Press and Disussion about Don Henley's new album Cass County available Sept. 25, 2015

I'm familiar with almost all of the ones listed so far, though I have no clue who Lucuinda Williams or Ashley Monroe are. Most I like. Country is the most popular genre of music around here. Heck, Trisha Yearwood is from a small town in central Georgia where several of my cousins live. It's been engrained in me since I was little, particularly outlaw country and the country hits of the late 70's- early 90's. While rock music is my main genre of music, there's always a place for country.

I do love how there's a variety of different country artists that are appearing on Cass County. They're not all cut from the same cloth, and they cover several generations, from the 50s- to the present.

ETA: FP, I guess that you trying to understand or like country music would be like me trying to get into whatever local scenes you have down there.

It's not that I don't understand it, but I stopped at Hank Williams/Johnny Cash. I am this minute listening to Dylan's One More Night from Nashville Skyline. I probably exaggerated when I said American country music means nothing here but I think it would be true to say that none of these artists sell any records down here. Dolly Parton did briefly when she went pop with songs like 9 To 5.

I've been a fan of country music since 1994. That's the year when I started to broaden my music taste. I know about all of them.

I've been a fan of Vince Gill for 20 something years. I've seen him once in concert. He's in my top 5 of favorite singers. He's a great singer and plays the heck out of the guitar.

I'm not really a fan of Miranda. I like one song and that's it. She's married to Blake Shelton who is also a country singer and one of the judges on the Voice.

Martina McBride is a wonderful singer. That woman has some pipes. She's small, but when you hear her sing, you can't believe what comes out of that small body. She and Trisha came out around the same time in the early 90s.

I think the only one I'm not familiar with is Lucinda Williams. I heard some songs she wrote, but not familiar with her singing.

The two covers song. I've never heard of those songs. I had to go on YouTube to listen to the original version. I looked up Bramble Rose, which I posted. That's different one of those very traditional country songs. I don't know if I can see Don doing it like that. I can see him putting a little spin to that song. The other one was more a bluegrass song. I'm not a fan of bluegrass and Don really have to spin that song for me to like.

I think a lot of country singers are not popular outside of the US. Some go to Europe or Australia and some don't.

Well, it's just that country music sums up life in the American south, which I can understand not being popular outside of the states. There's several country songs about places around here (see Chattahoochee by Alan Jackson or Muckalee Creek Water by Luke Bryan). When I hear them, they bring back fond memories of my childhood.
Blake Shelton is one of the few modern male country singers I like, besides Luke Bryan, who is a local boy. I'm not too familiar with his wife,Miranda, but I like the song that she did about Blake losing his brother.
I like both Trisha and Vince's voices.

Can't wait for this album, even though I'm not much of a country music fan, although this may not necessarily be a "country" album, but I'll take what I can get - it's new music!

Well I was brought up on good ole country music. My mother played it non-stop and her favourite was Charley Pride but mine was definitely George Jones and he's one of Don's favourites too. Ireland is country music mad, during the summer there's a festival every other weekend and all the big stars come over here...ahem...you may remember the Garth fiasco last year????

Vince Gill has played here twice and I saw him both times - he was absolutely brilliant. He talked about the links between Ireland and American country music. Apparently Irish emigrants brought the country sound over to the Appalachian Mountains and it expanded from there......so.........if there's any place in Europe Don would be MOST welcome and appreciated it would be here!!!!!

Come on Don, my Irish eyes are smiling :)

Welcome back HD - we missed you:thumbsup:

Here are some videos of the guest stars on Don's album for those are not familiar with them.

