Missing 1990's Country Music While Acknowledging Things Change

I wish they were making country music like they did in the 1990’s. As my favorite artist Alan Jackson celebrates his 25^th year in country music, I find current state of country music to be less than appealing. I like some of the acts, but on the whole it is more or less songs about the same things – trucks, beer, hot women, etc.

The music industry as a whole has changed. Full length albums are out. Album sales are now small and unimportant. Instead the music industry is now about hit singles and touring. This ironically was how things use to be in country music. The 50, 60, and first half of the 70’s were all about hit singles and touring while album sales were small. Then Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kenny Rogers, and Alabama came along and large album sales totals became the thing to have.

What once was is not likely coming back. As time moves on things change, but it does not mean we cannot remember and relive great music from our past. I encourage anyone who likes good music to check out great country artists like Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Reba McEntire, Vince Gill, Clint Black, and two personal favorites of mine Patty Loveless and Pam Tillis.

I learned long ago we do not all like the same thing, and that is a good thing. If we all liked or disliked the same thing life would become monotonous. And while Taylor Swift and Jason Aldean are disliked by many, they are also loved by many.

I started this blog as a graduate school project. I got that Master of Science degree expecting to get a one job field and ended up in another. Life does not always go as planned. Country Music use to be something super important to me. I loved listening to it. I bought lots of albums and went to lots of concerts. But like Taylor Swift – who is following the Olivia Newton John plan on how to morph from a country to a pop star – we all change. I still like to listen to country music, and but I don’t buy albums or go to many concerts much anymore. Part of it is the money it cost; part is the lack of good music from the current artists.

I missed out on the Garth Brooks show here earlier this year, and I will miss out on the Kenny Chesney – Jason Aldean show at Target Field. That is what happens when you cannot afford $200-$500 evening that includes concert tickets, parking, food and beverage. Back in the 90’s I saw Alan Jackson and Faith Hill $25 and got free parking at the Minnesota State Fair. Oh how things have changed.

Country music has changed from the 90’s too. Some think for the better, some think for the worse. I tell people it is okay to think either way. I have my opinion, but that does not have to be yours. 

A Look Back at the 1991 CMA Awards

TV screen shot of President & Mrs George H W Bush with Reba McEntire at the 1991 CMA Awards

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The 1991 CMA Awards marked the 25th Anniversary of the awards which was a big enough reason to celebrate. However, a bigger reason came when noted country music fans President George H. W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush announced they would be attending the show.

President Bush was the first president to attend a music award show, so it made all the national news shows, and generated incredible amount of free publicity for the show and country music.

Hosted by Reba McEntire, the show is significant for another reason. It signaled a new era of country music an era that would propel country to a new huge level of popularity, and alter America and world’s perception of country music.

As you read on remember the show was only two hours in length, and all the awards were given during the show. Also Female Vocalist of Year Kathy Maetta and Lorrie Morgan did not get to perform while fellow nominee Patty Loveless only got to sing on a Vince Gill song. Think that is bad? No one of the vocal group or duo of the year nominees got to perform. Tanya Tucker won the Female Vocalist of the Year, but was not there to accept for perform because she was in the hospital having just given birth.

To open the show Ricky Skaggs, Steve Warnier, Vince Gill sang “That’s Where I’ll Be Found” with an all-star band featuring amongst others Mark O’ Connor, Carl Perkins, Bill Monroe, Marty Stuart, and Earl & Randy Scruggs.

President and Mrs Bush arrived after the first song, introduced by host Reba McEntire. Roy Rogers was the first artist to shake the President’s hand, Alan Jackson was the second. Country legend Roy Acuff sat next to Barbra while Crystal Gayle sat next to President Bush. Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Kenny Rogers, and George Strait sat in front of President who for security reasons was sat in the second row.

It should be noted the seating assignment of Crystal Gayle next to President Bush was intentional. Not only did President Bush love her music, she and her elder sister Loretta Lynn were major supporters of his. It also should be noted that the show as held at the Grand Ole Opry House where there are not seats, but pew benches, so people were literally rubbing elbows with each other.

12 minutes into the show the 2^nd musical performance. Yes, I said 12 minutes. Today award shows probably would have had four performances in the first 12 minutes. George Strait performed “You Know Me Better That”. Strait was a good friend of President Bush who loved his music. Strait was also the two-time reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year.

In a fashion statement worthy of a country music act, The Kentucky Hunters accepted their Group of the Year award wearing their FFA (Future Farmers of American) jackets. I suspect several viewers that night were former or current members of the FFA.

Trisha Yearwood sang “She’s in Love the Boy”. Alan Jackson performed “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” Vince Gill & Patty Loveless did “Pocket Full of Gold”, and Clint Black & Roy Rogers sang “Hold on Partner”. Jackson and Gill were exploding on the scene in 1991, and both would go on to significant success. Black on the other hand would begin to decent from lofty success he had achieved in 1989 – 90.

Namoni and Wynonna Judd appeared to introduce the nominees for the Horizon Award which is given to the best new artist. Each of the nominees was given a performance slot which showed how committed the CMA at the time was to promoting new artists. Travis Tritt “Here’s a Quarter”, Doug Stone “In Different Light”, Pam Tillis “Put Yourself in My Place,” Mark Chesutt “Brother Jukebox” and Mary Chapin Carpenter “Down at the Twist and Shout,” were the performers. Tritt won the award, but Carpenter won the most praise for her performance. I, on the other hand, love “Brother Jukebox” and have always thought Chesnutt was an under appreciated artist though he would be nominated for the award again the next year and win.

Former pro football player and accomplished song writer Mike Reid – did a melody of songs he had written for others and Walk on Faith a song he had recorded in 1990 and became a #1 hit for him. He was followed by one Garth Brooks doing “Shameless.”

Dolly Parton simply walked out on stage with no introduction to perform “She’s an Eagle” which dedicated to Mrs. Bush. Reba McEntire finished the performances with “For My Broken Heart."

As he accepted the Entertainer of the Year Award Garth Brooks said “no body is anything without his heroes. I love my George’s – George Strait, George Jones - thank you guys.” (pause) “No offense Mr. President. Sorry.” Everyone roared with laughter including the Bushes.

Roy Acuff, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Ray Price, Barbara Mandrell, the Judds, Eddy Arnold, Anne Murray, Buck Owens, Kathy Maetta, Rickey Van Shelton, Larry Gatlin, Alabama, Roy Rogers and Sweethearts of the Rodeo were all in attendance that night. Still 9 and the 15 performance slots went to Brooks, Jackson, Gill, Yearwood, Tritt, Black, Stone, Chesnutt, and Carpenter all artists who charted the first country single in 1989 or later. The show opening number was a great way to get a lot of older artists like Ricky Skaggs and Bill Monroe involved, but it was obvious which generation the night belonged too. A new generation of country artists was about to take Country Music to heights it had never seen before.

Alan Jackson's "So You Don't Have to Love Me Anymore"

Garth Brooks may have been elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame this year, but for my money Alan Jackson is the greatest country music singer of his generation. Here is his great new song "So You Don't Have to Love Me Anymore" which I think is one of his best songs in a while.

Country Power Index (CPI)

For the fun of it I decided to assign 1 point for every million albums sold, every #1 song, every top 10 song, every CMA award, and every ACM award a country music artist achieved over their career. For example if you had sold 10 million records, had 10 #1 songs, had 30 top 10 songs, won 5 CMA’s and 5 ACM’s you would have 60 points. Artists with say 10.5 million records sold would get 10.5 points.

I used RIAA certifications to measure album sales, and Billboard Magazines country charts to measure #1 and top 10 country songs.

Of course there are possible inequities in this process as older artists from the 60’s and 70’s were not credited with selling as many albums as they did, and in the last few years record sales have flagged due to people just digitally downloading the songs they like rather than buying the whole album. On the other hand older artists had longer careers as artists who could chart songs meaning they were able to amass more top 10 and #1 singles.

Also Brooks & Dunn won a lot of CMA and ACM awards for being vocal duo of the year when really they had no competition whereas male and female solo artists had a great deal more competition for their awards.

