Reba McEntire Wants The Music to “Get Back to the Real Strong Country”
Reba McEntire is about to release a new album on April 5th called Stronger Than The Truth, and this release may be way more significant that just a late career entry by an aging star that country radio has long since put out to pasture. Reba already promised us it was going to be the most country record of her career, and judging by the early singles, this is not hyperbole. And it’s not just country, some of these songs are pretty incredible entries for any genre of music, and may challenge for some of the best in Reba’s legendary career.
But Reba’s career hasn’t always been country. She’s most certainly veered well into the pop and contemporary realm. But in a new interview with the PBS New Hour, she reveals that this wasn’t always her call, just like it isn’t for a lot of artists who are signed to country music’s major labels.
“Every time I would try to do something very country, the record label or somebody would want me to go more contemporary, or what mainstream was at the time, or what radio was playing at the time,” Reba says. “So it’s just back to basics for me. It’s my heart. It’s me. At this stage, I’ve been wanting to do it forever. But finally I get to.”
Reba also spoke openly about Bro-Country, though she didn’t use the term specifically. She also let it be known where she wished country music would go in the future.
“Oh, it’s the Bro trend,” Reba said. “You know, ‘Hey Bro, let’s go down to the river and catch some fish,’ and everybody’s a good ol’ boy, and that’s the Bro music. I think it’s kind of going away from that a little bit. I would really like it to get back to the real strong country, the country of Merle Haggard, Conway Twitty, Ronnie Milsap, Mel Tillis. I miss that kind of country.”
Reba may be right that aside from some exceptions, country music is becoming more country in the mainstream in the aftermath of Bro-Country’s dominance, with artists like Luke Combs and Midland finding serious traction in their career, and even George Strait reappering on the radio. Reba’s Stronger Than The Truth may give country another serious nudge in that direction.
Reba also addressed the ongoing women in country music issue. When announcing the nominees for the ACM Awards recently, Reba remarked, “I’m missing my girlfriends on this” when reading off the all male nominees for Entertainer of the Year. When talking with PBS News Hour, she also made sure to underscore that for any artist to succeed, hard work and sacrifice are necessary.
“Didn’t surprise me,” Reba said about the ACM nominations. “But, when anything like that happens, I just go, ‘Us gals got to work harder. We got to support each other. We got to get in there. It’s gotta change.’ “
The interviewer then read a quote from Reba from a separate interview.
“There’s a lot of people, a lot of girl singers that are 10,000 times better than me, but they don’t have the drive, they don’t have the work ethic, they’re not willing to sacrifice what it takes to do this,” the interviewer quoted. “What did you mean?”
“Just that,” Reba answered. “They want it, but they don’t want to have to do everything you have to do to get there. You have to stay away from home a lot. You have to leave your kids home with a nanny. You have to say no to a lot of great things you would get to do at home with your family, like missing your kid’s championship hockey game. A lot of that stuff, I wish if I could go back, what would I do? How would I do it again, knowing what I know now? But you can’t look back. You can’t live on regret.”
Reba McEntire will be hosting the 2019 ACM Awards on Sunday, April 7th. Her entire new record is streaming at the moment on NPR.
Music Jedi
March 30, 2019 @ 8:47 am
Those Oklahoma women know how to put their head down and get the job done! I should know – I’ve been married to one for many years. Really looking forward to Reba’s new record and the direction it could steer things.
Lil Dale savin country music hall of fame member class of 2015
March 31, 2019 @ 6:56 am
harps cost money n I aint got it its my owen falt I sappose
Carol
March 30, 2019 @ 9:15 am
Reba still has an amazing voice. I really doubt there are many other singers who have voices 10,000 times better than her, lol.
cilla
March 30, 2019 @ 9:30 am
Reba is the real deal. Nuff said.
Mike W.
