Taking the long way --- Dixie Chicks --- 2006 (Columbia Nashville)
I've said before I'm not a huge Country fan. There are bands and artistes I like, some I'd listen to and some I would not consider giving my time to. That said, sometimes music crosses boundaries and takes on a new importance, almost universal. The treatment the Dixie Chicks received from some sides of the US audience in the wake of their condemnation of the Iraq War in 2003 has always rankled with me. As a matter of history, it's usually been musicians who tend to stand up, in one way or another, for what is right. Given that most of the bands in the Country and Western scene would tend to hail from what is known as "The Bible Belt", itself overwhelmingly Republican and conservative, it is seldom really that a Country artist will take a political stand, especially against a sitting president, for fear of not only alienating their audience but of engineering a serious drop in record and ticket sales.
So these three country gals from Texas --- the biggest state to take on when you're going Bush-bashing --- stood up proudly and declared their opposition to the invasion of Iraq, which was about to start. As a result, their records were burned, their gigs boycotted and one of them received death threats. The fact that they were right in the end was and has been wasted on the voiciferous American Right, who roundly castigated them for daring to speak out about the president, labelling them unpatriotic and traitors. I'm sure if there had been some way that they could have classed them as "enemy noncombatants" and shipped them off to Guantanemo they would. Even in the wake of a somewhat lame apology by Natalie Maines, who had made the comment at a gig in London, their critics were not appeased and it looked bad for the Dixie Chicks. Country radio in the US refused to play their records, people tried to return CDs and they were booed at award ceremonies. Natalie even needed a bodyguard at one point!
But they came storming back three years later, and perhaps people who were now able to see that the war would not be over in a matter of months, and despite Bush's assurances that there would be no American casualties saw the hollowness of that statement, and as WMDs stubbornly and embarrassingly refused to be found, realised that, you know, maybe there was something in what these brave women had said, after all. This, their first album since that incident, shot to the top of the Country and indeed the Billboard mainstream chart too, and eventually won five Grammy awards. If anything, it proved that the controversy, while no doubt scary, worrying and unwelcome at the time, had propelled the Dixie Chicks into the limelight and opened up their music to fans beyond the Country genre. They now considered themselves less Country artistes, they said, and more "part of the big rock'n'roll family".
The opener which is as close to the title track as you're going to get opens with a strummed acoustic guitar as Natalie Maines sings the vocal, then it cuts loose and becomes something of a redemption song in ways. It's got good pace to it, singing of experiences in life and on the road, with the telling line
"I could never follow" running through the song. Nice bit of violin from Martie Maguire while Emily Robinson handles the guitars with aplomb. Mind you, these girls are multi-talented, and all play at least two instruments, in the case of Martie that's the omnichord and her lovely voice, whereas the other two play more than three or four each. There's a great sense of vindication and triumph about the song, and it leads into "Easy silence", a slower, piano-led piece with a yearning vocal kind of more folk-tinged and even alt-rock in there too.
Some good acoustic guitar from the Heartbreakers' Mike Campbell and mourning violin from Martie, a vocal from Natalie that almost embraces a very slow rap style; think a slower version of The Script and you're close. Lovely violin solo then everything drops back for solo piano and Natalie's soft vocal before the song builds back up again on the back of Emily's guitar. Addressing what has become known in Dixie Chicks folklore now as "The Incident", the next song up is called "Not ready to make nice", and the lyric reaffirms, despite Natalie's public apology, the girls' committment to the sentiments they expressed that night in 2003. She sings
"I'm still mad as hell/ Too late to make it right/ Probably wouldn't if I could..." --- oh yeah, these ladies are still fuming quietly about their treatment both from the American public and the Country music world in general, few if any of whom supported their stand. In fact, it was left to people like Springsteen and Madonna to stand by their side and express their support. It's obviously left a bad taste in their mouths, as the final lines in the song sigh
"I'm still waiting..."
