Martina McBride
Before I ever saw Martina McBride in color, I saw her in black-and-white on a hand-me-down TV with rotary dials and rabbit ears.
We didn’t have cable out in the country, and my parents weren’t interested in a satellite dish. So, I watched what I could: ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX. In the early ’90s, that was enough — especially when our local PBS station out of Martin, Tennessee, aired country music videos for one glorious hour each week.
I may have smacked the side of my color TV or adjusted the antenna the first time I saw Martina’s “The Time Has Come.” Shot in black-and-white, the video featured a long-haired, fresh-faced Martina on a desert highway. Her second single, “Cheap Whiskey,” followed with another monochrome video, perfectly suited to its somber tone.
Three things were clear to country radio, critics, and fans from those first two singles and videos:
- Martina McBride could sing.
- She understood the power of music videos.
- She was comfortable tackling difficult subject matter.
There were also things “The Time Has Come” and “Cheap Whiskey” didn’t tell us.
- Just how powerful her voice is.
- How her musical influences — both rock and country — prepared her for music video stardom.
- How songs about social issues would become hallmarks of her career.
The Voice
I don’t think we got a sense of Martina’s true vocal range until she released her third single, “My Baby Loves Me,” from her second album The Way That I Am. But even that didn’t prepare us for “Independence Day,” “A Broken Wing,” “Where Would You Be,” and “Anyway,” to name a few.
Having a powerful voice is one thing; controlling it is another. Martina’s voice is her instrument, and she commands it with seeming ease. Listen to any one of her power ballads, and you’ll hear Martina drawing back when called for and absolutely belting it on her songs’ most dramatic notes.
She belongs in the same category as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion and Adele, and I can prove it…sort of. How many American Idol auditions or contestants cover Martina McBride? It’s not just the country hopefuls either.
R&B-flavored artists often choose “A Broken Wing” because they can show off their range nearly a full two octaves. Carrie Underwood auditioned with “Independence Day,” which gives skilled vocalists like her two octaves to travel.
Just as Martina’s rich vocals add layers to her songs, her on-screen presence enhances her storytelling.
Video influences
When we finally got to see Martina McBride in color in her third music video, “My Baby Loves Me,” the camera locked onto her piercing blue eyes. There’s an edge to the song’s playful lyrics that Martina leans into, giving us our first look at her bona fide rock cred. Like Wanda Jackson and Brenda Lee, Martina’s distinctive sound draws from rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll. She’s as at home with a Pat Benatar anthem as a Loretta Lynn cover.
When she released Everlasting, an album featuring covers of soul and R&B songs, in 2014, I remember hearing an interview with her. She said she was inspired by Ray Charles’s philosophy that good music defies labels.
In 1962, Ray Charles released Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, a landmark achievement that fused blues, gospel, and jazz on covers of some of country’s most classic songs — songs written by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, Hank Williams, Eddy Arnold, and Don Gibson. He expanded country music’s footprint into new markets and left a blueprint for future generations to blend genres to recognize good songwriting across formats.
When Ray sings Don Gibson’s “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” there is no doubt an accomplished bluesman is on vocals. When Martina sings Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” we know a country powerhouse is on lead. Most importantly, we don’t care because good music transcends genre.
Looking at Martina’s country music influences, Reba McEntire comes to mind most readily, and their careers parallel in the way they’ve used videos to give fans what Reba calls “something extra.” From the fun sets and costumes of “Teenage Daughters,” which features Martina’s husband and three daughters, to the sparse but colorful setting of “This One’s for the Girls,” Martina shows a fun-loving personality that helps soften the impact of her more serious fare, which is the perfect segue to our final topic.
Social issues
“Cheap Whiskey,” written by Emory Gordy Jr. and Jim Rushing, is a song that deserves more attention than it got. Martina’s 1991 release peaked at No. 44 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and Patty Loveless’s 2001 version was never released as a single.
It’s a classic country tragedy: a man loses everything when he chooses whiskey over love.
Like the iconic “Ode to Billie Joe,” the song leaves us on a cliffhanger. Since the hour she left, he’s been sober — but where did the woman go?
In Martina’s video, the implication is clear: the man lost his love in a drunk driving incident. The video closes with sobering statistics on alcohol-related deaths and a call to action for those struggling with addiction.
Apparently, ambiguous endings appeal to Martina because her 1998 classic “A Broken Wing” also leaves listeners in suspense.
The No. 1 hit — written by James House, Sam Hogin, and Phil Barnhart — deals with verbal and emotional abuse. A good woman loves a man who shoots down her dreams, so one morning, she leaves him.
The lingering question is whether the note by the window with the curtains blowin’ in the breeze suggests suicide. I don’t think so — the song is too hopeful. This woman keeps singing, even with her broken wing. I think man, you ought to see her fly is her husband’s hint — and ours — that she left him and is thriving. The music video further supports that interpretation.
