REVIEW--"The Big Revival"--Kenny Chesney

On September 23, 2014, Kenny Chesney released "The Big Revival", his fifteenth studio album in his twenty year career.

While it's safe to say Chesney has changed and improved over the years, it's also safe to say that his past few albums haven't changed much. There's always the fun songs, the beach songs, the reflective songs; a mix of tunes that has served Chesney well, maybe too well.

It seems that Chesney has become complacent in the music he puts out.  He's found what works, and rather than expanding and improving on it, he seems happy to just keep putting out more of the same.  Even his descriptions of songs don't seem to change from album to album.  Each one seems to be about his life, touches his feelings, tells the story of small towns, growing up in those towns, and so on.
That's not to say Chesney's music isn't good, it's just not as new and fresh as it was a few albums ago.

"The Big Revival", like Chesney's previous albums, follows the same groove and path that his fans have come to expect.  While this makes fans happy, it's not necessarily gaining him more fans, and may even possibly drive a few fans away with the tediousness of his musical choices.

"American Kids", the first single released to radio, is the typical, catchy, feel-good song that plays well on radio.  It's upbeat, all-American, small town fun in a three to four minute package.  It's the kind of song that catches your attention and makes you curious to hear more.

Unfortunately for "The Big Revival", "American Kids" is the highlight of the album.  While there are a few stand out songs, on this CD, including the title track, none quite equal the first single.  In fact, Chesney's next single, "Til It's Gone", doesn't seem as good a choice for radio as say, the title track.  Where "American Kids" is an upbeat, lively tune, "Til It's Gone", just kind of drones on and on, with nothing in the lyrics really standing out to catch your attention.

Chesney did team up with Grace Potter once again, this time for the tune "Wild Child".  This song is actually not too bad, and would be a good choice for a future single.

That's pretty much "The Big Revival" in a nutshell.  Just change the title of the CD, the song titles, and twist the music around a bit, and that's it, you've got a Kenny Chesney album; nothing really new to hear, but good if you like to stay in a comfort zone with music.

Kenny Chesney & Going Bald

(Today's KUPL Listener Blog word is in the post below this one.)

By now anyone who listens to country has heard Kenny Chesney's latest single, "Come Over".  For those who haven't though, I'll add the video in this post:

I know I'm not the only one who, upon hearing this song for the first time, heard the lyrics differently.  There are very few people who *don't* hear "COMB over", instead of  "COME over".  The fact that Chesney himself is bald just adds to the humor of the mix up.  When things get stuck in my head, I have to do something about it; in this case, it was to rewrite "Come Over", to "Comb Over". 

As I always do, I worked over each line of the song, trying to come up with a new story, while still keeping the rhythm and rhyme of the original tune.  When I had it done, I did what I usually do, sent it to Scott, Jolynn and Jake, from KUPL's "Simon in the Morning" show.  By now they've gotten used to my craziness, and take it in stride.

With this rewrite though, Jake emailed me and said once the real song was higher up the charts, he wanted to have the parody done professionally!   WOW!!!   And that's exactly what happened; when "Come Over" hit the top five of the country charts Jake sent it off to be produced.  Before that however, he explained that most parodies don't use every line of the actual song.  He edited out some parts, and tweaked a few of the lines, to tighten them up; my first parody co-write!  I thought that was really cool!

This morning, I got an email from Jake, with the audio of  "Comb Over" attached; the parody had come to life!  I loved it, and was thrilled to hear something I'd had a hand in actually being performed.  I emailed Jake, thanking him for all his help with "Comb Over", and asked if I could write a post about it.  He said of course, then asked if my blog supports audio; bummer, it doesn't, so back to the drawing board I went.

In the meantime, unbeknownst to me, Jake was working up something of his own.  This afternoon, I got another email from Jake, with a link to a video he'd made for our parody!  Because of that, I'm now able to share with readers Jake's and my song rewrite, "Comb Over".  Please let us know what you think!

Art Imitates Life

(Today's word will be in red, and bold.)


It's funny how a song can mean one thing, yet fit other situations equally as well.  For instance, Kenny Chesney's "Big Star".

The song tells the story of a woman who starts out singing karaoke in a bar, and is so good, she goes on to be a huge success in the music world.

