George Jones Knows His Audience

[DukeCity]

The "Possum" is releasing a new Greatest Hits compilation, but it's only going to be available at Cracker Barrel restaurants. I can't decide if it's the dumbest or smartest marketing idea I've ever heard of.

Either way, I now have a hankerin' for biscuits and gravy!

Story

[JSngry]

Makes perfect sense to me. Country radio won't play him, young fans "respect" him more than know him, there ain't no more record stores, old folks love Cracker Barrel, hey.

He oughta do a promo tour and drive up to the restaurants on a lawn mower. That would be the coup-de-gracie.

Oh, btw - have your biscuits & gravy, but don't leave w/o having the fried apples. Oh yeah.

[BruceH]

Actually, I have relatives who eat at Cracker Barrel, or used to. None of 'em listen to George Jones though.

[Neal Pomea]

Cracker Barrel? Let's see what Senator Worthington Fuller has to say about that!

[Alexander]

Really. I've always thought that "Cracker Barrel" is a most un-PC name for a restaurant that caters to a primarily white/southern demographic. Should we open a branch in downtown Atlanta called "N****r Barrel"? It's all very confusing...

I LOVE George Jones. He's one of country's greatest male voices.

[Aggie87]

From Merriam Webster:

Etymology: from the cracker barrel in country stores around which customers lounged for informal conversation

: suggestive of the friendly homespun character of a country store <a cracker barrel philosopher>

And from Jewish World Review:

Dear Editor:

I have occasionally seen the term "cracker-barrel'' applied as an adjective meaning "folksy.'' Why is this? Does it have something to do with an actual barrel of crackers?

—S.S., Union City, N.J.

Dear S.S.:

In the days before pre-packaged food and huge supermarkets, a trip to the nearest store was more than just an errand; it was also a chance to socialize and keep up with goings-on. The country store of yesteryear was the focal point of many rural communities, and the heart of the country store was the cracker barrel. Literally a barrel containing crackers, the cracker barrel was the spot where folks would gather to chat about weather and politics, or to swap stories, jokes, and gossip.

Today, cracker barrels are largely a thing of the past, but the flavor of those friendly exchanges lives on in the adjective "cracker-barrel,'' which means "suggestive of the friendly homespun character of a country store.

I don't see why that would be confusing. Scouting uses the term during camps and so forth as well.

And while I'm in the south, our Cracker Barrel seems to cater to as many Hispanics as it does to Whites.

Edited September 3, 2009 by Aggie87

[Jazzmoose]

Get the catfish platter!

[TedR]

I'm not crazy about the food but I do like the rocking chairs.

[Dan Gould]

I quite enjoy the breakfast menu and the country store is a great way to kill time when the wait list is 45 minutes long.

[JSngry]

Had occasion to be at the Cracker Barrel in Lindale, Tx. today, and bought the damn thing, just to feel the flow. Asked the cashier if they'd been selling lots of them and she answered in the enthusiastic affirmative. Cracker Barrel, like Starbucks, has a "music selection" and the George Jones bins were significantly less full than any of the others.

Tell you what - if you you're like me and have some kind of an "interest" in country music and don't really "like" enough to get too far into it, but feel like you want/need a nice little dose of George Jones just becuase he is such a baaaaaaad mouffaphukker (and he is), then this ain't bad. Plus, the two unreleased (really ?????) songs, “I Don’t Want To Know,” and “I’m A Long Gone Daddy” are at least as good as the previously released stuff. It's like I told LTB (who grew up in Boomer, WV hearing this type stuff all the time), with material like this (anything really, but especially plain-spoke lyrics like this), the difference between garbage and profundity is interpretation, of singing it, not just like you mean it, but like you know it and understand it. I mean, "I love you" can mean any damn thing, right? It's all in how you say it. Similarly, "Darling, can you keep a secret? I sure hope so" (from "I Don't Want To Know") when sung as a question to a lover one feels is being unfaithful is either gonna crack you up in laughter or hit you right in the gut. With me, it was the latter. This guy is good.

12 songs, all the big hits (that I can think of), about a solid "Best Of..." LP's worth of music for $11.99. I am sastified with my purchase.

