First, a disclaimer: I am not a critic of modern pop or country and have therefore not listened to Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album in its entirety. However, what I have heard is catchy, hummable, danceable and slick. Still, I understand that contemporary country music stations have not been jumping to add this album to their playlists.
For that matter, as conservative as modern country can be, it is not as if Beyonce were the first Black Country pop star. At one time it seemed like everybody’s dad had a 33 of Ray Charles’s Modern Sounds in Country and Western music, or any number of Charley Pride’s albums, or both (mine did). More recently, Darius Rucker tore up the charts – not to mention US karaokes and open mic nights – to the point of cliche with his rendition of Bob Dylan and Ketch Secor’s Wagon Wheel. More recently, Black stars like Kane Brown, Jimmie Allen, Mickey Guyton and numerous others have been filing concert halls, collecting awards and clocking number one hits.
Let’s face it: Black Country stars are NOT an anomaly but rather, honoring their own history. Country music is Black music! Given how few seem to realize this, I have been wondering if the wider music industry and audience might need a simple reminder.
So here is mine: long before Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album, Black Country music was the blues. Before that, it was cowboy songs. I knew a little about this, having grown up with folk music, but the real revelation for me came later, with the album Dom Flemons Presents Black Cowboys (2018), from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
Home on the Range was written by a Black cowboy! So was Goodbye Old Paint! And Going Down the Road Feeling Bad! Etc etc. Given that my grandfather, Ruben Martinez, was a brown cowboy from the South West, I’ll admit I feel a special kinship to this album. And every time I hear someone say that Houston-born Beyonce started a trend, well… I’d like to rifle through her dad’s record collection first. Given the unlikelihood of that event, I’ll probably just ask, “Ever heard of Dom Flemons?”
Buy Dom Flemons Presents Black Cowboys here.
Our original review of Dom Flemons Presents Black Cowboys, on Paris-Move.
Black History Month is every month at Bayou Blue Radio, but in the US it is historically the month of February. We wondered, given the current US government upheaval, if it were still happening this year. Lo’ and behold, the official site is still up.
Ilene Martinez-Clemensat
Owner/Operator Bayou Blue Radio