Music & More

My Top 40 Revisited

Just a little over a year ago, I posted a list of my all-time top 40 female and male country music singers. See my post of 7/22/08. The list is not a definitive statement that these are the best based on record or cd sales, concert revenues or any other barometer of popularity. It is merely a list of my favorite country music performers. There are significant omissions such as King George and Queen Reba, Kenny and Taylor. There is no denying their accomplishments. I just don't care to listen to them. If the list were a top 50 or 60, they wouldn't have been included. The list includes artists from as far back as the late 1950's like the Everly Brothers and Patsy Cline to current performers like Jennifer Nettles and Joe Nichols. 

Some favorites that I included in this list are lead singers of a group rather than solo artists. They are the sound of the group. In most cases, without them there is no group. Note Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland, Ronnie Dunn of B&D, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, Randy Owen of Alabama, Marty Roe of Shenandoah, Marty Rabon of Shenandoah and Bluegrassers Alison Krauss and Rhonda Vincent who perform respectively with Union Station and the Rage. Some Union Station fans might point to Dan Tyminski's "Man of Constant Sorrow" but without AK the group's popularity would diminish greatly.  Phil Everly did the solos for the Everly Brothers while Don sang harmony. Unlike the above, the Eagles have successfully relied on more than one lead singer so they could have continued without Don Henley who, as most popular music fans know, shares lead singing duties with Glenn Frey and occasionally Timothy B. Schmit. Richie McDonald shared the lead for Lonestar with John Rich. Then Rich left and the group hit it big for about 5 years . (McDonald's a solo act now with very little commercial success.)

If I were to redo the list this year, there wouldn't be many changes. Picking 40 wasn't easy and if I tried to reproduce it without taking a peek at the list, I doubt it would be the same. In many cases, singers I liked just about equally had to be assigned numbers for the sake of the exercise that would make it appear that I rated one a lot higher than another. For example, I may have liked the artist number 8 as much as number 5. I could have listed them as 5a, b, c, d, e, etc. but it was too much trouble. It's safe to say though that I like those in the top ten better than those occupying slots 31 - 40.

The biggest change in my favorite forty female singers would be the inclusion of Lisa Brokop in the top ten. She wasn't even on the list last year, largely because I was unaware of her music. I would add Karen Staley after seeing her a few weeks ago at the Bluebird. Amy Dalley finally released a cd and newcomers Melissa Lawson, Emily West, Joey of Joey & Rory and Caitlin of Caitlin & Will and Hillary Scott of Lady A could be added too. I must be forgetting some. That's why it would be nice to see someone else's top 40.

On the male side, Billy Currington has come on strong lately with songs like "Don't" and "People Are Crazy" and Darius Rucker is off to a great start since shifting to country after his Hootie & the Blowfish days. Charles Kelley of Lady A, James Otto, Chris Young and Randy Houser all have outstanding voices.  Mark Chesnutt is a veteran performer I overlooked last year. Love Buddy Jewel's voice but he hasn't done much that I like other than "If She Were Any Other Woman". Are the Carter Twins the new Everly Brothers? The question is who do I drop if any of these are added? Hmm. Think I'll put off revising my list for at least another year.

Rissi Palmer - Country Girl

Rissi Palmer's self-titled debut cd was released in October of 2007 and one of my Christmas presents two months later. Since I'm retired and don't need much in the way of new clothes any more, when asked what I want on gift giving occasions I usually opt for cds and books. Singles "Country Girl" and "Hold Onto Me" fell short of the top 40, reaching #54 and #59 respectively according to Wikipedia. The cd also included great songs such as "Anybody Out There", "All This Woman Needs", "Butterflies", a cover of Patsy Cline's "Leavin' On Your Mind", "Love You Like a Woman" and uptempo songs like "Mr. Ooh La La" and "Sweet Contradictions". Risssi co-wrote 9 of the 12 songs and already has 20 writing credits on BMI.

Her vocals on the cd were outstanding however most singers sound good on recordings thanks to pro-tools, etc. A fair amount of these "singers" can't come close to duplicating the sound in a live performance. At the Bluebird Cafe on July 22nd I got to hear Rissi for the first time. Wow can she sing - and she said that she's been on vocal rest. She performed three songs from her cd - "Country Girl", "Butterflies" and "Mr. Ooh La La" - and two new songs, "I Can Take It" (?) and "Beautifully Human". Both sound like potential hits, especially the latter,  but I'm not good at predicting what country music fans will like. If country fans don't embrace her music, I'm sure she can be successful as a pop or R&B artist. Rissi seemed very comfortable performing and talking about how each song came about, joking about herself on occasion. I look forward to her next cd and to seeing her someday in a full length concert. Check out her website and MySpace.

(The question mark after the song title "I Can Take It" is obviously because I'm not sure I heard it correctly. My short term memory is not that great. I hear something, repeat it to myself a few times and figure that I don't have to write it down. I can remember. Two minutes later I'm unsure and questioning myself.)

