Alright, time for another session of Holiday snobbery. . .
Album Title: A Very Merry Christmas: Western and Country Style
Album Artist: The McCoy Family
You know, at first, I couldn't really put my finger on what was rubbing me the wrong way about this album. I snatched it up at a thrift store about a month ago, saw 'Country Western' and 'Christmas' across the front, and thought, "well shit, that's a no-brainer right there."
Not so fast, November Brian.
Yours Truly seriously needs to start reading the fine print when it comes to some of these Holiday albums - like a jackass, I just kinda snatched it up after reading the cover and checking the LP's surface (for glossiness, scratches, scuffs, etc.) Shame on me, then, because this album is a lie.
This isn't a Country/Western collection at all: these are mainstream studio musicians, singing with forced 'country' accents, adding a couple different musical instruments that sound 'honky tonky' into their usual arrangements, and trying to pass it off as the Real Deal.
(The first indicator that this was a blatant imposter would have been the phrase 'Western and Country' - everybody knows it's called Country and Western, or, more commonly, Country/Western.'
This is a pre-meditated farce, pandering to those who like that style of music. And I'm offended.
I mean, c'mon - how hard would it have been for the producers of this collection to go out and hire some authentic country musicians? Hell, if they didn't want to roll out the big bucks for the Johnny Cashes, Loretta Lynns, and George Joneses of the world, they could've at least stacked this album with a bunch of fourth-tier acts (like we previously saw with this lil' gem, if you'll be so good to remember.) And if that didn't work, they could've scouted out a random small town act at a state fair or barn dance.
But no.
No, these producers didn't want to mess around with any of that. Some higher-ups were probably sitting around a boardroom, strategizing about how to make a quick buck off of a Holiday album release on the cheap, and one of them said something along the lines of, "why don't we just use our in-house guys and cut the record for nothing?"
"Our boys aren't a country act, Jim. They recorded 'Hang On Sloopy,' that ain't 'country.'"
"Well Jesus, Steve, just buy a couple a' banjoes and have 'em sing with Dixie accents or something. I mean, if all them slack-jawed idiots down South can do it, how hard could it be?"
"You gotta point there, Jim. I like the cut of your jib."
. . . and so on and so forth.
So, in conclusion, this album is a lie, and, while not horrible in any sense, it's overly-polished arrangements, plastic sensibility, and lack of authenticity drives it down into the realm of nearly unforgivable.
Shame on you, Steve and Jim. Shame on you both.
Yours Truly seriously needs to start reading the fine print when it comes to some of these Holiday albums - like a jackass, I just kinda snatched it up after reading the cover and checking the LP's surface (for glossiness, scratches, scuffs, etc.) Shame on me, then, because this album is a lie.
This isn't a Country/Western collection at all: these are mainstream studio musicians, singing with forced 'country' accents, adding a couple different musical instruments that sound 'honky tonky' into their usual arrangements, and trying to pass it off as the Real Deal.
(The first indicator that this was a blatant imposter would have been the phrase 'Western and Country' - everybody knows it's called Country and Western, or, more commonly, Country/Western.'
This is a pre-meditated farce, pandering to those who like that style of music. And I'm offended.
I mean, c'mon - how hard would it have been for the producers of this collection to go out and hire some authentic country musicians? Hell, if they didn't want to roll out the big bucks for the Johnny Cashes, Loretta Lynns, and George Joneses of the world, they could've at least stacked this album with a bunch of fourth-tier acts (like we previously saw with this lil' gem, if you'll be so good to remember.) And if that didn't work, they could've scouted out a random small town act at a state fair or barn dance.But no.
No, these producers didn't want to mess around with any of that. Some higher-ups were probably sitting around a boardroom, strategizing about how to make a quick buck off of a Holiday album release on the cheap, and one of them said something along the lines of, "why don't we just use our in-house guys and cut the record for nothing?"
"Our boys aren't a country act, Jim. They recorded 'Hang On Sloopy,' that ain't 'country.'""Well Jesus, Steve, just buy a couple a' banjoes and have 'em sing with Dixie accents or something. I mean, if all them slack-jawed idiots down South can do it, how hard could it be?"
"You gotta point there, Jim. I like the cut of your jib."
. . . and so on and so forth.
So, in conclusion, this album is a lie, and, while not horrible in any sense, it's overly-polished arrangements, plastic sensibility, and lack of authenticity drives it down into the realm of nearly unforgivable.
Shame on you, Steve and Jim. Shame on you both.
VERDICT: 4/10 - Borophyll (This is what happens when the corporate world thinks it can music.)
- SHELVED -
