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.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, June 15, 2009
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Monday, May 25, 2009
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:
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.
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.
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.
Class of 89 - Clint Black
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.
I am doing two posts today. This one will be on Clint Black.
In 1992 I went to a music store called Musicland to buy Mary Chapin Carpenter’s brand new album “Come On Come”. The checkout clerk told me I should take a copy of music magazine Musicland was publishing for its customers. The magazine was free, and it had a country superstar Clint Black on the cover so I took a copy.
I found the lengthy article on Clint Black fascinating. The article spent time discussing Clint’s music, but it spent most its time discussing Clint suing his record label and his messy split with his manager Bill Ham.
The article was interesting, but in retrospect the article was detailing the turning point for the worse in Clint’s career.
Bill Ham was a manager of music artists. He had discovered and shaped the career of rock superstars ZZ Top. Bill Ham discovered Clint Black, and molded him into a star.
Clint’s debut album “Killin’ Time” was a masterpiece, and is one of the greatest country music albums of all-time. Clint wrote or co-wrote all the songs on the album. The first four singles from the album went to #1. The album sold 3 million copies. Clint Black had become the Class of 89’s first star.
In 1990 Clint was name CMA and ACM Male Vocalist of the Year. Clint debut single “Better Man” was the ACM for Single of the Year. “Killin Time” would win the ACM for Album of the Year.
Clint’s second album “Put Yourself in My Shoes” was released at the end of 1990 and would spawn more hits and sell 3 million copies. As 1991 unfolded Clint Black seemed destined to fight it out with Garth Brooks for title of biggest star in country music.
Then came Clint’s lawsuit with his record label (RCA Nashville), and his split and subsequent lawsuit with manager Bill Ham. The legal wrangling delayed Clint’s third album “The Hard Way”, and cost Clint the guidance of the man, Bill Ham, who had help make him a superstar.
As 1991 came and went Alan Jackson, Vince Gill, and Travis Tritt began to build momentum, while Clint’s seemed to be slowing. Garth Brooks meanwhile was having unheard of success. Clint suddenly looked like the odd man out.
“The Hard Way” would go on to sell over 1 million copies, but by then Garth, Alan, Vince, Travis, Reba McEntire, and a new act Brooks & Dunn were selling 2, 3 million or even more copies of their albums. Clint was expected to match them. He never did. The only other multi-million selling album Clint had was his 1996 Great Hits album which sold 2 million.
Clint’s time as superstar had past. Radio kept playing his songs, but his album did not sell very well and he stopped winning major awards. His last top 10 hit was in early 2000. By then he was about to leave his record label.
Clint Black started his own record label, but it failed. Clint Black had failed too, failed to become a superstar like Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, or even Vince Gill. Was Clint’s separation from Bill Ham the reason? Not entirely. Clint’s seeming obsession with recording only songs he had written or co-written probably help too. Even the greatest singer – songwriters in country music history have recorded songs written by others. Clint could not or did not want to understand that.
I never saw Clint Black in concert. He came to the Minnesota State Fair in 1993 with Wynonna Judd on his Black and Wy Tour. He came again in roughly 1998, but by then I was uninterested in seeing him.
Don’t get me wrong I still love his “Killin Time” album and listen to it a good deal. I don’t mind “Put Yourself in My Shoes”, but the rest of his music is average at best. Radio still plays stuff from his first album and a few songs here and there from his other albums.
Clint Black will never be remembered as a legend. He is not Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, or even Vince Gill. He will be remember as an artist who for a brief time had a great run, but for most of his career was good not great.
Here is a video of a television appearance by Clint early in this career. He is performing his debut hit “Better Man”.
I am doing two posts today. This one will be on Clint Black.
In 1992 I went to a music store called Musicland to buy Mary Chapin Carpenter’s brand new album “Come On Come”. The checkout clerk told me I should take a copy of music magazine Musicland was publishing for its customers. The magazine was free, and it had a country superstar Clint Black on the cover so I took a copy.
I found the lengthy article on Clint Black fascinating. The article spent time discussing Clint’s music, but it spent most its time discussing Clint suing his record label and his messy split with his manager Bill Ham.
The article was interesting, but in retrospect the article was detailing the turning point for the worse in Clint’s career.
Bill Ham was a manager of music artists. He had discovered and shaped the career of rock superstars ZZ Top. Bill Ham discovered Clint Black, and molded him into a star.