March 30, 2019 @ 9:51 am
While Reba should be commended for speaking out, at the end of the day as we have seen with other artists, this won’t move the needle one iota on Music Row. Much like news media is now crafted to rile our inner-tribalism up, modern Country music is entirely dictated by what can get trending on YouTube or Spotify. Record companies will continue to cycle through whatever trend they think the tweens and frat boys want.
I don’t see this trend changing until the industry collapses, and even then I worry what would get caught in the fallout.
Lois
March 30, 2019 @ 10:38 am
No enjoying this new stuff at all.
What happen to country?
linda burkhead
March 30, 2019 @ 10:56 am
Awesome!!,it’s like going back in the good ol Reba day’s.I loved that song,bring us some more!!!!! All of our great singers,Alan Jackson,George Strait,Brooks& Dunn,bring them all back.
Ceeceebee
March 30, 2019 @ 11:10 am
It’s funny…
Reba came to prominence at a time when country traditionalists were taking over the charts (Strait, Jackson, Skaggs, Travis) and pushing out artists who had veered more toward contemporary/pop sounds (Rogers, Mandrell, Milsap, Gayle).
She was part of that return to “real country” but as time wore on she was pushed more contemporary by radio, record labels, etc.
I am very much looking forward to this new record from her and am glad she can be a leader in country music for both women and traditionalists.
Fiddle Me This
March 30, 2019 @ 11:31 am
Didn’t she praise Dustin Lynch & invited him to the Grand ole Opry?
Kevin Davis
March 30, 2019 @ 12:40 pm
Yes, she did the announcement speech for inducting him into the Opry. But, if you watch it, she actually talks solely about her own experience with the Opry and its greatness. She doesn’t say anything laudatory about Dustin himself, while of course not saying anything derogatory either. To be honest, I highly doubt she knows much of anything about him or his songs. It’s routine for the Opry to get an established member to do the presentation during a regular Opry night.
Robert R Roggow
March 30, 2019 @ 12:10 pm
‘Bout Time.
Jim Seay
March 30, 2019 @ 12:27 pm
It don’t mean a thing if it don’t have that twang. ……Yes. Pedal Steel Guitar… Use it please.
Jason Johnson
March 30, 2019 @ 8:17 pm
Yes, please. MORE fiddle and steel guitar.
Lugnut
March 30, 2019 @ 12:33 pm
On my knees, thankful for Reba.
Brenda
March 30, 2019 @ 12:50 pm
Congratulatios on your new album, can’t wait to hear it all. No one will ever sing like Reba. I wish radio would play what we want to hear . I wish we could vote for the artist, there would be a lot more country votes from me. No more Sam Hunt, Brothers Osborne, ect…. kind of music.
Now they can all sing, just not country. This New Country everyone calls country should be in the pop/ rock area of music.
Thank you Reba for taking it back to Country
DS
March 30, 2019 @ 8:42 pm
How the hell can you lump Brothers Osborne in with Sam Hunt?
Lefty Throckmorton
March 31, 2019 @ 1:15 pm
Sister, you have to ditch current-day North American radio if you really want to hear new ‘real’ country or anything else that isn’t pop-I’ve done that, and I feel better (if you can’t get rid of radio completely, subscribe to satellite radio and any satellite radio channel that has the kind of country you want to listen to.)
Ben
March 30, 2019 @ 12:56 pm
Yes please !! Real country music again!! Steel guitar and fiddles. Not like this new junk.
jeannie
March 30, 2019 @ 1:13 pm
Who remembers Reba and Faith Hill sitting in from row seats at the CMA’S THE NIGHT GEORGE STRAIT and ALAN JACKSON sung “MURDER ON MUSIC ROW.” If looks could kill seems there would have been two dead ducks on stage. Good for George and Alan. Country’s best Country Singers. Does Reba still have involvement with management for Shelton and Kelly Clarkson alone with Blackstocks…….
