Goodbye Metrodome

I have attended many Twins games at the Metrodome. My first game was in 1983. I attended 41 games in 1984 – most I would ever attend in one season. I attended anywhere between 5-20 games a season from 1985-1994.

1994 baseball strike alienated me from baseball. When the Twins threaten to move if they did not get a new stadium I was alienated all the more. I did not attend a game from 1995 to 2001. However, my love of the Twins had not died. When I read the now famous Sid Hartman Star Tribune column announcing the Twins were going to be contacted (eliminated) by major league baseball, I rose to my team’s side.

I returned to the Dome in 2002. A new group of players had made the Twins competitive again. I also returned to collecting autographs again, and made Twinsfest and Twins player appearance not to be missed events. For me the Twins have always been and will always be my number one sports team in Minnesota.

The Metrodome has been the home of the Twins for 28 years. I have so many memories. Among some of the more interesting:

• I nearly ejected by the Minneapolis Police from a game because I was smoking (no smoking is allowed in the Metrodome!). Only one problem I have never smoked in my life. I was with a group of friends that day and they could not stop laughing at the thought that I – last person in the world anyone would think of as a smoker – was not only accused of but nearly ejected for smoking. To this day whenever I see one of those guys they bring this up and we laugh pretty hard about it. Of course, it was not funny at the time.

• I saw Carlos Silva set the major league record in 2005 for few pitches thrown in a complete game. I actually did not know he set the record to till I got out to my car and listened to the postgame show on the radio. I did remember thinking during the game that Silva was really having some short innings. Indeed he was.

• In 1985 I saw Kirby Puckett hit his first career home run. At the time no one, including me, had any idea how great Kirby Puckett would become. What a great thought to know I was there to see this legends first home run.

• I saw Joe Mauer go 5-5 against the Dodgers in 2006. I realized then how good this guy was going to be.

• I went to Game 2 of 1987 ALCS. It is the only postseason game I have attended. I have tried going to others, but either I could not get tickets or I could not get off work to go. Still I will always cherish this experience. I heard on the day of Game 2 that single tickets remained. I going to the University of Minnesota at the time and after class I walked all the way over to the Dome, and was surprised to get a ticket. I sat next to two obsessed middle aged female Twins fans. I loved every minute of the game. I can still hear the sound of the after game chat in concourse of “Sweep!”
  

This year I went to two games. The first was on a whim. I went alone, and was able to secure the best seat I had ever gotten. 15 rows right behind home plate. The game was against the Mariners. I went early and got to see the legendary Ken Griffey Jr. take batting practice. He did not disappoint putting on an impressive power display. The game was a big Twins win. I saw Justin Morneau crush a home run. I had a great time.

The second game I went to was an afternoon game. I went with my friend Joel. He prefers going to afternoon games, and we have attended many such games together. We sat in left field, which where I have sat many a time. We were on the end of the row just on the fair side of the foul poll.

Twins have photographers who go a around before the game taking fans pictures. You can go view the pictures on the Web. One of these photographers took a picture of Joel and me with the field in the background. The Twins won that game. I have that picture of Joel and me. I printed it out and my mother frame it. It sits in her living room.

I thought about going to one of the last game at the Dome, but decided that the game I attend with Joel would be my last at the Metrodome. Too many things went right that day. I decided to make my last Twins game at the Dome one with happy memories.

I liked the Metrodome because I always knew there would be game played. The Dome was easy for me to get to. I always was able to find affordable parking – sometimes even free parking. The sight lines left something to be desired, but the Dome was always a comfortable place for me.

I have attended outdoor baseball games in Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Houston. I look forward to outdoor in Minnesota. Still I will miss the Dome. It was the place of the Minnesota Twins greatest moments – World Series wins in 1987 & 1991. I will always remember the Metrodome not for it flaws, but for the good memories. Win Twins!

