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.

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.

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.

Class of 89 - Vince Gill

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 the second of today’s posts. It will be on Vince Gill.

1989 Vince Gill seemed to be a new artist like Garth, Alan, Clint, Travis, and Mary Chapin. In fact 1989 was not the year of Vince Gill’s first single on the country charts. Vince debuted in 1984, and occasionally charted songs and sold very few albums until he was dropped by RCA Nashville. Vince signed with MCA Nashville, and MCA Nashville head Tony Brown became Vince’s new producer. Together Tony Brown and Vince Gill created Vince’s break through album “When I Call Your Name”. It was the title track of that album that became Vince’s signature hit. From there Gill achieve the following:

• In 1990 he won CMA Single and Song of Year for “When I Call Your Name”. Ironically his co-writer on the song was Tim DuBuios who was then President of the fledgling Arista Nashville which was in the process of launching the careers of Vince’s soon to be fellow superstars Alan Jackson and Brooks & Dunn.
• In 1991 Vince won the first of his five straight (1991-1995) CMA Male Vocalist of the Year awards.
• His 1989 “When I Call Your Name” sold 2 million copies as did its 1991 follow up “Pocket Full of Gold”.
• In 1993 Vince won a record tying five CMA awards in one night. He also won the first of first CMA Entertainer of the Year award. He won Entertainer of the Year again in 1994.
• Spurred on by his CMA wins and numerous top ten single, Vince’s “I Still Believe in You” sold 5 million copies and won CMA and ACM awards for Album of Year.

With his 1994 album “When Love Finds You” in the midst of selling 4 million copies Vince Gill finally made an appearance in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was 1995 and Vince had been a successful commercial artist since 1989; yet it took six years for him to come to market which had embraced Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, and Brooks & Dunn with major crowds over 18,000 plus for each of their concerts.

Vince arrived in concert with Patty Loveless opening for him. Vince was amazing. He played all this hits. He sang brilliantly. He did several excellent guitar solos. His band was first rate, and he played for longer than other artist (country or non country) I had ever seen in concert. It was a great show and the 12,000 fans there loved every minute of it.

I left convinced Vince Gill was going to be a superstar for years to come. I was wrong.
In 1996 Vince’s “High Lonesome Sound” barely sold over a million copies. His 1998 album “The Key” debut at #1 then sank, barely getting over one million in sales. In 2000 he charted his last top ten hit. Artistically Vince was still alive as his 2006 box set of all new material “These Days” proved, but commercially 2000 was the final nail in his coffin.

Why did Vince Gill fall? Gill was legendary for his kindness to fans and fellow artists. He was loved by the country music industry. In reality his kindness and industry popularity might have destroyed him. He could never say no when another artist asked for him to sing with them. Vince’s voice showed up on all kinds of songs thereby creating an overexposure of him on country radio.

His continue hosting of the CMA Awards (he hosted 10 straight years) also made him seem more like a host and comedian than a singer.

Then there were all the CMA awards he won. Vince won 18 CMA Awards, but only 4 ACM Awards. That is the biggest gap of CMA Awards to ACM Awards won of any country artist in country music history. Vince won those 18 awards in just a few years time, so it seemed like he was always winning.

Fans may have become tired of Vince being all over the radio and tired of him always winning. They made have decided Vince had his run, and it was someone else’s turn to have success.

Then there was Vince’s divorce from his wife Janis and his subsequent marriage to Christian music singer Amy Grant. Country music fans are mostly women; women who hold the male artist favorite to high standards perhaps too high of standards. They don’t like to see male artists divorce, and they especially don’t like rumors of affairs. Rightly or wrongly Vince was accused of wanting to marry Amy Grant before he had divorced his wife Janis. Fans may have turned on Vince thinking he was not the man he thought he was.

I lean to towards a combination of all the above. He was over exposed. He did seem to win awards a little too much for my liking. Women I had talked with about Vince did not like the way his marriage came undone. Plus I think Vince’s music was not good after “High Lonesome Sound”. Critics may not agree, but for me “The Key”, “Feels Like Love” and “Let’s Be Sure We Kiss Goodbye” just were not has good as “When I Call Your Name”, “Pocket Full of Gold” and such.