Mark
March 30, 2019 @ 2:37 pm
WHAT HAPPEN TO COUNTRY MUSIC;
As the younger me generation abandoned their roots of living country and the rules we lived by and started catering to the mamby pambies and alternative life styles. That is what killed country!!
Keepin it Country
March 30, 2019 @ 2:59 pm
I disagree with that I’m 17 and I still enjoy Real Country. I listen to Hank to Waylon to George Strait. And all I can say is radio country is dead, Bit country ain’t dead yet.
MH
March 30, 2019 @ 6:02 pm
^^^this “young’un gets it^^^
Mike W.
March 30, 2019 @ 9:14 pm
Nah. What happened is the bean counters at radio and the labels discovered there was a ton of money in Country music, while other genres were in decline. Once that happened, it was all over.
Plus, I see just as many 40 and 50 year old listening to Jason Aldean, as young folks. Meanwhile the audience at a Tyler Childers or Cody Jinks show is primarily young people. Your trying to connect cultural issues with shifts in Country music, but there is little evidence of a correlation.
MH
March 31, 2019 @ 8:41 am
^^This.
Pete Beickert
March 30, 2019 @ 3:59 pm
Somebody please….Join Reba and bring back the true country sound and please dont forget the good old cowboy music.
Larry
March 30, 2019 @ 4:13 pm
It took many female artists to say “hey, I’ve got something to sing about, too!’. Many people today don’t know that Loretta Lynn was the first female country artist to have s LP certified Gold by RIAA, and first female Entertainer Of The Year back in 1972.
albert
March 30, 2019 @ 4:23 pm
I’ve been listening to the new Rea record on NPR and I AM SMILING .
Not only is it a collection of well-written , emotion and experience -fueled songs but Reba makes sure those songs are the stars of the record- not her voice . And her voice is wonderfully restrained and honest throughout . And I haven’t even mentioned the superb arrangements , traditional instrumentation and fine ,fine production .
THIS is the good stuff ….the stuff we’ve been crying for ….the stuff a younger demographic NEEDS to hear , if they get the opportunity through radio or streaming , and take note of . THIS is how its done when it really DOES start with a song and not a finger-snap hand-clap drum loop clone of the latest POP record .
i have always been a Reba fan . Now I’m a Reba FAN !
Anthony
March 30, 2019 @ 8:22 pm
Amen, Albert. I was going to comment but you said everything I wanted to say. I’ve spending a lot of time on that NPR link too.
Kay Davis
March 30, 2019 @ 4:34 pm
I agree!!! The country has not been the real country music. I quit listening if it is modern country.
patty Hill
March 30, 2019 @ 4:38 pm
I love Reba.She has a beautiful voice. I can listen to her and Loretta Lynn all day. They are beautiful inside and out .
Willie Potter
March 30, 2019 @ 4:49 pm
The Queen
King Honky Of Crackershire
March 30, 2019 @ 4:56 pm
Well look at that. Another sellout has come crawling back.
Conrad Fisher
March 30, 2019 @ 6:35 pm
Grumpy pants. You are not helping.
albert
April 1, 2019 @ 5:00 pm
way more fun watching ‘sellouts’ come back than watching the good ones sellout
LimaOhio09
April 1, 2019 @ 9:30 pm
She never sold out. She had big dreams. She chased them. She achieved them. That takes guts!
Dan
March 30, 2019 @ 5:06 pm
It’s great to have Reba leading the charge for traditional country music again. I’d love to see this album win a Grammy! It’s one of the best of her career for sure. Other great songs on it are Swing All Night Long With You, In His Mind, and The Bar’s Gettin Lower.
hoptowntiger94
March 30, 2019 @ 6:44 pm
The Bar’s Getting Lower is probably the best song on the album.
King Honky Of Crackershire
March 30, 2019 @ 5:12 pm
…….“Every time I would try to do something very country, the record label or somebody would want me to go more contemporary, or what mainstream was at the time, or what radio was playing at the time,”…so it’s just back to basics for me. It’s my heart. It’s me. At this stage, I’ve been wanting to do it forever. But finally I get to.”……….