Phil Esposito TTM Success

Phil Esposito was one of the greatest and most famous hockey players ever. He shattered the record for goals and points in single season in 1970-71 with 76 goals and 152 points. He became the NHL’s all-time leader in goals and points scored.

His records were eventually broken, but his star never dimmed. In 1984 Phil Esposito was rightly made a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

I owned one hockey card of Phil Esposito which was one of the first hockey cards I ever owned. It was 75-76 Topps; the last card of Esposito as a Boston Bruin. In 2007 I decided to send a card to Phil Esposito to see if he would sign it. I did not want to send my 75-76 Topps for fear I would not get it back. Instead I created a card on my computer and printed it out on some photo paper. It turned out pretty good, so I sent it.

700 days later that card came back to me signed by Phil Esposito. I was pleasantly surprise. Phil Esposito does not sign much through the mail, so to get it back at all was amazing. Mr. Esposito even took the time to personalize the card to me and include his number (7).

Retired hockey players tend to be the best signers of any sport. I have gotten Hall of Fame legends such as Guy LaFluer, Bobby Clarke, Bryan Trottier, Steve Yzerman, Jean Beliveau, and others for FREE. Some big names like Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe, and Mario Lemieux charge big money while the “signed” Wayne Gretzky card I got may be auto penned.

Well my signed Esposito card looks very legitimate. It made my day to get it back. Thank you Phil Esposito!

Goodbye Brooks & Dunn

Though they were not official members of the genre altering Country Music Class of 89, Brooks & Dunn in many ways came to symbolize the “Hot New Country” movement of the early 90’s. Their boot scootin’ up-tempo songs, passionate ballads, flashy live shows, and even flashier cloths made stand out as something new, something different, something interesting. People took to them and Brooks & Dunn’s debut album Brand New Man sold 6 million copies. Its follow up Hard Workin’ Man sold 5 million.

Brooks & Dunn sold 26.5 million albums, scored 20 #1 singles, and won the 1996 CMA Entertainer of the Year Award. Their The Greatest Hits Collection released in 1997 still charts on the Country Catalog Album Chart and has sold 4.9 million copies. Not bad for a duo formed in 1991 at a lunch meeting hosted by Arista Nashville President Tim Dubois between failing solo artist Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn.

Brooks & Dunn survived the ups and down and the music business to be along with Alan Jackson the only artists of the early 90’s country movement to still be commercially viable. Now Alan Jackson is alone as Brooks & Dunn have called it quits after 20 years. They will release an album of their #1 hits this fall then stage a farewell tour in 2010.

Kix and Ronnie are in the mid fifties. They were always opposites in style and personality. That they made it 20 years is amazing. Ronnie Dunn did most the singing. Kix Brooks was the energy on the live stage. They both wrote songs– sometimes separately sometimes together. Kix and Ronnie share lead vocals on only one song. They alternated who would write the latest chapter of story of Slim and Howdy the mythical cowboy characters who a short story about would appear in each Brooks & Dunn album.

I saw Brooks & Dunn in 1995 with Trisha Yearwood at the Minnesota State Fair. 17,000 plus showed up and were treated to a great show. The up-tempo songs rocked, the ballads were moving. Ronnie Dunn’s voice was even better live, so for that matter was Kix Brooks’. And yes they had a huge balloon shaped like their logo of bleached out, dead Long Horn Steer skull.

I saw them again in 1996 at the Minnesota State Fair with Pam Tillis. Fewer people came (13,000), but the show was still good though not as good. Brooks & Dunn came to town several more times, but I never was moved to see the again. Maybe hearing their big hits “Boot Scootin Boogie”, “My Maria”, and “Neon Moon” on the radio all the time wore on me. I still like their music; they just were no longer a concert destination for me.

I did write them this and ask them to sign a custom baseball card I created of them. They did so showing yet again that some superstar acts like Alan Jackson and Brooks & Dunn still have time to respond to their fans. Maybe that was the key to their success – listening to their fans.

Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn has talked the last few years about recording solo albums. I hope they do. I think they will be very different from their Brooks & Dunn music. Whatever they do, Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn can take pride in a great 20 year run as Brooks & Dunn.

RTS

When I send cards I send along a self addressed stamped envelop (SASE) for the player to return the signed card in. I put my address on the SASE, and also put my address in the return address field. Why do I put my address in both spots? Because I always worry that the postal service will find a reason why they can’t deliver my SASE to me and would then try to RTS (Return to Sender) it back to return address. I assumed I was being over paranoid. Well guess what?

Tuesday I came home to find one of my SASE had return with a RTS sticker on it. Yes, the postal service had determined it could not deliver my SASE to the person it was addressed to even though that person was me and the address on the SASE was the correct address. Well the postal service RTS it back to the person listed in the return address which was me as well. So my putting my address in the return address field of the envelop had paid off.

The only thing I saw that was wrong on the envelop was the there was no post mark. The stamp was from the post office so it was good, but for some reason the envelop never got a post marked.

In the end I got my signed card, and what a card it was. Football Hall of Famer Dick Butkus signed a card for me! Now I have the three greatest (in my opinion) defensive football players of all-time – Lawrence Taylor, Alan Page, and Dick Butkus.

And to think, I would not have gotten Dick Butkus if I had not taken a couple extra moments to put my address up in the return address field of my SASE.

More Twins Signings

Saturday I made the drive up to Elk River. Michael Cuddyer and Brendan Harris were signing autographs at the Cub Foods in Elk River. In fact Twins players were all over the Twin Cities area Saturday. Jason Kubel was in Maple Grove, Joe Nathan was in St. Louis Park, Denard Span was in Hudson, Wi (Hudson is right across the MN/WI border), Scott Baker was in Minnetonka, R.A. Dickey was in Roseville, and Brian Dunesing was in Apple Valley.

With all these players out and about and signing autographs at roughly the same time I had to choose where I wanted to go. I choose going to see Cuddyer and Harris because I had just bought some nice looking Allen & Ginter cards of Cuddyer, Harris, Nathan, Blackburn, Liriano, and Gomez. I have goal of getting all these cards signed. Since both Cuddyer and Harris are both in that group of cards, and I don’t really have a signed card of Harris, the choice of where to go was quite obvious.

The choice was made easier by the fact I knew I could mail Nathan his card with a SASE c/o of the Twins and he would sign it and send it back. Blackburn is also great at signing stuff sent to him, but I had sent him a Topps Heritage card in April, and I wanted to wait till at last August before sending him another card. I don’t want Nick Blackburn to think I am trying to spam him with autograph requests.

My hope for Saturday was to get to Elk River early, get through the line quickly then make the 40 minute drive to Roseville to get R.A. Dickey who I need to add to my collection. I got to Elk River at 10:15 for the scheduled 11:30 signing. A handful of people were there already ( and I knew many more would follow which they did), so I quickly got in line. I figured I would get through the line in 10-15 minutes and be able to get in Roseville in time for R.A.

Unfortunately things did not work out as planned. Michael Cuddyer, who is a class guy, arrived early. Brendan Harris was 10 minutes late. The line moved slower than expected, and I was left with only 25 minutes to make a 40 minute drive. Obviously R.A. would have to wait another day.

Instead I took the opportunity to drive around the area heading north to Zimmerman and Princeton. This area is fast becoming an area of growth as more people try to get away from the city. However as more people move out there it is fast become more a part of the city. Pretty soon these cities will be outer ring suburbs, but for now they are still country towns.

I did make it down to Roseville, but it was later in the afternoon. I wanted to stop at Three Star Sports Cards to get some more cards for signing. Dan, one of the owners, told me the 2009 Allen & Ginter cards had arrived. They were $5 for a pack of 8, and $100 + for a box. Ouch! I remember when packs of cards cost 25 cents and you got 12 cards and a stick of gum. Of course that was 30 years ago.

