Regular readers know Chimesfreedom has been a Marty Brown fan since he released four albums in the 1990s. A few years ago we wished for him to return to the national stage, and our hopes came true this summer when he became a contestant on NBC’s America’s Got Talent. As the season draws to a close, it seemed like a good time to look back on his amazing run on the show.
Brown’s Surprising Debut on AGT
TV viewers saw Marty Brown back at the beginning of June when he appeared on the first episode of season eight of America’s Got Talent. The show included Brown auditioning in San Antonio singing Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” after it introduced him simply as a carpenter from Kentucky.
We learned that Brown’s wife Shellie tricked him into appearing on the show, illustrating her faith in him and making a nice storyline that continued through all of Brown’s appearances. After the introduction, Brown gave a heartfelt performance of the song.
The judges apparently did not know the full backstory on Brown. Judge Howard Stern called him an “undiscovered treasure.” The judges’ comments throughout Marty Brown’s tenure on the episodes continued to show that even as they praised him, they really had no idea about the depths of his talent. But after this first performance, the judges had nothing but praise and put Marty Brown through to the Las Vegas round. The audience loved him too.
Las Vegas Rounds
In the Las Vegas round shown in July, contestants performed in front of the judges with no audience. Below is a video of what they showed on television from the Las Vegas rounds, including a part of Brown’s performance of Keith Whitley‘s “When You Say Nothing At All.”
Howard Stern and Howie Mandel did not like the performance as much as Marty Brown’s San Antonio performance of “Make You Feel My Love.” On the other hand, if you saw the entire episode, you would see the editing was designed to create drama, so it showed the judges saying something negative about everyone. Meanwhile, one of the other competitors noted about Brown, “He makes me like country music.”
Most importantly, the judges liked the performance enough to send Brown to the live performances at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Brown had made it through two rounds with the judges to advance to the next stage where viewers would be the judge.
Brown’s performance thus far was impressive. As a country act, it was tough competition against a range of acts that included acrobats, magic, and people risking their lives. The next question was whether the viewing audience would vote for a traditional country music act among all of the other contestants.
A Tough Round at Radio City Music Hall
For his debut at Radio City Music Hall at the end of July, Marty Brown sang Shania Twain‘s “You’re Still the One.” The artists are not allowed to select any song they want, but it was still a good choice because many voters would know the song. Unlike the previous performances, Brown went with a band this time, which appeared to be a good choice. He has played with bands in the past, and he needed to do something to use the big stage before the big audience.
But almost immediately, viewers knew something was wrong. As Brown’s sister has explained on this website, Brown’s father had been ill, and when Brown saw the lead-in video with his father it choked him up. The judges would claim that nerves got the better of him. But regardless of the cause, Brown’s voice cracked at the start of the song.
Eventually, he recovered during the performance. But on what was probably the biggest stage of his career thus far, it was far from the best performance of his career.
The judges were tough on him after the performance. Howard Stern genuinely seemed to be rooting for Brown but expressed his disappointment. Melanie Brown, i.e., Mel B, was especially critical, not only getting his name wrong, but Tweeting a few minutes after the performance, “Ok. ok. I got his name wrong!! He blew it anyways, so what!!”
The next night on July 31, the results came in. The judges and many others expected Marty Brown to go home. Had the run ended here, it would have been tragic. Brown would have come all this way to launch a comeback and then have to live the rest of his life wondering if he blew it.
But something only slightly short of miraculous happened: America appreciated the emotion in his performance and voted for him to go to the next round. The judges were shocked, but nobody was surprised as much as Brown himself, appearing humbled by the support of his fans. The audience still loved Brown and recognized the real emotion in his performance, even if the judges did not.
The whole run on America’s Got Talent featured Brown seeking redemption, and now he would get another chance thanks to the voters. The pressure, though, ramped up. With one less-than-perfect performance, he could not afford to follow it with another mistake in his next performance.
Semi-Finals Round
On September 3, on a semi-finals show of America’s Got Talent, Marty Brown performed “Bless the Broken Road,” made famous by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Rascal Flatts. After the awkwardness with the band in the previous round, Brown opted to go it alone again with his guitar.
Howard Stern would say it was a “safe” performance and that he wished Brown had done something to blow him away. Maybe he was right, but Brown had something to prove after the judges claimed he could not handle pressure. He had to go out and show he could do a solid performance on that stage facing extra intense scrutiny.
And he did what he set out to do, showing he could handle the pressure. He gave a touching performance of the song within the limited time given to performers on the show, earning a standing ovation.
The heartfelt performance of “Bless the Broken Road” would be Marty Brown’s last song in the competition because he found out the next night that he would not advance further. But if he were to have a final song on the show, it was a perfect one to go out on. As we have previously written, his life has taken a broken road to get to this point. So the song fittingly connected to this one moment on stage, reflecting the path of both his career and his life, including finding the love that inspired his entire run on the show. He lived the song, and it was a great heartfelt performance.
Going Home To a Revitalized Career
Looking back on the show, one might understand why the run ended here. Brown has never been a pop artist. The audience for real traditional country music is big, but it might not be enough for winning a talent show like this one. And, of course, on the show, America never really got to see the depths of Brown’s talents.
Because of the limited time on the show, the producers showed Brown as part of the story they created, never coming near to showing Brown’s real intelligence. Had he been able to bust out a few of his own songs, it might have changed the outcome. But even an unknown Bob Dylan or Hank Williams would not have advanced further on such a talent show. For example, a principal closed the curtain on Dylan at a high school talent show.
As the field narrowed, the producers and judges also seemed to stray away from the initial strong support for Brown. On the September show, they put him in the second spot, traditionally one of the worst places to be on one of these shows because viewers do not remember the second or third performers on a long show.
By contrast, in that show, the producers put Brown’s main competition, country singer and former Marine Jimmy Rose, in the prime finale spot. Rose is talented and seems like a great guy, but his subdued (but very good) cover of Garth Brooks’s “The Dance” is not a traditional closing act. Producers made an interesting choice to promote Rose, especially when they had bigger acts such as dancer-special-effects master Kenichi Ebina or even powerhouse singer little Anna Christine.
That is not to say there was a conspiracy or that Brown might have advanced given a better spot during the night. Someone has to go into the second slot, and the producers have to sell a show. So, I do not begrudge them their choices, and I appreciate that they put him on the show. But if Brown won, some viewers might have felt cheated that the producers never mentioned his 1990s albums (even though artists with careers are allowed to compete on shows like America’s Got Talent and The Voice). People are more critical of you when you win. On the other hand, had Brown sang his own songs, it would have been a different competition.
For Brown and his family, I wish they had won and were a million dollars richer. But as a selfish fan, had I written the story of Marty Brown’s tenure on America’s Got Talent, I pretty much would have written it exactly how it went. It is a great story of someone climbing back, falling, and rising again through his talent and the love of family and fans. And throughout the whole run, Brown showed nothing but class, decency, and heart.
As for the outcome, had Brown won, there would have been more expectations, more critics, and more outside control. Instead, it worked out perfectly for those of us who love great country music. Marty Brown got some attention, new fans fell in love with him, and now we hope for some new recordings and performances (and all his old CDs back in print).
True art is not a competition, it is about the artist bearing the soul. And this new music will be done Marty Brown’s way. And that’s the way it should be.
@pophistory Ready to make an album! #nbcagt #martybrown
— MartyBrown (@martybrownusa) September 5, 2013
We look forward to the next chapter in the great rediscovered career of Marty Brown.
What was your favorite performance on “America’s Got Talent”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
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