TRANSLATION: “C(c)ountry Music and the culture that birthed it were never important enough to me for me to care about protecting them, so I sold my a$$ out and made a fortune off their destruction. Now that my commercial career is over, I’m so excited to release this token passion project.”
MH
March 30, 2019 @ 6:04 pm
C’mon Honk, you know better – once that contract is signed, the label runs the show.
Michelle
March 31, 2019 @ 12:13 pm
@MH – She had enough clout after only a few years to record the types of songs she wanted to record.
Luckyoldsun
March 30, 2019 @ 7:22 pm
That’s so incredibly stupid.
A major recording star has so much invested in his/her career and so many professionals and other workers participating in and depending on it that they have to make music that fits the market.
Especially for someone like Reba McEntire who does not write songs or arrangements her music is a collaborative project.
Blackh4t
March 30, 2019 @ 11:48 pm
Agree with Honky, this sounds like totally pandering. Also, the quotes make her sound like an egoist and its about the career and not the music.
And thirdly, stop it with the name dropping. We get it, its now cool to drop the names of the rhinestone country era.
Start name dropping John Prine etc and i might listen.
LimaOhio09
April 1, 2019 @ 9:43 pm
I don’t think it’s fair to fault someone for chasing dreams. That’s exactly what Reba did. As did Dolly. Now that Dolly is in her mid 70s people can’t get enough. She was chasing dreams also, then came back around to country/bluegrass. She achieved a lot. As did Reba. We should applaud people like that. Anyone seen a Reba show from the 1990s? How about her building downtown? How about her jet leasing company? Starstruck Farms? Everything under her Starstruck umbrella that including songwriters, producers, recording studios. The Reba brand of the 1990s employed a lot of folks. That’s a lot of people depending on you for a paycheck. I totally get why during those years you would crank out what’s popular and current.
Dave
April 3, 2019 @ 3:39 pm
I’m a Reba fan, got a bunch of her albums and loved her first sitcom, but I know when someone is chasing the dollar. She has admitted to being incredibly competitive and driven, so I can only infer that ‘The Career’ mattered more than the maintenance of traditional country. That’s not a criticism as such. It was her call to make. Neither am I saying she didn’t like the material offered to her, just that she also recognised
its crossover appeal.
Reba stopped releasing traditional country songs like ‘You’re the First Time I’ve Thought About Leaving’ and ‘Little Rock’ and switched to string-laden power ballads like ‘And Still’ and ‘Forever Love’. And it worked. She reaped plenty of awards through using this strategy. She extended her brand into television and theatre and won even more fans. Now she’s second only to Dolly in status.
It’s worth pointing out that George Strait has also not been as country as he probably wants us to think he is. ‘Blue Clear Sky’, ‘True’, ‘Marina Del Rey’, ‘You Look So Good in Love’, ‘Nobody In His Right Kind Would’ve Left Her’, ‘It Ain’t Cool’, ‘Meanwhile’, ‘Run’ – and lots more – are great songs, but they are ’70s-style country pop. They’re Glen Campbell with less strings. Heck, ‘Love Without End, Amen’ is a Campbell song if ever there was one. What Strait wasn’t was ’90s country pop of the Lonestar, Martin’s McBride kind, so he was only traditional in relative terms. Really, Alan Jackson, Mark Chesnutt and Randy Travis are more country than either of these two artists. R
To be clear, I’m not knocking either. Just this afternoon, I put Strait and Reba hits on my iPod. They’re songs for the ages.
tvfan
April 3, 2019 @ 9:24 pm
Glen Campbell did a rap song.
Keepin it Country
March 30, 2019 @ 5:32 pm
Hey trigger, Are you going to review George Strait’s new album. I realize your pretty busy. Just curious
Trigger
March 30, 2019 @ 6:32 pm
George Strait’s new album is being considered for review.