I call my measurement the Country Power Index or CPI. Of course CPI does not measure artistic impact, so whether someone is considered a great singer or whether they have classic songs that will last beyond their lifetime is not factored in. Instead CPI shows an artist dominance of the airwaves, retail sales, and award shows.

I also want to point out that while I did my best to be accurate, there could be mistakes in these calculations.

Here now are the top 15 artists of all-time and their scores:

George Strait – 228

Garth Brooks – 207

Alan Jackson – 150.5

Alabama – 150

Reba McEntire – 139.5

Merle Haggard - 136.5

Conway Twitty - 131

Brooks & Dunn – 130

Tim McGraw – 125

Eddie Arnold – 123

Kenny Rogers – 119

Willie Nelson – 109

George Jones - 108

Dolly Parton – 105.5

Ronnie Milsap – 102

Notice only 2 female artists (Reba & Dolly) show up. This proves what has long been known – that country music has always been a male artist format. Otherwise I am not surprised who is on this list as each of these artists were dominate forces in country music for many years.

In case you are looking for country icons named Johnny, Waylon, Loretta, and Tammy. Here are their scores:

Johnny Cash – 96

Waylon Jennings – 86.5

Loretta Lynn – 84.5

Tammy Wynette - 59.5

Here are the top 5 amongst those artists who emerged in the 80’s. You could point out Strait and McEntire benefitted from having great success in the 90’s as the well 80’s while the other 3 artists on this list earned most of their points during the 80’s. I did not have the time to break out Strait and McEntire’s scores by decade. It would have be interesting to see how made points they earned in each decade.

George Strait – 228

Alabama – 150

Reba McEntire – 139.5

Hank Williams Jr. – 82.5

Randy Travis – 75.5

Here are the top 10 amongst artists who emerged in the 90’s. In case you are wondering – and I am sure someone is – Billy Ray Cyrus scored a 19.5 and LeAnn Rimes a 33.

I think this list includes most of the dominate artists of 90’s though again you could point out many of the artists (Chesney and Keith especially) earned point in the 2000’s as well as the 90’s.

Garth Brooks – 207

Alan Jackson – 150.5

Brooks & Dunn – 130

Tim McGraw – 125

Kenny Cheseny - 93

Toby Keith – 86

Shania Twain – 75

Vince Gill – 75

Dixie Chicks – 68.5

Faith Hill – 67.5

Here are the top 5 artists amongst those who emerged in the 00’s. Paisley has won a bunch of awards which is why he is so out front. Underwood and Swift have amassed their numbers with far fewer years in the industry than the others, so I expect them to eventually overtake Urban and RF.

Brad Paisley – 80

Rascal Flatts – 69

Keith Urban – 51.5

Carrie Underwood – 48

Taylor Swift - 39

Finally a look at the group of country artists who in 1989 revived country music, and set the stage for all the success country music has achieved since. They are collectively called the Class of 89. While officially the group consists of Garth, Alan, Clint, Travis, and Mary Chapin. I also added Vince and Lorrie as both really had their commercial breakthrough in 1989.

Garth Brooks – 207

Alan Jackson – 150.5

Vince Gill – 75

Clint Black – 58.5

Travis Tritt – 39

Lorrie Morgan – 24.5

Mary Chapin Carpenter – 22.5

If this was 1995 I would have told you that Black, Tritt, and Carpenter would have had higher scores. However that is not the case. It just proves you have to judge an artists career over an extended period of time, and in its own way CPI does just that.

Random Thoughts on Country Music

Here are some of my random thoughts regarding events in the country music world so far this year.

New Music

The only new country music I have gotten into lately is from artists on the far fringe of the country genre. The Civil Wars is a duo that makes acoustic orientated music that might qualify as country. Whatever it is I have to say it is reverting to listen to even if the subjects and lyrics are depressing.

Crystal Bowersox is a former American Idol contestant who is not exactly country, but is pushing her new single “Farmer’s Daughter” to country radio. The song is about her troubled relationship with her mother. The song is sung with great passion and some anger which sets it aside from the bland, generic music I heard every time I turn on and then quickly turn off my country radio station.

Alan Jackson Down Under

My favorite country singer Alan Jackson is touring Australia for the first time in his 22 year career. I have read and heard he is a big star there, and his all shows are sold-out. While I think it is great he finally got over there, I have wonder what took him so long. 22 years and he never got there? I wonder if it was just too easy and too lucrative for him to keep touring in the United States every year, though we can never know for sure because we are not inside Alan Jackson’s head. Hopefully he won’t wait 22 more years to go back again.

Lady A Grammy Wins

I cannot get pumped up about Lady Antebellum’s big Grammy wins for their massive hit “Need You Know”. I think it is their best song, but for the most part I am not into their music. I know numerous other folks are into them, and I think that is great. We all should be allowed to listen to what we want, not what other people think we should.

Reba McEntire Finally Gets Into the Country Music Hall of Fame

After Alabama and George Strait were elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005 & 2006 respectively, I was certain 2007 would bring the election of Reba McEntire. Alabama, Strait, and McEntire debuted at roughly the same time rose to super-stardom in the 80’s with Strait and McEntire carrying on their super-stardom into the 90’s.

Instead Vince Gill was elected in 2007, and McEntire had to wait 4 more years till she was finally elected this year. I think it was it wrong to elect Gill ahead of McEntire. McEntire has achieved far more than Gill, and has been around longer. She certainly deserved entry into the Hall of Fame before him. He would likely agree.

Unfortunately like all voting, voting for the Country Music Hall of Fame is not a non-bias activity. Gill is a popular guy amongst the voters, and they rewarded him. Other folks like Kenny Rogers and Garth Brooks are not so popular with voters, and they will have to wait for induction.

That is not fair, but it is the way the system works. Nonetheless it is great to see Reba McEntire get her just due. Hopefully Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, the Judds, Dwight Yoakam, and Randy Travis will be amongst those who join her in the next few years.

CMA Awards 2010

On Wednesday night the country music industry decided to anoint Miranda Lambert as the next superstar of country music. Lambert won big at Wednesday night’s CMA Awards taking home awards for Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Music Video of the Year. Her song “The House That Built Me” won Song of the Year, while Lambert’s future husband Blake Shelton won Male Vocalist of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year.

Artist such as Vince Gill, the Dixie Chicks, and Keith Urban have received similar pushes from the country industry, and reaped great success because of it. Of course success is only fleeting, so Ms Lambert should enjoyed her time at the top while she can.

With Lambert’s accession country music is now dominated by 3 major female superstars (Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, and Lambert) and 2 groups (Lady Antebellum and Zac Brown Band). Solo male artists exist, but none is at the level of these five artists. There may not be a lot of female artists having success, but the ones that are, are at the very top.

Other CMA Award show thoughts:

Jason Aldean & Kelly Clarkson “Don’t You Wanna Stay?” was excellent, and I think the performance will help the song become a signature hit for Aldean. I don’t think Aldean is the greatest vocalist, but his CMA performance was one of his better ones, while Clarkson simply was the best vocalist of the night. I have always believed Kelly Clarkson is a country singer at heart, and given the right material could be one of the greatest country music singers ever.

Sugarland looked like fools while performing “Stuck Like Glue”. Some people like the song, some don’t, but those stupid customs (they look like something out of the Nutcracker), and Jennifer Nettles quirking vocal performance will come back to haunt them. That’s a shame because Nettles can be a gripping vocalist when she just stands there and sings.

Taylor Swift performance of “Back to December” was her best on live television in a long time. The song itself is good, and the fact it was a ballad in the midst of night that feature mostly rocking songs aided its appeal. People who dislike Swift will immediately attack anything she does, while those that love her will defend anything she does. This is the life of a superstar just ask Garth Brooks and Shania Twain.

I was also into Dierks Bentley’s “Up on the Ridge” and the Zac Brown Band/Alan Jackson “She’s Walking Away” because I like bluegrass and Alan Jackson.

I have never really been into Brad Paisley’s music or Brad Paisley the man, but his emotional acceptance of the Entertainer of the Year Award put him in a very good light. It showed him as a real human being whose drive to make music was fueled by motivations his fan can indentify with. This will likely be the peak of Brad Paisley career, and if it is he will be able to look back satisfied that he correctly acknowledged the role his family and fans played in getting him to that moment.