Clint’s debut album “Killin’ Time” was a masterpiece, and is one of the greatest country music albums of all-time. Clint wrote or co-wrote all the songs on the album. The first four singles from the album went to #1. The album sold 3 million copies. Clint Black had become the Class of 89’s first star.
In 1990 Clint was name CMA and ACM Male Vocalist of the Year. Clint debut single “Better Man” was the ACM for Single of the Year. “Killin Time” would win the ACM for Album of the Year.
Clint’s second album “Put Yourself in My Shoes” was released at the end of 1990 and would spawn more hits and sell 3 million copies. As 1991 unfolded Clint Black seemed destined to fight it out with Garth Brooks for title of biggest star in country music.
Then came Clint’s lawsuit with his record label (RCA Nashville), and his split and subsequent lawsuit with manager Bill Ham. The legal wrangling delayed Clint’s third album “The Hard Way”, and cost Clint the guidance of the man, Bill Ham, who had help make him a superstar.
As 1991 came and went Alan Jackson, Vince Gill, and Travis Tritt began to build momentum, while Clint’s seemed to be slowing. Garth Brooks meanwhile was having unheard of success. Clint suddenly looked like the odd man out.
“The Hard Way” would go on to sell over 1 million copies, but by then Garth, Alan, Vince, Travis, Reba McEntire, and a new act Brooks & Dunn were selling 2, 3 million or even more copies of their albums. Clint was expected to match them. He never did. The only other multi-million selling album Clint had was his 1996 Great Hits album which sold 2 million.
Clint’s time as superstar had past. Radio kept playing his songs, but his album did not sell very well and he stopped winning major awards. His last top 10 hit was in early 2000. By then he was about to leave his record label.
Clint Black started his own record label, but it failed. Clint Black had failed too, failed to become a superstar like Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, or even Vince Gill. Was Clint’s separation from Bill Ham the reason? Not entirely. Clint’s seeming obsession with recording only songs he had written or co-written probably help too. Even the greatest singer – songwriters in country music history have recorded songs written by others. Clint could not or did not want to understand that.
I never saw Clint Black in concert. He came to the Minnesota State Fair in 1993 with Wynonna Judd on his Black and Wy Tour. He came again in roughly 1998, but by then I was uninterested in seeing him.
Don’t get me wrong I still love his “Killin Time” album and listen to it a good deal. I don’t mind “Put Yourself in My Shoes”, but the rest of his music is average at best. Radio still plays stuff from his first album and a few songs here and there from his other albums.
Clint Black will never be remembered as a legend. He is not Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, or even Vince Gill. He will be remember as an artist who for a brief time had a great run, but for most of his career was good not great.
Here is a video of a television appearance by Clint early in this career. He is performing his debut hit “Better Man”.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Class of 89 - Travis Tritt
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 posting today, so here a post about Travis Tritt.
In 1994 I was a member of the K102 (the local country music radio station) Country Club. Country Club members got special perks like free concert tickets. One of the free shows I got to go to was Travis Tritt’s.
Travis was originally signed to a “singles deal” which meant he was allowed to record a single, but not a whole album. The single was then release to country radio to see if there was any interest. Travis debut single “Country Club” made it to #9, and Travis had to quickly record his debut album “Country Club” which was released in early 1990.
Like fellow Class of 89 members Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Travis found almost instant commercial success. Travis’ first three albums - “Country Club” (1990), “It’s All About to Change” (1991), and “T-R-O-U-B-L-E (1992) - sold 2, 3, and 2 million copies respectively. He had just come off a successful co-headlining tour with hot new artist Trisha Yearwood. An in November of 1994 I was about to see his first big headlining show with Joe Diffie and LeRoy Parnell opening for him.
The show itself was electrifying. Travis had a huge lighted Harley Davidson Eagle hanging over his stage. He entered the stage riding a Harley (I read the fire marshal would not actually let him ride the Harley onto the stage, so he had the Harley rigged on a track so it could be pulled in making it look like he was riding it). Travis rocked most the night, showing seemingly unlimited energy. He also did a great acoustic set of country classics and his #1 hit “Anymore” that showcase his great voice. The crowd loved every minute of it. I left the arena that night with two thoughts:
- Travis Tritt was a gifted live performer with a great voice.
- He as not as popular as I thought he was. There were only 9,000 people there of which I figured 3 – 4,000 thousand got in free via the K102 Country Club. That was not the kind of crowd I expected to see at a superstar artists concert. In August of 1994 I had seen Alan Jackson perform in front of over 20,000 fully paying fans. Travis thought, as did others, he was on par with Alan Jackson. He was not.