Ray
March 30, 2019 @ 6:27 pm
I think “Freedom” is one of the best singles on radio. PLAY IT!
hoptowntiger94
March 30, 2019 @ 6:42 pm
Do you consider it a country song?
Ray
March 30, 2019 @ 7:19 pm
I am confused by the comments calling Reba a crossover artists and the comparisons of her music to Faith Hill. Reba’s singing and speaking voice is as country as it gets. I don’t remember hearing Reba having a single on Pop Top 40. I think “Freedom” shows a great COUNTRY voice singing better than half of these county/pop tarts half her age. Reba never had to pose in her bra on an album cover to get someone interested in her music. She has always kept it classy.
hoptowntiger94
March 30, 2019 @ 7:24 pm
I didn’t say anything about Faith Hill, but the Freedom reminds me of a Celine Dion song circa Falling into You.
hoptowntiger94
March 30, 2019 @ 6:39 pm
… except, I’ve been streaming the album on NPR and although there are a few exceptional country moments (there have always been a few country moments on everyone Reba album), it’s still the standard Reba formula for her albums: country, pop, and adult contemporary. I liken the album to ‘If You See Him’… some swings, waltzes, a lot of adult contemporary schmaltz and power ballads. We’ll get into the pitfalls of this album when Trig reviews it, but this narrative of this album being a return to her country roots is just false. It’s nowhere as near as country My Kind of Country or Have I Got a Deal for You.
So I think Reba has got caught up in this manufactured narrative and will look silly in the end.
Shane
March 30, 2019 @ 8:49 pm
Wow. Everything you have said has proven you know nothing about music. Especially Reba’s. The only thing that came close to being an old school country track on the album IF YOU SEE HIM was wrong night. The new album has at least four. Which makes me wonder if you’ve even heard it?!
#RebaQueenofCountry
hoptowntiger94
March 31, 2019 @ 5:58 am
Lonely Alone was very country, too. The point being, there maybe a few more countrier tracks on this album than previous albums released of late, but it’s not as country as the media and Reba are letting us to believe. It’s slips right back into glossy, mawkish AC pretty quickly.
My first concert was Reba in 1990 .. Reba, Ricky Van Shelton, and Doug Stone. I’ve seen her in concert 13 times (the last in 2008). So I know a little about Reba.
LimaOhio09
April 1, 2019 @ 6:55 pm
Wow. I’m stunned off your comments. First off, If You See Him was produced by David Malloy. Google him and his previous work up to that point cira 1998. If You See Him (the album) was Reba’s most bombastic overproduced slick body of work possibly of her entire career. There is 1 country song on the album, “Wrong Night”. The song you speak of “Lonely Alone”, with it’s heavy climatic drums and again over production are NOT country. “Stronger Than The Truth” is the most thoroughly country production Reba’s done since the 1980s. It makes me question what speakers did you listen to the album on? Did you listen in entirety? It’s fiddle. Its Steel. It’s raw. It’s emotion.
hoptowntiger94
April 1, 2019 @ 7:22 pm
Reba’s longtime producer Tony Brown is also listed as a producer on ‘If You See Him’. I’d bet he had way more input than David Malloy on that album. And by have “Wrong Night” on that album doesn’t make it country, having 4-5 country tracks on ‘Stronger Than The Truth’ doesn’t make it a pure country album. I want to give Trig the opportunity to first post his review of the album, but I have a real hard time with classifying 5 songs on STTT as “country.” And that’s a lot when there’s this narrative of it being a return to her country roots.
Also, given more time, I now liken this new album to ‘The Last One to Know.”