Finally since I have been watching the CMA’s forever here is a list of people who have won CMA Entertainer of the Year since 1990 – George Strait, Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Shania Twain, Dixie Chicks, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, and Brad Paisley. Reba McEntire won back in 86 while Clint Black, Faith Hill, Toby Keith, Rascal Flatts, and Carrie Underwood have so far been denied.

The CMA deserves some credited for rightfully awarding its highest honor to almost all of the biggest stars in country music the last 20 years. You can argue so and so should have won more or won less, but you cannot say anyone one on that winners list does not deserve to have an Entertainer of the Year award in their trophy case.

Maybe one day soon Miranda Lambert will be clearing a space for her CMA award as after Wednesday night, it looks like the country music industry certainly likes her a lot.

Country Music's CMA Awards 2010

The country music I loved died a while back and has been replaced by the pop light music now being passed off as country music. A few artists still make music I like such as Miranda Lambert. I was pleased to see Lambert received 9 nominations for this year’s Country Music Association Awards (CMA).

Lambert received two nominations each for Single and Song of the Year. Usually this means she won’t win the either category because the two songs split the vote, but that is not always the case. In 2002 Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You (When the World Stop Turning)” won Single and Song of the Year even though Jackson’s “Drive (For Daddy Gene)” was also nominated for Single and Song of Year. That said “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” had such momentum that no song that year was even close to it in creed and popularity.

I expect Lambert to win Female Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year. Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” will likely win Single and Song of the Year.

Much of the discussion about the CMA nominations centers on Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood being excluded from the Entertainer of the Year nominations. I was surprised too, but there is some precedent to this.

In 1998 the CMA bestowed the Entertainer of the Year on Shania Twain and then failed to nominate her the next year. The same thing has now happened to Taylor Swift who won last year and was not nominated this year. The reason is simple, the CMA voting membership dislikes Swift’s blatant attempt to make pop music and call it country just as they disliked Twain’s similar attempt. Of course the hypocrites who point their fingers at Swift are the same people who are systematically destroying traditional country music by producing the watered down pop music that is today called country music.

Carrie Underwood’s case is more complex, but none less hypocritical. Underwood is artist of great vocal talent who seems to represent all the good traits a country artist is suppose to represent. Underwood has also embraced country music’s past while trying to keep her pop audience gained when she won American Idol.

Underwood was a blessing to country music when she arrived. She was a ready made star who looked fabulous and sang even better. The country music world could not wait to build Underwood up as a mega-star. However, our society loves building people up only to systematically tear them back down. Call it the backlash against being to successful.

Underwood sang too good, looked too beautiful, sold too many albums, got too many #1 singles, and won too many awards. It happened to the Judds and Randy Travis. They were highly successful only to be denied the CMA Entertainer of the Year Award because they were jealously viewed as “too successful”. It also happened to Garth Brooks who after a string of amazing successes was sent into exile by the CMA. Today Brooks is seen as a greedy egoist; no matter that his drive to sell more albums, play to more fans, and be the center of attention was always part of who he was and help him make himself and country music more successful.

George Strait, Alan Jackson, and Brooks & Dunn are about the only people to survive this backlash against success, but even they were not completely immune. Now Brooks & Dunn have retired. Jackson is aging and not the commercial force he once was. Strait is not young either who could retire a moment’s notice.

Underwood may be able to reverse this backlash. She may make that album or record that song that is so good no one can deny her. Until then it is Miranda Lambert’s world, or it is until backlash against her success begins.

A New Era in Country Music

Country artists from different eras come together to honor Alan Jackson at the CMT Giants event in 2008. Pictured are George Jones, Taylor Swift, George Strait, Denise & Alan Jackson, Hank Williams Jr. Martina McBride, Lee Ann Womack, Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, and Brad Paisley.

Carrie Underwood’s back to back ACM Entertainer of the Year wins and Taylor Swift’s 2009 CMA Entertainer of the Year win confirmed what I had been thinking for the past few months, that there is new era in country music lead by co-mega stars Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift. This new era likely started its genesis some time in late 2008, but now has come into full bloom in 2010.

Below I have provided a handy guide to each country era of the last 25 odd years, and highlight some of the super-stars of those eras.

The New Traditionalist era (1984-1989)

Traditional country music made a comeback in this era, but album sales were still stagnate. Many people romanticize about this era as being the last great era of country music, but that is simply not the case. In fact during this era country music was still considered an ugly step child mocked by mainstream music media and critics. It was only after the Class of 89 pushed country music to a new level of acceptance that mainstream media and critics began to romanticize about this era’s greatness as a way to “put down” the Class of 89. It seems with the mainstream media and critics the past is always better than the present.

George Strait – Strait transcends all country music eras, but this was the era that launched him. He is the only artist in music to chart a top 10 single for 30 years straight.

Reba McEntire - She was big in the 80’s then became huge in the early 90’s. Today she looks like an aging mother, or dare we say grandmother compared to Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift, yet somehow she keeps rolling on though not a consistently as George Strait has.

Randy Travis – In 1986 he took country music by storm and may well have been this era’s biggest star, but by 1990 he already was on the fade. It was roughly a three album reign as a superstar.

The Judds – Mother Namoni and daughter Wynonna formed the hippest act of this era. People forget that the Judds were once so cool that even many non-country fans were into them. The Judds music has worn well, but the ladies themselves have spent to much time living out their personal dramas in public.

Hank Williams Jr. – Son of the greatest country singer of all-time, Hank Jr. carved out of very success solo career that spanned the 80’s. Commercial success disappeared in the 90’s, but he remains an icon.

Alabama – They were the superstars of the era before this one, but their success carried over. Others artists get more shout outs than Alabama when it comes time to talk about the legends of country music who have made an impact in the 80’s, but Alabama is more deserving than people think.

Class of 89 era (1989-1996)

The Class of 89 not only saved country music, but made it a major player in the greater entertainment world. While some believe this era’s artists (mainly Garth) started the ruin of country music, the truth is this group carried on the traditional country mantel, and never really courted pop radio. The goal of these artists was not to go and cater to pop music fans, but to lure pop music fans to country music and country music radio. In my opinion (and growing number of others) this is the greatest of the eras covered in this piece of writing.

Garth Brooks – He dominated this era. His greatest achievement was getting droves of non-country music fans to take notice of the genre. He boosted every country act’s sales by his ability to promote not only Garth, but country music as a whole.

Alan Jackson - An amazing artist whose commercial and artistic success is unparalleled. He will be the artist most remembered from this era because his body of musical work is unmatched.

Vince Gill – A gifted singer, songwriter, and guitarist who won 18 CMA Awards. Amazingly he won only 4 ACM Awards. That disparity is the largest among any artists. Why did it happen? Who knows, but what is known is Gill’s commercial success had faded by the late 90’s.

Clint Black – His first album “Killin’ Time” was great. His subsequent albums were not so great. He spent too much time wanting to record only songs he had written, and fighting with his ex-manager Bill Ham.

Travis Tritt – Another artist who started strong then faded. He should never have gotten into that feud with Billy Ray Cyrus. He also never had the songs to make good use of his great voice.

Mary Chapin Carpenter - In reality she had one truly successful album – “Come On Come On”. This album produced 4 of her 9 top ten hits and sold 4 million copies which is almost half of her total sales.

Brooks & Dunn – Ronnie Dunn has one of the greatest voices in country music history. Kix Brooks had great stage presence and energy. Both were gifted writers. 20 years of successes will come in an end in 2010 as the duo is retiring as an act.

Wynonna Judd – After her success with the Judds and her wildly successful debut album, Wynonna seemed set for a ten year run as superstar. It never happened.

Billy Ray Cyrus – One monstrous (“Achy Breaky Heart”) hit propelled him to superstardom. It also doomed his career. Luckily he had a daughter (teen pop sensation Miley Cyrus) who was able to get a job to pay the bills.

John Michael Montgomery - He was one of the least acknowledged country superstars ever. He had three straight multiplatinum selling albums and a string of hit songs, and yet no one seems to mention him among successful artists of this era. Personally I was not a big fan of his music. In fact I think it’s downright bad.

