James Beaty: OPINION: Ramblin: Beyoncé is right about 'Cowboy Carter': 'This ain't a country album.'

Apr. 6—Beyoncé is right.

After all the ballyhoo saying she's releasing a country music album, and with an Oklahoma country radio station refusing to play songs from it — at least until the leadoff single "Texas Hold 'Em" topped the bestselling country charts — Beyoncé offered her own opinion about the music on her new album, "Act II: Cowboy Carter."

"This ain't a country album. This is a Beyoncé album."

I agree.

While it's filled with acoustic instrumentation, "Cowboy Carter" is a sprawling, epic album that touches on a variety of musical styles.

Sure, some country songs are in there, such as the #1 hit country single, "Cowboy Carter" and country music elements are included on "16 Carriages" but all types of music are covered on the album.

They include 1960s, 1970s and '80s style rock, folk, blues, rap and even opera — and that's not a reference to the Grand Ole Opry. We're talking about opera sang in the traditional Italian.

More than a country music album, this sounds more like Beyoncé Unplugged. Simply using lots of acoustic music and a steel guitar doesn't make it a country music album — but I don't think that was her intent anyway.

The media and fans jumped to the conclusion it would be a country music album mainly because of the lead single, "Texas Hold 'Em" and because Beyoncé wore a cowboy hat to the 2024 Grammy Awards.

Even Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and pioneering Black female country music artist Linda Martell are featured on the new album.

So that means "Cowboy Carter" must be a country music album, right? Not necessarily.

Forget about classifying "Cowboy Carter" and enjoy it for what it is — album with an ode to many musical forms, with acoustic music at the forefront.

Martell touches on the issue during the intro to the track, "Spaghetti," which also features Shamboozey.

"Genres are a funny little concept, aren't they?

"In theory, they have a simple definition that's easy to understand," Martell says. "But in practice, some may feel confined."

Beyoncé is anything but confined on her new album.

It opens with "American Requiem" and while the lyrics touch on her country bonafides, the music features a heavy rock vibe.

"Looka dere, looka in my hand; the grandbaby of a moonshine man. Gasden, Alabama, rooted in Louisiana," Beyoncé talks/sings.

"Used to say I spoke too country, and then the rejection came — said I wasn't country enough. Said I wouldn't saddle up, but if that ain't country, tell me what is.

"Plant my feet on solid ground for years. They don't, don't know how hard I had to fight for this," she continues.

"When I sang the song of Abraham. When the angels came and took my hand."

Next up is my favorite track from the album and one of the best Beatles covers I've ever heard — Beyoncé's version of Paul McCartney's "Blackbird," which is listed on the album with an extra "i" to make it "Backbiird."

That's supposedly a reference to "Cowboy Carter" being second in trilogy of Beyoncé albums, with "Renaissance" the first.

McCartney originally included the song on the band's double album officially titled "The Beatles" but much better known as "The White Album."

Beyoncé is joined on the track by four other Black female singers with country or Americana music roots: Brittney Spencer, Tanner Adell, Reyna Roberts and Tiera Kennedy.

McCartney has said he wrote the song as an ode to the Civil Rights movement in America, specifically for young Black girls trying to attend what had been white-segregated schools at the time.

If the opening to Beyoncé's version of "Blackbird" sounds familiar, it's because McCartney's original acoustic guitar track and even some of his foot-tapping is used on the new recording.

Beyoncé starts the song in her best folk-tinged voice, when the other four voices suddenly join in to great harmonic effect.

Sir Paul himself is a fan of the track, as he related in an Instagram Post:

I am so happy with @beyonce's version of my song 'Blackbird'. I think she does a magnificent version of it and it reinforces the civil rights message that inspired me to write the song in the first place," McCartney said in his social media post.

"I think Beyoncé has done a fab version and would urge anyone who has not heard it yet to check it out," McCartney continued. "You are going to love it!"

Next up on the album, "16 Carriages" features Robert Randolph on steel guitar and features a country vibe, while the fourth track offers one of the album's gems, "Protector."

It opens with Beyoncé's daughter, Rumi, asking "Mom, can I hear the lullaby again, please?"

"Protector" features some of the album's best lyrics, about being tangled up in marigold and listening to the reverent children singing, "humming low as the garden river flows while the August light becomes a golden evening."

"And I will lead you down that road if you ever lose your way, born to be a protector," Beyoncé sings in a motherly tone.

"Even though I know someday you'll shine on your own, I will be a projector."

Up next is a 1:05 seconds snippet of a song called "My Rose" that already has some listeners hoping for a longer version.

That's followed by Willie Nelson's "minute-long "Smoke House" — which is not a song but has Willie playing the role of a country music dee jay leading into "Texas Hold 'Em."

While the already-popular "Texas Hold 'Em" is the most country-sounding song on the album, it's followed by "Bodyguard." With a prominent acoustic piano part, its sound reminds me of the late Christine McVie's work with Fleetwood Mac.

Next up is "Dolly P" — a 32-second track which Dolly Parton uses to introduce Beyoncé's rewrite of Parton's own classic, "Jolene."

Is it better than Parton's version? No. Is it interesting in its own way? Yes.

Beyoncé follows with "Daughter," an acoustic based-minor keyed song, which segues into the Italian language 1783 opera aria, "Caro Mio Ben" — another example of her versatility on the album.

Another standout track on the album is "II Most Wanted" — a duet with Miley Cyrus. On it the two sing together, as opposed to simply trading verses. It includes the catchy phrase, "I'll be your shotgun rider, till the day I die."

Parton joins Beyoncé on the song, "Tyrant," although Parton's voice is so deep into the mix it's difficult to discern until near the song's end.

Other standout tracks include "II Hands II Heaven" — with the title another reference to this album being part of a trilogy.

Beyoncé closes the album with "Amen" — not the song popularized by The Impressions, but a different song entirely.

While "Cowboy Carter" has plenty of music, I think there were missed opportunities.

Rhiannon Giddens, the great roots singer and musician who started with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, is limited to playing banjo on "Cowboy Carter."

I felt intrigued to see that Willie Nelson would be featured on the album, and he is, twice. But both times he's limited to short speaking parts play the role of a country music dee-jay.

Martell, who performed on the Grand Ole Opry in 1969, is featured on a track called "The Linda Martell Show," which only uses her to introduce the next track, "Ya Ya" —a track that references Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" and "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys.

For me, several tracks on the album are ruined by what I consider the gratuitous use of profanity. It reminds me of some movies I've seen, where lots of profanity has been inserted which seems to be for no other reason that to avoid a "G" rating.

Still, "Cowboy Carter" contains what are sure to become classic tracks in Beyoncé's repertoire, and no doubt will play a role in her live concert performances.

Just remember the words of Beyoncé herself when embarking on the musical voyage that is "Cowboy Carter."

"This ain't a country album. This is a Beyoncé album."