That was Travis Tritt in a nutshell. He was a gifted artist who had major success, but he never could quite get over the hump to be the superstar that his fellow early 90’s country peers Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Vince Gill, and Brooks & Dunn became.
Travis had risen from being an artist not deemed worthy enough to get a record deal to record a full album to an artist who had an album sell 3 million copies. Travis also was an artist who had his first four studio albums combined for 9 million in sales and his next seven albums combined for 3 million albums.
Travis Tritt won the 1991 CMA Horizon Award, but never won another major award again winning only a few minor awards like Vocal Event and such.
The edgier Travis Tritt seemed a perfect fit for his record album - Warner Brothers - that was noted for having edgier artists like Emmylou Harris, Hank Williams Jr., and Dwight Yoakam, but Travis was one of the first major stars of the early 90s’ to leave his record label.
Travis Tritt viewed himself as a rebel who spoke his mind, but it was his harsh comments about Billy Ray Cyrus and Cyrus’ mega hit “Achy Breaky Heart” that made Travis look like a bad guy. In 1990’s country music fans expected their stars, especially superstars to be upstanding, kind, and humble. Travis Tritt may have been upstanding and kind most the time, but humble was not his gig. That may have cost him.
Like Clint Black, Travis Tirtt started strong then faded into background. Travis charted top 10 singles from 1989 to early 1997. He had a brief “comeback” charting four top tens from 2000 to 2002. After 2002 Tritt never reached the top 10 again and now has been gone through three record labels. He is currently suing his last record label.
I still hear Travis Tritt’s music on the radio. Mostly it is his up-tempo stuff, but an occasional ballad can be heard. I still listen to some his early albums. They have weathered time pretty well, and though they are not great albums, they are still good.
I always thought Travis Tritt would do more than he did. He seemed so talented, but perhaps he was not made to be a superstar. He was a star who had his moment, but his rebel ways never allowed him to be an artist that appealed to the greater masses for an extended time period. In fact that may never have been his true goal. Likely we will never know.
Here’s a video of Travis Tritt performing his major hit “Here’s a Quarter (Called Someone Who Cares)” at the 1991 CMA Awards. Enjoy it now before it disappears from YouTube.
Class of 89 - Mary Chapin Carpenter
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 about Mary Chapin Carpenter
I have seen Mary Chapin Carpenter live in concert twice. The first time was 1992 at the old Guthrie Theater where a seat in the 3rd row. Two things immediately struck me. One was she was wearing cowboy boots (she had her jeans pulled over the boots), and two she sounded different live than she did on the radio. Her voice on the radio had more power than it seemed she had live. I had never and still have never encountered an artist who sounded so much weaker in concert.
That said the evening was enjoyable. Mary Chapin (she dislikes being called Mary) seemed to be having fun, and so was the crowd. “I Feel Lucky” had just peaked on the charts and Mary Chapin closed the main part of concert with it. The crowd ate it up and after an enjoyable evening I was heading to the parking lot when I overheard a group of young people excitedly talking about how Mary Chapin’s country was just as cool as rock music. I thought to myself her is woman on the move.
Without going into a long dissertation about Mary Chapin Carpenter’s career, here are some highlights of her career:
I saw Mary Chapin in concert again in June of 1995. By then the bottom was falling out on her. After scoring her first #1 in 1994, she would go on to score one more top 10 hit. Her album sales dried up, and the awards stop coming. With no radio play, Mary Chapin Carpenter faded from the mainstream.
I remember seeing Mary Chapin that June night in 1995, she seemed small. Not in the physical sense, but in the sense that she could not command the arena. The Mavericks a highly respected country music group that had a brief, but great run as a band opened for Carpenter. They commanded the stage and held people’s attention. The Mavericks had no top ten hits, but the audience was drawn to this charismatic, talent group of young men who were there to entertain them. Mary Chapin could not match them and it showed.
I read later that the pressure of being Sony Nashville biggest selling act weighed Mary Chapin. She also later admitted she had battled depression.
I wonder two things about Mary Chapin Carpenter. First did she ever really what to be a superstar? I think the answer is no. In reality she was a folk singer who found an outlet for her music in the country music genre. Mary Chapin wanted to bring her guitar into a small theatre and play her slow, mellow, folk songs while occasionally mixing in a rocker or two. Big arenas, big stage shows, huge crowds, they were not for her.
