Toby Keith Pulls Freeper's Punch at Dixie Chicks

Entertainment Weekly (login required) ^ | October 31, 2003 | Chris Willman

[L.N. Smithee]

Toby Keith, in an interview published in the current issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine, speaking of his public feuding with the we're-not-country-anymore group the Dixie Chicks, says the following:

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But it's his feud with ''miserable person'' Maines that's earned Keith the most attention lately. ''She said my song makes country music look ignorant and you've gotta have more tact and be responsible,'' says Keith. ''They had a song called 'Earl Must Die' or something ['Goodbye Earl']. How hypocritical is that? How can you come off of a song with the message that if your husband abuses you, you're supposed to kill him and stick him in the trunk, or whatever -- I never heard it, but people told me about it -- and then call me ignorant for saying, 'Hey, you flew these planes into these buildings. We're angry about it, and we're gonna come get you'?''

Despite the F.U.T.K.-wear, Keith has no intention of lighting up Maines' world anymore. Last summer, his crew ''put up on our big screen an Internet picture somebody [concocted] of her and Saddam. The crowd went nuts. It was funny for a few nights, and then it started eating at me. I thought, You know what? I don't have that mean of a heart, to be able to kick somebody in the crotch like that. Just because she's young and spouted off, that's a little hardcore. So I put an end to it.''

Toby Keith -- the let-bygones-be-bygones, not-so-angry American? Well, maybe. But also, he adds, ''if I'm gonna do anything, it's gotta be funnier than that.'' In other words: Watch your a--, Natalie.

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[Bob J]

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[GigemLonghorns]

The new "hit" single of Toby Kieths is a stolen idea from a Key West artist named Michael McCloud. McCloud wrote a song some 10 years ago called "Tourist Town Bar." Toby Kieth has "borrowed" or shall I say, stolen, key lines from this song and called it his own. Come on Toby! Fess up!!! You have some great stuff but give a little credit where it is due. And maybe Toby is not the writer of this song. Maybe some desperate Nashville songwriter needed a break and decided to plagerize this song. If you do not believe me, go to Limewire and download "Tourist Town Bar" by Michael McCloud. The lines in Toby's song are almost an exact match!!! Coincidence? I think not! I wonder if Dan Rather has the balls to ask him about the latest stolen hit?

[TheWriterInTexas]

Dear txflake:

I was definitely not a country fan. Preferred punk, metal, old rock and roll. On the flip side, Beethoven and Wagner (yup, a little schitzo).

TK is not your "average" country singer (the blah blah blah slowly falling asleep....kind of country). Kicks a little a**, takes a few names, good beat, interesting lyrics. Give him a try, a least one or two songs, and see if you don't find it worth listening to.

My personal favorites: "Angry American", "Who's Your Daddy?", and "I Wanna Talk About Me." Some of his stuff will make you laugh out loud.

FReegards!

[L.N. Smithee]

I wonder if Dan Rather has the balls to ask him about the latest stolen hit?

I would suggest that Rather, who only uses his balls when he's interviewing someone right-of-center, would grill Keith about this, but as anyone who saw Rather jam with R.E.M. on "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" (the song inspired by a bizarre mistaken-identity street attack on Rather many years ago), he has no clue about music.

As for Toby Keith, I have never heard either song you are referring to, but I will say one thing: Keith can't be worse than the most outrageous rip-off artist of all time, Phil Collins.

I say this, by the way, as a guy who generally likes Collins' work with Genesis (he is, IMHO, pop music's best drummer -- check out his work on Adam Ant's "Puss in Boots") and as a solo artist. But it's absolutely undeniable: many of the songs he's written or co-written with Genesis never would have been recorded if others hadn't laid the groundwork. And this isn't just a artist being derivative of musical pioneers, like classical composers or jazz and blues innovators -- this is obvious, brazen thievery of songs that are, in most cases, less than two decades old.

A few quick examples:

• "Misunderstanding," Genesis' breakthrough US hit the from Duke LP, is a re-working of Sly and the Family Stone's "Hot Fun In The Summertime."
• "No Reply At All," also on Duke, is heavily borrowed from the Beatles' "No Reply," although the lyrical content of the Fab Four's "No Reply" is closer to that of "Misunderstanding."
• "In The Air Tonight" and former Genesis bandmate Peter Gabriel's "Biko" have a nearly identical prelude. If a DJ had said, "Here's Phil Collins' 'In The Air Tonight'" and played Gabriel's "Biko" instead, you may not detect it unless (a) you were really paying close attention, or (b) you heard Gabriel's voice at the point that you expected Collins'.
• Like "No Reply At All," which appropriates the title of an existing song, Collins has also recorded "I Wish It Would Rain Down," and "Billy, Don't Lose My Number." Comedian Bob Sarlatte once suggested that Collins' next single would be "Jumpin' Jim Flash."
• "Sussudio" is a flat-out rip off Prince's "1999." Nuf said.