The Women Rule era (1996-2002)

This is the era when country music became country pop. Shania Twain was the first to cross over to pop music by making pop version of her country songs, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, and others followed. While creating pop versions of country songs was not invented in this era, it became an epidemic. Instead of bringing pop fans to country music, the country artists morphed into pop stars and went to the pop fans on the pop fans’ terms.

Country radio however wanted to have captive audience; an audience that would listen only to country radio because that was the only place you could heard a particular artist. Once country radio realized they no longer had this with most the female superstars (Shania, Faith, LeAnn, and others) of this era, country radio shifted to artists less likely to be heard on pop radio which brought forth the Return of the Men Era.

This era marks the beginning of the end of the country music industry as a homogonous entity. No longer were country artists promoting themselves and country music as a whole, but the artists were now just promoting themselves.

Shania Twain - Twain was the master of living in both the country and pop world. Twain mixed country instruments with pop music arrangements and came away with big success. She made lots of fans and lots of enemies in the process. Twain has not released a studio album in 8 years, so it will be interesting to see what happens if or when she releases a new studio album.

Dixie Chicks - This traditional leaning trio was much loved for their music, but their outspokenness ended their hold on country music. Now considered more a pop group, the question remains where will go with their next album? The political foils (President Bush, Toby Keith, country radio) are either gone (Bush), fading (Keith), or on to other things (country radio is living large with Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift). Now 11 years after their debut, the Chicks may not find the commercial success they once had. Do they care? Who knows, but it will be interesting to see what happens.

Faith Hill – At first she seemed to be a refreshing good old gal from Mississippi, but then Hill made herself into the blonde Shania. It worked for a while then things started going wrong. In a way the country music industry seem to feel worse about Hill going pop than Twain as Twain was never seen as a part of the country music family while Hill was.

Tim McGraw - He is not a great singer, but for the most part he has mastered the art of song selection. With some exceptions McGraw has recorded and released good songs which touch people one way or another. He may never be Strait, Jackson, Brooks or Gill, but he is a cut above most male country artists

Martina McBride – She tried to remain more country than Twain and Hill, and it helped with awards and country radio play. However, it seems that her time is up. Her latest album “Shine” is tanking. McBride never sang true traditional country, and her penchant for singing “preaching” songs grew old.

LeAnn Rimes - Many expected more from Rimes. She has such a great voice, but instead of a superstar career in country music, she became a so-so country artist and a mediocre pop star.

Deana Carter - A true one album wonder. Who would have thought her career would have ended so quickly. She seemed to have it all voice, songwriting talent, and good looks.

The Return of the Men era (2002-2007)

Women 25-55 have always been a key demographic in country music radio’s listening audience. It is in this era that female 25-55 demographic became literally all encompassing. The wishes of this soccer mom audience became the command of country record labels and country radio. The soccer moms wanted good looking guys singing songs of love. An occasional funny ditty was welcomed as well.

Knowing that male artists had a harder time getting played on pop radio thereby making country radio the only place male artists could be heard, and knowing that playing male artists would keep the 25-55 female audience tuned in, country radio went male artist heavy.

George Strait, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Tim McGraw, and Garth Brooks were allowed to continue on, but female artists were thrown aside. This era had some good music, but the complaints of water down country music began to rise exponentially during this era. Kenny Chesney and Rascal Flatts especially came under attack.

Also this era begins to see albums sales decline. Fans of pop music began getting their music via the Internet not on cd. Country fans lagged behind on this trend, but the trend started to take hold during this period.

Kenny Chesney - It took years for Chesney to finally hit the big time (his big break came off publicity generated from his stealing and riding a police horse at the George Strait Music Festival in the late 90’s), and it was a great run. However, trends seem to show the days of his tropical island flavored countrys seem to be coming to an end.

Toby Keith - His macho country help make him a super-star, but he spent to much time on it instead of the great ballads he use to sing.

Keith Urban - He can play guitar, sing, write, and has huge stage presence. The fact he is married to movie star Nicole Kidman only adds to his hipness, and yes likely his happiness.

Brad Paisley - He was more traditional country when he started, but Paisley seems to be in the zone right now. Like Urban he can sing, write and play guitar.

Rascal Flatts - Loved by many hated by many, RF continues to charts hits, sell records, and draw big crowds on the road. They will never garner many industry awards or respect though

Gretchen Wilson and the Muzik Manfia - The only female artist to rise during this period, Wilson redneck pride image eventually worked against her with the arrival of the more beautiful and youthful Carrie and Taylor. However, for a brief moment Wilson seemed to be the queen of country music.

The Raise of the Young Women of Country era (2008-

The soccer moms are now discovering that they have company - their daughters and sons. While other eras of country music most notably the Class of 89 era bought in the youth audience, this era seems to have made major inroads to the youth market. Give credit to Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, and Taylor Swift for this change in country music’s audience demographics.

Teenage girls see Carrie, Miranda, and Taylor as friends and role models. Teenage boys see Carrie, Miranda, and Taylor as someone they want to date and possibly marry.

Taylor Swift has shown the country music industry the new way to reach young fans is via Internet social media sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Now a presence on social media sites is a requirement for all country artists.

Surprisingly no solo male superstars have emerged since the arrival of Brad Paisley, Keith Urban back around 2000. Country audiences continue to migrate toward getting their music from the Internet, but many fans still cling to their cds.

Carrie Underwood – Winner of the wildly popular televised pop music competition “American Idol”, Underwood stormed into Nashville already a star. Her rise to mega-stardom has been marked by a surprise clinging to country music tradition. She has joined the Grand Ole Opry and espoused the music of Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, and other country legends. While many see her only as country pop singer, she seems to be lending more towards mixing traditional country with her country pop. Without a doubt Underwood is one of the most gifted singers to appear in country music in decades.

Taylor Swift – Swift is a talented singer-songwriting teenager whose writing ability is far superior to her actual singing. Her gifts don’t stop at songwriting. Her ability to understand that her fan base now communicates with each other in new way (via social media on the Internet) put her on the cutting edge of a new music marketing era.

Sugarland – This once time group is now a duo that consists of gifted lead vocals Jennifer Nettles and her male music partner Kristen Bush. Sugarland is the country version of the Eurhythmics where the lead singing female vocals comes to dominate the group. Sugarland members do not have much in the way of country music backgrounds, and their sound are definitely country-pop, but the music and personalities have engaged a country music audience.

Miranda Lambert – Her kick ass traditional country music may not get played as much as some on country radio, but it sure sells cds. She beloved by music critics and music industry professionals, and her new album Revolution was the best album released in 2009.

Lady Antebellum – Hilary Scott, Charles Kelly, and Dave Haywood form an interesting trio. Scott (daughter of country artist Linda Davis) and Kelly share lead vocals. In a way they are the country Fleetwood Mac.

The Decade in Country Music (2000-2009)

This Country Music decade started out with Alan Jackson, the Dixie Chicks, and Toby Keith dominating, George Strait still making hits, and promising new male artists Keith Urban and Brad Paisley emerging. The decade ends with Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood dominating, George Strait still making hits, and few promising new artists.

Rather than rate which album or song was the best, here is my brief look at some of the key country artists of this decade.

Taylor Swift – The first country artist to figure out that the ground had shifted beneath the industry. Swift realized country artists are now required to enter into a new kind of relationship with their fans. Her use of social media to communicate directly with her fans helped this gifted songwriter but mediocre singer; evolve into the most powerful force in country music.

Carrie Underwood – Underwood seems to be everything you could hope for in a country artist - a beautiful, young, southern woman with rural values, a strong Christian faith, an amazing singing voice, and knowledge of country music history. All she needs knows is some real good music. When she sings traditional country, she is utterly amazing. When she sings her country pop music, she lacks.

Kenny Chesney – His concerts are great, but his music will likely be the least remembered of any of these top artists. Chesney was never more than a bland, would be rocker wearing a cowboy hat.