Martina McBride. One of my favorite songs. Broken Wings. Like I said she has some pipes.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgjTO5eAbZY[/ame]

Vince Gill. A great singer and guitar player. This features his singing and great guitar player. This guy has sing with everybody known to man in country music. He has even sang with Reba. They have a no. 1 hit called The Heart Won't Lie. Like Don, he blends so great with everybody. So I'm looking forward to hearing Don with Vince. I wanted to post his ballads, but I also wanted to post a video with his amazing guitar playing. Here's One More Last Chance. The second video is more a traditional sound like song. The woman in the background is Patty Loveless. I forgot to mention. IF you heard of Pure Prairie League, he was in that band before he moved to Nashville and became a solo artist.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGfgIQfpbWI[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwmGWCJOxnw[/ame]

Alison Krauss: She's more a bluegrass singer, but has a great voice. She even sang with Robert Plant. I found a few videos of them. Here's an old Keith Whitley song. When You Say Nothing At All.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SCOimBo5tg[/ame]

Miranda Lambert. Of course she's part of the new country. She's been around for 10 something years. We really didn't make it big until a few years ago.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQYNM6SjD_o[/ame]

Kellie Pickler is an American Idol alumni and she was also on Dancing With The Stars which she won.

Merle Haggard. I was one of the traditional country singers. He was around with George Jones, Dolly, Buck Owens etc.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbEstJ98TcM[/ame]

I adore Vince Gill. I've seen him live and he has the most amazing voice. So does Don, so this ought to be nearly as good as Don and Glenn singing together!

I also really like Alison Krauss. Her 'duet' with Keith Whitley that you posted below is a favorite, because I also really like Keith Whitley. Alison is another with a pure, sweet voice.

Yes he does, VA. I only saw Vince in concert once. I think it was 2004 or 2005. It was amazing. Vince has this distinct voice. When you hear a song and he's singing backup or harmony on it, you know its him like you will know its Don singing with another person. He and Don will definitely blend great. Too bad Vince is singing with other people on that song. I would had loved to hear Vince either sing a duet with Don, sing backup on a song, but a guest guitar player.

I'm going to put up Trisha Yearwood even though I know everybody knows her. Here's Trisha with Don on Walkaway Joe. I don't know if this will the first time Trisha sang on Don's album. So I'm looking forward to Trisha on the other side (meaning she's lending her voice for Don's song)
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCdCuduv0H0[/ame]

I forgot to add LeeAnn Woamck because I saw her name. She has a great voice. I Hope You Dance is one of her very big hits. It even crossed over to the pop side.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV-Z1YwaOiw[/ame]

Dolly Parton. Here's Dolly and Vince singing I Will Always Love You
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3HZA1-TSD0[/ame]

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Originally Posted by shunlvswx

Yes he does, VA. I only saw Vince in concert once. I think it was 2004 or 2005. It was amazing. Vince has this distinct voice. When you hear a song and he's singing backup or harmony on it, you know its him like you will know its Don singing with another person. He and Don will definitely blend great. Too bad Vince is singing with other people on that song. I would had loved to hear Vince either sing a duet with Don, sing backup on a song, but a guest guitar player.

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I've seen Vince twice, Shun and he is amazing. I love When I Call Your Name but Pocket Full of Gold is probably my favourite. Patty Loveless backed him on a lot of songs, they have great harmony. He and Don together will be magic.

Yeah. Patty has guest starred on I think all of Vince's album. She and Reba are probably the only woman that I know that has been on mostly all of his album.

I love Pocket Full Of Gold too. Great song.

Its funny that I always say I love Don's blue eyes. Well Vince has hazel eyes, but they come out more blue and I went ga ga over Vince's eyes back in the day. Me and guys with blue eyes. One of my favorite actors has baby blue eyes and that's what I find sexy about him. lol

Here's a hit by Kellie Pickler ~ Don using her really surprises me because she got famous thanks to American Idol and he's always criticized that way to fame. He said he asked musicians he respected a lot though so I guess he was really impressed by her talents?