LimaOhio09
April 1, 2019 @ 9:25 pm
Tony Brown was only brought in to produce the title cut “If You See Him/If You See Her” for MCA Records and Tom DuBois brought in from Arista Records (Brooks & Dunn) The rest of the album was produced by David Malloy and given his slick pop sound. David Malloy also did the pop remixes of “And Still” and “Fallin Out Of Love” for the European market. Given that was the kind of music Reba was cranking out in her 1990s prime, it doesn’t seem fair to discredit Stronger Than The Truth as ‘not country enough’. Maybe we can agree it’s not 100% country, but it’s 100% more country than anything she’s put out in decades! It pretty damn country.
NPC
March 30, 2019 @ 6:41 pm
Is Reba’s assertion that female artists simply aren’t working hard enough a fair assessment in 2019, especially in light of the “Tomatogate” controversy in 2015? Reba had numerous female contemporaries also getting radio airplay during her reign in the 80s and 90s (e.g., Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Kathy Mattea, Lori Morgan, Roseanne Cash, Patty Loveless, etc.). However, the shift to heavily male-oriented radio playlists didn’t seem to start until the late 2000s with the likes of artists such as Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, and the like dominating the charts while female acts popular in the early 2000s (e.g., Jo Dee Messina, Faith Hill, Sara Evans, Jamie O’Neal, Sherrié Austin, SHeDAISY, etc.) basically vanished. Are we to say these women stopped working hard and simply gave up?
The mentality of radio executives, marketers, programmers, and analysts seemed to take a hard turn towards excluding women from radio, and we’re still feeling the effects over a decade later. Reba had a much more level playing field in the 80s and 90s that didn’t necessarily require fitting a certain mold or putting oneself in compromising positions to get ahead in the industry. Nowadays, unless a woman can be used as a Trojan Horse to inject pop into country or is pushed towards inappropriate relations for a career boost, no amount of hard work will seemingly get a woman on the radio unless she’s an Underwood or Lambert. So, Reba, it’s not that the women of modern country don’t want it as bad as you did; it’s that the deck is stacked against them.
Erik North
March 31, 2019 @ 5:54 pm
@ NPC:
And then there’s also the thing about how not all female acts are going to sound the same. If there’s one thing that Nashville ought to get rid of something fierce, it’s this “cookie cutter” mentality the industry has. Reba is right that it takes certain life sacrifices to make being in the music business work out, that’s one thing for sure. But I would hope that no female artist ever has to sacrifice what makes themselves and their approach unique and authentic, or become a Miranda Lambert or Carrie Underwood clone, just so they can get “A Hit”.
Granted that may be what radio programmers and their focus group mentality might want. But I kind of doubt that’s what the general public wants.
Luckyoldsun
March 30, 2019 @ 7:14 pm
There’s nothing at all new about a superstar artist going back to purer country or whatever when their career wanes.
Dolly Parton did it, Ricky Skaggs did it (going back to bluegrass), Johnny Cash did the stripped-down stuff with Rick Ruben, Loretta’s done it–though she also went full metal rock or whatever that was with Jack White–Marty Stuart (who was not quite a superstar) did it. The list goes on.
Jason Johnson
March 30, 2019 @ 8:19 pm
Yes, let’s get back to “real strong country. ” George Strait’s new album, “Honky Tonk Time Machine “, which I just downloaded, is a great start.
Virgil Williams
March 30, 2019 @ 9:12 pm
More Pat Reedy, Luke Bell, Cody Jinks, Whitey Morgan, Tyler Childers, Colter Wall, Jason Eady.
Less whatever the heck it is they’re playing on mainstream radio on a daily basis.
This isn’t hard.
Becky
March 31, 2019 @ 7:54 am
The label Big Machine has A LOT to do w pop/bro country. They are the worst supporters of her & Ronnie Dunn who is on the label. I can listen to Reba’s music but cannot stand to watch her live. Sorry but she is back peddling, she could have controlled her career.
