The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 759

Number 759

Dixie Chicks

"Wide Open Spaces"

(1998)
.

Genre:Country

Outspoken Dixie Chicks are not to be mistaken for the "White Chicks" At first its really hard to tell them apart, considering they "all" have Blond hair.
But after many hours of research, i crowbarred, learnt how to tell the two Groups apart. Dixie Chicks are three chicks! So there you go, more investigative journalism for you. Now if i could only tell the difference between the White Chicks and The Mint Chicks! (That one might take a while)

"The Dixie Chicks rose from relative obscurity in 1998 to become one of the most popular acts in contemporary country music. Their origins date back nearly a decade earlier, to 1989, when fiddler Martie Seidel and her banjo-playing sister Emily Erwin formed the group in Dallas with bassist Laura Lynch and guitarist Robin Lynn Macy; after getting their start on local street corners, the quartet soon graduated to clubs, receiving an enormous boost when Seidel earned third place honors at the National Fiddle Championships. Originally, the Dixie Chicks (their name inspired by the Little Feat song "Dixie Chickens") promoted a classic cowgirl image, complete with a sound inspired by traditional country, folk, and bluegrass; they even titled their 1990 indie-label debut Thank Heavens for Dale Evans."

"With 1992's Little Ol' Cowgirl, the Chicks began slowly moving toward a more contemporary sound, a transformation that in part resulted in the exit of Macy; with Lynch assuming lead vocal duties, the remaining trio resurfaced in 1993 with Shouldn't a Told You That. Shortly after the Chicks signed with Sony's newly revived Monument imprint in 1995, Lynch left the group as well -- according to a December 10, 1998, feature in the Dallas Observer, both she and Macy were likely victims of Seidel and Erwin's desire to foster a more youthful image; the magazine goes on to call the group "the country version of Menudo, hiring and firing based on age." Soon named as Lynch's replacement was then 21-year-old lead vocalist Natalie Maines, the daughter of steel guitar legend Lloyd Maines"

"The lineup switch brought with it a new contemporary wardrobe and an equally modernized country sound; still, few predicted the enormous success of the Dixie Chicks' 1998 major-label debut, Wide Open Spaces. After the album's advance first single, "I Can Love You Better," became the group's first Top Ten hit, both "There's Your Trouble" and the title track went on to top the country charts. Within a year of Wide Open Spaces' release, the record had gone quadruple platinum, and the Dixie Chicks had become superstars -- not only did they take home Best Vocal Group honors and the Horizon Award from the Country Music Association, but they were also named Favorite New Country Artist at the American Music Awards. Wide Open Spaces additionally earned a Grammy for Best Country Album on its way to becoming the best-selling duo or group album in country music history. "

What does Rolling Stone Mag think about Dixie Chicks?.....
"Southern rock mainstay the Marshall Tucker Band (which hails from South Carolina and whose frontman Doug Gray is a Vietnam veteran) will headline the event, and teenage country singer Ty Nelson will also perform. According to Gallagher, tickets will run $35 to $45, with free admission and VIP seating to anyone who comes to the event with a Dixie Chicks' ticket. Gallagher's Army was started by the talk show host as a charity group to raise money for food and personal care items for American military personnel, and all proceeds from the event will go to military families."

"People are irritated, but I think it's incumbent upon me as organizer of this thing to keep it very positive," Gallagher says. "We're not going to stand up there and burn the Dixie Chicks in effigy. It was important to me to know that their concert was already sold out. No one's trying to hurt their ticket sales; I'm not trying to turn this into a witch hunt. I want to take a very negative reaction that millions of Americans felt and turn it into to something positive."

"The controversy's roots lie in a March Dixie Chicks performance in London, where Maines told an audience, "We're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." Maines issued two statements following the remark, one an attempt to clarify her comment, the second an apology."

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (We @ Rolling Stone think George Bush is doing a "bang up" job) and the Album ranked at Number (Not till they apologise!)

This song has a crowbarred rating of 65.5 out of 108