Popular groups get that way by sounding unique. They stay popular by remaining unique.

That’s why groups like the Inspirations remain popular.

In comparison, the quartet that routinely churns out a CD with three ballads, three barn-burners, and four or five other varying styles from a list of six or seven options…just like most other quartets are doing…is never likely to be as popular as the Inspirations.

The challenge is in developing a sound that isn’t so easily duplicated, and then keeping people on hand who can reproduce it for years to come.

It’s a rare group that can shift styles with the winds of popular opinion, or better yet, drive opinions by selling a fresh style and remain popular. Most groups never get popular enough in the first place to be in a position to try.

Is popular equal to good music? Not always, but in terms of owning a group, it’s a necessity.

The Oak Ridge Boys were the first group to headline a concert at the Smoky Mountain Center For The Performing Arts in Franklin, NC. This brand new venue seats nearly 1500, and appeared to be sold out. Ticket prices ranged from $39 to $45. The venue isn’t in the greatest location; it’s hid from the main street behind a Shoney’s and a few other storefronts. The access to and from the main street is also less than ideal with no stoplights to control traffic flow.

This venue uses a bar code on tickets, which is great for purchasing online, but makes getting into the place a hassle. A senior citizen takes your ticket, eyeballs it, then eventually scans it…then they tell you go to the wrong side to find your seat. Meanwhile, outside, people are queuing up in the path where cars are also circling trying to find a parking spot.

Inside, the venue smells of fresh carpet, plush seats, and hardwood trim. The design is wide rather than deep, which is better for everyone. The back row of the upper balcony is notably closer to the stage than a traditional narrow rectangular design would be for a venue seating fewer people. Another positive element about the venue (for me, at least) is that it’s both alcohol and tobacco free. If there’s one thing I don’t like distracting me at a concert, it’s a group of loud-mouthed drunks.

Before the show, a slide presentation featuring shots of the various Oaks lineups dating back to the pre-William Lee years was running. After a product pitch (yes, even at an event with $45 tickets), a few opening statements about the new place, an invocation, and the National Anthem, an unadvertised Australian husband and wife duo called The O’sheas sang for approximately 40 minutes. They’re OK, but the crowd applauded most for them once they realized they were finally finished. Their set was followed by an intermission. (This is when it became obvious that the new venue’s restroom facilities are woefully inadequate to handle a crowd of 1500…oops!)

The Oak Ridge Boys were joined on stage by five band members (multi-purpose guy, lead/acoustic guitarist, drums, bass guitar, and keyboards). Their staging is augmented by an adequate light setup and a backdrop where video/slides accompany most of their songs. Their set included eight songs from their new CD, The Boys Are Back, plus a series of well known classics.

Here’s the set list:

1. The Boys Are Back
2. American Made
3. Heaven’s A Small Town
4. Sail Away
5. Dream On
6. Y’all Come Back Saloon
7. Ozark Mountain Jubilee
8. Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight
9. Boom Boom
10. Fancy Free
11. Just A Little Talk With Jesus
12. G I Joe and Lillie (When a shot of Joe Bonsall’s father’s tombstone was shown on the screen at the end of this song, it made quite an impact on me.)
13. Closer To Home
14. God’s Gonna Ease Your Troublin’ Mind
15. Live With Jesus
16. Beautiful Bluebird
17. Hold You In My Arms
18. Seven Nation Army
19. Mama’s Table
20. Thank God For Kids
21. Elvira
22. Bobbie Sue

I may have missed a couple of songs, but that’s the lion’s share.

With the Oak Ridge Boys, some movement may be choreographed, but it all looks spontaneous and organic. Whoever is being featured gets the spotlight. It doesn’t matter if it’s William Lee singing a verse or Donnie Carr playing two measures of fill on lead guitar. “Gets the spotlight,” of course, means more than the obvious super trooper glow in the face. If Duane is singing, the other three singers are cheering him on, and vice versa. Most Southern Gospel performers are doing well if they swivel their necks in the general direction of whoever has a solo. Joe Bonsall will run up next to the guy and point at him. The band members stay engaged as well, looking at each other more than at the audience, but always remaining absorbed in the music they’re performing.

It was an outstanding show. I wish I lived closer, because the venue has an impressive list of events set for the next few months ranging from Charlie Daniels to Greater Vision to a couple of plays.

Oxford, England: A 24-year-old thug/bartender named Gregory McCallum attempted to burgle his 72-year-old neighbor named Frank Corti. Corti, a retired boxer, proceeded to beat the ever loving snot out of him. (Actually, he just punched him twice in the face…HARD!)