Scott
March 31, 2019 @ 10:13 am
You know I wish some people would take the time and think before they write. A man who sings the same way for 45 years (George Strait) is praised for keeping traditional country alive and a woman who sings the same way for 45 years lost their career 35 years ago. A woman who sings the same way for 45 years is considered too old, unable to keep up with the times. If that same woman tries to sing modern country they’re desperate individuals doing their best to act young when they’re not. Women have to play a whole different game than men do. Women have to look younger than they actually are, be in great shape, be active on stage, promote their work, and find outside avenues to survive. Men have to put on a t-shirt and walk on stage. George Strait has a great traditional sound and is considered the King of Country and Reba the Queen. George strait hasn’t done any interviews or press for his new album and Reba has done interviews, talk shows, concerts, social media, and everything in between. At 64 Reba is promoting her work like she’s in her 20’s and its because she has no choice. I would also like to add Reba is hosting the ACM awards for the 16th time and is out there promoting the show which brings in millions of people in to see artist like Ashely McBryde who need the attention of millions. Tammy Wynette kind of Pain, In His mind, Stronger than the truth are as country as it gets. People who say Reba sold out don’t listen to her music outside the singles because if they did they would find songs like Moving Oleta, Just like them horses, love land, The day she got divorced, She got drunk last night, I need to talk to you, and Mary Did you Know with Amy grant and Vince Gill, spread over different albums. Reba’s female contemporaries of the 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s are gone. Reba has survived. Let’s not pretend that Women have the same options as men, a woman who wants to have a career longer than the decade has to find ways to stay traditional and contemporary in a industry that is looking to put them out to pasture.
Luckyoldsun
March 31, 2019 @ 11:23 am
Scott–
You make a good point. The thought of a woman artist continuing to be a major label album, and headline touring artist in her late 60’s, 70’s–or even ’80s–a la Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Tony Bennett or Willie Nelson is hard to fathom.
But while there are those few male stars who can go on and on, the majority are in the same boat as the women. Most of the male country hitmakers from the ’90s–the Mark’s, Joes, Sammys, Tracys (and even Clint and Travis) –got drummed out once they got double-chins and can’t even get a record deal now.
Scott
March 31, 2019 @ 1:31 pm
The industry is hard on both men and women. I’ve always said a woman is lucky to get 10 years of successful radio play and a man about 15-20. Reba and George Strait are the select few who find success across multiple decades.
Erik North
April 4, 2019 @ 9:26 pm
Unless Carrie proves otherwise (she’s been around now for close to fifteen years), it just may be that the days of any female singer having a career of the length of Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, or Linda Ronstadt are over forever. I think this would have been true whether sexism existed in the industry or not, because so much has changed so rapidly.
But like I said earlier, no female artist should have to sacrifice who they are and what their sound is, just for the purposes of getting a hit song or a hit album, for whatever the length of their recording career is.
Lobro Kenny
March 31, 2019 @ 11:19 am
Listen to Harold Hill. Talk about the sweet spot…
http://haroldhill.hearnow.com
I think you’ll agree.
dukeroberts
April 1, 2019 @ 12:15 am
I’ve always loved Reba, but she is partially to blame for the more pop-like direction in which her career went. It was all calculated to increase her mass cultural appeal, along with the TV shows in which she starred. However, I have felt for many years that women have to try to broaden their appeal more so than men in the country music field, because men won’t typically buy female performers’ music, so their sales potential within the genre is more limited. When Faith Hill and Shania crossed over into more pop-sounding music, their sales and chart success took off. “Breathe” was #1 on the AC chart for 26 consecutive weeks. Shania had two Diamond sales albums. It didn’t hurt that they were visual stunners either, but that only backs up that they have to do more to sell records than men do. They gotta look good, whereas some sleepy-eyed, just dragged out of bed, dumped-off-a-pickup-looking Jason Aldean can become Artist of the Decade.
wayne
April 1, 2019 @ 1:03 pm
“Most of the male country hitmakers from the ’90s–the Mark’s, Joes, Sammys, Tracys (and even Clint and Travis) –got drummed out once they got double-chins and can’t even get a record deal now.”
