Here's another celebrity death in the news, the death of country singer Lynn Anderson at the age of 67. Five years ago, I mentioned Lynn
Anderson in a post about a tune by Canadian electronic dance music act Kon Kan which appropriated the chorus of Ms Anderson's (I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden. There was a brief trend of EDM acts featuring vocals by 1970s country music divas, for some inexplicable reason. Anyway, (I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden is a fine tune in its own right:
For more extensive coverage, I'll defer to the redoubtable M. Bouffant.
Yes, I have "Rose Garden" in a number of active playlists, along with Anne Murray's "Snowbird" (which Lynn Anderson also covered), quite a number of early Linda Ronstadt classics such as "Different Drum" and "Willin' (I also keep the original Little Feat in rotation, but it doesn't belong in this set), Heart's "White Lightning & Wine" (while not country divas, I think this song belongs in the gouping), almost everything by Maria McKee from her lone justice period, and similar stuff.
ReplyDeleteNobody could ever accurately define the term 'alternative music', and there's something truly alt about much of this sixties-era female country. The melodies are strong, the lyrics tend to the narrative, and the voices are often the lead instrument on the track.
That discussion - what is alterno, really - is interesting in and of itself. As an example, go back and listen to Elton's 'Honkey Chateau'. It's alternative as fuck, we just didn't know it then...
I heard the bit about 'not being promised a rose garden' a lot from my mom. The actual song far less.
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