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Tom Petty Blasts Modern Country Music

ForceofNature101ForceofNature101 Posts: 1,282
edited August 2013 in Other Music
On May 26, Tom Petty took a swipe at modern country music from the stage of the Beacon Theater in New York City. He called today’s country “bad rock with a fiddle,” and further expanded on those comments during a recent interview.

It was far from a clarification or apology. During a chat with Rolling Stone published Monday (Aug. 5), Petty laments what is missing in country music, a genre he says roots the Heartbreakers.

“I don’t really see a George Jones or a Buck Owens or any anything that fresh coming up,” Petty explains. “I’m sure there must be somebody doing it, but most of that music reminds me of rock in the middle 80s where it became incredibly generic and relied on videos.”

Petty didn’t name names or call out a specific sound before backing away from the topic. “I hate to generalize on a whole genre of music, but it does seem to be missing that magic element that it used to have,” he furthers. “I’m sure there are people playing country that are doing it well, but they’re just not getting the attention that the s—tier stuff gets.”

Petty is expecting to release his 13th album with the Heartbreakers early next year. The new project doesn’t yet have a title.

Source: http://tasteofcountry.com/tom-petty-bla ... try-music/


He is completely right here. I could not have said it better than he did, I have been saying this for years.
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Comments

  • 2-feign-reluctance2-feign-reluctance Posts: 23,314
    I have no clue what modern country sounds like. Avoided like the plague.
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  • CServantCServant Posts: 1,182
    Modern Country = Top 40 Pop these days...
    "Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience." Mark Twain
  • CTD10CTD10 Posts: 351
    “bad rock with a fiddle,” he hit the nail on the head with this quote. The only good modern country music act is Zac Brown Band.
    ctd
  • PorchsitterPorchsitter Posts: 1,069
    If you guys want some old sounding country from a newer artist, you should try out Whitey Morgan and the 78s. He's as old school sounding as you can get in today's market. Honky-Tonk. Reminds me a lot of Waylon. I found out about him last year and have been playing the hell out of his albums since. You can find him on Spotify.

    http://whiteymorgan.com/

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitey_Morgan_and_the_78's
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  • mookeywrenchmookeywrench Posts: 5,906
    CServant wrote:
    Modern Country = Top 40 Pop these days...

    These days....and the past 20 years.
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  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,068
    I totally agree.

    And a good twist on words makes for a great song- Paul Westerberg is a master of this: "gonna run top the wind where the big bad city blows", "I'm the best thing that never happened", "I'm not ready as I'll ever be", "From a distance you look peaceful and so far away up close", "Need a leap of faith or a jump of stupid"... just a very few of many"- but the endless stream of bad puns in "Today's Country" are just getting tired.

    Do I hate country music? Heck no! Waylon, Willie, Johnny, Kris, Merle, Loretta, Emmy Lou, Ernest, George, Hank, Tammy, Dwight, the list goes on and for the most part you don't even need a last name to know who these people are. These people have made (and a few still are) great music. But broadly speaking, country music today is in "fail" mode.

    By the way, I'm pretty sure I recently read something (but I just can't find it) right now) by Henry Rollins (maybe in an interview of his with Jerry Lee Lewis?) that shares T.P.'s sentiment. No surprise there.
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
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  • LoulouLoulou Posts: 6,247
    I miss the 'rustic and depressing' style of old country. :D what happened to losing the girlfriend to his cousin, the cow having no milk and his horse running off with his dog? Aaaaah the good old days.
    “ "Thank you Palestrina. It’s a wonderful evening, it’s great to be here and I wanna dedicate you a super sexy song." " (last words of Mark Sandman of Morphine)


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  • red mosred mos Posts: 4,953
    I agree. I like some country like (Willie Nelson. Johnny cash ect.). But Modern country as of today, I just don't understand it. I think Petty was very respectful with the way that he approached the subject. Not calling anyone out, but in general, he was just indicating that the genre of country today seems to be lacking something.
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  • loffy81loffy81 Posts: 153
    Loulou wrote:
    I miss the 'rustic and depressing' style of old country. :D what happened to losing the girlfriend to his cousin, the cow having no milk and his horse running off with his dog? Aaaaah the good old days.
    :lol:
  • ledveddermanledvedderman Posts: 7,761
    He is spot on. I only know enough to know that guys like Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan (Bryant) and all of the other popular acts are just what Petty described. Throwing a fiddle or a banjo in a song doesn't turn a pop song into a country song.

    Give me Willie, Johnny, Waylon, Ryan Adams, Whiskeytown and Andrew Combs any day.
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  • musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
    I think classic stuff is great of course. But, those artists are special because they are singular. Theres only one Johnny Cash. Only one Waylon. Only one Willie.

    Modern country is good too. One of my favorite albums of the year is Kacey Musgraves. And im a big Taylor Swift fan as well.

    You could even expand it out further, Nickel Creek was brilliant, they are a modern, though defunct band. Ryan Adams.
  • iOnlyownMymindiOnlyownMymind Posts: 2,815
    I thought this thread was going to be about Tom Petty cruising down the road listening to Taylor Swift turned up loud.
  • Jason PJason P Posts: 19,138
    CServant wrote:
    Modern Country = Top 40 Pop these days...
    exactly. it's just pop music.

    I enjoy listening to real country on Willie's Roadhouse on sat radio.
  • MysteryTrainMysteryTrain Posts: 1,189
    Jamey Johnson.
  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,068
    iOnlyownMymind wrote:
    I thought this thread was going to be about Tom Petty cruising down the road listening to Taylor Swift turned up loud.

    :lol: That's funny!
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • cp3iversoncp3iverson Posts: 8,695
    brianlux wrote:
    I totally agree.

    And a good twist on words makes for a great song- Paul Westerberg is a master of this: "gonna run top the wind where the big bad city blows", "I'm the best thing that never happened", "I'm not ready as I'll ever be", "From a distance you look peaceful and so far away up close", "Need a leap of faith or a jump of stupid"... just a very few of many"- but the endless stream of bad puns in "Today's Country" are just getting tired.

    Paul is probably still waiting for royalties from Tom. He stole his line!!
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