Seldom have I been as wrong about ANYTHING, as I have been about Taylor Swift.
Back in the middle of 2006, Taylor Swift released her first single...Tim McGraw, which peaked at number 6 on the country charts. A few months later, she released her first self-titled album, with 4 more singles coming off that album in 2007, two of which hit #1 on the country charts. The two that didn't hit #1 managed to peak at #2, and #3. So...5 singles off her debut album, and all of them peaked inside the Top 6 on the Country Charts.
That's not too bad. I'm also going to say that I figured that was that for her. She had had a HUGE debut albumn. My own opinion was that she had achieved that initial success because people were grading her on a curve...you know...there are different expectations for a 16-year old girl than there is for Reba McEntire. There was also some novelty...when her first single dropped, if I'm doing my math right, she was a cute 17-year old girl...that doesn't hurt album sales. She was also writing her own songs, some of which actually had a point if you listened to the words.
As someone who doesn't have a totally horrible voice, I have a much higher level of respect for singer-songwriters than I do for people that always sing other peoples songs. This means a Taylor Swift will rank higher on my admiration list than the high asthetic appeal Shania Twain. My wife would then point out that Reba doesn't write most of her own songs, which I would point out doesn't matter...She's REBA. She's been doing this almost 35-years...and still looks good doing it.
Anyway...sorry...got distracted. I figure Taylor's 2nd Album would produce 1, maybe two decent songs that would chart, maybe make the top 10, and then she would kind of fade away. There is a fairly steady rotation of cute young blonds in country music, and I figured she would join the rotation.
Well...based of the list awards she has racked up the last 4 years...it's a good thing you can't bet on that type of stuff in Las Vegas...because I would have lost the house, and my first born child.
2008 Grammy for Album of the Year(not just country)
AMA Award for Artist of the Year. AMA Favorite Female Country Artist THREE years in a row.
Finally, just earlier this week, she won the 2011 CMA Entertainer of the Year Award.
And I still don't get it. I'm not saying she's bad by any means...she has a pleasant voice. She has gone from a cute 17-year old girl to a beautiful almost 22-year old young woman, she still writes her own songs, which are maturing with her...I just don't think she is The Best. Of the current crop of country females...well, Miranda Lambert's The Best...no real need for discussion. She has a much more distinct voice than Taylor, she also writes her own songs, she has a woman's build(Taylor's a bit willowy for my picky taste)...and Miranda's a Hunting and Shooting kind of gal!
It might just be part of a bigger frustration for me about who makes it and and who doesn't in the music industry. Taylor Swift is good...but you can't tell me she is that good that she keeps Matraca Berg off the radio!
Look at that video: Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, Faith Hill, Kathy Matea, and Patty Loveless...and the country music stations still never gave her a chance!
Maybe she should have dyed her hair blonde...
Because of her age Taylor appeals to the younger set BIG TIME. They see her as someone their age, who "made" it, and if she can do it maybe they can too.
ReplyDeletePersonally she's not a favorite of mine either, but it didn't surprise me as much when she kept getting top honors either.
I go 'round & 'round with my husband about Taylor Swift. He is not a fan; I am. Not a huge fan, but I don't run screaming from her music. I am appreciative of the fact that she writes her own songs, and that for the most part they have been age appropriate (I found "Tim McGraw" to be laughable; sorry, but I can't take a 17-year-old girl singing about lost love too seriously. Not when I was a 17-year-old girl at one time.)
ReplyDeleteBut for mainstream country music--of which I am no fan--she's one of the countriest gals out there right now, if you disregard the pop re-dubs of her singles. The country version of her song "Mean" sounded, well, country--it had fiddle, banjo, & mandolin. That's more than I can say about just about anyone else right now--Christ, Reba's out there rerecording Beyoncè's old songs. Miranda Lambert's okay, but how many drinking songs can you cram on one damn album?
If I'm going to pout over a woman singer not making it in the mainstream, that list is going to have Lucinda Williams and Kelly Willis on it, and maybe Charla Corn (she's growing on me).
Then we could get into a conversation about all the great female singers, like Kathy Mattea and Suzy Bogguss, who were dropped like hot potatoes by Nashville, apparently because they refused to have fairy-costumed children in their music videos.