I will wait for Three Star to set out some single Allen & Ginter cards. Yes, they usual charge a $1 or $2 for each card, but I will get who I want instead of spending $5 and taking a chance on getting who I want.

I returned home to find I had mail. Joe Nathan had returned my signed Allen & Ginter card I had sent him in the mail. He had also signed a SPX card for me. Joe Nathan is just a class individual who remembers his fans. He has also been selected to play in his fourth All-Star game. Go Joe Nathan!

I ended up with signed Allen & Ginter cards from Cuddyer, Harris, and Nathan all on the same day. It was god day.

Third Time is a Charm?

Last Friday a received a signed baseball card from Andre Dawson. Mr. Dawson was the 1987 NL MVP and is a borderline HOFer. What interested me about this return is that it took me 3 tries to get Mr. Dawson to sign a card for me. Since starting to collect autographs via ttm (through the mail) I have seen people getting returns from Mr. Dawson. I liked Andre Dawson, so I sent to him and got no response. I waited about eight months while dozens of folks kept getting a response for him, many only having to wait a couple weeks for a return. I decided to send to Mr. Dawson again, and got no response again. Finally I sent a third time, and he signed one of two cards for me. I appreciate that Mr. Dawson sign a card for me, but I wonder what happen to the cards I sent to him before.

This is not an issue exclusive to Andre Dawson. I had to send to future Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, former All-Star Will Clark, and former Twin Dan Schatzader three times each in order to get a response from them. Mr. Schatzader sent back (signed) all the cards I had sent him over the years, while Mr. Larkin and Mr. Clark signed and returned only the last card I had sent them.

Why did it take three times to get a response? What happened to the other cards I sent? Were they lost? Did the player simply decide he did not want to send them back? Did the player just arbitrarily decide to sign for certain people and not others? I don’t know the answer, but what I do know is perseverance pays off.

Fernando Valenzuela, Geoff Zahn, Dale Murphy, Don Mattingly, and Don Sutton have refused to sign for me the first two times I have sent to them. I have seen many returns from Mr. Valenzuela, but not from Mr. Zahn, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Mattingly, and Mr. Sutton. Therefore I will be sending to Mr. Valenzuela a third time, while waiting on the others.

Why wait on the others? I have seen few if any returns from them lately. Mr. Mattingly is currently coaching while Mr. Sutton is doing some broadcasting. They just may be holding on to their mail while they work through the summer, and then they will return the cards in the offseason. It is unwise to flood a player with multiple autograph requests as they may think you are trying to take advantage of their generosity. At the same time though, if others keep getting responses from players and you don’t then it might be wise to try again. You never know what happened to your first one or two attempts. The cards may never even have reached the player. I try to wait 6-9 months before resending.

Of course I would prefer to have the player respond the first time I send to them. Having to buy multiple cards and stamps can get a little pricey. One way to ensure success the first time, especially with more famous players, is to drop them a little cash donation. Some Hall of Fame players have foundations, and if you donate to those foundations you are ensured a return.

HOFer Gary Carter has a foundation which I sent a donation to. I expected it would take 3 or 4 weeks to receive my signed card, but such was not the case. Instead a week later I had the card signed beautiful by Mr. Carter. He also sent me a typed note of thanks on which crossed out Dear Fan and instead wrote my name.

Nolan Ryan has a foundation too. He notes it will take 12 to 16 weeks to have a return from him, but you will get a return. I will be waiting eagerly as I have sent a donation to Mr. Ryan as well.

Mr. Carter and Mr. Ryan are using the fame to him help others. I have no problem donating to a player’s foundation in exchange for an autograph. Tim Raines, Dave Winfield, Frank Viola, and Harmon Killebrew are the baseball players whose foundations have received small donations from me. In return I have received wonderful signed cards. Funny, if you donate to their foundations, a player’s signs your card a lot nicer. Yet another reason to research a player’s signing habits.