The other thing I wonder about Mary Chapin Carpenter was did the fans she brought into country music stay fans of country music. The Washington DC born, Ivey League educated, Carpenter was not like other country artists. Her music was different too. She did attract people to country music. Did they stay, or did they come in, buy “Come On Come On”, hang around a while and leave? Likely many left.
By 1997 Mary Chapin Carpenter’s place in country music was gone. She made more albums, but they sold little. The only Mary Chapin songs I hear played on the radio are an occasional “Down at the Twist and Shout” or “I Feel Lucky”.
My own feelings about Mary Chapin are simple. I thought leaving that 1992 concert that she would be a superstar and I listened to her music often. However, by the time I left the 1995 concert her appeal for me was fading. It is ironic that though I own her first four albums, I have not listen to any of them for any length of time in over a decade. Why? I simply am no longer attracted to her music. Its appeal to me is lost.
Whether Mary Chapin appeals to me or not, I think you find this video of her singing “Opening Act” at the 1990 CMA’s enjoyable. Watch it now before it disappears from YouTube.
Today's post will about Mary Chapin Carpenter
I have seen Mary Chapin Carpenter live in concert twice. The first time was 1992 at the old Guthrie Theater where a seat in the 3rd row. Two things immediately struck me. One was she was wearing cowboy boots (she had her jeans pulled over the boots), and two she sounded different live than she did on the radio. Her voice on the radio had more power than it seemed she had live. I had never and still have never encountered an artist who sounded so much weaker in concert.
That said the evening was enjoyable. Mary Chapin (she dislikes being called Mary) seemed to be having fun, and so was the crowd. “I Feel Lucky” had just peaked on the charts and Mary Chapin closed the main part of concert with it. The crowd ate it up and after an enjoyable evening I was heading to the parking lot when I overheard a group of young people excitedly talking about how Mary Chapin’s country was just as cool as rock music. I thought to myself her is woman on the move.
Without going into a long dissertation about Mary Chapin Carpenter’s career, here are some highlights of her career:
- Her 1989 album “State of Heart” produced 2 Top 10 hits (“Never Had It So Good”, and “Quittin’ Time”)
- Her 1990 CMA Awards performance of “Opening Act” won her national attention.
- “Down at the Twist and Shout” from her second album “Shooting Straight in the Dark” became a major radio hit , and her energetic performance of the song on the 1991 CMA raised her profile even more.
- Her 1992 album “Come On Come On” produced four top ten hits and sold over 4 million copies.
- Mary Chapin won CMA Female Vocalist of Year in both 1992 and 1993, and her profile kept rising as the “New Country Music Movement” swept forward to ever greater success.
I saw Mary Chapin in concert again in June of 1995. By then the bottom was falling out on her. After scoring her first #1 in 1994, she would go on to score one more top 10 hit. Her album sales dried up, and the awards stop coming. With no radio play, Mary Chapin Carpenter faded from the mainstream.
I remember seeing Mary Chapin that June night in 1995, she seemed small. Not in the physical sense, but in the sense that she could not command the arena. The Mavericks a highly respected country music group that had a brief, but great run as a band opened for Carpenter. They commanded the stage and held people’s attention. The Mavericks had no top ten hits, but the audience was drawn to this charismatic, talent group of young men who were there to entertain them. Mary Chapin could not match them and it showed.
I read later that the pressure of being Sony Nashville biggest selling act weighed Mary Chapin. She also later admitted she had battled depression.
I wonder two things about Mary Chapin Carpenter. First did she ever really what to be a superstar? I think the answer is no. In reality she was a folk singer who found an outlet for her music in the country music genre. Mary Chapin wanted to bring her guitar into a small theatre and play her slow, mellow, folk songs while occasionally mixing in a rocker or two. Big arenas, big stage shows, huge crowds, they were not for her.
The other thing I wonder about Mary Chapin Carpenter was did the fans she brought into country music stay fans of country music. The Washington DC born, Ivey League educated, Carpenter was not like other country artists. Her music was different too. She did attract people to country music. Did they stay, or did they come in, buy “Come On Come On”, hang around a while and leave? Likely many left.
By 1997 Mary Chapin Carpenter’s place in country music was gone. She made more albums, but they sold little. The only Mary Chapin songs I hear played on the radio are an occasional “Down at the Twist and Shout” or “I Feel Lucky”.
