If Tom Petty was a natural disaster, he would be a(n)
a) Tornado
b) Hurricane
c) Earthquake
Place your bets. Correct answer coming up.
Jake Owen is a fan of Tom Petty. The singer says he’s long called his fellow Floridian an influence, but after hearing the rocker’s comments about country music, he had to take a step back.
Owen becomes the latest to rebuke Petty after hearing of the May venting which made headlines this month after Petty talked about it to Rolling Stone. “It’s unfortunate that he’d make a ridiculous, uneducated comment like that about a format he’s not even a part of,” Owen said during an interview on SiriusXM radio.
Petty called today’s country music “bad rock with a fiddle” during a concert in New York City. He added later, “Most of that music reminds me of rock in the middle ’80s where it became incredibly generic and relied on videos.”
“First off, why?” Owen asks. “That bums me out a little bit … but everybody makes ignorant comments from time to time.”
“My dad always said there’s an a– for every seat so if you don’t like it, get out,” Owen continues.
The country singer says he’s still a fan of Petty, but it’s clear the rocker upset him. Earlier, Chris Stapleton responded to Petty’s comments by asking him to “put your money where your mouth is” and join him in a collaboration. The open letter to Tom Petty came across as tongue-in-cheek, although if Petty agrees to record with him, Stapleton seems likely to accept.
Owen's two cents (or two bits, in a more country music parlance) on this issue is just the first of what will, inevitably, be a lot of piling on amongst the good, true and faithful of country music, both performers and performees. (or party crowd, in a more country music parlance).
For several obvious reasons, the most obvious of them being, of course, that people, as a rule, don't usually like to be told that what they do/like/believe in/admire/appreciate/etc. is shit.
Seems reasonable enough.
As for the issue at the core of the discussion, the lament that contemporary country music is lacking something inherent to quality country music, well, the simple, unavoidable truth is that one man's trash is another man's top ten.
And, just as with so many things in current culture that seem, on the surface, to be, at best, regrettable, at worst, repulsive, there is an undeniable, if unavoidable, truth lurking just beneath the surface of any debate that aims to demean, damage or other wise dispatch said regrettable and/or repulsive amongst us.
Millions and millions of people spend millions and millions of dollars to experience them.
And, as one of my own favorite songsmiths, Randy Newman, so eloquently offered up a few albums back, "It's Money That Matters."
Personally, I've already plowed this ground.
Here's the link to that lamentation.
http://phelpsounds.blogspot.com/2013/07/look-at-bright-sideso-far-kardashians.html
And while we're at it, here's a link to a very well thought out, thoughtful treatise on the tempest, from a fellow traveler on the boulevard of blog.
http://forthecountryrecord.com/2013/08/13/open-letter-to-country-radio-and-all-country-music-fans/
And, as a special value added for readers of my work here, a new tune from up and comer Wade Bowen that not only touches on the topic, but shows Nashville's state of the art ability to cash in on whatever water cooler cackle is front and center, even if the cackle is criticism of Nashville's state of the art ability.
Passions, ponders and pontifications aside, the discussion is, at center, a waste of time.
What sells will continue to be produced.
Until it doesn't sell anymore and then something else that sells will be produced.
As it has been and ever shall be, forever and ever, amen.
A lot of people still find it repulsive that Velveeta could ever be remotely compared to real cheese.
But a lot of people still buy a lot of Velveeta.
And a lot of people still buy a lot of what Nashville is cranking out.
As for the articulate, if somewhat ungracious, Mr. Petty, the answer to the opening pop quiz should be, I would think, a no brainer.
Given that he essentially labeled everyone who performs and/or enjoys contemporary country music an idiot.
The correct answer is...
b) Hurricane
If you picked either a) or c), it's understandable.
Both are phenomena that do their fair share of hell raising.
The key difference being that, of the three, the hurricane is the one that best represents Tom Petty's comments on country.
Because, of the three, the hurricane is the only one whose noise, power and potential for stirring up shit can be seen coming miles and miles down the road.
This particular firestorm could be seen approaching the moment Mr. Petty opened his mouth.
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