DVD Review: Dixie Chicks - Shut Up and Sing

DVD Reviews

By Bill James Feb 23, 2007, 17:59 GMT

The drama that has surrounded the Dixie Chicks since their infamous 2003 statement is a patent example of much ado about nothing. Say what you will about the pro-Chicks faction or the anti-Chicks legion, but know this: Their pseudo-controversy was no more about free-speech than the fiasco in Iraq has ever been about weapons of mass destruction. For that reason, I highly recommend the documentary Dixie Chicks - Shut Up and Sing because it shines a harsh light on the music business, U.S. politics, and U.S. consumers. Just as ‘Some Kind of Monster’ allowed us all to see Metallica for the insecure, school girls they are, Dixie Chicks - Shut Up and Sing presents the Dixie Chicks as hapless musicians who stumbled into a whirlwind.

Just as ‘Some Kind of Monster’ allowed us all to see Metallica for the insecure, school girls they are, Dixie Chicks - Shut Up and Sing presents the Dixie Chicks as hapless musicians who stumbled into a whirlwind. Dixie Chicks - Shut Up and Sing was directed by Barbara Kopple (American Dream) and Cecilia Peck. The documentary begins in 2005 as the Dixie Chicks were working on material for their new album, ‘Taking the Long Way.’ Ms. Kopple does an excellent job in bringing show business glitz back to the terrestrial plane for viewers.

We see the Chicks practicing songs while reading hate-mail, the interaction between all the Chicks and their families, and we’re privy to the strategy meetings the Chicks have with their manager Simon Renshaw. I appreciate Ms. Kopple’s eye for capturing many of these mundane details because she humanized the Dixie Chicks. By presenting Natalie, Martie, and Emily as flesh and blood people, the absurdity of their controversy and new found heroism are realized.

But I know that some of you, like me, were outside of the U.S. in 2003 and were unaware of the furor that surrounded the Dixie Chicks. On 10 March 2003, the Dixie Chicks were beginning their ‘Top of the World’ tour in support of their album ‘Home.’ Their first venue was Shephard’s Bush Empire in London. Meanwhile, a few thousand miles to the southeast, approximately 100,000 U.S. troops were camped out on the Iraq/Kuwait border along with a smattering of soldiers from some 40 other countries. So on the night of 10 March, between songs, Natalie Maines was talking with the English crowd and let fly an off the cuff remark that set the Country music world ablaze; “Just so you know, we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.”

Within no time, The Guardian reported the story which was picked up by the Associated Press, and FreeRepublic.com. Soon Country radio stations were being flooded by angry rednecks, stirred from their cousin’s bed by the mention of disloyalty to W. But the beauty of Shut Up and Sing is that we see the Chicks and how clueless they were about their faux pas. On the other hand, their manager, Simon Renshaw, was giddy with the prospect of a huge controversy taking album sales to new heights. But all three women seemed genuinely dumbfounded as to why their fan base was so upset. In multiple interviews after the statement, Natalie Maines said the same thing, “It wasn’t a political statement, it was said to get a cheer from the crowd.”

But the furor continued and caused their corporate sponsor, Lipton, to fret over the Chick’s tour. And Ms. Kopple was there to capture on film corporate thinking as the gutless leviathan it is. After returning from the European leg of the tour, the Chicks met with Lipton Consultant, Micheal Berland. Mr. Berland quickly made his point, Lipton doesn’t care what you said, Lipton cares that people are upset. “At the end of the day, while you are great musicians, you are a brand. And if your brand now has issues circulating around it, do they (Lipton) want to take that risk.” And this, dear reader, is the central issue within the Dixie Chicks controversy: Marketability and selling products.

The entire controversy had very little to do with freedom of speech but everything to do with the almighty dollar. Whether trying to sell tea, right-wing ideas, music, or anti-Bush sentiment cleverly wrapped in free-speech rhetoric, it’s all the same trash. And the saddest truth is that the American people fell for it all. A nation taken again, like simple children tricked out of their lunch money.