My own feelings about Mary Chapin are simple. I thought leaving that 1992 concert that she would be a superstar and I listened to her music often. However, by the time I left the 1995 concert her appeal for me was fading. It is ironic that though I own her first four albums, I have not listen to any of them for any length of time in over a decade. Why? I simply am no longer attracted to her music. Its appeal to me is lost.
Whether Mary Chapin appeals to me or not, I think you find this video of her singing “Opening Act” at the 1990 CMA’s enjoyable. Watch it now before it disappears from YouTube.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
John Randle and Lawrence Taylor
I was not planning to do anything much this weekend as I was just getting over a bad cold. However, I saw in the newspaper that former Viking great and future Pro Football Hall of Famer John Randle would be appearing at the grand opening of the new Northern Tool and Equipment in Minnetonka.
I have kept my autographed football card collecting mostly to Vikings from their Super Bowl teams, but I do have a few of my favorite Pro Football HOFers. Since John Randle was favorite of mine when he played, and he will eventually getting in the HOF, plus he was signing for free, I decide to take the long trek down to Minnetonka.
I arrived to find a smaller than expected crowd. That was fine as it meant I did not have to stand in line long. John Randle is a friendly man who had no problems using my pen to sign my card. He signed the card very nice. He added “Vikes” underneath his name. Some players add inscriptions like that under their names. The inscriptions span the gamut of things from Bible passages to HOF inductions years, to inspirational sayings. I don’t mind players adding the inscriptions as long as they are good and clearly legible.
Thank you John Randle for taking the time to sign my card so nicely, and treating all the fans including myself well!
Former Viking linebacker Ed MacDaniel was there too. He was an unannounced guest, so I did not have one of his cards along to sign. He was gracious about it, noting “they pulled me in at the last second”. He was enjoyable to talk with.
I had paid Chuck Foreman $10 at Twinsfest 2009 to sign a card of his. He was very friendly and engaging. He took the time to sign my card very nicely and he included his jersey number (44) and a 73 ROY inscription to note he was the 1973 NFL Rookie of the Year.
I mention the above because Chuck Foreman was signing with John Randle on Saturday. I brought along a couple of Chuck Foreman cards for him to sign since he was going to be there. I would have been better off leaving the cards at home. Chuck was unfriendly, refused to talk to most people; in fact he refused to look at most people. He also signed people’s stuff very badly. He did not write out his name like he did for me at Twinsfest, and I could barely make out the number #44. It looked more like a couple of lines than two fours.
I am not sure what motivated such behavior from Chuck. I assumed Northern Tool and Equipment was paying him to appear, so I assume he was getting some cash just like when I paid him at Twinsfest. Perhaps he was not feeling well, or simply would rather have been at home asleep. Not everyone can be nice all the time.
I hate to make any judgments, but the fact was as I watched other people’s reactions to their interactions with Chuck, he was not coming off looking very good. John Randle meanwhile was leaving a good impression with people.
One thing I have learned in collecting autographed cards in the mail and in person is that a lot success is based on timing. Catch a player at the right time; you can get a good autograph. Catch a player at the wrong time; you can get a bad autograph or no autograph at all.
Well on Saturday my timing with John Randle was great. Thanks again Mr. Randle!
Lawrence Taylor
Lawrence Taylor is perhaps the greatest defensive football player ever. This HOFer, 8 time 1st Team All-Pro, and one of only two defensive players to win MVP (former Viking Alan Page is the other), redefined the linebacker positions. He also led the New York Giants to their first two ever Super Bowl victories.
I had sent a football card to Mr. Taylor via the Pro Football HOF last year. I had seen other folks had sent to Mr. Taylor that way and received their card back signed nicely by this living legend. Well, I sent and nothing came back for a long time. Then I found out Mr. Taylor was competing on Dancing with the Stars. I did not know Mr. Taylor was a dancer, and I guess he wasn’t as he was recently eliminated from the competition. With new found time on his hands Mr. Taylor must figured he had better get to his mail.
It is always exciting to begin to see returns coming in from a player you sent to. I began to see many returns from Mr. Taylor, but had not yet received my card back. There is always that thought that goes through your mind “what if he decides not sign mine; or what if mine get lost or damaged in the mail.” Well after seemingly everyone else got him back, my signed card from Mr. Taylor arrived.
It is always a great feeling to receive a signed card from an iconic figure like Mr. Taylor. Thank you Lawrence Taylor!
Lawrence Taylor now joins Fran Tarkenton, Alan Page, Paul Krause, Ron Yary, Randall McDaniel, Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach, Bob Griese, Earl Campbell, Ozzie Newsome, and Bruce Matthews as HOF football players who have signed for me. For the record Page, Krause, and Yary require $ donations for autographs. Mr. Page and Mr. Krause use their donations to fund foundations that help others.
