Our country, 'tis of thee

National Review, July 20, 1992 by John Podhoretz

At that time, country was going through a seismic change, throwing off the 1970s pop that had somehow infiltrated it, in favor of what came to be known as the "New Traditionalism." Brilliant singers like Randy Travis and Dwight Yoakam brought back the nasal voice and steel-guitar sound of Hank Williams Sr.

But there are worrisome signs that country's triumph may prove to be its doom. The first is the prevalence of long hair on the rising new male singers. Ponytails, moussed locks, soft features this is not the look of classic country, but of generic MTV prettyboy pop. (In Robert Altman's condescending country satire, Nashville, a longtime star barks at a musician, "You get your hair cut! You don't belong here in Nashville.")

Garth still sports the short 'do and the cowboy hat, but the hottest-rising act at the moment, Billy Ray Cyrus, has a rubber band holding back his hair as he croons the nation's numberone dance hit, "Achy Breaky Heart." This is the first single to cross over from the country to the rock charts in a decade (the other crossovers have been albums), and while it is certainly catchy, Cyrus violates an important rule of country singing by slurring his words, like a rock star.

Cyrus was at the center of Fan Fair's greatest controversy, when superstar Travis Tritt publicly attacked the upstart for riding on his looks rather than his singing. Tritt, whose greatest song is called "Here's a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)," complained that "Achy Breaky Heart" has nothing to say.

This kind of carping is also alien to country music, which has always been full of backstage rivalries (Loretta Lynn v. Tammy Wynette, to take one notable example) but is just all smiles and friendship in front of the fans. With the mainstream beckoning, country stars have already started primping themselves like rockers; now, apparently, they may start acting like rockers in other ways. And so another vertebra in the nation's cultural backbone is in danger of snapping.

Mr. Podhoretz, a Visiting Fellow at the Hudson Institute, is writing a book about the Bush White House for Simon & Schuster.