Underwood tops charts
Thursday, June 7, 2012 – Carrie Underwood jumped to the top of the Billboard country charts, leading the Country Songs chart for the week ending June 16 with Good Girl and the album chart with "Blown Away." Underwood took over the top of the songs chart from Kip Moore's Somethin' 'Bout a Truck, which fell to fourth. She held onto the top spot of the albums chart.
Luke Bryan was third on the Country Album chart with "tailgates & tanlines," switching places with Lionel Richie's "Tuskegee." Eric Church stayed fourth with "Chief." Jason Aldean stood steady in fifth with "My Kinda Party."
Johnny Cash debuted in sixth with "Starbucks Opus Collection: Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Birth of Johnny Cash." Wade Bowen debuted in ninth with "Given." Kevin Costner & Modern West jumped from 38 to 14 with "Hatfields & McCoys: Famous Feuds." Trace Akdins went from 43 to 39 with "10 Great Songs."
On the song chart, Church inched up one to second with Springsteen, switching spots with Zac Brown Band's No Hurry. Bryan remained fifth with Drunk On You.
Toby Keith made it the top 10 on the chart - at 10 - with Beers Ago, up 1. Kenny Chesney stood at 13, up 3, with Come Over. Blake Shelton move dup 4 to 23 with Over. Easton Corbin came in at 25, up 3, with Lovin' You Is Fun. Alan Jackson also was up 3 to 26 with So You Don't Have to Love Me. Hunter Hayes was up 4 to 27 with Wanted. Chris Young was 29, up 3, with Neon, while Lady Antebellum closed out the top 30, up 6, with Wanted You More.
On the bluegrass albums chart, Trampled by Turtles still was first with "Stars And Satellites." Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers were second, up three, with "Rare Bird Alert." Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile were third with "The Goat Rodeo Sessions," while "The Gospel Side of Dailey & Vincent" was fourth. "Paper Airplane" from Alison Krauss & Union Station was fifth.
On the overall top 200, Underwood was 6th, Bryan 9th, Richie 10th, Church 14th and Aldean 21st.
More news for Carrie Underwood
CD reviews for Carrie Underwood
Blown Away
Carrie Underwood's calling card remains intact - her ultra strong set of pipes. "Blown Away" is almost a tale of two CDs. The first half or so tends to be far more pop oriented and at times rocks, while the other half veers far more towards country and even gets traditional on a song or two.
The lead-off hit first single, Good Girl, rocks far more than anything else. It sounds good, catchy, but with Underwood singing hard, the song is geared for arena rock, not anything remotely »»»
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Play On
Through three releases, the one constant about Carrie Underwood is her big voice. It's an instrument in and of itself no matter whether going for somewhat of a country sound, a pure pop bent or a tougher, rocking edge. She can add the right touch to sad songs such as Temporary Home in part about a young boy who has to shuffle from home to home or the tough sounding Quitter.
Underwood would not be accused of being heavy-duty country. She actually displayed more signs of that on her last CD, »»»
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Carnival Ride
Carrie Underwood's "Some Hearts" debut sold 6 million, yielded 5 smash singles and was the fastest-selling debut by any country artist ever. If that weren't enough, she even passed Kelly Clarkson to be the lead-selling engine on the American Idol gravy train. So, who in their right mind would tamper with the soup?
Underwood's handlers, not about to let their franchise suffer a sophomore jinx, have assembled an airtight collection of pure country-pop from elite »»»
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Editorial: Walking the talk –
When names like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon and the Hag are invoked, you're talking hard core country. These are the touchstones of country , the guys who made country music what it was and still is (or maybe can be). When these folks would sing about being down-and-out and the rough-and-tumble, they knew of what they were singing about. Fast forward a few years to the country singers of today. »»»
Concert Review: Music City goes (Boston) Pop(s) –
On the face of it, the idea of top shelf country songwriters coming up from Nashville to play with the Boston Pops may seem incongruous. The idea of the venerable Boston institution and fixture on the July 4 scene, playing patriotic songs doesn't have all that much to do with country.
The idea isn't without precedent, of course.... »»»
Concert Review: O'Donovan goes home –
Aiofe O'Donovan had plenty of reason to be filled with good cheer. This was a hometown gig, after all, and only three days before the release of her first full-length solo debut, "Fossils."
Joking that the audience was filled with people she knew from high school and her parents' friends, O'Donovan made it clear that Boston... »»»
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