The story continues about how the woman's friends and neighbors tear her apart, trying to start rumors about how she became successful.

The sad thing about this is, it really happens; and not always when someone makes it "big".  For some reason, there seems to always be someone who can't be happy for others who succeed at something.  Even when it's just a little thing, the fact that someone has been able to do what another hasn't can lead to resentment and jealousy.

I've never understood why things have to be this way; it always has been though.  The bigger someone becomes, the more dirt seems to get thrown at them.  Granted, sometimes it's deserved; not everyone legitimately earns the status they've attained.  That's how songs like "Big Star" come to be; because of those slinging mud and trying to make the person look bad.  The stereotype of a person having done all these things to become famous, gives even the legitimate people a bad reputation.

No, not everyone is going to be good at everything they do.  Some are going to be good at some things, and bad at others.  It's a given, no one's perfect.  Why can't people just strive to be the best they can, without tearing others around themselves down?

I'm thinking if everyone tried to be a better person, rather than tear others down, it would help to make this world a better place. Skip the people who haven't legitimately attained the status they have; it's not worth wasting time over.  Those people usually turn out to be just as negative as others around them.  It's like they know in their heart they've taken shortcuts to get where they are.

Instead of being negative of someone's hard earned success, big or small, be happy for them.  Look at what they've achieved, and if you're so inclined, make strides to be successful yourself.  This seems to be a much more positive approach then tearing people down.  When people are more positive, they attract more positive people.

As I said in the beginning of this post, it's funny how a song can be about one thing, and lead someone to think and hear the song differently than the original intention.

Never Thought It Would Go This Far...

It's been about a month since the "Simon in the Morning" team had a discussion about cartoons, cartoon voices and the Muppets. At the time the whole thing got jumbled around in my head, until I finally did something about it; I created caricatures of Scott, Jolynn and Jake.

From the beginning, (jokingly), Scott has always commented on how his caricature is shorter and wider than Jolynn or Jake.  At one point, I decided to "give in" to Scott and make him taller and thinner.  So, I wrote another blog and introduced readers to the "taller, thinner Scott Simon".  Basically, I put the head of Scott's caricature on the body of Jake's caricature, thus making Scott taller and thinner.  I didn't stop there however.  I also noticed that Jolynn and Jake have hair, and Scott doesn't.  So I took the hair from Jolynn's caricature and added it to the taller, thinner Scott Simon.

Thought that was the end of it, until I was talking to B-Dub at the Kenny Chesney pre-party.  He asked my name, and when I told him, he said, "you're the one that created the caricatures; where's mine?"  I told B-Dub I'd see what I could do, which I did, and sent it to him.

I'd also created a caricature for Eduard, the new producer of "Simon in the Morning".

After that, I decided I definitely needed to create caricatures of Lola and TicTak; didn't want to leave them out when the other on air staff had caricatures.  Got those done, and sent them off to Lola, TicTak and the morning team.

Of course, the first thing Scott noticed is that he was still the widest, (actually, he said shortest and widest; however, he and Lola's caricatures are the same height).

At that point, I figured that was the end of it; not quite.  The morning team posted the pics of Lola and TicTak on the KUPL Facebook page; and Lola also posted hers on her page.

Because of all this, now is the time to post what I've been working on since Scott first mentioned being wider and shorter.  I'd told him, if I did my caricature, it would definitely be shorter and wider than his, because I *am* shorter and wider than Scott!

With that said, here it is, the caricature of ME!

Uncle Kracker @ the Bing Lounge-7-23-11

The first time I’d ever heard of Uncle KRACKER, I was watching a “Dick Clark’s New Year Rockin’ Eve” special.  Uncle Kracker came on and began singing one of my favorite songs, “Drift Away”.  During the song, the original artist to perform it, Dobie Gray, came out and sang with Uncle Kracker.

Fast forward to Saturday, July 23, 2011.  Later in the evening Uncle Kracker would be performing in front of thousands of Kenny Chesney fans, as part of Kenny’s “Goin’ Coastal” tour.  At the moment though, it was noon, and Uncle Kracker, along with his guitar and keyboard players, was set to perform a short set for a capacity crowd in the Bing Lounge.  I was thrilled to hear “Drift Away” as the first song done that day.

