Rhinestoned says it all. No other word, real or invented for the occasion, sums up as well where Pam Tillis stands now.
She is, after all, a superstar as well as a survivor. A child of Music City royalty and a former rebel, she was determined to find her own way as a singer and songwriter — and she succeeded. A CMA Female Vocalist of the Year, she has written songs for some of the top singers in and beyond Nashville, including more than a few of her own hits.
She knows what it's like to break the platinum barrier, to top the singles charts time and again, to bask in an ovation at her induction as a member of the Opry or play in the intimate hush of the Bluebird Café. She has bathed in the lights of Broadway, posed for glamour magazine spreads, sung ballads in Bay Area bistros, batted wicked one-liners back to Tom Bergeron on Hollywood Squares, even made cameos in movies.
But no matter where she wandered, Pam Tillis never lost her connection to country music — even when country began to lose touch with itself. Trends came and went, and though she rolled easily with the tides and drew something from every new twist, she was aware that changes come with a cost, even as the business side of country flourished.
Her response was to insist on writing and cutting songs that spoke from the soul, rather than the boardrooms and focus groups of the country music industry. The results have been records that emanate an almost painful beauty, as did her 2002 release, the critically acclaimed It's All Relative (a tribute to her father, the great Mel Tillis).
"What I'm doing is country — but not necessarily the kind that you hear on the airwaves these days," Tillis explains, one drizzly afternoon over coffee, not far from Music Row. "Now, I admire a lot of this music; after all, I've sung rock, pop, R&B, and jazz, so I'm hardly a purist. But what I'm hearing now sounds often more like pop than country to me. And I just seriously felt called by that old different drummer to something a little bit more like the country I remember from my formative years, the country music of my youth." It's also something Tillis' fans and friends clamor for as she encounters them out on the road.
With It's All Relative, which she affectionately calls "the Dad album," Tillis produced one of the most memorable discs to have come out of Nashville in years, largely because of her refusal to conform to expectations. Combing through her father's catalog, she chose songs that had an especially timeless quality, with built-in resistance to the whims of the market. It was a bold statement; more than that, it set the stage for the even more assertive statement that Rhinestoned would make.
"Pam had reached a point where doing a record every year or two wasn't as important as taking the time to make something that had more meaning," says Matt Spicher, who co-produced Rhinestoned with Tillis and Gary Nicholson. "So she decided to embrace the momentum she had established with the Dad record."
"That was the first record I ever made where I wasn't concerned about having to come up with three singles," Pam points out.
"The labels understood that from the beginning," Matt says.
"They said they did," she clarifies.
And that's one reason why Rhinestoned marks the first album to be released on Stellar Cat, Pam's own imprint. With total creative control, she let her heart lead the way toward material that she could perform honestly and emotionally. "This is an A&R-free zone," she says, smiling. "But it is, first of all, real country. It's a bookend to the Dad album, except it has all new songs. It's like a bridge between the present and the past."
How past is this particular past? "If you look at my record collection circa 1974," Pam answers, "you'd see Emmylou, Gram Parsons, Waylon Jennings, Don Williams, Linda Ronstadt, and Neil Young. Flying Burrito Brothers — hippie country I call it — that was some of the best music that ever came out of this town. Maybe it wasn't happening on country radio at the time but it sold record and built careers. It was the vibrant scene on the fringes of country, which was very cool — just as it is today."
The Rhinestoned sessions started in 2004. Pam and Matt whittled 20 songs down to ten, which they cut and set aside, like bottles of wine allowed to mature. A few months later they repeated the process. And then, after reflecting for a while on what she had accomplished, Pam decided something wasn't right. She talked about it with her trusted friend and writing partner Gary Nicholson and reached a critical decision.
"It needed to be more country " she sums up. "I played what we had for Gary, brought him into the picture, and suddenly it felt like we weren't wandering in the woods anymore. Then when I found the song "Band in the Window," suddenly I could see and hear the whole project in my mind right down to the t-shirts, Tillis laughs.
With that, the final round of recording began. All of it, aside from backing vocals, was cut the old-fashioned way: live, just the way those bands still play in the windows along Lower Broadway. Many of Pam's performances were actually guide vocals, laid down in real time with the instrumental tracks but too strong in the end to throw away. Overdubs and fixes were kept to a bare minimum.