Hilarious. The men face the double-chin problem. And I agree with the comment. They just don’t seem to whine about it as much as the females.
Concerning Reba, kudos to her. I personally cannot stand to hear her sing. No slight against her talent or authenticity. I just cannot stand her voice but that is a personal taste and not indicative of her achievements. I wish her well and hope her album does indeed do what we all hope it does. Anything helps in getting back to what many of us really like.
the realist
April 3, 2019 @ 6:46 am
A million thanks goes out to Reba McEntire!
Dave
April 3, 2019 @ 3:51 pm
I’m a Reba fan, got a bunch of her albums and loved her first sitcom, but I know when someone is chasing the dollar. She has admitted to being incredibly competitive and driven, so I can only infer that ‘The Career’ mattered more than the maintenance of traditional country. That’s not a criticism as such. It was her call to make. Neither am I saying she didn’t like the material offered to her, just that she also recognised
its crossover appeal.
Reba stopped releasing traditional country songs like ‘You’re the First Time I’ve Thought About Leaving’ and ‘Little Rock’ and switched to string-laden power ballads like ‘And Still’ and ‘Forever Love’. And it worked. She reaped plenty of awards through using this strategy. She extended her brand into television and theatre and won even more fans. Now she’s second only to Dolly in status.
It’s worth pointing out that George Strait has also not been as country as he probably wants us to think he is. ‘Blue Clear Sky’, ‘True’, ‘Marina Del Rey’, ‘You Look So Good in Love’, ‘Nobody In His Right Kind Would’ve Left Her’, ‘It Ain’t Cool’, ‘Meanwhile’, ‘Run’ – and lots more – are great songs, but they are ’70s-style country pop. They’re Glen Campbell with less strings. Heck, ‘Love Without End, Amen’ is a Campbell song if ever there was one. What Strait wasn’t was ’90s country pop of the Lonestar, Martina’s McBride kind, so he was only traditional in relative terms. Really, Alan Jackson, Mark Chesnutt and Randy Travis are more country than either of these two artists. R
To be clear, I’m not knocking either. Just this afternoon, I put Strait and Reba hits on my iPod. They’re songs for the ages.
Bradley Olson
April 4, 2019 @ 6:27 pm
Dave, you also had George Strait do stuff such as “Ocean Front Property,” “Unwound,” “All My Ex’s Live In Texas,” “Amarillo By Morning,” “Am I Blue,” “Down and Out,” “If You’re Thinkin’ You Want a Stranger There’s One Coming Home,” etc.
Bradley Olson
April 4, 2019 @ 6:29 pm
On top of it all, Reba did release “You Lift Me Up To Heaven” which is something that the Fifth Dimension would’ve done if that would have come out in the 1960s-70s.
Beth
August 26, 2019 @ 4:08 pm
I would still rather hear ANY of the artists from the 80’s and 90’s who were considered “pop crossovers” compared to the crap put out today! I for one fell in love with country music in the 80’s thanks to Barbara Mandrell, if it hadn’t been for her I would never have listened to anyone else. I love her and Milsap, Kenny, Alabama, etc. The “pop” they did was NOT the garbage put out today and it opened the way for those who came later, like Trisha Yearwood, Lorrie Morgan, etc. I do like Reba except when she does super contemporary stuff like long ballads which bore me. I like mainly her early stuff. I still like the really old stuff too, like Patsy, Loretta, etc. And no one can beat Keith Whitley, George Strait, Alan Jackson and the like. But somewhere in the mid 90’s you got morons like Marty Stuart and Billy Ray Cyrus and the like that completely ruined things. People like Faith Hill (gag) and the Dixie Chicks, etc. That’s when I stopped listening and I think that’s when many others did too. We stopped demanding good music and just accepted the garbage they handed us. Now we’re paying for it.