In fact, while preparing the Dixie Chicks for the scandalous Entertainment Weekly cover depicting the Chicks covered in epithets, Cindi Berger, the Chicks publicist said the idea wouldn’t work, “I think you’re giving too much credit to the American public, they’re not that smart.” Ms. Berger, I look forward to buying you a drink. I say that because she is absolutely right. Why did so many individuals, across the United States, gather at their local court houses, churches, and radio stations to burn, stomp, and destroy CD’s by the Dixie Chicks? Really, did what this silly, overly-opinionated woman say matter? Why? Who are the Dixie Chicks that their political notions count for anything? The answer is that you, the American consumer, were told to boycott them. The answer is that we revisited Salem, Massachusetts, 1692. America had another moment of hysteria, one where people believed, much as was believed during the witch trials or the McCarthy era, that only through persecution could the truth be revealed.

But it’s the reaction of the Dixie Chicks that I find equally amusing. I love how Shut Up and Sing follows the Chicks from 2003 to the recording sessions in 2005, when the Dixie Chicks returned to the studio with an ax to grind. What comes through clearly is that the Dixie Chicks had no understanding of their fan base. The Chicks were defiant as they wrote some of the early tracks for ‘Taking the Long Way’ and discussed how furious they were with country radio and its listeners. But here I have a question. Did you ladies have no idea what your fan base held sacred?Ms. Kopple, the director, takes us down memory lane and gives a glimpse of the Dixie Chicks’ early career. Kopple shows the years spent playing country-western music at hoedowns and grocery stores wearing hoop skirts and shirts designed by the Bedazzler School for the Blind. We learn how the Chicks were discovered and transformed into the pop-country starlets of today. You see, until the 2003 statement, the Dixie Chicks had spent their career pandering to middle-America.

They sang songs that celebrated simple life in small towns, football stars and apple pie. Even the song “Travelin’ Soldier,” which they sang in London, was another maudlin, romantic song of a woman waiting for her soldier. These are precisely the types of songs that perpetuate the lies about war and the glory of dying for country in a foreign land. Sorry folks, I’ve been to Iraq and the people working for KBR helped me to see that there’s no glory in that mess.Three years later, after the infamous statement, the Dixie Chicks released their ‘Taking the Long Way’ album and began touring primarily in Canada and that is where Shut Up and Sing ends, with the Dixie Chicks making music and touring on their own terms. But the marketing game continued. Because the right-wing, Jesus-and-W-are-My-Co-pilots lot pushed so hard to destroy the Chicks’ career, the Chicks are now being marketed by the anti-Bush crowd as queens of the Bill of Rights. Let’s be realistic, while I have nothing but respect for Rick Rubin, ‘Taking the Long Way’ didn’t deserve five Grammy’s. The Dixie Chicks are being heralded as matriarchs of Freedom of Speech, yet for the Chicks, it was simply a freak moment in their concert. Remarkably, during the 1960’s, Bob Dylan was the voice of resistance, clear and honest in his lyrics. During the 1970’s, John Lennon hit us with, “Imagine” and we were forced to consider his words. But today, the best that can be mustered is Natalie Maines singing that she’s “Not Ready to Make Nice,” due to a foot-in-mouth moment. Folks, this controversy was never about freedom of speech. As Ms. Kopple reveals in Shut Up and Sing, the Dixie Chicks’ scandal is an example of marketing, politics, and blind fury on the part of the American public.Shut Up and Sing is a fascinating journey led by an accomplished director. The film is 93-minutes and rated-R for harsh language. I recommend Shut Up and Sing to anyone interested in the Dixie Chicks/Bush imbroglio. I also recommend the documentary to anyone interested in becoming an album producing, touring, marketed musician.

Finally, I recommend this documentary because it reveals these ladies and their families as human. Just as ‘Some Kind of Monster’ allowed us all to see Metallica for the insecure, school girls they are, Shut Up and Sing presents the Dixie Chicks as hapless musicians who stumbled into a whirlwind. Dixie Chicks - Shut Up and Sing is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.