Beyoncé's Genre Bending of Country Music
Should I or should I not? Normally I’m willing to take on difficult subjects to write about, provided I have some idea of where the topic fits (or doesn’t) into a progressive agenda.
Today’s words are different: a record review. A “country” record review.
I need to do this. I’ve been called.
My days with the underground press served as my education about genres; record companies (until the Nixon Justice Department told them not to) financially sustained us and loaded us up with product, hoping some up and coming writer (in our case, Cameron Crowe) would pen a quotable review. We all wrote reviews, it seemed like a good idea to include culture along with with our antiestablishmentarianist essays; we listened to everything once, with the not-so-good-in-our-opinion discs being sold for beer money
I like to think of myself as broad minded when it comes to recording artists; my Spotify favorites list (spins 180 titles) is all over the place from Cab Calloway to Jon Batiste to Amy Whitehouse to Spoon to the duet with Elton John & Dua Lipa. Live music is still part of my life, be it at the Rady Shell or the Belly Up.I simply won’t patronize, like the Sports Area or whatever they’re calling it these days.
Aside from Leon Bridges and a few crossover hits, you won’t find much country on that list. Taylor Swift, who’s crossed genres, is nowhere to be found; I respect her as an artist; her artistry, not so much.
Which brings me to the newly recently released album by Beyoncé, entitled Cowboy Carter. I’ve listened to it over and over again, marveling at its production values and willingness to explore the vast universe of Black music.
It is, as a major league dissatisfied reviewer (some cracker at the Washington Post) said, not a country album. Maybe lots of people won’t get it like this dude, but it’s my hope that you’ll put aside your genre prejudices and give a listen to what is best described as art.
“This ain’t a Country album. This is a Beyoncé album,” she wrote on Instagram.
Yes, the album is addressed to what's popularly thought of as the contemporary country state of mind. Yes, there are songs that fit neatly into that genre. And I’m hoping that “Texas Hold ‘Em” becoming the #1 charting song on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs, will expand what should be the biggest tent with the deepest roots in music.
It’s not like other artists haven't been chipping away at country’s conventions; Nas-X, Linda Martell, Ray Charles’ 1962 Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, and The Tennessee Chocolate Drops, to name a few, all have had a role to play.
Still, the stench of segregation surrounds the genre to this day. Only 1.5% of the 2,100 artists played on country radio stations between 2002 and 2020 were Black — compared to the 98% of artists who were white.
Beyoncé is one of the few artists who qualify as superstars in the entertainment business. The lure of a wink and a nod from her has led to endorsement deals with Tiffany & Co, American Express, Pepsi. Her hair care line, Cécred (pronounced sacred), is the newest of her business ventures. Her net worth is estimated at $800 million.
Cowboy Carter is bringing attention to the often overlooked history of black people making country music, from the origin of the banjo to the many Black artists who built their careers in the country music genre.
From an article by the Birthplace of Country Music Museum at Teen Vogue:
Organizations like the Black Opry — founded by Black country music fan Holly G, who says she was afraid to go to a concert or admit she was a fan until she realized she wasn’t alone — are helping connect and amplify Black artists, fans, and industry professionals. On social media, Black Opry artists like Julie Williams and Aaron Vance have weighed in on the impact of Beyoncé’s country music release, hoping the album will help Americans better understand the history of country music and open doors for the many artists who are striving to be recognized and heard. It seems that Act II: Cowboy Carter, dropping on March 29, couldn’t come at a better time. And if anyone can keep the excitement — and the conversation — going, it’s Queen Bey.
Beyoncé took to Instagram to preview the album’s title and cover, thanking fans for early acceptance of her singles Texas Hold’em and 16 Carriages.
She shared that Cowboy Carter “has been over five years in the making,” and was “born out of an experience” in which she “did not feel welcomed. And it was very clear that I wasn't,” said Beyoncé. “But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.”
It was obvious to many fans that she was referring to one experience in particular: her controversial performance with The Chicks at the 2016 Country Music Association Awards. They performed a mashup of “Daddy Lessons"( her Lemonade album) and subsequently faced intense racist backlash from the ceremony's viewers.
Cowboy Carter’s debut came with a press release explaining the process behind the album.
[The album’s] “inspiration further takes into account Southern and Western culture beyond music,” including rodeos, the original cowboys of the West, and Western films.
“Each song is its own version of a reimagined Western film. [Beyoncé] took inspiration from films like ‘Five Fingers For Marseilles,’ ‘Urban Cowboy,’ ‘The Hateful Eight,’ ‘Space Cowboys,’ ‘The Harder They Fall’ and ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ often having the films playing on a screen during the recording process.”
A few quotes about individual tracks…you should really consider all 79 minutes as one.
American Requiem, the introductory track, was written and produced by Jon Batiste.
When I picked up my guitar and notebook to write this song I put my trust in God to liberate my creative mind, as I always do when channeling inspiration.
Quincy Jones told me, as he also wrote in his forward to my WE ARE album, "it's up to you to de categorize American music!! " , which is what Duke Ellington told him. I really believe that is our generation's role, led by a few artists willing to take this leap.
Following that glorious lead-in (reminiscent of Freddy Mercury’s Queen at times) comes Beyoncė with an unexpected cover of the Beatles “Blackbird.”
We all now (should) know that there was a reason for its inclusion. Via another story in Teen Vogue:
“Blackbird” was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon and featured on the band's White Album. In his 2021 book, McCartney said that the song was based on the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. in the 60s.