Toby Keith – He started a decade trying to be macho. He fought with Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, the late ABC News Anchor Peter Jennings, the CMA, his record label president Luke Lewis, and pretty much anyone else. Keith was man’s man, a patriot fighting for America. Sadly all the fighting covered up some great music that he made early in the decade. Even sadder as the decade wore on, Keith became a parody of himself and his music suffered.

Brad Paisley & Keith Urban – I like some music by each of these guys though more their earlier stuff than later, but really they both could have been so much more than they were. Urban can at least point to his rehab stint as an excuse, Paisley has none. I think Urban is a far better live performer, but that is just my opinion.

George Strait – Here are the top 10 artist of the 3 decades. The 80’s (Alabama, Randy Travis, Hank Williams Jr., George Strait, Reba McEntire, the Judds, Dwight Yoakam, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton). The 90’s (Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, George Strait, Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, Vince Gill, Faith Hill, Clint Black). The 00’s (Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley).

One name appears on all three – George Strait. That says it all.

Alan Jackson – He started this decade with masterpiece album “Drive” featuring his 9/11 ode “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)”, and wonderful tribute to his father “Drive (For Daddy Gene)”. As the decade wore on he dared to record an album of old Christian hymns “Precious Memories” that sold over 1.5 million copies. Throw in a artsy album “Like Red on a Rose)” a few massive hits like “Remember When” and “Its Five O’Clock Somewhere”, and a record tying 5 CMA wins in 2002 and Alan Jackson proves he like George Strait is timeless.

Rascal Flatts – The sold plenty of albums and got zero industry respect. They are likely beyond caring, but I think they will never be accepted by critics and the country music industry.

Dixie Chicks – They started the decade the biggest stars in country music, ready to take country back to its roots. Then Natalie Maines said the wrong thing in the wrong place at the wrong time. The ensuing controversy was handled badly by everyone including the Dixie Chicks. The Chicks adoption of an us vs. them approach to things worked fine for a while, however such an approach only works as long as the “them” are still around. Unfortunately for the Chicks the “them” (President Bush, Toby Keith, and country music radio) are either out office, fading, or have moved on to Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood.

Evidently the two of the three Chicks have moved on as well. Martie and Emily have recorded an album of fiddle and banjo music without Natalie. They now call themselves The Courtyard Hounds. Does this mean the end of the Dixie Chicks? I don’t know, but I always like Martie and Emily’s playing, so it should be interesting.

My “Artist of the Decade” is the same as last decade – Alan Jackson. I loved this man’s music, so does my entire family.

My “Favorite New Discovery of the Decade” is Miranda Lambert. She gives me hope that my kind of country music is not dead.

Class of 89 - Alan Jackson

In honor of the 20th anniversary of debut of Country Music Class of 89, I am writing a series of posts on each of the artists. I am including those artists who debuted in 1989 – Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Travis Tritt, and Mary Chapin Carpenter. I am also including artists – Vince Gill and Lorrie Morgan – who had their first true commercial impact in 1989.

Here is my final write up on the members of the Class of 89. It will be on Alan Jackson.

Alan Jackson is my favorite music artist. I consider him the greatest country music singer – songwriter of all-time. I have seen Alan Jackson in concert 7 times. I have written to Alan twice. I bought an autographed Alan Jackson 8x10 from his fan club. I created a baseball card of Alan Jackson and sent it to him asking him to sign it. He did so, even personalizing it to me. I display that signed card at the center of my baseball card display case surrounding it with signed baseball cards from baseball Hall of Famers. Needless to say I own all of Alan’s albums.

What is amazing is that I was not an immediate convert to Alan Jackson’s music. My parents always listened to country music. I tried to escape country by listening to pop and rock in the 80’s, but the folks kept me tune into country part-time. The Judds, Dwight Yoakam, Hank Williams Jr. brought me back full-time to country music in late 80’s.

Garth Brooks and Mary Chapin Carpenter were the first Class of 89ers I was into. Then suddenly I became an Alan Jackson fan. In a way that seemed to be how Alan Jackson emerged in the country music world. He did not get off to a fast start, but once he got going he enveloped the whole country music world.

Alan Jackson’s first single “Blue Blooded Woman” stiffed on the charts in 1989. His second single “Here in the Real World” went to # 3 and started string of top 10 and #1 hits. Still between 1990-1992 it always seemed like some other artists like Clint Black, Garth Brooks, Travis Tritt, Billy Ray Cyrus, Vince Gill, or Brooks & Dunn were the “it” artist. The media and country music industry always seemed to want someone else to be the superstar. Alan Jackson was a star, but not a superstar.

That changed in the summer of 1993 as Alan massive career hit “Chattahoochee” dominated the airwaves and its then cutting edge music video (Alan water skis in the video) was all over the television. Chattahoochee made Alan Jackson a super-star, won him awards, increased his profile on the radio, and spurred on his album and concert ticket sales.

“A lot About Livin’ (And a Little ‘Bout Love” the album from which “Chattahoochee” was from would end up selling 6 million copies. Alan would only the fourth artist in country music history to have an album sell six million copies (Garth, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Pasty Cline were the first three). By 1994 only Garth Brooks was bigger than Alan in the world of country music.

I first saw Alan Jackson in concert in 1994 at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand in the midst of this Alan mania. I took my parents. We had never attended an outdoor country music concert. Our seats were off to the side, but along with 20,000 plus new found friends we had a great time. When Alan closed with “Chattahoochee” the place rocked. Young, old, male, female, Alan’s audience
spanned generational and gender boundaries.

The next year (1995) Alan returned to same venue and an even bigger crowd was even more ruckus. A newer artist named Faith Hill opened for Alan. Alan Jackson was on top of the world and later that year he would win CMA Entertainer of the Year, and his “The Greatest Hits Collection” would be released and sell over 6 million copies.

I saw him again in 1996. Alan was just off headlining the most attended one day concert in country music history. Alan along with Alabama, Hank Williams Jr, Charlie Daniels, Patty Loveless, Pam Tillis, Tracy Bryd, LeRoy Parnell, and some relative unknown named Kenny Cheseny had jammed at the Fruit of the Loom All-Star Country Fest concert in Atlanta, GA along 250,000 fans. The event was taped and later televised.

By 1998 when Alan Jackson showed up at the Target Center in Minneapolis with hot newcomer Deana Carter I noticed a problem. His crowds were getting smaller. I saw him again in 1999 and 2000. The later concert with newcomer Brad Paisley opening drew only 4,000 people. My seat was just scant yards from the stage. While it was great to be so close, I was getting the feeling I would not be seeing
Alan in such a larger venue again.

Alan’s album sales had gone from 6 million to just over 1 million. He was still getting good play on radio, but his concert attendance across the country was dropping. He was not getting nominated for as many awards as he had in the past.

Alan was still making history like at 1999 CMA Awards where he interrupted his own performance to perform George Jones “Choices” as protest to an insult Jones suffered at the CMA’s hands. In 2000 Alan and George Strait recorded “Murder on Music Row” a song that decried the current state of country music. The song caused controversy, but won CMA Song and Vocal Event of the Year Awards. History making though was only slowing the inevitable decline every country artist not named George Strait seems to go through.

Then at the 2001 CMA Awards where Alan performed for the first time a song he had just written called “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning”. The song about the 9/11 terrorist attacks sparked an immediate and emotional reaction. The song quickly went #1. “Drive” the album “Where Were You…” was on went on to sell 4 million copies and would win CMA and ACM Album of the Year. Alan even became the first country artist to grace the cover of the popular magazine Entertainment Weekly.

Alan would earn a record setting 10 nominations for the 2002 CMA awards. That night Alan would win a record tying 5 CMA Awards. Alan would be the only person to win Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Album, Single, and Song of the Year on the same night. “Where Were You…” would become CMA and ACM Single and Song of the Year.

Alan Jackson had returned to superstardom. More major hits like “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” and “Remember When” would follow. Alan would also raised his artistic creed by making cutting edge album like his “Precious Memories” and “Like Red On a Rose” albums.

