Fwd: Bill Malone on the Dixie Chicks

Begin forwarded message:

> From: David Roche <>
> Date: Wed Apr 02, 2003 02:54:03 Asia/Calcutta
> To: SEM-L@...
> Subject: Bill Malone on the Dixie Chicks
> Reply-To: Society for Ethnomusicology Discussion List <SEM-
> L@...>
>
> All,
>
> I just received this from a dj list serve:
>
> Bill Malone wrote a hot letter to the editor of CMT (online > country music journal), and you can see his response here:
>
> http://www.cmt.com/news/feat/nash.skyline.032703.jhtml
>
>
> or text below:
>
> NASHVILLE SKYLINE is a column by CMT/CMT.com Editorial Director > Chet Flippo.
>
> Today's column is devoted to a reply to my column from last > week, "Shut Up and Sing?" I received many, many replies to that > column about the Dixie Chicks' lead singer Natalie Maines' > remarks regarding President Bush. I feel strongly that you > should read this response to that column from my old friend and > mentor and fellow Texan Bill C. Malone. Bill is the dean of > country music historians. His groundbreaking book Country Music > USA in 1968 set the standards for country music scholarship, > and Bill has kept those standards high with a series of books > ever since. Bill sent a response to my column, and it is well > worth your attention.
>
> +++++++++
>
> Chet,
>
> I have always valued your friendship and the incisive > commentaries that you have made about country music over the > last 30 years or so. But I think that the viewpoints expressed > in your column concerning the Dixie Chicks controversy were > dead wrong, and I hope that you will permit my response to your > remarks to be circulated among your readers.
>
> In my opinion, you had every right to question the wisdom, > timing and context of Natalie Maines' remarks, but after having > done that, you should have asserted her right to express her > opinions. You would agree, I hope, that our great virtue as a > nation comes from our constitutional liberties. We should not > wish to be a nation like Iran or Iraq where criticism of the > government is curtailed and punished. Natalie Maines' right to > express her opinions is God-given and > constitutionally-protected. The correctness or non-correctness > of her statement has nothing to do with her right to say it. > Our democracy is imperiled if we selectively decide who has the > right to speak. You declare that "airhead celebrities" like > Sean Penn, Madonna and Charlie Daniels have "no qualifications > at all" to speak about U.S. foreign policy or anything else. I > must respectfully disagree, and would remind you that Americans > don't have to be "qualified" to speak on any issue (just take a > look at the First Amendment). I am appalled at the elitism > implied by your statement, and by the presumption that you can > decide who is eligible for protection under the Constitution.
>
> It is particularly mind-boggling to read in your column that > "Maines' attack on Bush was in effect a direct attack on the > country music audience." Old friend, I am sorely offended by > your attempts to argue that the country music audience is > monolithic, or that some of us are more patriotic than others > because of our attitudes toward the current president. Many of > us spend large sums of money on country music concerts, CDs and > literature, and have done so for many years and we were part of > the majority who voted against George Bush back in 2000. Some > of us vehemently oppose the war that Bush has instigated, and, > like Natalie Maines, we worry about the consequences that the > war will have not only for men and women who have to fight it, > but also for other people who may suffer from its ravages. And > we insist on our right to assert our dissent.
>
> I also wish you had spoken up against the highly-organized > campaign to damage, or even destroy, the Dixie Chicks' career. > I don't question your assertion that thousands of country fans > deplore Natalie's remark, or that they want to punish her for > her statement. But as a reputable and highly-visible columnist, > you should equally deplore any concerted effort to stifle > freedom of speech. In your column we find not one word of > caution or concern about the systematic campaign being waged by > radio stations, right wing Internet Web sites and others to > stifle the sale of their CDs and concert tickets. And it seems > not enough for you to question what the results of these > efforts will be, you then go on to question the nature, > authenticity and durability of the fan base that the Dixie > Chicks already have. You make a snide remark, for example, > about "teenage girls, whose musical attention span > traditionally has not been long." Part of the Chicks' audience, > in fact, is made up of the same non-traditional fans who made O > Brother such a huge success. In liking the Dixie Chicks, people > of disparate ages and incomes have also been introduced to good > acoustic music and songs, and to young women who can skillfully > play string instruments. I think that we ought to value the > contributions that the Dixie Chicks have made, and recognize > that none of us really know what the long-term consequences of > their popularity will be. I only know that many people are now > listening to acoustic string music, and that such interest > might persuade other mainstream musicians to make similar > experiments.
>
> Finally, Chet, I found your column to be profoundly > disappointing because it was patronizing and one-sided. It > purports to know what the true views of the country music > audience are, and who is and who isn't qualified to speak on > public issues. In your stern lecture to Natalie Maines, you > advise her to shut up and put her message in a song. And you > conclude with the statement, "We'll listen to that." I too > would love to hear such a song, but Chet, you know full well > that the song would never receive airplay on Top 40 country > stations. Corporate sponsors, marketing "specialists" and other > censors would never permit the song to see the light of day.
>
> I respectfully urge you to defend Natalie Maines' right to > speak, and ask you to remind your readers and all other fans of > country music that the First Amendment and other constitutional > liberties should be ardently guaranteed now more than ever.
>
> -- Bill C. Malone
> -- David Roche, Ph.D.
> Executive Director
> Old Town School of Folk Music
> 4544 N. Lincoln Ave.
> Chicago, IL 60625-2103
> tel. 773-728-6000 x3332
> fax. 773-506-2414
> http://www.oldtownschool.org
>