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Two versions of country songs for airplay
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Topic: Two versions of country songs for airplay
Big Pine Key, FL
Posted 5 Apr 2019 6:44 am
I can't find info to prove it, but I remember back in the 80's, when some country songs crossed over to the pop audience, there were versions WITHOUT pedal steel that would get played on non-Country top 40 radio stations. Can anyone collaborate this or did I imagine it?
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Joachim Kettner
If I remember corectly Bruce Bouton confirmed this at a workshop in the Netherlands. He mentioned Shania Twain as an example.
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Jerry Overstreet
Yes, this was not unusual. You did not imagine it. One version for country radio and one for pop. I can't recall all of them, but besides Shania, I particularly remember Juice Newton' Sweetest Thing as having 2 versions.
Lee Baucum
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
I found this on Amazon:
Give Shania Twain points for honesty. Up!, her first new release in five years, offers both pop and country versions of the same 19 songs, the red disc boasting pop renditions while the green proffers country. It's a smart idea, since it allows Twain the freedom to dress a song in whatever arrangements and instrumentation she pleases--without setting herself up for criticism as to whether Canada's Queen of the Bare Midriff spat on the Holy Grail of Nashville. Often, the only difference is the substitution of pedal steel, fiddle, and banjo for strings, guitars, and keyboards. In these situations, where she employs the same riffs and melodic strains, the country version usually pales in comparison; however, the green disc wins on those songs where the subject matter hits closer to home, especially the unwed mother tune "I Ain't Goin' Down." Twain was never truly a country singer--she was merely marketed that way--and her red disc particularly pleases, while making no excuses. She is what she is: a perky lounge singer with a calculatedly honeyed voice, a penchant for inane lyrics--often about absolutely nothing--and, in tandem with her husband, Mutt Lange, a masterful command of rhythm, production, and mood. ("I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" is confection perfection.) There's something oddly hypnotic about much of this project, and it may be simply hearing what Shania can do when she abandons the pretense of being a country singer and concentrates on music. Call this a guilty pleasure--pop, country, or somewhere in between. --Alanna Nash
Posted 6 Apr 2019 11:13 am
Shania did not come along until the mid-1990's.
Back to the 1980's, I believe that "Black Velvet" had two versions.
I don't know if they were the same actual singer, but from memory they sounded the same.
I believe that they may have been marketed under a different name of singer.
Tony Prior
Charlotte NC..
Posted 6 Apr 2019 12:06 pm
you mean like "Price" recordings with strings ?
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Black Velvet was 2 different versions from 2 different singers, not 2 versions by the same singer.
Alannah Myles did the pop cut first, then Robin Lee did a version with steel. I had to learn to do those high harmonics for the girl singer I was playing with at the time.
Donny Hinson
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
Posted 6 Apr 2019 2:44 pm
Tony Prior wrote:
Gross! Don't remind me that I have that album. Price's "Night Life" without steel is a travesty.
In the world of rock/pop, even the 1969 song "Crimson and Clover", by Tommy James and the Shondells, had a pedal steel version, and a non-pedal steel version.
Yes the record companies in trying to promote artists to a wider audience would choose hit singles and have the producers make two versions. .One version for Country radio and another version for Pop radio...But that practice was not just a Country thing.....I put steel on singles by several pop acts trying to get Country airplay...The most notable were Michael McDonald and Don Henley.
Frank Freniere
The First Coast
I'm pretty sure LeAnn Rimes had a steel and non-steel version of "How Do I Live" back in 1997. Trisha Yearwood also released the same song at the same time - without steel.
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