The last time I saw Alan Jackson in concert was 2004 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. 15,000 plus joined Alan and enjoyed a great night of country music. Alan Jackson has sold over 42 million albums, scored 25 #1 and 48 top 10 singles. He has won 16 CMA and 14 ACM awards. Yet what struck me that night in 2004 was the crowd. Like the 1994 crowd there were young people, old people, men and women. Alan Jackson was no longer young and hip, his hair was shorter, he had put on a few pounds, and yet his was able to still span generational and gender boundaries. Alan Jackson had gone beyond superstardom. He was now a superstar who had become an iconic legend.

Picking one video of Alan Jackson was almost impossible. YouTube has a lot of his videos. Alan even has his own video channel, but like all major artists on YouTube those videos have the embedding option turned off, so I cannot embed them here.

In an earlier post on this blog, I posted a video of Alan performing live my favorite Alan song “Chasin That Neon Rainbow”. You can check it out, by clicking the name Alan Jackson over on the right.

Here is the video for “Chattahoochee” provided by CMT. Yes, that is really Alan Jackson watering skiing while wearing a cowboy hat. This video is considered one of the most popular country music videos of all-time.

Alan Jackson More CMT Music More CMT Music Videos

Alan Jackson Performing "Chasin' That Neon Rainbow"

Alan Jackson is my favorite music artist. “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow” is my favorite Alan Jackson song. Here is a video I found of a young Alan Jackson performing “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow”.

Jim McBride – the gentleman in the suit playing the guitar to the left of Alan – is Alan’s co-writer on the song. The two of them also wrote Alan’s massive hit “Chattahoochee” together.

In case anyone is wondering, the two people who introduce Alan at the beginning of the video are Rickey Van Shelton and Marie Osmond. Van Shelton had some good commercial success in the late 80’s and very early 90s. Osmond is a member of the famous Osmond family and has done a lot of things in music and TV with her brother Donnie Osmond.

I suspect this Alan Jackson performance occurred in 1991 or 1992, but that is just a guess. Thanks to madbullxxx1953xxx for posting this video on YouTube. I have enjoyed watching it.

20th Anniversary of the Class of 89

In February of 1989 Garth Brooks and Clint Black released their debut singles. Later in 1989 Alan Jackson and Travis Tritt did the same. These four men along with Mary Chapin would come to be known as the Class of 89 the greatest set of country music artists to debut in one single year. They helped re-shape country music in terms of music, marketing, and popularity.

Many years ago I built this Web page and wrote an article on the Class of 89. I still believe this group will be remembered as an amazing group of artists who made great music. 2009 marks the 20 year anniversary of the Class of 1989. Some folks like to add Vince Gill and Lorrie Morgan to this group because though they had released singles and albums before 1989 neither artist ever had any real commercial breakthroughs till 1989.

I was listening to country music back in 1989, so I got to experience the Class of 89 from the start. I have also seen some of them in concert. Here are some of my thoughts:

I was really into Garth Brooks when he first came out. “No Fences” was THE album to have if you were a country music fan. However by 1993 I felt his music was not as good. “The Chase” and all his albums since have never really grabbed me. I don’t mind his music, but I have no real passion for it. I think he will be remembered for his commercial success and for his two mega hits “Friends in Low Places” and “The Dance”.

I am a massive Alan Jackson fan. I have seen him concert 7 times including 94, 95, 96, 98, 99, 00, 04. I have all his albums and consider many of them brilliant. It’s ironic that in 89 he got off to a much slower start to stardom than Garth and Clint, but now he is only member of the Class of 89 still charting #1 hits and selling records. I believe Alan Jackson is the modern day Hank Wiliams Sr. and will be remember as one of the greatest country artists of all-time.

When I first heard Travis Tritt I thought he is an artist who could be something. He had a great voice. He could sing uptempo songs and sing ballad equally well. When I saw him in concert he was electric. It was rocking show with an amazing acoustic set where he did some of his ballads and a couple of classic country songs. I thought once he records that career album, gets that career song, he will be a massive star.

Of course that career album, that career song never really came. By 96 he was on the way down. He had a brief comeback in 2000, but that did not last. He is presently suing his most recent record label. Sad, I thought he would be more than he turned out to be.

I think Clint Black’s debut album “Killin’ Time” is one of the greatest country albums of all-time. His next two albums were not that bad either. After that most everything he released was garbage. Lots of people, including me, thought Clint was going be a big, big star for a long time. By 1997 Clint was done as a star. He is also suing his most recent label which is a shame as he was a part owner of that label.

I was into Mary Chapin Carpenter before most. I was really into her uptempo songs. When I saw her in concert in 1992, she was great. When her 1992 album “Come On Come On” sold 4 million copies and she won back to back CMA Female Vocalist of the Year in 92 and 93, I thought here is an artist who will charting hits and selling records for another ten years, but 95 marked the last year she had a top ten hit.

In the end Mary Chapin just wanted to make folk style ballads. Her uptempo songs disappeared and she just seemed adverse to fame. I have read where she said she battled depression for years before getting it under control. I wonder if that hindered her career.

Lori Morgan battled her ex-husbands. She has been married five times. I never really got into her music, but I knew people who did. She had the least success of the group, and was the first to really start fading. However she had a strong country roots, and she not bad looking. She even dated former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman and former U.S. Fred Thompson.

After Alan Jackson, Vince Gill was my favorite artist of early 90’s. I loved his voice, songwriting and guitar playing. He seemed to love country music and have a great personality. When I saw him in concert in 95 he exceed my expectations. I did get a little irritated with him when he kept winning all those CMA Awards. I felt others were others deserving and that people in the industry were voting for Vince because they personally liked him. However that never stopped me from loving his music.

By the late 90’s Vince Gill’s moment in the sun was gone. He has not done much commercially since 98. In 06 he release a four cd set of all new music that was good, but has not released any new music since. I have a feeling he will soon be leaving his long time label – MCA Nashville – and start recording for an independent label. Or he just might be kicking back and taking it easy.

The Class of 89 was amazing group, but the arrival of Shania Twain and her pushing country music more towards pop music really kinda sank most of the Class of 89. Still I believe the era of the Class of 89 (roughly 89-96) will be remembered as a great country music era. They really pushed the country music genre into the mainstream making it possible for other country artists to have even greater commercial success.

These Pictures Spoke to Me

I love to look at photographs of people. I like wondering who they are or were and what they were thinking at the time of the photo. Did they have dreams, hopes, fears, joys, and what were they?

I decided to pick out some of my favorite country photos I have found over the last few years, and talk about what I see in them.

“The Proud Father” is what I call this photo. I have come to believe there are two eras in country music – the pre-George Strait debut era and the post-George Strait debut era. In essence every male country music artist who has debuted after George Strait is really a descendant of his. Don’t believe me? Check out who every country male artist from Garth Brooks to Kenny Chesney lists as a significant influence. It will be George Strait.

This photo was taken at the 2008 CMT Giant special honoring Alan Jackson. While you never see this moment on the actual televised show, it spoke to me. It is right before Alan steps to the microphone to offer a thank you speech for the night’s honor. George Strait (far right of the photo) has a satisfied grin on this face and is gesturing to Alan to step forward. I feel like George is saying “Well done my son, I am proud of you”.

It is well known George thinks a lot of Alan, and Alan a lot of George. Alan also seems quite happy as though he is proud to have made his music father (George Strait) proud of him.

You can even make the case that George Jones (the other man in the photo) is a proud grandfather.

In a way this is a picture of three generations of country music men - all legends, all proud to know one another, and definitely proud of each others achievements.

I call this one “Country Woman”. I love Miranda Lambert. Here ballads like “Bring Me Down” and “More Like Her” are so tender and vulnerable while here up-tempo songs like “Kerosene” and “Gunpowder and Lead” are so empowering and tough.

I love this picture because it is such a country photo of her. The boots, the big belt buckle, the denim skirt, the t-shirt, the numerous necklaces one of which is a cross. It says to me that Miranda is country and country she will always be.

I love that Miranda’s music is traditional country. I wish there were more female artists who were making traditional country music.

Sadly female on Miranda’s left (Gretchen Wilson) is probably done as a significant country artist. Only Deana Carter has fallen faster and harder than Gretchen. In fact in this photo Gretchen seems to be a withering presence. It looks as though she is literally getting ready to fall out of the picture. To bad, I loved Gretchen’s music.