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5Ri8GY57SI[/ame]

I also forgot to mention. Vince was also sang on the Common Thread album. Timothy sang backup on this song. I thought he did a great job with this song and very close to the original.

http://youtu.be/004JtBqVw3I

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Houston Debutante

Here's a hit by Kellie Pickler ~ Don using her really surprises me because she got famous thanks to American Idol and he's always criticized that way to fame. He said he asked musicians he respected a lot though so I guess he was really impressed by her talents?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5Ri8GY57SI

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I have to say, I never had any interest in listening to her before, but if Don thinks this highly of her, I will definitely check her out.

Everybody remember a video from last year on Instragram. A guy posted a very clip of him laying down vocals or something like with Don? I need to need to that small clip. I think you even see Don in there. I wonder what song we were hearing if that's on the album.

An additional tidbit or two and a really great picture.

http://toptidings.net/don-henley-to-...ed-solo-set-2/

ETA: This is a better link to the same additional tidbits...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/m...medium=twitter

Wonder what the author meant by the key being a little high for Dolly?
Did she have to change songs or did Don lower the key?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AlreadyGone95

Wonder what the author meant by the key being a little high for Dolly?
Did she have to change songs or did Don lower the key?

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Neither. She felt the key was too high, but said she'd give it more effort and do it. Then she did.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VAisForEagleLovers

Neither. She felt the key was too high, but said she'd give it more effort and do it. Then she did.

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Ah, ok. I didn't see the USA today link you posted before I asked.

A big THANK YOU to everyone that has done the research to keep up with all of the 'hot off the press' news about Cass County. It says Don previewed 8 songs so I can't wait to find out how many songs are on the album in total and if there will be any sort of 'deluxe edition' bonus tracks. Of course, in light of the fact that I was unable to get to Texas last month in time to see Don's solo show, I'm mostly eager for the official release date and tour schedule. BRING IT ON!!! :yay: :yay: :yay:

verna .....thank you so much for all the info.
I am so very excited about this Cd

Just so dang happy

I am somewhat dubious about the number of duets, especially with women. I really don't like male/female duets much. I have the Krauss/Plant album & it really isn't a duets album, except for a couple of tracks. If you want to hear a real male/female duets album you should try the Knopfler/Emmylou Harris album All The Roadrunning. How will this affect which songs he chooses to sing on tour? He can't take all these people on tour with him.

Someone said that everyone knows Trisha Yearwood. Well, as I said eariler, I have heard of her, but I have never heard her music. I will be approaching this album very much as an outsider to this world.

A lot of modern country is close to what the Eagles have done as recently as songs like "How Long" and "Busy Being Fabulous" from Long Road Out of Eden. Indeed, those songs were not only played on some country radio stations, they were also nominated for categories in both the Country Music Awards and the Country Music Television Awards. Don't forget that in the case of the Country Music Awards, the Eagles performed both of those songs live - and those were the only awards shows on which they appeared. They courted the country crowd hard.

Also, I know the solo single "For My Wedding" from Inside Job was released to country radio back in 2001.

I therefore have a feeling the style of Cass County won't be too jarring for most Henley fans.

I love Don's duets, but I think that some of these artists are simply lending background vocals. It reminds me of the guest artists Timothy brought in for Expando. I enjoyed their contributions. I'm betting I'll enjoy these as well.

Regarding the artists Don has involved, they are strong vocalists and they can harmonize well. Whether you classify them "country" or something else is irrelevant in terms of their ability.

As for performing duets live, I know when Stevie Nicks performs her hit duets "Leather and Lace" and "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" on tour, she uses other vocalists in the place of the ones who sang on the original track. Waddy Wachtel typically does the latter. The former has varied. On occasion, she has performed "Leather in Lace" herself, simply changing the lyrics to "Sometimes I'm the strong one" and singing both verses with her female backing singers doing harmony. It worked, but not as well.

Regardless, I've never seen any audience members riot! They just want to hear the songs.

By the way, just wanted to add that as a little kid, I heard these songs by Dolly Parton (my mom was a country fan) and really liked them:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbxUSsFXYo4[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lixDK_tMEhE[/ame]

How adorable is she in that duet with Kenny Rogers?!

