Country/pop/R&B
Published:
29. mars 2024
Record label:
Parkwood Entertainment LLC / Columbia / Sony Music
“Beyoncé country – and much more.”
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As a youngster, she enjoyed going to rodeos back home in Houston, Texas, and she has dabbled in country before. In 2016, she sang with The Chicks during the Country Music Awards, but did not feel welcome in the environment. She “didn’t belong there”.
It’s even a theme in the opening track of “Cowboy Carter,” “American Aquarium”: “They said I wasn’t country enough, that I wouldn’t ‘sell up'”. Maybe that’s why on the cover she sits high on a horse, sideways, with the American flag in one hand and the reins in the other? What the image symbolizes is also a theme. Beyoncé is a theme!
Eight years later, there are many in the same environment who welcome her with open arms. They believe she will attract new listeners to the country genre, and with «Texas Hold ‘Em» She is already the first black woman with a song at the very top of the country charts. But is the album country?
The Black Cowboy
Instead of being “scared” out of country music, Beyoncé began “researching” western culture and African-American roots and found out, among other things, that 50 percent of the cowboys in the “wild west” were black. Now she wanted to “take back” Americana and country. She believes that the influence of black musicians on country music is greatly underestimated, although Charley Pride was eventually accepted
SIGNING TOUR: Beyoncé photographed in Tokyo, Japan today. Photo: SplashNews/NTB Show more
But what is “Cowboy Carter”?
She herself states that it is “not a country album, but a Beyoncé album”. We’ll probably have to give her credit. What we get is R&B, soul, rap, pop, a touch of gospel and opera – and the occasional country song. And a lot of it (78 minutes).
27 sports!
Beyoncé admittedly posted a poster on Instagram two days ago with 27 song titles, but it still appears quite violent when the whole row shines at me when the album is released on the streaming services tonight. Some of the tracks are admittedly short interludes, but still…
The net boils:- Howdy mama!
We who review music usually get access to a listening copy, but Beyoncé doesn’t care about that. Nothing is random. The “new Beyoncé” was “unveiled” when two singles were released simultaneously on February 9, two days before the album was teased in an ad for the telecommunications company Verizon during the Super Bowl final. The American football final was watched by 123 million.
«Jolene»?
The single «14 Carriages» can be characterized as country. «Protector» also, introduced by daughter Rumi Carter (6).
In advance, there was speculation as to whether she would sing «Jolene», as the originator Dolly Parton has wanted. According to Wikipedia, it has been done in over 400 hundred versions, but never by an artist of Beyoncé’s caliber. Dolly would like to put an end to that, and here it is, after a wonderful introduction by Dolly herself – to Miss Honey B from Dolly P! The version is nice, quite faithful to the original, but still creative and quite different. Because it’s Beyoncé!
More than country
That “Cowboy Partner” is much more than country is already clear from track two, The Beatles’ «Blackbirds» – with soft, fine harmonies, not far from the original. With track seven, the single “Texas Hold ‘Em”, we get a real example of what this could have been if it had really been a country album. It’s probably the only one you can line dance to.
Arousing attention : – Old fashioned
After a proper belly move, 90-year-old Willie Nelson gives us a kind of introduction to the song, starting with simple banjo strumming from Rhiannon Giddens before Beyoncé flips her cowboy hat, Giddens (of the band Carolina Chocolate Drops) is one of the few black women to have made a name for herself in the country/bluegrass/folk genre.
Many references
Beyoncé is one of the world‘s biggest stars and can sing exactly what she wants. And she does. “Ya Ya”introduced by Linda Martell, the first black woman to achieve success as a country artist, is, for example, a collection of “quotes” from Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” and the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” – and Beyoncé. «Sweet*Honey*Buckiin’» starts with a few lines from the Patsy Cline hit “I Fall to Pieces” before sliding into rap with Pharrell Williams as guest vocalist. Miley Cyrus guest on «II Most Wanted» and Post Malone on “Levi’s Jeans”. A highlight of the album is «Daughter»with strings and acoustic guitar.
But – it is not always the case that many want more. The first half is rock solid, but 27 tracks is too much – especially since it spreads in many directions. The second half is more “old Beyoncé” and more playful. The material could probably have been split into two different albums. But hey, it’s not boring!