they end up appealing to some otherwise fine, funny, decent, interesting people who unfortunately have been culturally isolated enough to not think very deeply about what they're getting into
i don't think toby keith is culturally isolated, and i assume he does think about what he's getting into. i also assume, based on keith and assorted others who said yes to this gig, that not having had a hit in several years makes it either a) easier to say yes or b) harder to say no, or both.
― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 17 January 2017 20:30 (seven years ago) link
he also wrote a song about kicking terrorists in the ass with your boot
― global tetrahedron, Tuesday, 17 January 2017 20:32 (seven years ago) link
toby keith also played the RNC, it didn't come out of nowhere (he said he "would have played the DNC if they offeredd" but that's kind of like me saying that I'd accept $1 million from trump if he offered: so unlikely a possibility as to be moot)
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Tuesday, 17 January 2017 20:33 (seven years ago) link
the one time i saw him live, about 10 years ago, he was great for the 80-ish minutes of his regular set, then he came back for the encore and the entire arena, not just him, turned into a red, white and blue kick-terrorists-in-the-ass-vote-republican-and-be-christian rally. it was legitimately scary. but those 80 minutes were still great.
― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 17 January 2017 20:48 (seven years ago) link
i kinda liked this song o_O
no you're right he doesn't really have the same excuses that say my jackass father-in-law does
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 17 January 2017 20:58 (seven years ago) link
it's not as poignant as Alan Jackson's
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 17 January 2017 21:38 (seven years ago) link
May very well be Trump's secret ISIS plan.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 17 January 2017 21:48 (seven years ago) link
"Beer for My Horses" just went by the radio and, wow, I can't believe any station would play this in 2020. Also, wtf, there was a movie??
― j.o.h.n. in evanston (john. a resident of chicago.), Thursday, 2 July 2020 15:13 (four years ago) link
Yeah, used to hear this on the radio all the time (back when I lived in a red state small town) and always did a double take at the lyrics. The awful thing is the chorus is kinda catchy so when I hear it on the radio I sometimes catch myself humming it later that day.
― Lily Dale, Thursday, 2 July 2020 17:33 (four years ago) link
NEWS: Amid impeachment effort, Trump is giving medals to @tobykeith and @RickySkaggs — national medal of the arts, several sources tell me— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 13, 2021
― j.o.h.n. in evanston (john. a resident of chicago.), Wednesday, 13 January 2021 21:23 (three years ago) link
RIP
― jaymc, Tuesday, 6 February 2024 13:14 (seven months ago) link
if I speak
― Murgatroid, Tuesday, 6 February 2024 13:18 (seven months ago) link
“A Little Too Late” “As Good As I Once Was” “Just Talking About Tonight” all classics imo
― Beyond Goo and Evol (President Keyes), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 13:21 (seven months ago) link
what????
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 13:25 (seven months ago) link
Yeah, he had a run of good to excellent albums in the mid '00s. I'd add "Somewhere Else," "I Love This Bar," and about a dozen others to PK's list.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 13:29 (seven months ago) link
Requisite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyIwRoPr728
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 6 February 2024 13:57 (seven months ago) link
damn the taliban finally got him, sending love & light
― waste of compute (One Eye Open), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 14:06 (seven months ago) link
no reason in particular. pic.twitter.com/Ycs9zqdTf1— lieutenant winslow (@lt_winslow) February 6, 2024
― glumdalclitch, Tuesday, 6 February 2024 14:19 (seven months ago) link
Have they started leaving flowers at all the I Love This Bar & Grill locations?
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 6 February 2024 14:43 (seven months ago) link
when I turned 21 and started going out the song that would play nonstop is "I Love This Bar", like every local place would have someone playing it 3x a night, one of the few songs I still actively hate, though perhaps "Red Solo Cup" is actually worse, perhaps because he was 50 years old when he wrote it, not to be ageist but if you're that old you should not be at those sorts of parties you giant fuckin weirdo
rest in peace
― frogbs, Tuesday, 6 February 2024 15:18 (seven months ago) link
My aunt brought out red solo cups for our Noche Buena party in December. We were sitting outdoors.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 15:19 (seven months ago) link
"I Love This Bar" is great.
I would argue with you Alf but I will show some respect for the recently deceased
― frogbs, Tuesday, 6 February 2024 15:22 (seven months ago) link
When exactly did this racist asshole earn any respect?
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 15:26 (seven months ago) link
Some of us who write about country music loved the stuff he released between 1999-2006. We gotta deal with garbage like "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" and "Beer For Your Horses" the same way we gotta deal with "Okie From Muskogee" and "Fightin' Side of Me." But Toby Keith is responsible for the hesitation about assessing Toby Keith. I haven't listened to his last few albums, but it wouldn't surprise me if the white trash with money ethos he celebrated and in 2016 and 2020 implicitly empowered hadn't disfigured his songs. Keith had too much talent for it to happen. Or maybe the newer songs do get disfigured in the same way fascism shrivels whatever it touches, including the earlier material I've praised. Either way I wouldn't have bothered even if he'd rejected Donald Trump.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 15:33 (seven months ago) link
“I Wanna Talk About Me” is an awesome songI think I have Tim H to thank for introducing me to “As Good As I Once Was” which is on the very top shelf of unimpeachably satisfying countrysongs
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 15:37 (seven months ago) link
You’re welcome Tracer. Alfred OTM - White Trash With Money was where I delicately alighted from Toby’s truck but the string of LPs beforehand are really good with disgusting moments (and as with all such things everyone has their own bar for where the gross stuff gets too much).