Of course some players want donations for signing and the donation goes directly into their bank account. Steve Carlton, Phil Niekro, Brooks Robinson, Bob Feller, Al Kaline, Rollie Fingers, and Whitey Ford are the baseball players who I have “donated” to. All have been fairly reasonably priced ($10-$20). However some folks want a little more. Check out some of these prices to sign a baseball card:

Willie Mays $300
Rickey Henderson $140
Cal Ripkan $140
Frank Robinson $90
Tony Gwynn $85
Eddie Murray $85
Robin Yount $85
Willie McCovey $85
Reggie Jackson $75
Yogi Berra $70

Ouch! I loved getting HOFers to sign my cards, but those prices are just too high. I am going to be investing $40+ each on getting Mike Schmidt and Tom Seaver to sign for me, but that is about all the farther I am willing to go. I figure that Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Seaver will soon be charging in the $70-$100 as well, so I am getting them now while they are still somewhat reasonably priced.

Of course there is one way to beat paying those high prices. It is called “fine someone willing to sell you a certified autographed card for less”. Certified autographed cards are baseball cards signed by a player and then included in a random pack of baseball cards that sold at the store. There are usually very few of these cards, so you are one lucky person when get to open a pack of cards and find one of these certified autographed card. Most certified cards are of current players, but there are a few Hall of Famers out there too.

In 1995 Reggie Jackson signed a few such cards for Upper Deck who then included them in random packs of their cards. I found one of these cards at Twin Cities Sports Collector Club (TCSCC) show with a certificate of authenticity for $40. So I could pay $40 for certified autographed card of Reggie Jackson with a certificate of authenticity guaranteed by one of the large baseball card companies, or I can could send $75 to Reggie Jackson and hope he signs and returns my card in six months or so, or I could send $75 to a company that stages signing by folks like Reggie; include an extra $5 for a certificate of authenticity plus $5 mail order fee plus $10 for shipping for a total price of $95.

Let’s see $40 or $75 to $95. To me that choice was obvious which is why the certified autographed Reggie Jackson card is now sitting in my display case at home with the extra money I saved going to Mike Schmidt. I can now get two signed cards for roughly the amount I would have had to pay Reggie Jackson.

The moral of the story is show perseverance when trying to get a player, “donate” to a player's foundation if you want to guarantee a return, and if you find a players signing fee to high, look for a certified autographed card.

Twins Autograph Party

I attended the Minnesota Twins autograph party on Saturday. At the autograph party you pay one fee, all current players sign at the same time, and you are allowed to get autographs from as many players as you can in the hour and half they are signing.

In reality you either get an autograph from Joe Mauer or Justin Morneau or everyone else. I arrived at 8:30 a.m. to get in the Justin Morneau line. Morneau was scheduled to sign from 12:30-2:00. I got through the Morneau line with 10 minutes to spare. Yes, the line was so long that even arriving 4 hours early I barely made it through the line.

I knew this would likely be the case. In 2006 I spent all my time in the Johan Santana line to get him to sign a baseball. However in 2008 I avoided the Mauer and Morneau lines and was able to get 12 other players. It is an either or thing. Either you get Mauer, or you get Morneau, or you get a lot of the other players.

I wanted Justin to sign his 2007 Allen & Ginter's baseball card for me. He did so, and it looks great in my display case.

I like the Allen & Ginter's cards because they do have glossy coating that most Topps and Upper Deck cards have. The coating can sometimes cause smearing or create air bubbles in the player’s signature making the signature look bad. You can try “rubbing” the card down, but that does not always work.

For the record hitting coach Joe Vara was assigned the thankless task of signing with Morneau. Many people ignored Mr. Vara, but I did not as I needed him for my collection.

There are no Mr. Vara baseball cards that I know of, so I did had him sign a baseball card for the new Twins stadium.