Meanwhile I think Miranda is bright, young artists on the rise. Go Miranda! We need more “Country Women” in country music



“Youthful Enthusiasm” is what I named this photo. It is Taylor Swift whose youthful enthusiasm and seemingly boundless energy has won her armies of loyal, young fans. Say what you want about Taylor’s singing voice and her writing, but you cannot argue her “presence”.

In the photo she is taking a photo of Alan Jackson and her backstage at CMT Giant special honoring Alan Jackson. I can just see her taking the photo then e-mail or texting it to all her family and friends saying – “Look! It’s me with my hero Alan Jackson! Cool huh!”

As we get older it seems we lose some of that youthful enthusiasm. Hopefully Taylor will be able to hang on it hers for some time to come.

“Getting High on Performing” is what I call this one. I love Pam Tillis. Her music is great, I think she is really good looking, and I know having seen her in concert, she loves to perform live. Not only can Pam sing, she can tell some great jokes too.

Pam has long since stop charting songs and selling albums, but she is still out performing. She recently did a Christmas tour with her dad Country Music Hall of Famer Mel Tillis, her brother, one of her sisters. They called it the Tillis Family Christmas tour. What a great time she must have had. Few people get to work with their families doing the things they love.

This picture of her is at the Grand Ole Opry a few years back. Look at that smile on her face as she looks out onto the crowd. She seems to be saying – “Wow, I am still able to perform before a live audience even after all these years. I love it!”
“Contemplative Superstar Woman”

This is the album cover for Reba McEntire’s 1994 album “Read My Mind”. It was Reba’s last massive selling album. What I love about this shot is it shows what Reba was all about in her commercial glory years.
Reba had big hair, so almost every other female artists had big hair, many of them were had red hair too. Reba wore big, over glamorous outfits, so did most other female artists. Reba always seemed to try to show herself as a contemplative woman.

In this photo she has the big red hair, and seems to be contemplating something. What? I am not sure. I do know this was the last of her five straight 3 million or better selling albums. She never sold at that level again, and soon cut her hair, and lost her place as country music top female artist to Shania Twain.

This though will be the Reba I will always visualize when I hear music, or talk someone or write about her. Reba you ruled as country music queen – a contemplative queen at that.

New Laptop, Alan on CMT Giant, Some TTM Returns

One of the things I learned in my former life as a software and network support person is no computer will last forever. I learn that lesson again when I tried powering up my laptop and nothing happened. After a little troubleshooting, I came to the conclusion that it had seen its better day.

Now I have a new laptop and I can again post here. Here are some thoughts I have.

Alan Jackson CMT Giant Special

I was able to watch the Alan Jackson CMT Giant special over the Internet. I thought it was great. I especially loved the George Strait performance of “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)”. You can watch the CMT Giant special here.

Some Great TTM Returns

I had a huge TTM day on 12/4. I got three signed cards. One was former Viking kicker Fred Cox. I mailed the card to Mr. Cox’s Minnesota address, but the return envelop was postmarked Phoenix, AZ. Mr. Cox must own a winter home in AZ. Lucky him!

I also got my signed Alan Page card back. Mr. Page requires a $20 donation to his foundation in exchange for an autograph. I saw on his foundation’s Web site that his price was going up next year, so I hustled a card out to him. I now have 7 signed cards from the Vikings who were on the last two Super Bowl teams. Tarkenton, Page ($), Krause ($ - also sent me a signed HOF postcard), Bryant, Tickelhoff, Voigt and Cox have signed so far. I must say they have been better signers than some of their NFL brethren. It is a tribute to their character that they are decent enough to sign.

I will try to add to this collection. I have cards for Ron Yary, Chuck Foreman, Jeff Siemon, and Bud Grant ready to go. I hear Mr. Yary charges like $10. I know Mr. Foreman appears at Twinsfest and charges $. I also hear Coach Grant desires a chartable donation. I will send to Mr. Siemon after Christmas.

The third card I received from Camilo Pascual. Mr.Pascual was the first Twin to win 20 games. He did so in back to back years. I sent a card to him c/o Dodgers where he works as a scout. I was very pleased to receive it back signed. I must say Mr. Pascual has one of the neatest signatures I have ever seen. You can read every letter in his name. I don’t think Mr. Pascual is that young anymore, but he sure has some of best handwriting out there.

I wanted to also note I recently got back someone Mr. Pascual knows well. Sam Mele was the Twins manager in 1965 when they went to the World Series. In 2005 when the Twins held a 40th anniversary reunion of that team, Mr. Mele was unable to attend because he was seriously ill. I had assumed he was still not doing so well when I saw another person received a signed card back from him. I went out and bought a card of him and sent it out. About a week later, it was returned signed. I now have signed cards from the three greatest managers in Twins history – Tom Kelly, Ron Gardenhire, and Sam Mele.

Thanks to Mr. Mele, Mr. Pascual, Mr Page, and Mr Cox for taking the time to sign my cards
One other return to mention.

On 12/4 I received a signed card from Wayne Gretzky. I was quite please. I wondered it was a stamp or auto penned. After examining it, it is not a stamp, and it is likely not auto penned. Of course, I have no intentions of ever selling or trading any of my signed cards, so it matters little in the end. After talking to some people I know, it seems Gretzky was a pretty decent signer when he played, so maybe he carried it over to his non-playing days. Whatever, I was just happy to get a return in the mail.

Alan Jackson is a CMT Country Music Giant

Alan Jackson will be honored as CMT Country Music Giant on a Dec. 6 with CMT special filmed at sold out Ryman Auditorium. Alan is defiantly worthy of the honor. Reba McEntire and Hank Williams Jr. were the first two honoraries. I was interest to note the list of performers at Alan’s event is most cross gender of the three.

Reba had all women at her event (Kelly Clarkson, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Jennifer Nettles (Sugarland), and LeAnn Rimes). Hank Jr. had mostly men with Gretchen Wilson and his daughter Holly Williams as the only women (Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, and Shooter Jennings were some of the men who appeared).

Alan has George Strait, Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert, Lee Ann Womack, Martina McBride, and Derrick Bentley performing with Carrie Underwood, Brooks & Dunn, and Diane Sawyer offer video tributes to Alan. Hank Williams Jr. and George Jones will appear in person to pay tribute to Alan.

So Alan has four women and three guys performing. What does that mean? Reba was an icon for young female artists. Hank Jr.’s partying, macho songs tended to be beacon for men. Alan Jackson and his music have touched all genders and age groups. The up-tempo partying songs like “Chattahoochee” and “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” are balanced out by romantic songs of love like “Remember When” and “Livin’ On Love” and songs of heart break like “Here in the Real World” and songs fond remembrance like “Drive (for Daddy Gene”.

Alan has also written many of his own songs making him a role model to young singer – songwriters like Taylor Swift and Miranda Lambert. He cuts across age with the oldest country hit-making artist (Strait) and the youngest (Swift) honoring him. Alan Jackson has truly been the country music artist for all ages, genders, ethnicities, shapes, and sizes.

Below is what I read on the Web was to be the set list for the night and my comments.

Brad Paisley (w/ an appearance by Alan Jackson) “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” – Paisley is a well-know fan of Alan’s and has modeled his career after him, so he needed to here. Obviously this song had to be included, but I think Paisley was the wrong person. He would have been great doing “Here in the Real World”.

Miranda Lambert & Lee Ann Womack “Gone Country” – Alan was an early booster of Lee Ann’s career and she has not forgotten that. I was pleased to see Miranda included in the evening. I know she is a big fan of Alan’s and she leans toward the traditional country singer – songwriter he is.

I have to see this performance to judge it. I am not sure how a duet with these two fine artists will work on this song. Miranda would have been great on “Mercury Blues” or “Where I Come From”. Lee Ann could have tackled one of Alan’s many amazing ballads.

Martina McBride “Where Somebody Loves You” – A surprising song choice as this song was not one of Alan’s bigger hits. Still it seems to be something Martina could do well with. Martina is a long time admirer of Alan’s. The two have duet together and toured together. Then again everyone has toured with Alan. I was not surprise to see her on the list of performers.