While Collins is the worst offender, he's far from the only one. Working class hero and good but overrated rocker Bruce Springsteen got a free pass for a "Sussudio"-like rip job when he re-recorded Billy Swan's "I Can Help" and re-named it "Cover Me." Don't believe me? Listen to the tracks one after the other and tell me I'm wrong.

[L.N. Smithee]

I said "No Reply At All" was on Genesis' Duke album. It was on Abacab.

L.N. Smithee regrets the error.

[Bigg Red]

...heard that it really stood for "Found Under Table, Kneeling".

LOL!

Thanks for the explanation also. I must say, the article was very poorly written.

[Bigg Red]

Willie Nelson's a big Demonrat.


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He is, indeed, which is why I will never buy any of his music again.

[Bigg Red]

Forgive Us, Toby Keith

&&

LOL!

[L.N. Smithee]

Willie Nelson's a big Demonrat.

He sung the national anthem to kick off the 1980 Democratic convention, and left half of it out.

[WinOne4TheGipper]

The CMAs (I think). It was from a satellite feed. The concert they were playing that night was in Austin.

[Rodney King]

If possible, can someone email Beer for mmy horses to me? Gordon@keepandbeararms.com

I own the CD but lent it to someone who didn't return it. Now I'm desperate and Kazaa crashes my computer.

[FlyVet]

LOL, yeah, I just finished watching that 60 Min II segment. I was pretty sure that was a Registered thing. Keith said that every time Maines opened her mouth, his sales went up and he was thinking about hiring her as a publicity agent. Hee hee.

Oh, she has a problem with his macho Neanderthal cowboy image. Waah. Natalie may be able to sing and play, but, it's like, you know, like, when she does, like, an interview, it's like, she doesn't exactly come off as brainy girl. I'd say Toby has quite a bit more upstairs than she does. Quite a bit less IGNORANT than she is.

[Ciexyz]

Tune in to the CMA awards on Wed Nov 5th. Toby's gonna clean up.

[Nita Nupress]

I think I'm in love with this guy. I just bought one of his CDs the other day and can't get enough of it. It's not too often that a guy comes along who can sing that well AND write killer songs.

Anyone know how many CDs he has out altogether? I want all of them. :-)

[ALOHA RONNIE]

No more Lipton Ice Tea for me.

And you..?

[cubreporter]

"I love this bar."


GREAT SONG BY A GREAT ARTIST. Toby did his thing and is well respected. he doesn't need to keep up with the dixie chicks thing. They re finished. Toby is doing commericials and now his new song. Toby Rocks!!!

[ChemistCat]

I think "I'll Be Your Huckleberry" is just a sweet little song. I really like that one. There's a FReeper using something like that as a handle too. I like the whole album UNLEASHED pretty well, though I can't handle listening to "The Angry American" too often. Too emotional for me.

If you like the Toby Keith stuff, check out LONG BLACK TRAIN by Josh Turner. You can see the video on Launch.com. He's a cutey-pie and his voice is soooooo MMMMM. I bought the album on the strength of that one song, and the others aren't quite up to that standard--but he's young. He has room to improve the production and song selection aspects of the business, and his voice doesn't need a thing. He did a pretty decent cover of Croce's "Don't Mess Around With Jim."

Also look at Brad Paisley's CELEBRITY. A good chuckle.

[carton253]

I heard the Taliban song is on the next album. (I've heard this from real Toby fans)

[NCC-1701]

I watched 60 minutes 2 last night and Toby said it's on "Shock N Ya'll". He also said he didn't like Peter Jennings. Said that to Dan Blather. Blather looked like he was gut-shot. While I may not be a dyed-in-the-wool TK fan, I do like his music and have attended a couple of his shows. I support him, too, in his battle against the evil forces that's all around.

[KC Burke]

Hi gal. I hope you are doing well.

Sounds like he hit you just like he struck my wife after I had her listen to a few and watch the "Who's your daddy" video. LOL

For a list of Toby's albums go HERE and I would suggest buying them starting with the most recent. Then next tuesday, Shock'n Y'all will be out.