Not able to get any more current Twins, I prepared to get some of the former Twins who were signing from 2:30-4. The Twins bring in the same former players every year. Why? Who knows for sure, but maybe they don’t want to pay too much in traveling expenses as the only guys they bring in from out of town are Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew.

With few new options available, I went with Rod Carew and Tom Kelly. Rod signed a 78 Topps baseball card for me, Tom an 87 Topps card. I had a few extra minutes so I went into the Roy Smalley, Tim Launder, and Ron Coomer line. I did not have a Coomer card, but a kind gentleman gave me one of his, so I was able to get all three players.

It was very hot day at the autograph party, but it beats getting rained on. All in all I had a good time, and look forward to attending next year.

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

Class of 89 - Garth Brooks

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.

Decided to do two post today. This post will be on Garth Brooks.

Garth Brooks seems like a complicated figure, but he is not. Garth Brooks is simply a performer. He is not a singer or a songwriter though those are part of his performer makeup. He is an artist, but he is a performance artist not a music artist. Garth Brooks is all about the performance – not just when performs music in concert, but when he holds a news conference, makes an appearance, or even seems to go into retirement.

When Garth debuted in 1989 he seemed an unlikely success story. But by the time his back to back career hits “The Dance” and “Friends in Low Places” had finished their runs at #1, he was more than a success story – he had altered how people perceived country music.

A truly great performer needs to command a stage. Garth Brooks commanded the stage. Whether he was singing alone with nothing but a guitar before a rapt audience of 50,000 or swinging from ropes above the same 50,000, Garth commanded attention. Garth had the ability to make even the person in the last row feel like they was part of the performance. Garth insisted they be part of his performance.

In 1996 Garth did not just sign autographs for people at Country Music’s Fan Fair for a couple of hours. He signed till everyone who wanted one got one even if it meant staying 23 straight hours. He was a performer; he could let the audience down. When he arrived for that autograph signing he did not come in limo with body guards. He drove his pickup truck right through the crowd then hopped out and walk right through the crowd which parted before him, awe at the sight of this superstar who seemed to be so real yet to transcendent.

I was always impressed to see when he won an award that was presented to him by a female he would remove his cowboy hat from his head. He was ever the gentleman, ever the heroic figure in the performance.

This is what people missed about Garth Brooks. It was never about his supposed rock concert performances. Other country artists before him (Hank Williams Jr.) and after him (Brooks & Dunn, Shania Twain, others) have performed rock like concerts, but they lack the mythos of Garth. Garth the heroic figure in the center of a never ending performance – the performance is not about the music, but the man. Garth is the performance, the songs are about him. He is the central figure in a never ending opera that continues on from the concert stage. His fans clung to his saga making it their own.

Garth climbed to the highest peaks; he sold the most albums, won the biggest awards, had the highest rated television specials a country artist ever had, brought country music to its highest heights. Yet once you get to the top you have to come down. Garth saw the drop coming, rode it out for awhile then decided the performance was over. He retired. Once in a while he comes out of retirement for brief moment back in the spotlight, but it is not the same. The audience is not what it once was.

Garth Brooks made country music better, he made it worse. He exposed country music to new audience made it new fans. He destroyed country music by making it too commercial; driving his successors to make it more like pop music in order to make it sell like Garth’s sold.

I like Garth Brooks’ singing. He has a great voice. I like “Much Too Young (To be This Damn Old)”, “The Dance”, “Friends in Low Places” and “The Thunder Rolls”; but since his second album “No Fences” his music has been ordinary. Garth simply became too much about Garth and not enough about the music. Too bad really Garth could have made some interesting and bold albums. Instead his only real attempt at doing something different he created an alter ego name Chris Gaines. Maybe Garth Brooks felt it would be anti-heroic to put out something other than was expected of him. If so, I think he was wrong.