I am not thrill to spend too much money on Football HOFers, so we will see how many more I try to get. However, it is great to have the ones I have gotten so far.
I have kept my autographed football card collecting mostly to Vikings from their Super Bowl teams, but I do have a few of my favorite Pro Football HOFers. Since John Randle was favorite of mine when he played, and he will eventually getting in the HOF, plus he was signing for free, I decide to take the long trek down to Minnetonka.
I arrived to find a smaller than expected crowd. That was fine as it meant I did not have to stand in line long. John Randle is a friendly man who had no problems using my pen to sign my card. He signed the card very nice. He added “Vikes” underneath his name. Some players add inscriptions like that under their names. The inscriptions span the gamut of things from Bible passages to HOF inductions years, to inspirational sayings. I don’t mind players adding the inscriptions as long as they are good and clearly legible.
Thank you John Randle for taking the time to sign my card so nicely, and treating all the fans including myself well!
Former Viking linebacker Ed MacDaniel was there too. He was an unannounced guest, so I did not have one of his cards along to sign. He was gracious about it, noting “they pulled me in at the last second”. He was enjoyable to talk with.
I had paid Chuck Foreman $10 at Twinsfest 2009 to sign a card of his. He was very friendly and engaging. He took the time to sign my card very nicely and he included his jersey number (44) and a 73 ROY inscription to note he was the 1973 NFL Rookie of the Year.
I mention the above because Chuck Foreman was signing with John Randle on Saturday. I brought along a couple of Chuck Foreman cards for him to sign since he was going to be there. I would have been better off leaving the cards at home. Chuck was unfriendly, refused to talk to most people; in fact he refused to look at most people. He also signed people’s stuff very badly. He did not write out his name like he did for me at Twinsfest, and I could barely make out the number #44. It looked more like a couple of lines than two fours.
I am not sure what motivated such behavior from Chuck. I assumed Northern Tool and Equipment was paying him to appear, so I assume he was getting some cash just like when I paid him at Twinsfest. Perhaps he was not feeling well, or simply would rather have been at home asleep. Not everyone can be nice all the time.
I hate to make any judgments, but the fact was as I watched other people’s reactions to their interactions with Chuck, he was not coming off looking very good. John Randle meanwhile was leaving a good impression with people.
One thing I have learned in collecting autographed cards in the mail and in person is that a lot success is based on timing. Catch a player at the right time; you can get a good autograph. Catch a player at the wrong time; you can get a bad autograph or no autograph at all.
Well on Saturday my timing with John Randle was great. Thanks again Mr. Randle!
Lawrence Taylor
Lawrence Taylor is perhaps the greatest defensive football player ever. This HOFer, 8 time 1st Team All-Pro, and one of only two defensive players to win MVP (former Viking Alan Page is the other), redefined the linebacker positions. He also led the New York Giants to their first two ever Super Bowl victories.
I had sent a football card to Mr. Taylor via the Pro Football HOF last year. I had seen other folks had sent to Mr. Taylor that way and received their card back signed nicely by this living legend. Well, I sent and nothing came back for a long time. Then I found out Mr. Taylor was competing on Dancing with the Stars. I did not know Mr. Taylor was a dancer, and I guess he wasn’t as he was recently eliminated from the competition. With new found time on his hands Mr. Taylor must figured he had better get to his mail.
It is always exciting to begin to see returns coming in from a player you sent to. I began to see many returns from Mr. Taylor, but had not yet received my card back. There is always that thought that goes through your mind “what if he decides not sign mine; or what if mine get lost or damaged in the mail.” Well after seemingly everyone else got him back, my signed card from Mr. Taylor arrived.
It is always a great feeling to receive a signed card from an iconic figure like Mr. Taylor. Thank you Lawrence Taylor!
Lawrence Taylor now joins Fran Tarkenton, Alan Page, Paul Krause, Ron Yary, Randall McDaniel, Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach, Bob Griese, Earl Campbell, Ozzie Newsome, and Bruce Matthews as HOF football players who have signed for me. For the record Page, Krause, and Yary require $ donations for autographs. Mr. Page and Mr. Krause use their donations to fund foundations that help others.
I am not thrill to spend too much money on Football HOFers, so we will see how many more I try to get. However, it is great to have the ones I have gotten so far.
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