― Tim, Tuesday, 6 February 2024 16:14 (seven months ago) link
i love that bar
― JoeStork, Tuesday, 6 February 2024 16:35 (seven months ago) link
I've always loved ILM's double standard with modern country vs indie like omg Pitchfork didn't start their Sleater Kinney review with a land acknowledgement vs Toby Keith advocating for murdering people in the Midwest or Morgan Wallen said the n word sure sucks but whaddya gonna do?
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 17:08 (seven months ago) link
mideast obv
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 17:09 (seven months ago) link
are the same posters dismissing the S-K review the same ones praising Toby Keith?
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 17:10 (seven months ago) link
actually, Keith's lynching song did advocate murdering Americans.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 17:11 (seven months ago) link
I think Springsteen's Nebraska was advocating for murder in the midwest
― Beyond Goo and Evol (President Keyes), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 17:15 (seven months ago) link
Some of us who write about country music loved the stuff he released between 1999-2006. We gotta deal with garbage like "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" and "Beer For Your Horses" the same way we gotta deal with "Okie From Muskogee" and "Fightin' Side of Me."
Are you sure you get "Okie From Muskogee"?
― The SoyBoy West Coast (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 17:19 (seven months ago) link
are you sure you do?
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 17:22 (seven months ago) link
Some good words from Adeem: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=823438616258910&set=pcb.823478716254900
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 17:39 (seven months ago) link
I've always loved ILM's double standard with modern country vs indie
Yeah, this is really weird around here. Toby Keith and Morgan Wallen get met with a shrug and excuses because they've also released good music, but when it comes to indie rock and metal, even the slightest whiff of guilt by association gets an artist rendered persona non grata around here. Which isn't to say indie rock dudes and metal dudes don't often earn being canceled and ignored, but it seems to be a real blind spot for country artists to get a pass for racist bullshit.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 18:02 (seven months ago) link
Sure, but how many country critics on these threads overlap with rock and metal ones? Speaking just for myself, I don't practice "canceling," never have.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 18:04 (seven months ago) link
We also don't spend a lot of time criticizing rappers for being misogynistic.
― Beyond Goo and Evol (President Keyes), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 18:21 (seven months ago) link
The way I see it (surely there is a country album with that title), a huge hunk of country music may share his political beliefs, but only a select few assholes go out of their way to flaunt them, repeatedly and aggressively, and even fewer of those select few assholes (if any) produce much worthwhile enough to overlook their bullshit the way I/we/many/most overlooked, say, Public Enemy's. Like, Brad Paisley's career has been all but ignored ever since he released a *well-intentioned* provocative song, why would I give Toby Keith the time of day for so many *intentionally* provocative, reactionary, jingoistic, xenophobic, racist etc. songs? Especially when there is an almost endless list of other country artists great and small that deserve more ears? Just because he's popular?
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 6 February 2024 18:28 (seven months ago) link
Misogyny is rampant in all strains of music, but how many current acts (rap, country or otherwise) make misogyny a trademark? When people think of Toby Keith - and I'm sure the obits will evince this - they are thinking of one thing first and foremost.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 6 February 2024 18:30 (seven months ago) link
If we have to drag Merle into this, its worth noting that he changed his views on the war & counterculture over time and didnt hesitate to call songs like "Okie" and "Fighting Side of Me" the work of a dumb ignorant kid.
― waste of compute (One Eye Open), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 18:36 (seven months ago) link
I'm sure the obits will evince this - they are thinking of one thing first and foremost.
Well certainly the obits written by people who know of him for one thing.
― Beyond Goo and Evol (President Keyes), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 18:38 (seven months ago) link
xpost And also likely recorded dozens of songs better than Toby Keith's best, but I'll leave that to the experts
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 6 February 2024 18:39 (seven months ago) link
Brad Paisley's career had already flatlined before that terrible song. Besides releasing increasingly okay at best albums, he was (a) getting older in a genre that prizes youth on the radio (b) an Obama supporter.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 18:40 (seven months ago) link
actually, Paisley started getting boring at the same time as Keith.
Also speaking of Merle, when he was old and ailing he was playing a concert and could only make it through about 4 songs. He called Toby Keith up from the audience and had him finish the concert for him (playing Merle's songs of course.)
― Beyond Goo and Evol (President Keyes), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 18:41 (seven months ago) link
i also think we're kinda conflating criticizing a late musician's troubling legacy after they die vs 'cancelling them' and not listening to their music while they're alive.
some people do the former and not the latter.
― never trust a big book and a simile (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 18:42 (seven months ago) link
like when Prince died we talked honestly about what a son of a bitch he was in the days and weeks after he died but we're still showing up to the threads to talk about his music, y'know
― never trust a big book and a simile (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 18:43 (seven months ago) link
yeah, I'm not sure what Josh's deal is. Is someone making you listen to Toby Keith? Or are you offended that people on this message board like some of his songs?
― Beyond Goo and Evol (President Keyes), Tuesday, 6 February 2024 18:45 (seven months ago) link