Garth Brooks does not allow his music videos on YouTube or any other video site. Even CMT is not allowed to have any. Garth does not let his music on itunes. Instead Garth keeps his music only available on his album. He releases compilation albums of his old hits and include 3 or 4 new songs on them. Maybe it is his way of ensure good albums sales. Whatever his reasons, I think it is a mistake. He should allow fans to views his video; hear his songs on the Web. He might be surprise, people might really enjoy the performance.

Class of 89 - Lorrie Morgan

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.

Today’s post will be on Lorrie Morgan.

Long before Shania Twain starting running around with a base midriff, Lorrie Morgan was a country music babe. Lorrie Morgan played up her good looks more than most country female counterparts, and it helped her career take off.

Lorrie most brazen attempt to use her sex appeal was her video for “We Both Walk” where she spends a good deal of time playing her guitar with nothing on but a man’s dress shirt. Though the video would seem pretty tame by today’s standards at the time in country music world the video was seen as to risqué. Lorrie took heat for being to sexual.

Ironically in the mid to late 80’s Lorrie Morgan was not a candidate for such criticism. Lorrie was a child of traditional country music. Her father George Morgan had been a country star. As Lorrie Morgan struggled to get a footing on country radio in the e 80’s, she married raising country music star Keith Whitley. Morgan assumed the life of a proper daughter and wife. Then her relationship began to affect her life and career.

Keith Whitely drank to often, and by 1989 he had died of an overdose. Whitley’s death caused his widow Lorrie to see her profile rise. In 1989 she finally started scoring hits on country radio. Her 1989 album “Leave the Light On” caught the wave of success generated by the Country’s Music Class of 89. She rose to stardom with the debut single from her 1991 cd “Something in Red”. That single would be the aforementioned “We Both Walk” which rose to #3 and spawned a video that (as mentioned earlier) raised eyebrows.

Lorrie scored more hits and “Something in Red” sold 1 million copes as did its follow up “Watch Me”. Lorrie was developing a reputation as a platinum selling hit maker. Unfortunately she was also developing another reputation.

Being a good looking widow with money, Morgan attracted numerous male suitors. She dated then Dallas Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman; famously bringing him to the 1993 ACM Awards where she wore an “attention grabbing” dress. When that relationship ended she married Clint Black’s bus driver whom she quickly divorced. This was just the beginning.

Lorrie Morgan was getting to be known as a woman who could not keep a man, or was it no man could keep Lorrie Morgan. Fans of country music in 90’s expected their country stars to behave themselves. The old days of drinking, partying, marrying and divorcing were over. Artists were expected to marry, and live straight and narrow lives. Those that failed to do so paid by losing fans.

Bad enough her personal life was being brought into question, but in 1994 Lorrie hit a career slump. Her 1994 album “War Paint” failed to produce a top ten hit, and “War Paint” sold only 500,000 copies. Lorrie briefly rebounded with her 2 million selling “Greatest Hits” album, but it was a downhill slid from there.

1995 brought the arrival of Shania Twain a woman who seized the mantel of country babe from Lorrie Morgan and quickly set a new standard for how country music females should look, sound and behave. It was a standard Lorrie Morgan seemed unable to follow.

In 1997 Lorrie Morgan scored her last top 10 hit. By then she had become known for dating U.S. Senator and former actor Fred Thompson of Tennessee; for marrying and divorcing a younger male country singer named John Randall; and her stormy on and off again marriage and divorce from fellow country music star Sammy Kershaw.

In October 2008 news reports came out stating Lorrie Morgan had file for bankruptcy.

Lorrie Morgan had a solid run, but her personal life became bigger than her music and it cost her.

Personally I was never a big fan of her music. “We Both Walk” is my favorite Lorrie Morgan tune. She has a couple of other songs I don’t mind, but she never moved me in any way.

I could not find a video of “We Both Walk” on YouTube, but did find it on CMT’s site. You may have to watch a commercial first, but the video shows Lorrie Morgan as she was just about to become a star, and yes it show her playing her guitar in nothing but a man’s shirt.

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