The rollicking reverence she brings to "Band in the Window," the affection that radiates between her and John Anderson on "Life Sure Has Changed Us Around," the goofball humor of "Crazy By Myself," the insight of her recitation on "Bettin' Money on Love": All of the up-tempo moments on Rhinestoned emit a sense of freedom that's impossible for Pam to suppress or for any listener to miss.
Even the ballads and deeper performances — the languorous sway of "Something Burning Out," the wounded wisdom of "Train Without a Whistle," the almost whispered yearning of "Someone Somewhere Tonight," and the recklessness of "Down by the Water" — carry a quality that's become sadly unfamiliar in much of today's music.
It's that feeling of delight that comes from singing exactly what you were meant to sing at that moment. It's almost like a kind of ecstasy, which goes a long way when delivered by the incomparable Pam Tillis, without compromise or apology.
You might call it joy, but there's a better word than that for this state of creative exhilaration.
We'd call it Rhinestoned.
I Wish She Wouldn't Treat You That Way
Pam Tillis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Is a dog gone crime
I just get blue about it all the time
Drives me crazy
How she walks that line
I wish she wouldn't treat you that way baby
I wish she wouldn't treat you that way
I ain't sayin' that she's bad to you
Any fool could see that her love is true
I wish she wouldn't treat you that way baby
I wish she wouldn't treat you that way
She ain't the only one
Who loves you dear
She ain't the only one
Who needs you near
How am I ever goin' to have my day
I wish she wouldn't treat you that way
I wish she wouldn't treat you that way
See you walkin' with her
Hand in hand
By the look on your face
You're a happy man
She's ruinin' all of my best laid plans
I wish she wouldn't treat you that way baby
I wish she wouldn't treat you that way
I wish she wouldn't treat you that way baby
I wish she wouldn't treat you that way
She ain't the only one
Who loves you dear
She ain't the only one
Who needs you near
How am I ever goin' to have my day
I wish she wouldn't treat you that way
I wish she wouldn't treat you that way
Wish she wouldn't treat you that way baby
I wish she wouldn't treat you that way
In "I Wish She Wouldn't Treat You That Way," country singer Pam Tillis laments about the way her object of affection's partner treats him. She starts off by stating that the woman's behavior towards him is a "dog gone crime" and that it makes her feel blue all the time. She wishes the woman wouldn't "walk that line" because she can see how much Tillis' love interest is affected by it. She emphasizes this wish by repeating the line in the chorus, driving home her point that she can see he is not being treated right.
Tillis acknowledges that the woman is not necessarily "bad" to him, and in fact, does all the things a lover should do. She even notes that her love for him seems authentic, but ultimately, it is her treatment of him that is causing Tillis distress. She wishes that the woman could see that there are other people who love and need him, including herself, and that her actions are getting in the way of him being able to fully realize these relationships. The song ends with Tillis expressing her frustration at seeing him so happy with the woman, despite the ruin of her own plans.
Overall, "I Wish She Wouldn't Treat You That Way" is a relatable song about unrequited love and disappointment. It highlights the struggle of seeing someone you care about being hurt by their partner, and being powerless to change the situation.
Line by Line Meaning
The way she treats you
Pam is concerned about how this person's partner treats him
Is a dog gone crime
The treatment is so bad that it is a real shame
I just get blue about it all the time
Pam feels sad about this situation constantly
Drives me crazy
This situation makes Pam really upset
How she walks that line
It's frustrating how this person's partner is manipulative and walks a fine line between good and bad behavior
I wish she wouldn't treat you that way baby
Pam wishes that this person's partner would treat him better
She ain't the only one
Other people besides this person's partner care about him
Who loves you dear
These other people really care about this person
She ain't the only one
Emphasizes that there are multiple people who care
Who needs you near
These people want this person to be close to them and in their lives
How am I ever goin' to have my day
Pam feels like she will never get a chance with this person if he stays with his current partner
See you walkin' with her
Pam sees this person with his partner
Hand in hand
They are physically close and seem connected
By the look on your face
This person appears to be happy with his partner
You're a happy man
This person seems content with his relationship
She's ruinin' all of my best laid plans
Pam's desires to be with this person are being thwarted by his current partner
Wish she wouldn't treat you that way baby
The repetition of the chorus emphasizes Pam's desire for this person to be treated better
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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