Hello
friends! Tonight, the Dial transmits a signal to you direct from
Nashville, Tennessee, from almost four decades hence. A song that
playfully comments on the then-contemporary “urban cowboy” trend,
while asserting that the singer was always country, even when the
genre wasn’t necessarily the “hip thing” to like. Southern
Belles and Proper Gentlemen alike… put your hands together for Miss
Barbara Mandrell, and “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t
Cool”.
Written
by Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan, “I Was Country…” finds
Barbara positioning herself as one of the torchbearers of classic
country in terms of music and style, at a time when
country was crossing over to the pop charts in a big way. She
states “now look at everybody trying to be what I was
then”, and later follows that with “what you see ain’t
nuthin’ new”. This makes reference to the influence that the
country music scene held on pop culture in the late '70s and early
‘80s, and counters that by saying Barbara had always been true
country the whole time, and she’s not simply jumping on the
bandwagon.
The
lead single from 1981’s
Barbara Mandrell Live
album, and a #1
smash hit on the US Country singles charts, the tune surprisingly never crossed
over to the Hot 100, which may have suited Barbara and her songwriters just fine, given the song’s context. She only reached
the pop top 40 once, with her 1979 cover of Luther Ingram’s “(If
Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right”, which landed
at US #31 on the pop charts.
Funny
thing about the Barbara Mandrell Live album. True to it’s
name, it is a collection of live recordings of many of her prior
hits, with one exception… that being today’s spotlighted track.
Yep, even though you hear the roar of the audience throughout, and
especially when the guest artist joins in (more on this in a moment),
those enthusiastic fans are actually just a replayed loop of applause
and cheering, mixed into a standard studio recording of the song. AH
HA! Studio trickery! (This is rather apparent when you notice the
same loud and borderline obnoxious “WHOO-HOOO” popping up several
times during the song.)
So who is that guest artist I mentioned? None other than Mr. George Jones, a legend with over fifty top 10 country
hits beginning in 1955, including thirteen chart toppers, among them the heart-wrenching "He Stopped Loving Her Today" from 1980. Jones for whatever reason, is not credited on Mandrell's record, despite being
identified by name in the lyrics themselves.
I assume this was
because of the “old standby” problem of competing
record labels, (Mandrell was on MCA, and Jones was on Epic),
but if the labels had issues with crediting George on the record label, then
why was he approved to sing on the track in the first place? I
can’t rationalize any good reason why this shouldn’t have been
billed as a duet between the two icons. Seems it would have only
benefited them both.
Growing up in the early '80s, my family and I used to watch the variety show Barbara
Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters on NBC,
and I enjoyed their songs and cute comedy bits, plus I had a bit of a
crush on youngest sister Irlene. (Irlene... call me?) However, the only sketch I recall
anything about now was one in which Barbara was shown playing a Pac-Man arcade game on stage – it was not a mockup cabinet
or prop, but the authentic machine. Being an arcade fanatic, it makes sense why I would recall
that detail all these years later. Really wish I could find that clip to
see it again.
“I
Was Country…” also reminds me of my grandma, who owned a huge
70’s woodgrain Zenith console record player with 8 track and AM/FM
radio. I LOVED this enormous and beautiful piece of furniture that
always had great tunes pouring forth from its speakers. As near as I
can recall, the bulk of my grandma’s vinyl records were
contemporary (‘70s and early ‘80s) country. Barbara was
definitely in the mix, as was Alabama, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton,
Ronnie Milsap, Eddie Rabbit, Crystal Gayle, Charlie Pride, Mickey Gilley, and Tanya Tucker. Along with some easy listening
like 101 Strings Orchestra, and some 50’s vocal groups like The
Platters thrown in. I'm certain that my often referenced love of country music
from this era was not just informed by the songs that crossed over to top 40, but was equally entrenched in my grandma's vinyl collection.
On a side note, and I
don’t typically reference parody tunes, but in 2003 Cletus T. Judd
(the “Weird Al” of country music) recorded a tune called “I
Was Country When Country Wasn’t Pop”. Goofing on the late '90s
and early 2000s trend of country artists incorporating more pop and r&b
styles in their music in order to appeal to a larger pop market, it contains lyrics
like “Now it’s more like Britney Spears than it is Loretta
Lynn…” It’s worth a chuckle, and worth a listen. (Cletus
even got George Jones to revisit his lines from the original song!)
One
final thought… inspired by a lyric in Barbara’s hit, I recently
tried the Southern tradition of peanuts in my Coke a few months ago.
Ultimately, I wasn’t impressed. It wasn’t bad, I just didn’t
see what the big deal was. I probably would have felt differently if
I had grown up doing so. However, I remain impressed by Barbara’s
song, with it’s sweet, yet assertive lyrics stating that she has remained
true to herself and her craft, while so many others chase trends.
So
check it out below and let me know – what are some of your favorite
country tunes that you never hear on the radio anymore? Do YOU put
peanuts in YOUR Coke? Post me a message and let’s chat! And as
always, thanks for checking out Kyle’s Radio Dial, where the more you listen... the more you remember!