63rd Yankee Old Timer's Day

Yesterday marked the 63rd Annual New York Yankees Old Timer's Day and first at the new Yankee Stadium. John Sterling and Michael Kay alternated the introductions which included brief Yankee career highlights for each former player. They were introduced in this order: Ron Blomberg (baseball's first DH), Lee Mazzilli, Pat Kelly, Lindy McDaniel, Rick Cerone, Dave Eiland, Jesse Barfield, Jim Coates, Mike Easler, Jerry Narron, Oscar Gamble, Homer Bush, Al Downing, Horace Clarke, Hector Lopez, Ken Griffey, Sr., Aaron Small, Gene Michael, Chad Curtis, Bucky Dent (a fav of Red Sox fans), Joe Pepitone (famous for introducing the hair dryer to baseball clubhouses), Roy White, Mickey Rivers, Jeff Nelson, Charlie Hayes, Mel Stottlemyre, Joe Girardi, David Cone, Dwight Gooden, Luis Arroyo, Dr. Bobby Brown, Bob Turley, Bobby Richardson, Don Zimmer, Don Larsen, Moose Skowron, Graig Nettles, Ron Guidry, Mike Mussina, Goose Gossage, Reggie Jackson, Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra. Following the former players, Yankee widows Arlene Howard, Helen Hunter, Kay Murcer and Diana Munson were each introduced wearing Yankee jerseys and lined up on the field with the players. Although his widow was not in attendance, the ceremonies on the field and a book made me think of the Mick.

A few weeks ago my brother Chris gave me the book, Sports Illustrated Presents Mantle Remembered, stories excerpted from the pages of SI. The book's first printing was November 1995, a few months after the Mick's death at 63. The book is only 95 pages with a lot of pictures. It's basically broken down into 3 sections, Early Years, Prime and Later Years. It's well worth reading for any Yankee fan, especially for those around my age who grew up idolizing Mantle - my first baseball hero. It wasn't a puff piece. Some of the articles addressed his night life activities and alcoholism as well as his lack of dedication to physical rehab after injuries that ultimately cut short his career.

Reading the book got me to take another look at Mick's career stats in Baseball-Reference.com. He accomplished a lot considering the fact that those injuries finished him before his 37th birthday. Mantle's last season with 500+ official at bats was 1961 when he was 29. His last productive year was 1964. He failed to drive in as many as 60 runs his last 4 seasons and those last four were the first four of a Yankee decline that would last about a dozen years. His last two seasons he had to play first base. Even in his injury diminished capacity, Mantle was still of value to the Yankees.  They needed him to put some fannies in the seats since he was the team's only real attraction.    

THE All Star Game

Baseball's All Star game will take place tomorrow night in St. Louis. Does any All Star game matter other than Baseball's? Football's takes place after the season is over. Does anybody care? The Superbowl champ has already been crowned. Basketball's All Star game is showtime.  It's mildly entertaining but it's not exactly big news  whether the eastern or western division all-stars are victorious. I'm a New Jersey Nets fan but I don't care if the east wins or loses. I enjoy the 3 point shooting contest and the slam dunk contest more than the game. I can't say anything about hockey because I never watch it. I went to a few Islanders games in the early 70's but just couldn't get into the sport. Hockey will probably remain the least viewed of any major team sport. Could soccer someday surpass it in popularity in the U.S.?

While All Star games are exhibitions and don't count in regular season statistics, they do establish bragging rights for the competing leagues. In baseball, the argument as to which league is superior, the American or the National, has been going on for over a hundred years. Prior to the playing of the first All-Star Game at Comiskey Park in Chicago in 1933, bragging rights depended solely upon which league won the World Series. Since All Star games supposedly involve competition between the best players of the entire respective leagues rather than just the two best teams, some may consider it a more accurate barometer of the strength of the leagues. The stakes went beyond bragging rights in 2003  when it was decided that the game would determine which league gets the home field advantage in the World Series. The American League has been dominant of late however overall, the NL holds a 40 to 37 All Star advantage. The AL's early dominance occurred before my time. I suffered through a long period of NL victories which made the game a painful experience. Since 1997, interleague play has added another element in determining the relative strength of the leagues. The American League has dominated interleague play but has only won 5 of the 9 World Series since 2000.

I only care for the game itself and generally don't pay much attention to the player introductions and other pre-game hoopla and analysis. I may watch the HR hitting contest tonight but won't be chagrined if I miss it. Sadly, the All Star game is still carried by fox so I have to suffer through Buck and McCarver or make frequent use of the mute button. The only other bad thing about the baseball's All Star break is that it's the only game to follow for three days.

I suppose that fan voting for the starters is here to stay but I have always been against it. The players should vote. I would have AL players vote for the AL All Stars and NL for NL with the exception that they can't vote for their team mates. This year's worst fan selection has to be Josh Hamilton who has been injured most of the year and doesn't have good numbers for the short time he's played. Although I'm a Yankee fan, I have to admit that Mark Teixeria does not deserve to start over Justin Morneau. The starting lineups for this 80th All Star game are not very impressive. The only scary hitter is in the NL - Albert Pujols. Although I'll root for the AL as usual, this may be the year the NL breaks its drought.