“At the time in 1968 when I was writing Blackbird, I was very conscious of the terrible racial tensions in the US,” McCartney wrote. “That imagery of the broken wings and the sunken eyes and the general longing for freedom is definitely of its moment.”
Carl Wilson at Slate also has an insightful review, starting with the subhead “Cowboy Carter is the singer’s response to country music’s gatekeepers.”:
Given that Beatles nod, I notice how many of this album’s songs and sequences are structured like the style-switching suites McCartney composed circa Abbey Road and Band on the Run.
I also hear echoes of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” in the opening harmonies of “Ameriican Requiem” and, later, a dash of Sly Stone and, much more blatantly, Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.” The Miley Cyrus duet “II Most Wanted” is a direct descendant of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide,” with both doing their best husky Stevie Nicks.
“Bodyguard” lifts its piano part directly from Neil Young’s “Lotta Love,” with which it also shares a theme: Where Beyoncé offers “I could be your bodyguard … I could be your Kevlar,” Young pleads, “My heart needs protection/ And so do I.” And album standout “Ya Ya” seems to pay tribute to one of the greatest Black female rockers, Tina Turner, being structured like one of her 1960s and ’70s revue medleys, and folding in Nancy Sinatra, the Beach Boys, and maybe even Patti Smith.
Chris Willman, at Variety gets it, calling Cowboy Carter [a] “Sprawling, Endlessly Entertaining Tour de Force”
“You were only waiting for this moment to arrive” — that’s a key line for an album that lives up to its event status as an inherent piece of agitprop and socially significant performance art, reflecting and affecting the history of Black music and country. It obviously has been compared to Ray Charles’ landmark 1962 “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music,” but this feels different than someone coming in and adopting the existing country songbook for their own purposes, vital as that was. Beyoncé expanding this historic catalog with her own crucial additions to it is a never-to-be-forgotten signpost, however much it does or doesn’t immediately affect the fortunes of those still trying to get a basic foothold in the genre.
And she’s not pulling this off either by unduly ingratiating herself into a scene with country customs or ignoring those hallmarks entirely. With this endlessly entertaining project, she gets to be a warrior of female and Black pride and a sweetheart of the radio. Because being Beyoncé means never having to pretend to be just one thing.
There’s so much to hear and think about on this album, from the snippet of Beyoncé singing Italian opera to a harmony with Miley Cyrus reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac to the tough guy rapping she lays down on Spaghetti.
Alongside it all are frequent nods to the homemade instruments (and evolutions of) by African slaves. The accordion, harmonica, washboard, acoustic guitar, bass ukulele, pedal steel guitar, a Vibra-Slap, the mandolin, fiddle, Hammond B3 organ, tack piano, and the banjo (Rhihannon Gidden is among the players). Percussion encompasses handclaps, horseshoe steps, boot stomps on hardwood floors and even Beyoncé's nails.
The most impressive feat of "Cowboy Carter" is its ability to transcend genre boundaries and appeal to listeners from all walks of life. None-the-less, haters are out in full force at the margins of social media, seeking to cast doubt on a truly great album by a truly great artist. Racism never quits and the fight against it is ongoing.
So, get out of your musical silo for a bit and give it a listen.
"I think people are going to be surprised because I don't think this music is what everyone expects, but it's the best music I've ever made." –Beyoncė
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The Contraception Conspiracy By Jill Filipovic
Republicans overwhelmingly fail to support contraception access, and are often quite cagey when it comes to whether they support the basic legality of contraception (we see the same dynamic with IVF). When congressional Republicans had the chance to vote on a bill that would have protected contraception access nationwide after the Dobbs decision ended the national right to abortion, nearly all members the House GOP voted against it. Conservatives and Republicans are at work reviving the 1873 Comstock Act to prevent the mailing of abortion pills, a law that would also — did also — prevent the mailing of contraception or even information about contraception. And with Roe overturned, there is really nothing to protect the right to contraception should that right be challenged in the courts. The same legal theory that legalized contraception nationwide — a right to privacy — was the legal theory behind Roe. And the Supreme Court no longer considers it legitimate.
Just as troubling, though, are the attempts to shift the cultural conversation around contraception. Various influencers who are not health experts but play them on TikTok are sowing disinformation and fear about contraception, something “pro-life” activists are happy to push. The anti-contraception conservative argument shifts depending on the context, but the one they seem to use most on Gen Zers is that contraception has all kinds of horrible side effects and that it’s “unnatural.”
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Monopoly Round-Up: How Chain Restaurants and Hotels Collude to Screw You from BIG by Matt Stoller (Attn journos: there a San Diego angle here)
The case is only about the luxury hotel market in 15 cities. (In case you’re curious, they are Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Seattle.) Yet, there’s no reason to assume luxury hotels represent the extent of the collusion. There’s another case in Las Vegas where all the major casinos - Caesars, MGM, Treasure Island, and Wynn - are using a software package called Rainmaker to fix hotel prices by sharing information.
And similar kinds of information sharing or tacit collusion are happening among meat processors, large landlords, and online sellers, and likely in many other areas. Judges are often confused by these cases, with some seeing such sharing of competitively sensitive information as a clear conspiracy that falls within the Sherman Antitrust Act, and others wanting to see some sort of formal agreement.
This week, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Antitrust Division filed a brief with the court in Las Vegas clarifying antitrust law, asserting that yes, information sharing through software can be price-fixing.