Whatever the reason for his downfall, from 1990 to 1995 Vince Gill only trailed Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, George Strait, and Brooks & Dunn in commercial popularity, and he joined Alan Jackson, Dwight Yoakam, and Patty Loveless in producing the most artistically respected albums.

Vince Gill is also a very nice man. I have read and heard countless stories of his kindness toward others. He is also a major supporter of country music’s past and its traditions.

I think Vince Gill is great artist. I especially love his albums “Pocket Full of Gold” and “When I Call Your Name”. He may not get as much play on the radio as he used too, but he got to become the first member of the Class of 89 to be elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

I don’t know where this video is from, but it is definitely Vince Gill around the year 1990 or 1991. Patty Loveless sang background vocals on the recorded version of the song, and she makes an appearance her to accompany Vince on the live version.

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.

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.

Lack of Good Country Artists Biographies

A while back I posted a bio of Alan Jackson, because I thought there was a lack of a truly comprehensive Alan Jackson bio on the Web. Many country artists have bio on their official Web sites, and on their label’s Web site. They are usually the exact same bios on each site, and they almost always focus on the artist’s latest album.

I’m sure some label person thinks that is a great market tool, but it really tells us nothing about the artist’s past. Wikipedia.com and allmusic.com also have bios of country artists. Allmusic.com is an offshoot of the reference book All Music. Like all reference books, it is only as up to date as the year it was written. On their Web site it’s just a copy of what is in the book with maybe a line or two update on the artists recent album. Often the bios are not extensive and sadly some are not much more than a few paragraphs

Then there is Wikipedia. I checked out the bios of Alan Jackson, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn, Pam Tillis, Vince Gill, and some of new artists as well. Some bios were pretty good, some are not. Some have incorrect information in them. Some seem to be more PR pages written by fans trying to make them look good. Some have extensive tables showing the artists album and single chart success. Some list awards the artist has won. Some have everything, some have little or nothing.

In graduate school, I studied Wikipedia and its effect on our society. When you have a collective effort there will always some good and some bad. The problem with collective efforts like this is getting the people with knowledge involved in the project.

For instances, I could write some real good biographies on some of the artists I have listed. I have read numerous magazine, newspaper, and reference articles about these artists. I have listened to numerous interviews with these artists. I know a lot about them. However, I have to list my sources in any bio I put on Wikipedia. If I have no sources, my work would be called into question. The problem is I don’t have the time, or want to put forth the effort to create such things.

This leads to a lack of true and comprehensive biographies of country music artists. That in turn can lead to people making up whatever they want about the artist and this misinformation spreading across the Internet.

Artists should take more responsibility for making their complete biographies available on-line. For if they don’t they may find themselves representative incorrectly.

Grammy Awards

The Gammy Awards were held yesterday and they continue to give the Grammies for country music to acts that did not deserve them. Usually the Grammy voters either go for a big-selling crossover country artist or an artist who is out of the mainstream. An actual mainstream, non-crossover country artist almost never wins.

Example, George Strait and Alan Jackson have never won a Grammy for Best Country Male Vocalist. Neither have Brad Paisley, Clint Black, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Travis Tritt, and Josh Turner. Garth Brooks and Dwight Yoakam have only won one apiece.

Vince Gill has won eight times. I love Vince Gill but he does not deserve eight wins, but the Grammy voters have become fixated on him.

Patty Loveless, Martina McBride, Pam Tillis, and Miranda Lambert have never won a Grammy for Best Country Female Vocalist while Reba McEntire has won only one.

Mary Chapin Carpenter has won four times, Shania Twain and Faith Hill twice. All of them were cross over artists whose music is more pop than country. Giving an award to a traditional female country artist seems almost to never cross Grammy voters mind.

This year winners were Keith Urban, who seems to known more for being Nicole Kidman’s husband then anything else, and former American Idol champion Carrie Underwood. I think Urban and Underwood make fine music, but they were not the best of this year’s nominees. Alan Jackson and Miranda Lambert were.

That does not matter to Grammy voters who think little of mainstream country music. All these voters want to push mainstream country music aside.