Wrong's What I Do Best : Hard Country Music and Contemporary Culture

This is the first study of "hard" country music as well as the first comprehensive application of contemporary cultural theory to country music. Barbara Ching begins by defining the features that make certain country songs and artists "hard." She compares hard country music to "high" American culture, arguing that hard country deliberately focuses on its low position in the American cultural hierarchy, comically singing of failures to live up to American standards of affluence, while mainstream country music focuses on nostalgia, romance, and patriotism of regular folk. L With chapters on Hank Williams Sr. and Jr., Merle Haggard, George Jones, David Allan Coe, Buck Owens, Dwight Yoakam, and the Outlaw Movement, this book is written in a jargon-free, engaging style that will interest both academic as well as general readers Barbara Ching Defines The Features That Make Certain Country Songs And Artists Hard. She Compares Hard Country Music To High American Culture, Arguing That Hard Country Deliberately Focuses On Its Low Position In The American Cultural Hierarchy. The Artists Sing Of Failures To Live Up To American Standards Of Affluence. The Songs Are Set Apart From Mainstream Country Music, Which Focuses On Nostalgia, Romance, And The Patriotism Of Regular Folk. Ching Demonstrates That Hard Country's Bad Puns, Sad Stories, And Unsavory Characters Are Not As Simple As We Want Them To Be. In A Style That Demands Both Devotion And Alienation From Its Fans, Hard Country Ultimately Seeks Out The Extreme And The Objectionable, And In Doing So, Shows Us The Darker Side Of Ourselves.--jacket. Introduction: Learning The Hard Way. -- Country 'til I Die: Contemporary Hard Country And The Incurable Unease Of Class Distinction. -- The Possum, The Hag, And The Rhinestone Cowboy: The Burlesque Abjection Of The White Male. -- The Hard Act To Follow: Hank Williams And The Legacy Of Hard Country Stardom. -- Drawing Hard Lines: Buck Owens, Dwight Yoakam, And The Bakersfield Sound. -- Dying Hard: Hard Country At The Finish Line? Barbara Ching. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 161-170) And Index. "Barbara Ching defines the features that make certain country songs and artists hard. She compares hard country music to high American culture, arguing that hard country deliberately focuses on its low position in the American cultural hierarchy. The artists sing of failures to live up to American standards of affluence. The songs are set apart from mainstream country music, which focuses on nostalgia, romance, and the patriotism of regular folk. Ching demonstrates that hard country's bad puns, sad stories, and unsavory characters are not as simple as we want them to be. In a style that demands both devotion and alienation from its fans, hard country ultimately seeks out the extreme and the objectionable, and in doing so, shows us the darker side of ourselves."--BOOK JACKET. This title argues that hard country music deliberately focuses on its low position in the American cultural hierarchy, comically singing of failures to live up to American standards of affluence, while mainstream country music focuses on nostalgia, romance, and patriotism of regular folk, buying into the standards of "higher" culture. While Richard Peterson has convincingly argued that the history of commercial country music, beginning in 1923, can be written by following its dialectical movement between "hard-core and soft-shell" expressions (Creating, 229 ff.), this movement does not take place of its own accord.