[okierambler]

Recently we stopped at a Cracker Barrel on the way back from Asheville, North Carolina. In the dining room, there were dozens of framed antique photographs of rural white families on the walls and only one such photograph of an African-American family. It was prominently displayed over the door to the rest rooms. The display struck me as being a little too prominent, like an overly obvious token gesture of inclusiveness.

Then in the gift shop my wife spotted a "witch on a motorcycle" toy that she had to have. When she told the clerk she collects witches, he reacted with a look of horror and revulsion as if she was the devil herself.

If it wasn't so cold up there, we'd seriously consider moving to Canada.

Edited September 7, 2009 by okierambler

[Van Basten II]

Talking about Canada

[JSngry]

The Cracker Barrel in Asheville, North Carolina need to visit the Cracker Barrel in Lindale, Texas, then. I'm quite cognizant of what can happen when you target your product to older, white Southerners, so my natural proclivity towards "people-watching" gets kicked up a notch or two when visiting a Cracker Barrel. And East Texas is...well....East Texas.

Wall decorations, I didn't notice except for one that advertised a product I'd never heard of, with a painting of a man who looked like the guy on the Monopoly game. But I am pleased to report that the staff and clientele alike in Lindale skewed younger and more ethnically diverse than the Southeastern CBs I've had occasion to visit, and the vibe was, if not exactly "cool", reflective of the very probable truth that if you wanted a good meal in Lindale, this was about the only place to go. Locals and wanderers off the Interstate seemed to be present in equal proportion. I say "seemed" because you can never tell just by looking, but there are certain East Texas, uh, "characteristics" that are pretty hard to miss if you're from the area.

Our hostess was young, Hispanic, and spoke with an accent. Our server was older, white, and spoke with a different type of accent - East Texan. Seated across from us were an African-American family, Grandma in tow, and behind us was a Hispanic family whose English was very...unformed. Their server was the same as ours, and I was curious if there was going to be an attitude on display because, well, sometimes it happens. But this time it didn't. The lady was very sweet and helpful to all of us. We all ordered at roughly the same time and we all got our food at the same time. If there was any prejudice in anybody, it was not in display there, where and when business was being conducted.

Now, far be it from me to parade Lindale, Texas as a paragon of racial tolerance. Far from it. But it's a town that over the last 10-15 years has had a bunch of businesses spring up around and off of it's lone Interstate Highway exit, and I'm willing to bet that, since I-20 runs between Dallas & the casinos/racetracks in Shreveport-Bossier (Louisiana), that enough people to matter have come to the conclusion that money is all green, regardless of the color of the hand that gives it to you, and that you can find good people and assholes alike no matter where you look - or who comes into your place of business.

Maybe Asheville, North Carolina has not been so fortunate.

[JSngry]

But anyway....the George Jones CD is a good one. I bought Herbie from Starbucks, and now George Jones from Cracker Barrell.

What's next, Amy Winehouse at Rexall?

[ghost of miles]

My wife sings in her church choir, which is better than your average church ensemble--reason being that a fair # of its members are IU School of Music students. She often goes out to brunch with some of her friends from choir afterwards, and several years ago a couple of said friends, hailing from Southern states, began to take her to the Cracker Barrel on the west side of town here. She then hooked me on the place, and we go there about once a month for breakfast, sometimes for dinner. The food's actually really good, as is the service. While we're waiting in line I usually end up perusing the DVDs and the CDs, and yeah, a lot of them definitely seem tailored for the standard Cracker Barrel crowd--Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, etc. It's usually the same formula as the Jones release--a "Greatest Hits" comp with two or three previously unreleased tracks thrown on for good measure. Hell, I might pick up the Jones... I like him, but I don't think I have anything past the "Essential" anthology. Jsngry's right, he's got a lot of cred with indie-pop/rock fans, but I'm not sure how much they actually listen to him. (Though I know one of my faves, Elliott Smith, was a huge George Jones fan.)

P.S. Hell yeah to the fried apples, but I'm also a big fan of the turkey sausage and the cheesy hash-browns. My wife tends to go for the shrimp platter.

Edited September 8, 2009 by ghost of miles