i agree claire. i happened to get this cd the same day as the latest Loretta Lynn (review here).

it'll be interesting to see if the industry (or the fans) will stick with her for her next recording go-round.

good gawd, another case of a conservative and a liberal agreeing on something.

what's the world comin' to?!

Art is art....there are no political labels....thank god. I have found a discerning liberal who still appreciates art...who'da thought it?

claire

OK Claire, I understand you're in Texas but since when has 'Redneck' been a positive label? Redneck in most circles is representaive of KKK, incest, chewing tobacco, & doughnuts on the lawn, to name a few. Not to mention how insensitive it is to glorify the term associated with a lynchmob! Mississippi Burning Sheriff cover-up, etc.

I suppose Gretchen is waiting for her Grand Dragon sugar daddy to get back from from the rally where they barbcued a pregnant darkie for letting herself get gangraped by his good ol' boys & actually having one of their bastards. We cain't have that!

Art is art, but redneck is redneck.

Bob, listen to the music. Since when did "labels" mean anything"? the music speaks for itself.

Claire

cripes, it's just 'redneck' as in trailer-trash, not-high fallutin' gal.

lighten up, francis.

plus, "When It Rains" is a great drinkin' song.

Its a great song rain or shine. Thank you Mark :) Talent is not dependent on weather, on labels, or on society's view of what a woman is or should be. She kicks ass. And I love her.

Claire

any woman who sings "when it rains, i pour" is ok in my book.

Context. Mark. context....:)

Claire

Man, beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

One man's cow turd is another man's fertilizer, for sure!

Oh yeah Mark, Trailer-trash? Cool? What are talkin' about?

I love music. I went to 2004 Farm Aid in Auburn, WA two weeks ago. I saw John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Neil Young & Steve Earle. Don't tell me it's cool to be a redneck. I supported family farmers being destroyed by Montsano Corporate Factory Farms backed by Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, the FDA director,(former CEO) & the Secretary of Agriculture. Along with Montsano, ADM, Kraft, & the like, these creeps put 300+ family farms out of business every month. I will not accept all this Bush Administration backed, conflicts of interest, boogie-woogieing to 'Redneck Girl' as the 'Kool Aid' flows freely down my throat!

Gretchen is capitalizing on the market the Dixie Chicks opened when they took their lives back to raise their kids in peace.

gees, i bet you're a laugh riot at parties.

Thanks, Mark. I will take that as a compliment.

lighten up francis...I LOVE IT!!!

Watch out, Andy. You still haven't guess where I live. I'll give you one more hint: USS Missouri. C'mon Navy guy, you have to know this one.

No lightening up when it comes to the positive spin 'Redneck' is getting these days. Swallowing an elephant would be easier to do. No pun intended.(Though that's pretty good one)

well...you said WA St. so I would have to guess either Bremerton or Everett...

I was in Long Beach when thye bought her out of mouthballs in 85 and I know she was home ported there afterwards...she's in Pearl Harbor now...

Bob, Gretchen is capitalizing on NOTHING. She is unlike the Dixie Chicks, she is unlike any Nashville artist, and she isn't trying to be something she isn't.

She was a bartender at 14, has tried to be a singer/songwriter for many years.

Whats with the dissing of the word "Redneck"...it isn't like saying someone is a communist or a pedophile...sheesh...

Claire

mark is right...any woman who can sing when it rains, I pour is a good thing...:)

Discerning people, and the misguided...so funny when they get together...its like watching a British comedy :)

Claire

Bartending at 14? Better call the cops! If that bar is still open they should be checkin' ID's & make sure no child prostiution ring developed over the years. Sounds pretty freaky to me!

I really hate pop-country crap. I don't like the Dixie Chicks music, or Shania Twain's. Gretchen is in that market. I had the unfortunate privledge of seeing a piece on her on CMT when that Redneck Girl came out.

Give me some dusty road, harvest moon, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams country & western any day of the week!

hmmm - I heard something about her on NPR and was curious. Plus, she's hot. Plus, I have some respect for Claire's taste... so I am downloading it right now (that's right, I said it! I am downloading it from Kazaa lite as we speak - who's gonna stop me?).

So, give me about 20 minutes (dial up) and I'll pitch my two cents. Should say this ahead of time though, barring Willie or Johnny Cash > country music sucks.

I have been hearing about this song for too long. So, I finally went out and bought the single (er... burned it off Kazaa lite). Even NPR did a piece on her, about what a revolutionary rule breaker she was... and a breath of fresh air to country music bla bla bla.

Sorry, I found it terrible. It is a populist piece of country formula. This track is bound for a Ford truck commercial, at best. I would hardly call this a breakthrough. Someone recently compared it to the absolutely amazing 'Van Lear Rose' by Loretta Lynn. Big mistake, and if I find that person I am going to call him a name and run!

the lyrics: not rulebreaking. Instead, they play on a precious stereotype of what 'regular folk' she is. Wow, she uses words like y'all and ain't - what a rulebreaker! To say these lyrics are trite would be demeaning to the entire catalogue of Bon Jovi. To me, this song defines why country music sucks so bad. I'd quote some lyrics for you, but it would be a precious waste of letters and spaces.

Jeesh, I put my good name out there as a renegade music pirate for this? Ms. Wilson owes me back three minutes of my life. I've got to be at work in the morning, but y'all have made me so I had to rebutt this silliness post haste*.

* I learned that phrase from Monty Burns, and am trying to use it in conversation. How did I do?