Sandwiched between “Cheap Whiskey” and “A Broken Wing” is perhaps Martina’s biggest hit, “Independence Day.” Though it only reached No. 12 on the charts, the song became synonymous with Martina McBride, showing her impressive vocal range, skill at selecting songs that connect with women, and willingness to shine light on taboo topics.
In the ’90s, discussing domestic violence wasn’t forbidden. But the way Martina’s protagonist escapes her situation was so controversial, some country radio stations refused to play it.
Written by Gretchen Peters, “Independence Day” is a family tragedy told in an 8-year-old child’s memories. The lyrics are as brutal as the abuse the child’s mother is suffering at the hands of the child’s dad. The mother lights fire to the house while she and her husband are inside, leaving her child an orphan. Still, Martina’s delivery — again with that edge in her voice — is a plea to do better than the folks in the song’s second verse who whispered and talked but looked the other way as time ran out on the family.
“Independence Day” won the 1994 CMA Music Video of the Year.
Martina’s long list of heartbreaking songs and videos also includes “Concrete Angel,” “God’s Will,” and “I’m Gonna Love You Through It.” Hope is a stronger theme in those last two examples, but you should keep the tissues handy.
In 2005, Martina released Timeless, an album of classic country cover songs that deserves its own blog post. The album’s title is a fitting description of Martina’s voice. Like Patsy Cline and Ray Price, she’s simply timeless — her music ripe for rediscovery by a new generation of country fans.
If you need a good place to start, here are some of my favorites.
My Top 5 Martina McBride Songs
1. “Where Would You Be”
From her 2001 Greatest Hits album. Written by Rick Ferrell and Rachel Proctor. Peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
Just weeks after buying her Greatest Hits CD in Australia, I was back at Belmont University for the fall semester of my senior year. I clearly remember watching a rebroadcast of the 2002 CMT Flameworthy Awards from earlier that summer. Martina performed this song in a semi-fitted white pantsuit and hit every note flawlessly. Twenty-three years later, “Where Would You Be” still takes me back to my on-campus apartment.
2. “Wild Angels”
From her 1995 album of the same name. Written by Matraca Berg, Gary Harrison, and Harry Stinson. No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
“Wild Angels” is less vocally challenging than most of her hits, but with it, Martina proves that she can do subtle just as well as she does powerful. I was lucky to hear this song live when co-writer Harry Stinson performed it with Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives at The Dixie in Huntingdon, Tennessee, several years ago. It was an acoustic set, and Harry invited the audience to join in on the last chorus. Sweet is the only way to describe it.
3. “Independence Day”
From her 1993 album The Way That I Am. Written by Gretchen Peters. Peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
The hit that made her a star is also her legacy.
4. “For These Times”
From her 2007 album Waking Up Laughing. Written by Leslie Satcher. Peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
This song didn’t become a favorite until the civil unrest in places like Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 and Minneapolis in 2020 dominated the headlines. I find comfort in Satcher’s poignant lyrics and Martina’s muted delivery.
5. “Teenage Daughters”
From her 2011 album Eleven. Written by Martina McBride, Brad Warren, and Brett Warren. Peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
Later in her career, Martina began writing songs with co-writers like the Warren Brothers. This collaboration is a playful look behind the scenes at parenting teenage daughters. Though surely not indicative of everyone’s experience, “Teenage Daughters” feels realistic.
Bonus Album Cuts
“Diamond”
From her 2016 album Reckless. Written by Nicolle Galyon, Eric Paslay, and Liz Rose.
Throughout her career, Martina has kept her sound fresh by working with established and new songwriters, and “Diamond” is a great example. Though the album was released four years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this song became my Covid-era jam. The lyrics are encouraging, the music is upbeat, and Keith Urban’s background vocals provide the perfect harmony to Martina’s lead.
“Wearing White”
From her 2003 album Martina. Written by Tommy Lee James and Lisa Drew.
Tucked inside this fun, clever tune is a beautiful picture of God’s salvation as the “wayward child” in the song puts “on a new dress.” I don’t know if that was the songwriters’ intention, but the themes of change and second chances run strong through this one. Add Vince Gill on harmony, and you’ve got an instant classic.
“Love’s Gonna Live Here”
From her 2005 album Timeless. Written by Buck Owens.
You know I love a good cover song, so a whole album of them really gets me pumped. I wore this CD out, and “Love’s Gonna Live Here” is a big reason why. From Buck Owens, an architect of the Bakersfield Sound, “Love’s Gonna Live Here” isn’t a vocal showcase and might seem out of Martina’s wheelhouse. Instead, she has fun with it — even invoking Buck’s signature phrasing.
In 2007, Dwight Yoakam released Dwight Sings Buck, so check out his cover of “Love’s Gonna Live Here” too. After his tribute, I brainstormed my dream list of country tributes: Martina Sings Loretta, Reba Sings Patsy, Trisha Sings Reba, and Faith Sings Tammy.
Speaking of Faith, we’ll dive into her impact on the ’90s in Part III of The Big Three next.
Leave a Reply