In addition to singing his hits, Uncle Kracker also answered several questions from the KUPL DJ’s and others in the audience.  He also took a dare from TicTak that he wouldn’t perform a certain song for the crowd.

TicTak offered up a pizza if Uncle Kracker would do Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler”.  Uncle Kracker said that was one of his favorite songs, and of course he’d do it; and he did.

When the show was done, those wanting to stay for autographs and photos with Uncle Kracker did; and everyone was also treated to Hot Lips pizza.

My friend Patty, (who’d gone with me to the Bing Lounge), and I got our autographs and pictures; then had some pizza, before deciding to head to the Rose Garden and KUPL’s Kenny Chesney pre-show party. We didn't have tickets for Kenny's concert; we just decided to go check out the party anyway.

Once we were there, we signed up for drawings, and just kind of hung out waiting to see if we’d win…we didn’t…but we had a great day anyway.   

We both agreed, even if we didn’t go to Kenny’s concert, we’d had a great time seeing Uncle Kracker in the Bing Lounge.  He really did a great show at what’s fast becoming my favorite place to see performances.

Summer Songs

Over the years, every genre of music has had it’s fair share of summer songs.  Heck, the Beach Boys have made a career singing about summer!

With today being the official start of summer, I decided it was a good time to mention some songs of the season.  Where to start though?  There are so many songs that can remind one of summer, it would take until at least fall to list every one of them. Even if just the country songs were mentioned, the list would be a long one. 

For that reason, I’ve decided to list only country songs, with “summer” in the title.

I’m sure there are probably songs I’ve missed; for now though, I’ve listed the eleven songs I know that fit my criteria.  The songs are listed in alphabetical order, by title.

1.       “All Summer Long”—Kid Rock

This song came out in 2008 and has been a staple on country radio stations ever since.  The song also helped Kid Rock propel himself into a new career in country music.

2.      “Groovy Little Summer Song”—James Otto

This is probably my favorite song by James Otto.  I just love the rhythm and feel of the song.  Released in 2010, unfortunately, the song only made it to 26 on the Billboard country music charts. 

3.      “Here Comes Summer”—LoCash Cowboys

This song was also released in 2010, charting just under the country top 40 at #41.  That’s sad, as I really think this is a great song and it should have charted higher.  To me, the LoCash Cowboys are the most underrated duo in country music.

4.      “It’s a Summer Thing”—Troy Olsen

Yet another song from 2010, is Troy Olsen’s “It’s a Summer Thing”.  Troy hasn't caught on with the masses quite yet, though this song did help get him some airplay.

5.  Six-Pack Summer—Phil Vassar

This is another of my favorite summer songs.  Released in 2001, it peaked at #9 on the country music charts.  This, to me is truly a classic country summer song that I never get tired of hearing.

6.    Summer Nights—Rascal Flatts

Rascal Flatts released this song as the second single from their “Unstoppable” CD.  The song peaked at #2 on the country charts in 2009.

7.  Summer’s Comin’—Clint Black

This song was released in 2006 and has always been one of my favorites.  I especially like the video for the song; which features cameo appearances by Howie Mandel, Dick Clark and Jay Leno, among others.

8.  Summertime—Kenny Chesney

Kenny Chesney is known for his lighthearted songs about fun in the sun.  “Summertime” was Chesney’s contribution to summer in 2005.  He took the song to #1 on the country charts.

9.    Summertime Blues—Alan Jackson

“Summertime Blues” was originally written and released by rockabilly artist, Eddie Cochran, in 1958.  It peaked at #8 on the Billboard charts.  Several other artists have recorded the song over the years.  Alan Jackson took his turn with the song in 1994, reaching #1 on the Billboard country charts.

10. Sunshine & Summertime—Faith Hill

As I stated in the introduction, I’m sure there are songs I’ve missed while compiling this list.  I repeat it here, because there must be more than one country summer song done by a female artist.  Faith Hill’s “Sunshine & Summertime is the only one I can think of however.  It was released in 2006, and peaked at #7 on the country charts.

11. That Summer—Garth Brooks

Though the word “summer” appears in the title, this song definitely has a different feel to it.  It doesn't have that light, carefree feeling most summer songs have.  Instead, it tells the story of a summer romance between a hired hand and his boss.  Garth Brooks took the song to the top of the country charts in 1993.