Ya did great, Lono *laughing and laughing....I'm sorry you don't like the song, but then there are many which I don't like too, and thats why the labels are in business...We all like different things. Don't get me wrong...I don't hold her out to be Celine Dion...but she is a clever and excellent songwriter/artist...and her single appealed to enough people to shoot it to No. 1 on the Country Billboard charts for quite a few weeks...so somebody is listening!

You never waste time when you broaden your perspective (even if you hate it)...knowledge is power :)

Thank you for listening to it...I'll try to make it up to you in the next one...lolol

Claire :)

Oh, Lono...I forgot..I'm working on one for Elvis Costello, and one for Guster...you might like those better...grinning...

Claire

I find that person I am going to call him a name and run!

that was me (sort of).

bring it on, i can take it.

gees man, people are so uptight these days.

;-)

I'm getting quite a collection of coats that I'm offering to hold...I'll take good care of yours, Mark (just teasing Lono...:)

Claire

Are you mad at me Claire? What happened to us? Is this the divide that can't be overcome? If it is, I'm sorry it had to come to this. I miss agreeing to disagree with you. You left me with Andy to fill the void. Not that he isn't as or more right-wing conservative as you, it's just that you're my Kool Aid zombie Redneck girl! He doesn't get me worked up to a bleeding heart liberal frenzy like you do.

I can't play today, but I hope you can find it in your heart to argue with me in the not to distant future.

P.S. Don't forget, you'll owe me a beer after Nov. 2nd!

Bob, I would never leave you...:) We are simpatico even if we disagree....and Pete Coors is buying the beer in November...I have it on pretty good authority that his is going to win.

No fears...I don't abandon my friends...even if they do disagree...LOL...

Nice to see you....

Claire

This Kerry voter grew up Redneck, but university ain't totally ruint me.
Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman" is an instant classic.
It hints why W's 2004 win was less about Iraq than rural-urban resentment.

Lighten up & enjoy the best country song of 2004!
Brian Sieben

"It is a populist piece of country formula." I think that is a main reason why country is so widely received, it is populist in that sense. I do admit, complain, and agree that nu-country is pretty formulaic, but evewry once in a while I hear something new that's worth listening to. Still, I prefer Waylon, Willie, and Webb Wilder.

Claire, are you that naive to think that Gretchen Wilson is any different than any other post-Shania entertainer?
(entertainer, not singer) Country music has long since entered the realm of pop in which marketing analysts decide what you hear on the radio. Some suit thought that Gretchen Wilson would fit another suit, this one that of a populist prophet. I'm quite sure she has a large staff that makes sure every redneck hair is in place and that she effects the perfect "outlaw" look. OK, she can write her own songs. That is a point in her favor. I am simply so cynical about country music, I find it hard to believe that anyone who actually has something to say can make in the mainstream. Steve Earle forever!

trooper, I reckon I am...:) I do think Gretchen Wilson is not a stamped out "Nashville" artist...she is rougher, edgier, has no desire to be a diva...which is not to say she is some ravingly wonderful musician...just different to me than the cookie cutters..and she knows her forte, and writes it.

But you have great taste, I agree with you about Steve Earle!

Claire

Art?? This... is art??

Lemme go bang on a rusty bucket with a wooden spoon.. and churn out more art than this garbage.
She'll be gone forever, and unheard of by 2006 at the very latest.

Pair of breasts with a country twang in her voice. She'll be cashed in on until that well runs dry.

I am the biggest fan i know she is 32 or 33 she was born in 1972

Hey...."y'all"
...got me a new printer...thought I'd try it out.
Wanted to print out Mzz Wilson's new song lyrics to, "California Girls" but dang.... it came out a bit different. Guess this 'ain't' no Redneck printer, Ima guessing????? Take a peek....
"California girls"
Well, I ain't never had a problem with Califonia.
Wished I could live there, Sacramento or Corona.
This Redneck livin ain't good, after a while, it wears on ya.
We Redneck girls strut around in our size
'turbos'.
We big ol girls could use some meat off these bones.
Or we just might smother ol George Jones.
Ain't you glad we redneck girls ain't California girls.
Ain't you glad your girls know how to rock your world.
They ain't afraid to get educated and look so dang good.
There ain't nothing wrong with plastic surgery.
Well, Dolly Parton could use a reduction or 2 or 3.
Everybody ought to be exactly who they want to be
but them movie stars make us jealous as sin.
With their nice bodies, so buff and trim.
We'll never have a chance at a real man, like them.
Ain't you glad we redneck girls ain't California girls.

hmmmm, wonderin if Cledus T Judd in is duh house?
Have a good day...."y'all" =)

Was that an attempt at a low blow? I couldn't tell.

I'll tell ya one thing, I've never been to a gym or a day spa. I've never paid more than $30 for a haircut, and my boobs are all mine. And you know what? I still look better than most a' them Cali girls. I've seen the pics. They call themselves the "hot" ones? Honey, if that's all Cali's got to offer, send them Cali boys down here and let them find out what a real woman's body feels like. I earned every muscle I've got, and there ain't no artificial parts here. There ain't much sexier than a hard workin' country girl with a hard body to show for it.

I ain't racist, and I ain't trash.....but I know what real BBQ tastes like and I'm not afraid to get a little on my face. Does that make me a redneck? Probably. Can those Northern/Western boys keep their eyes off of me (with or without the BBQ on my face)? Hell no.

Love for my Southern girls.