The chicks aren't ready to make nice

It’s March, 2003 and US President George W. Bush is about to unleash the military might of the United States against the people of Iraq.

The Dixie Chicks have a number one hit album, called “Home”, on the country charts in the US. The group, comprised of sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire and lead singer Natalie Maines, are performing at a concert at Shepherds Bush Theatre in London, England. It’s as talented a group of singers and musicians as you’re ever likely to find and one of my favourites.

During the concert, clearly frustrated and angry at her president’s intentions to wage war on Iraq, Natalie utters a single sentence, “Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.”

She would have created less controversy if she’d gone after the man with a gun.

Country stations across the United States pulled the Chicks from play lists. Station managers said their decisions were prompted by calls from irate listeners who thought criticism of the president was unpatriotic. One station in Kansas City, Missouri held a Dixie "chicken toss party” where their critics were encouraged to dump the group's tapes, CDs and concert tickets into trash cans.

The Chicks were showered with hate mail and even death threats. Many members of the country music establishment turned their backs on the Chicks. Toby Keith, an outspoken critic of the group, displayed a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Natalie Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

One notable exception to the criticism from the realm of country music was veteran Merle Haggard, who compared the attack on the Chicks to a witch-hunt and lynching, saying; “I don't even know the Dixie chicks, but I find it an insult to all the men and women who fought and died in past wars when almost the majority of America jumped down their throats for voicing an opinion. It was like a verbal witch-hunt and lynching.”

How did the Chicks respond? They stood their ground; with dignity and grace, and refused to back down. Then they wrote a song. On March 16, 2006, the Dixie Chicks released the single "Not Ready to Make Nice", an outtake from their album, Taking the Long Way. Written by the Chicks, it directly addressed the political controversy that had surrounded the group for the previous three years, and which continues to this day. One verse from the song goes:

It’s a sad, sad story when a mother will teach her
Daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger
And how in the world can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they’d write me a letter
Sayin’ that I better
Shut up and sing or my life will be over

An ad for Shut up and Sing, a documentary about the controversy surrounding Natalie’s comment, was turned down by NBC, citing a policy barring ads dealing with "public controversy". NBC was not alone. This prompted the film's producer, Harvey Weinstein, to comment, "It's a sad commentary about the level of fear in our society that a movie about a group of courageous entertainers who were blacklisted for exercising their right of free speech is now itself being blacklisted by corporate America."

The documentary’s title was taken from "Not Ready To Make Nice", which in turn took the phrase from a threatening letter received by the band.

Despite minimal airplay, the album (Taking the Long Way) debuted at number one on both the U.S. pop albums chart and the U.S. country albums chart, selling over a half million copies in the first week. At the 49th Grammy Awards Show in 2007, they won all five categories for which they were nominated, including the coveted Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Album of the Year.

The 41st annual Country Music Association Awards will be held on November 7, 2007. Despite their success at the Grammy’s, the Dixie Chicks have been nominated in only one category, Best Vocal Group of the Year. Odds being given by Las Vegas bookmakers suggest the Chicks have little chance of winning.

So much for freedom of speech in the good old boys America. Kinda makes you feel ashamed to be a country music fan.