What’s terrific about this story is that McCallum’s mug shot has been published for all the world to see.

Let this be a lesson, kids…don’t mess with a retired boxer.

24-year-old burglar Gregory McCalium beaten by ‘victim’ - elderly retired boxer Frank Corti

Source: www.nydailynews.com

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen is at once the most stupendous and stupidest summer movie ever made.

The plot is non-existent. The human characters are marginal (with a few exceptions). The rare moments of “humor” are cheap and offensive.

But the computer generated imagery (CGI) of robots whupping up on each other is tremendous…lots of detail moving by so fast that you can’t get a good idea of what’s happening. I can’t think of any other movie that has a comparable level of complexity and scale in the special effects department…maybe the most recent Star Trek (which is infinitely better in every way imaginable) in certain spots…but this is non-stop from the first scene to the end.

So yeah, you definitely will want to see it! :o)

My previous post in regards to an artist giving an album their all rather than settling for, “well, nobody will notice,” got me to thinking (which apparently can be slightly dangerous)….

Everyone who has followed my posts here or elsewhere knows that I am EXTREMELY picky when it comes to music. I have a tendancy to tear a song or an album apart with what many feel are nit-picky issues. That may be the case sometimes, but I hold commercial music to a high standard; if I am going to spend money on an album, I want to feel that I got my money’s worth. I also hold each artist to a separate standard based on previous experiences; for example, I hold the Gaither Vocal Band to a higher standard than local or regional groups simply because I know what they are capable of producing.

That being said, I want to know….what is your “perfect” album? I don’t mean, what album do you think has the least amount of mistakes, the tightest production, what have you; what I want to know is, what is the one album that you can listen to over and over, not skip any songs, and still enjoy after every spin?

I have a few albums that fall into this category for me, but I am going to hold off on my selections until I see what others have to say….

A comment posted recently on my Recording Oddities entry kinda summed up what I feel is the problem with southern gospel music today….

I think (this is in the for what it’s worth column) that Mr. Gaither probably does not think that the difference is that marked for those of us who are not pitch perfect, nor listen that closely. I find that I focus on the lead performance, not on the stacked vocals behind the performances. I don’t even catch them in concert. It could be that is what he’s expecting, and it’s a more economical way of doing things…

The way I interpret the comment is to say, “The average listener would not notice what you’re nit-picking.” That may be the case, and I have been accused many times of being WAY too picky with my critiques, but in my opinion, there is no reason for an artist NOT to cater to the most picky listener. Not only does it raise the bar from a quality standpoint, but it also shows a dedication to not settle for the status quo.

Imagine if a contractor showed up to build a house, but didn’t pay attention to every little detail. “The door frame is off-center, but unless you sit there and stare at it, no one will ever know the difference.” In my own experience, I recently had the ceiling in my kitchen collapse because a maintenance worker rushed a plumbing job and caused a major leak. He figured if he just slapped it together and made it work, no one would notice. Needless to say, when I came home to a huge hole above my sink….I noticed!! The same goes for any industry. If two people show up for work, one does only what needs to be done, and one goes above and beyond, giving their best effort, which one is gonna last longer?

Now, is every artist going to produce a perfect album every time? No way. Should every artist treat each album as if it’s going to be their best? Absolutely. There should never be a time where the artist says, “They’re not gonna care if we cut corners.”

Via Singing News, Randy Crawford has rejoined Brian Free & Assurance on baritone, taking over the vacancy left by Derrick Selph. A wise move, bringing back a former member, and someone fans will be familiar with. (Thanks to Brian Franklin for the update).

He may have been the eternal punchline in the music industry, and he was unquestionably on a completely different wavelength than anything remotely southern gospel, but there is still no denying Michael Jackson’s influence on the entire music world. I was not a fan of his, per se, but I respected his musical abilities (his lifestyle was another story altogether). While he has been more of a white elephant than a music legend in recent years, I still am going to acknowledge the music and marketing genius (at least until 1985) that was Michael Jackson.

I know that jokes have flown wild about him for years, and will probably continue to do so after his passing, so I ask everyone to please refrain from posting any negative comments. As this is a music site, I feel it appropriate to pay tribute to his musical abilities and influence.

I’m biased in favor of America, of course, but this does a lot more for me than Susan Boyle singing “I Dreamed A Dream.” Enjoy Voices Of Glory singing “God Bless America” on America’s Got Talent.