More uptempo and almost poppish is "Everybody knows", with male backing vocals for the first time, from Dan Wilson. There are some notable guests on the album: Mike Campbell has already been mentioned, and he's joined by Benmont Tench, Bonnie Raitt and John Mayer, legends all. Whether they're there to lend support to the Dixie Chicks' "comeback" or are just fans I don't know, but it's nice to see that there are people in the rock world ready to help out. It's a good song if a shade generic, with some great steel guitar courtesy of Lloyd Maines, father of Natalie and himself a Grammy-winning musician and producer. There's a real sense of punch and power to the ballad "Bitter end", quite a Nanci Griffith vibe I feel personally, with some fine violin from Martie and piano under the fingers of Tench. "Lullaby" is a simple little low-key song mostly on guitar with omnichord from Natalie adding little swirly flourishes in the background, and indeed a soft lulling vocal from her.
It all kicks off then for "Lubbock or leave it", with a big fast bluegrass rhythm and stomping drums, a bit of rockabilly thrown in and it's good fun with some cool banjo licks from Emily --- almost a solo really --- while "Silent house" is more in almost slow southern rock territory, a big slow grinder with more great banjo and what sounds like synthwork but may be actual human backing vocals. Partially written by Sheryl Crow, "Favourite year" actually has quite a bit of Tom Petty in it, so I'm a little surprised Campbell isn't involved in the writing. A nice mid-paced almost acoustic ballad, it has some gentle little piano and organ lines in it presumably from Benmont Tench again, and some sweet vocal harmonies from the girls. More southern rock, faster this time in "Voice inside my head", some lovely sitar this time from Emily Robinson, pedal steel from Natalie's old man, a real heavy country feel to it.
Slick little acoustic guitar to start off the shuffling "I like it" with jazzy organ and digital piano from Tench, goes all sort of soul/funk with some doo-wop and horns getting in on the act. Not that sure about this one to be honest: I think it's trying to cram too many diverse influences and sounds into the one song and it all gets a bit messy. A much better one is the stripped-down "Baby hold on", a real Faith Hill sort of song, with acoustic guitar and soft percussion, a wistful vocal from Natalie and some powerful piano coming in with great vocal harmonies from the other two ladies. Fine guitar solo from John Mayer near the end just adds the icing on top of the cake, and we head into "So hard" with a mid-paced rocker with folky overtones, with Natalie again referring perhaps to "The Incident" when she sings
"Sometimes I don't have the energy/ To prove everybody wrong"
The album then closes on "I hope", which says everything about what the Dixie Chicks stand for:
"I don't wanna hear nothing about killing/ And that it's God's wish" with an appropriately gospel slant and a strange mixture of Springsteen, Simon and old-style blues, some smoky organ work from Benmont Tench and really quite an understated little track to wind up an album which has a lot to say, crackles at times with anger and recrimination and regret, not for what was said but for how shortsightedly it was received, but in the end reverberates with a sort of acceptance and understanding, if not forgiveness, and embodies the worldview and outlook of these three girls from Texas in the closing track of this, their "comeback" album. And what a comeback.
TRACKLISTING
1. The long way around
2. Easy silence
3. Not ready to make nice
4. Everybody knows
5. Bitter end
6. Lullaby
7. Lubbock or leave it
8. Silent house
9. Favourite year
10. Voice inside my head
11. I like it
12. Baby hold on
13. So hard
14. I hope
At a time when none of their contemporaries dared say what so many people --- within and outside the music world --- thought and feared about the war to be visited upon us by the greedy and the stupid, the Dixie Chicks were one of the few who were prepared to stand up and say what they thought, to take a stand against this madness, to declare themselves ashamed of their president. As reward, they were villified, pilloried and received death threats. Three years later, with the war well in swing on two fronts and showing no signs of coming anywhere close to an end, and Bush halfway through his second term, they came back with an album that showed that they had not forgotten those who had cursed and deserted them.
But in the dark cloud there was a shining silver lining, for on the back of the admittedly adverse but nevertheless worldwide publicity their stand received, they made new fans and crossed over genres, leaving the often traditional and fundamentalist Country sphere trailing in their wake. Their album smashed all previous records for their work and brought their music to a whole new generation of fans. They'll probably never be indoctrinated into the Country Music Hall of Fame, but their courage and determination not to back down has shown us that there's honesty and truth and a desire to do the right thing, even deep in the heart of Texas.