Listening Guides

Listening Guide 13.1

Listening Guide 13.2

Listening Guide 13.3

Listening Guide 13.1
"Lovesick Blues" 4 beats per measure

iTune link = Lovesick Blues

*Brackets indicate measures with only two beats. The two measures of 2/4 included in this section of the form result in a total of 32 measures of 4/4.

Analysis of "Lovesick Blues" (SCCCM, 10/9, CD 2/17)

"Lovesick Blues" is not a Hank Williams composition but an old Tin Pan Alley vaudeville blues tune from the 1920s. The lengthy form of the song and the complexity of its chords make it an unusual part of Williams's repertoire. Made in 1948, this was Williams's first successful recording for the new MGM label, and it earned him his invitation to perform on the Grand Ole Opry the next year.
       The backup band is a large honky tonk group that includes electric lead guitar, acoustic rhythm guitar, electric steel guitar, piano, bass, and drums. 1 "Lovesick Blues" requires several listenings to hear the role each instrument plays in the accompaniment.
       The rhythm guitar, true to its name, provides the chords and a swing rhythm pattern similar to what the drummer is playing with his brushes on the snare. The piano adds further dimension to the rhythm by playing a simple "oom-pah" bass note/chord pattern. The electric lead guitar, steel guitar, and piano provide filler lines between the vocal phrases and sustaining notes to fatten up the overall texture of the background. Dividing these duties among the different instruments at different times in the song adds variety to the sound of the accompaniment and propels the arrangement forward. The skill and sensitivity of these musicians become more apparent when we realize that their interaction is, for the most part, improvised and was designed during the course of the performance. Their sensitivity to each other's playing, as well as their collective function as accompanists for Williams, comes from years of practice and experience.
       Hank Williams's vocal is exuberant and exhibits a number of clever and expressive vocal techniques. The most prominent is the yodel, the technique of quickly flipping between falsetto and chest voice. Williams got the yodeling idea not from Jimmie Rodgers, as one might expect, but from an earlier version of "Lovesick Blues" recorded by fellow Alabaman Rex Griffin. Williams aptly applies the yodel to the word "cry," since the yodel has a crying effect; and its use on each syllable of "lo-o-onesome" is the high point of the entire performance. In any event, the speed and ease with which Williams flips notes within the yodel is nothing less than amazing.
       Another vocal propensity in "Lovesick Blues" is sliding from one pitch to another. The slide on the word "just" in "just wouldn't stay" gives the maximum emphasis to just the right part of the phrase. In fact, Williams's use of slides generally seems to give strength to the notes rather than giving them a sagging, drawling quality.

Listening Guide 13.2
"Faded Love" 4 beats per measure

iTune link = Faded Love

Analysis of "Faded Love" (SCCCM, 12/7, CD 3/6)

"Faded Love" is a classic Bob Wills song based on an older folk fiddle tune. Patsy Cline's 1963 recording was made for Decca Records in Nashville and is indicative of the pop crossover the country music industry was striving to achieve at this time. Cline is accompanied by 10 violins, background vocals by the Jordanaires, four guitars, piano, bass, and drums. Electronic reverb (or echo effect) is prominent in the audio mix, adding to the richness of the overall sound.
       Most of Patsy Cline's predecessors and contemporaries in country music rendered songs with little change in dramatic level. The distinction of her renditions is the emotional range they encompass. The form of "Faded Love" in this recording is comprised of an introduction, a first verse and chorus, an instrumental interlude, and a second verse and chorus. Cline's basic dramatic plan is to sing each verse softly and each chorus loudly. However, to keep the momentum in the arrangement, the second verse/chorus must have more relative intensity than the first verse/chorus. This requires Cline's careful choice, pacing, and execution of her vocal devices to ensure that she does not reach the dramatic peak of the song too soon, leaving her nowhere to go for the remainder of the performance.
       Cline's opening verse is soft and subdued, richly sung in the bottom of her vocal register. Yet there is a restrained passion already present that begins to reveal itself within a few measures. For instance, on the word "so" in the phrase "so dear," she applies the now-familiar "cry" technique that forecasts the emotional release of the chorus. In the first chorus, as anticipated, Cline increases the intensity of her delivery, moving to a higher register and louder volume. She brings out the peaks of each phrase with an increase in volume or a stress in her vocal sound. These points of emphasis are made even more striking because Cline backs off just before the peak of the phrase, then swells into it, such as on "stars above."
       After the instrumental interlude, the challenge for Cline is to do the second verse and chorus even better. While maintaining the basic plan of soft/loud, Cline does not back down as far emotionally. The passion is not as restrained and her voice is fuller. Her involvement with the song has intensified, as hopefully, has the listener's. In the second chorus, Cline gives it everything. She makes more frequent use of the cry technique and supplements it with a vocal quiver that sounds like her powerful voice may succumb to the emotion she is expressing. In fact, at the end of the song, the emotion seems to overtake her. She sounds spent, her weakened voice barely able to push out the last few notes.
       By the late 1950s the reputation and earnings of Nashville 's music industry became formidable enough to get the attention of city leaders. Once a blemish in the business community, country music became its crown jewel. In light of the expansiveness and diversity of the music business, the Country Music Association was formed in 1958 as a trade organization to promote country music in all its forms. It was not concerned with defining country music or preserving any particular musical or cultural tradition but was concerned almost solely with promotion. It sponsored the first all-country radio stations, built the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 1967, and today sponsors an annual country music awards show on national television.

iTune link = Redneck Woman

When Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman" was released in 2004, it became the first single by a female artist to top the Billboard charts in over two years. It was certainly not the first contemporary song touting that women could party as hard as men, but "Redneck Woman" marked a return to a harder honky-tonk style at a time when country music was heavily into one of its pop-crossover phases.
       The instrumentation and beat of the song reflect a modern honky-tonk style, a combination of an older country "two-beat" rhythm and elements of rock and roll. The third chorus reveals a hint of banjo, an instrument not usually associated with honky-tonk but probably included to enhance the presentation of a country roots revival song. Wilson 's subject matter and style reflect the naughty party girl imagery popularized by Tanya Tucker, whom Wilson references in the song.