Dierks Bentley “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” – Another obvious song choice. I think it will work well for Dierks. He is another Alan admirer, and a singer – songwriter dedicated to music more than image much like Alan has tried to be. I am not a huge Dierks guy, but I think it great he is here.

Taylor Swift “Drive (For Daddy Gene)” – I read on People Magazine’s Web site that Taylor says this song meant a lot to her father and her. I can see why. This is a real classic and something Taylor should have little problem handling. As a young singer – songwriter I Taylor has great admiration for Alan’s work, and it longevity.

I am sure the producers of the show were happy to have Taylor there, as where Taylor goes viewers follow. No offense to Brad, Lee Ann, Miranda, Martina, and Dierks, but none of them are mega – stars. Love her or hate her, Taylor is a mega star.

George Strait “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning” - Of course George Strait is beyond mega star, he is an icon still charting hits and selling records. He is also a close friend and duet partner of Alan’s. Alan and George have been beacon’s of excellence in country music for years. They are icons. George had to be here, just as Alan should be at George’s CMT Giant celebration when that time comes.

Of course “Where Were You…” had to be included and I am glad George was selected to do the song. I have no doubt it will be a brilliant performance.

Alan Jackson “Chattahoochee” and “Remember When” – If I remember correctly at her CMT Giant celebration Reba sang only “Fancy” and at his Hank Jr. did only “Family Tradition”. Alan evidently will get two songs. Classics like these will remain ageless.

Alan Jackson, George Strait, Brad Paisley, and Dierks Bentley “Country Boy” – Alan’s present single gets the All-Star group performance. The song is an interesting choice; I would have gone for “Where I Come From”, but they are all country boys.

I would have liked to see Carrie Underwood perform rather than offer a video tribute. However it looks like her concert schedule made that impossible. Brooks & Dunn also offered a video tribute, but no other artist from the early 90’s (Strait covers the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s) is included. I would have been nice for say Vince Gill, Pam Tillis, Clint Black, Travis Tritt, or Garth Brooks to offer a shout out, but I guess with the limited time available you have to give time to the hot artists of the day and real hip old guys like Hank Jr. and George Jones.

Still I think this will be great. Interestingly Reba, Hank Jr. and Alan have yet to make the Hall of Fame, but Hall of Famers from their generations like Alabama, Vince Gill, and George Strait have not be named CMT Giants. Neither has Garth Brooks. Something tells me that will be corrected in the future as CMT Giants will probably continue on for years. For now it is a true country music giant – Alan Jackson.

Country Music Stars TTM Successes

Back in the 1990’s I wrote country music stars Alan Jackson, Wynonna Judd, Dwight Yoakam, and Mary Chapin Carpenter to praise their music, and ask them for an autograph photo. Naïve at how such things worked I expected them to provide me a signed photo and paid for postage to send it me. Well they were not so accommodating. Alan and Wynonna sent me letter thanking me for my letter and offering me a chance to buy an autographed photo for $3. Dwight said I had to join his fan club in order to get an autographed photo. My letter to Mary Chapin came back RTS and I never found another good address to send it to.

I did get my autographed photos from Alan, Wynonna, and joined Dwight’s fan club for a year. The photos were very nice looking, and I still have the Alan and Dwight photos framed and on display in my house.

Now well over a decade later I decided to write some of my favorite country artist again. Using my experience with sending baseball cards to players to sign, I created my own country music star baseball cards to send. Knowing that the bigger the star, the less likely I was to get a response, I choose four older artists whom I had enjoyed. Alan Jackson, Vince Gill, Clint Black, and Travis Tritt were a major part of the 90’s country boom, but only Alan is still a major commercial force.

I sent cards out to all four. I got one of them back quickly. Unfortunately it was a RTS from Vince Gill. I had the wrong address. I am still searching for a better one to send it to though I think I am on to something.

39 days after I sent all four out, my first success arrived and it was ALAN JACKSON! I must admit I was surprised. He is still very popular and though he probably can’t match Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood in the amount of mail they get, he still must get plenty. That said he did sign a card for me and even personalizing it. Thank you Alan Jackson!

I hope to send out more to the likes of Dwight Yoakam, Pam Tillis, Brooks & Dunn, and others. I loved 1989-1995 country music and most the artists from that time period are more apt to sign as they are not getting as much fan mail as they use to, and they understand they must work maintain the fan base they have now in order to be able to keep making a living making music.

I will avoid the big stars of today like Carrie, Taylor, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, and Sugarland as they are less likely to sign due to the volume of mail they get. I will also avoid Garth Brooks and Reba McEntire. I can’t find anywhere to send the Garth item to making me think he has stopped signing autographs. I have read on multiple Web sites that people who have gotten a response from Reba have gotten pre-printed autographed items meaning the items like a picture were created with autograph already on them. She actually never signs them. I find that surprising as in her early career Reba signed a lot of things. Evidently her priorities have changed.

I will try and post updates here on my successes. I will also work harder and updating my baseball, hockey, and football successes as well.

2008 CMA Award Nominations

The nominations for the 2008 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards have been announced. Overall I think they were alright. There were a few people I think should not have been nominated and a few who should have been.

Brooks & Dunn’s “Cowboy Town” should not have been nominated for Album of the Year. I thought Reba McEntire’s “Duets” album should have been nominated. LeAnn Rimes and Reba should have joined Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, and Miranda Lambert as Female Vocalist of the Year nominee. Also Alan Jackson’s “Small Town Southern Man” should have been nominated for Song of the Year.

However you can nitpick these things to death. I was pleased to see my prediction that Sugarland would be considered for Entertainer of the Year come true. I was also pleased to see my man Alan Jackson up for Male Vocalist, Album, Song, and Video of the Year.

Here are my predictions for the winners.

Entertainer of the Year will be Kenny Chesney. This will give him four EOY wins tying him with Garth Brooks for the most wins. I personally think Keith Urban should be the choice. I think his live performances and his music are superior to Kenny, but that is a personal preference.

Male Vocalist will be Brad Paisley. Since 1991 only one person, Toby Keith in 2001, has won this award and not won it at least a second time in a row. Paisley won last year for the first time, so the laws of percentages say he will win again. I prefer Alan Jackson here and he deserves it, but it is hard to not say Brad deserves it too.

Female Vocalist will be Miranda Lambert. Miranda is definitively deserving, and she is really making some great music. Of course Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift are the two best selling artist in country music right now. Underwood has won the last two FOY awards, but I get the feeling the industry is tiring of her winning all the time. There was a time in the 90’s when the CMA used the Female Vocalist Award to push female artists to the new level of stardom. I think that will happen here with Miranda.

Group of the will be Rascal Flatts. I think the CMA is tiring of RF as they were not nominated for Entertainer of the Year even though they had a big tour and sold some albums. It seemed to me that RF was never really accepted by the CMA and its voters. I think Lady Antebellum is more to the CMA voters liking, and will soon be taking over this award.

Duo of the Year will be Sugarland. I think they will have a big night. Nashville biggest female stars (Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, and Taylor Swift) are young, and country music core 25-54 female audience may not see them as one of them. Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles (age 34) is someone they can related too more wholly. The country music industry knows this and also knows Sugarland is selling a lot of albums. Country Music needs more superstars, especially with female voices, and the CMA will do its part in promoting Sugarland for that role.

The New Artist of the Year will be Lady Antebellum. Music folks think these guys are great, and the CMA voters will agree. I think Ashton Shepherd should have been dominated and won, but I was not consulted.

Album of the Year will hopefully be “Good Time” by Alan Jackson. I think it is the best album nominated. Of course the CMA could go for a more commercially successes album like Carrie Underwood or Kenny Chesney’s.

Single of the Year will be “Stay” by Sugarland. Simply put this song is sung powerfully and masterfully by a gifted vocalist in Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland.

Song of the Year will be “Stay” by Sugarland. Why? See above.

Video of the Year will be “Stay” by Sugarland. I still remember watching it for the first time on YouTube. Not much happens in the video, but it was definitely powerful.

Vocal Event of the Year Sugarland will win here with “Life in a Northern Town.” Never released a single, and only recorded during a live concert, this song was an improbable success.