock and pop. "They’re not comfortable with the traditional nasal country sound, so they tend to play country that has some sounds they recognise. "The jocks are the people who really make the record sales, and they don't all have bad ears. “So most artists are going

to give them what they want. “Call it show biz if \,'u must. It's still country." Or as Tom I Hal! <ings m his latest hit, "Countr\ Is,” “Country is what von make it. Country is all in your mind"