I love the song 9 to 5. I was just a baby when 9 to 5 first came out.

I kinda remember Islands in the Stream growing up. With me not able to listen to country, pop or rock, their were a few songs I remember as a kid growing up in the 80s and into the mid 90s.

All this talk of Cass County got me really excited so I've been re-acquainting myself with my favourite Vince Gill songs. I've been a fan of his over twenty years. I think he's a fantastic singer and musician.

Anyway, here's my all-time favourite of his Pocket Full of Gold singing awesome harmony with Patty Loveless - country doesn't get any better than this imo


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6SF9XY6cBw

Love that song!!

This article popped up on my Facebook page a few minutes ago (I triple checked the date this time to make sure that it was new)

http://www.tennessean.com/story/ente...wait/28804291/

While there's nothing new about the album, I admit that I like the photo of Don.

Despite all the complimentary things I've read about Cass County, I still have reservations.

Don's shying away from calling it a country album but the folks he's got singing and playing on Cass County sure lean in a country direction imho.

Another thing is Stan Lynch. Don's written some great songs with Glenn and Joe, Don (F), Tim, JD, Kootch, Bruce Hornsby and Mike Campbell but what's the best song he's written with Stan?

There are a few I like, such as; You Don't Know Me At All and Goodbye To A River but he's not involved with any of Don's major hits as far as I know. Lynch's name seems to crop up in the credits of Henley tracks, I'd call fillers.

They must have upped their game to produce an album, as good as the one industry types are raving about.

Did Stan write any hits for Tom Petty?

A lot of his co-writes with Stan are also credited to people like Jai Winding. However, my favourite (and I seem to be alone in this) from IJ is Damn It, Rose by Henley-Lynch. But that appears to be the only song credited to just the two of them.

The Last Worthless Evening (Henley/Corey/Lynch) is pretty well known. I'm not going to talk about which tracks are fillers because in my view the fillers are mostly written with Kortchmar & are on Bulding The Perfect Beast.

As far as I know Tom Petty's hits were written by Tom Petty. There were a couple of co-writes with Mike Campbell.

Additional details about the album and the preview.

http://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=296435

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Regardless, Henley has tendered the work of a lifetime: considering his roots without pandering, evoking country without irony or investing in today’s radio. These are grown-up songs for people who’ve lived life, seeking understanding of where they’ve been and how it feels.

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Another article that has a sentence or two different than all the rest.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/ente...wait/28804291/

Well after hearing and reading all the recent chatter from people that have previewed the album, I'm getting very positive vibes. And hey, we're talking about Don here, so I'm betting that the album will live up to all the expectations. :thumbsup:

Another who was at the preview and thinks it's an awesome album!

http://www.songshinemusicbiz.com/blo...um-in-15-years

VA, you and I posted the same article, lol.

The more reviews of the preview I keep reading, the more impatient and amped up I grow. It sounds like this is going to be one heck of a good album!

This one says there are 17 songs on the album:

http://www.997thefox.com/onair/arroe...ease-13682865/

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Originally Posted by Ive always been a dreamer

Well after hearing and reading all the recent chatter from people that have previewed the album, I'm getting very positive vibes. And hey, we're talking about Don here, so I'm betting that the album will live up to all the expectations. :thumbsup:

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I was a big fan of Henley during the 80s. I'd have even called him my favourite Eagle, above Joe but I've been unimpressed with his out put over the last 20 years. The people who've listened to Cass County are the carefully chosen few. Walsh's and Felder's recent albums have received great reviews that I thought were over enthusiastic. I thought Glenn's After Hours was better than the press I read.

I look forward to enjoying Henley's album but as he said, the bar is set low, despite the universal fawning praise.

I notice that they got some of stuff that Don was saying from the Chideo video that cause a stir early this year. Which was true now. Lol