Country music from a fan's point of view since 2008
1959: The Battle of New Orleans — Johnny Horton (Columbia)
1969: Singing My Song — Tammy Wynette (Epic)
1979: She Believes In Me — Kenny Rogers (United Artists)
1989: A Better Man — Clint Black (RCA)
1999: Please Remember Me — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2009: Then — Brad Paisley (Arista Nashville)
2019: Whiskey Glasses — Morgan Wallan (Big Loud)
2019 (Airplay): Whiskey Glasses — Morgan Wallan (Big Loud)
1959: The Battle of New Orleans — Johnny Horton (Columbia)
1969: Singing My Song — Tammy Wynette (Epic)
1979: If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me — The Bellamy Brothers (Warner Bros/Curb)
1989: Where Did I Go Wrong — Steve Wariner (MCA)
1999: Please Remember Me — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2009: It Happens — Sugarland (Mercury Nashville)
2019: God’s Country — Blake Shelton (Warner Bros. Nashville)
2019 (Airplay): Good As You — Kane Brown (RCA Nashville)
1959: The Battle of New Orleans — Johnny Horton (Columbia)
1969: My Life (Throw It Away If I Want To) — Bill Anderson (Decca)
1979: If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me — The Bellamy Brothers (Warner Bros/Curb)
1989: If I Had You — Alabama (RCA)
1999: Please Remember Me — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2009: She’s Country — Jason Aldean (Broken Bow)
2019: Whiskey Glasses — Morgan Wallan (Big Loud)
2019 (Airplay): Eyes On You — Chace Rice (Broken Bow)
1959: White Lighting — George Jones (Mercury)
1969: Hungry Eyes — Merle Haggard (Capitol)
1979: Don’t Take It Away — Conway Twitty (MCA)
1989: Is It Still Over? — Randy Travis (Warner Bros)
1999: Please Remember Me — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2009: It’s America — Rodney Atkins (Curb)
2019: Beautiful Crazy — Luke Combs (Columbia Nashville)
2019 (Airplay): Eyes On You — Chace Rice (Broken Bow)
John Michael Montgomery was under pressure when he and Scott Hendricks entered the studio to record his third album in 1994. The monster success of “I Swear” was so impactful he not only won ACM and CMA honors, but he also performed the song at the Grammy Awards. It pushed sales of Kickin’ It Up past 4 million units and cemented his place in country love song history.
He was also coming off of two consecutive #1s when Atlantic released “I Can Love You Like That” to country radio in February 1995. The romantic ballad, a companion piece of sorts to “I Swear,” hit #1 and was also covered by the R&B group All-4-One. It’s one of my favorite contemporary country songs of the 1990s.
Montgomery switched gears completely in May, with the release of the breakneck-paced “Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident).” The song tells the story of a guy who attends an auction in Grundy County, Tennessee. While there he lays eyes on a woman named Heather, who consumes his thoughts, and becomes his big prize.
“Sold” is an excellent record with superb instrumentation that allowed Montgomery to diversify and showcase a playful charm he wasn’t able to display on his signature ballads. The audiences loved the song so much it also hit #1 and was named Billboard’s biggest country single of the year, a feat that wasn’t even bestowed upon “I Swear.”
The album’s first two singles were such memorable hits, it left little room for “No Man’s Land” to make a significant impact. The mid-tempo ballad, about a woman adjusting to a life ‘nothin’ like she had planned,’ is a competent yet unremarkable story song in the vein of Toby Keith’s superior “Upstairs Downtown.” It performed well at radio, hitting #3, but it was forgotten as soon as it fell from the charts.
“Cowboy Love,” which hit #4, is an attempt at rekindling the charm of “Be My Baby Tonight,” and while it was moderately successful at the time, it has aged horrendously. Both songs unfortunately represent the very worst of 1990s country, a time when honky-tonk had been brought to the dance floor by people in cutoff t-shirts with denim for days. The whole aesthetic is a parody of the genre’s best traditions.
The quality of the singles only got worse with “Long As I Live,” which is a feeble attempt at adding another romantic ballad to his repertoire. The ballad is embarrassingly awful, with a cliché Hallmark lyric. It hit #4, which is a testament to Montgomery’s power with country radio at the time.
The most notable album track, “Holdin’ Onto Something,” was recorded by Jeff Carson the same year and released as a single in 1996, where it peaked at #6. Carson’s record holds significant nostalgic value for me, which clouds my judgement on its quality. Montgomery does well with the song, but Hendricks fails him with a very generic arrangement. Listening now, I can easily hear Tim McGraw singing this song during this time period, possibly bringing it to #1.
“High School Heart” is typical of contemporary ballads from the time period. It’s cheesy, but the track does still have its merits. It tells the story of a man reminiscing on his romantic past, specifically his high school days, and all that’s changed in the years since then. The twist in the chorus is the girl he loved back then is his wife today, still loving him with a high school heart. Montgomery sells the story competently, but I would very much like to hear it with a far more dynamic vocalist and a more memorable arrangement.
“Just Like A Rodeo” is so bad, it’s hard to believe it even exists, especially during this time period, when the gatekeepers knew better. In the lyric, a man is in throws of sexual intercourse comparing riding his girl to a cowboy riding a bull. It’s even more horrid than “She Thinks My Tractors Sexy” but has only been matched or eclipsed by the bro-country era, where honestly, it would probably fit right in.
“Heaven Sent Me You” has the arrangement, filled with steel, and the committed vocal from Montgomery to be a sure-fire hit. It was likely buried because the lyric is second-rate, especially as his romantic ballads are concerned.
“It’s What I Am” never really saw the light of day, but it is a watershed moment for what was to come within the next ten to twelve years. The track has Montgomery wearing his southern pride on his sleeve, singing:
I got my first guitar when I was just a boy
I was playing the blues instead of playing with toys
Listening to the Opry and dreaming of the neon lights
So it was late to bed and early to rise
I worked the field all day and the crowd all night
My finger on the trigger and Nashville in my sights
I’m the real thing and I sing songs about real life
And I never heard a fiddle called a violin
Never really worried if I fit in
Country ain’t what I sing it’s what I am
This hat ain’t something I wear for style
These boots have been around a while
Country ain’t what I sing it’s what I am
I learned to drive on a dirt road
Cruised the strip on rock and roll
And drove around on “Miles and Miles of Texas”
And as I grew Daddy showed me now
To earn a living by the sweat of my brow
But he never made me follow in his steps
He said work hard and let the good Lord do the rest
Montgomery and Hendricks needn’t worry, as this album matched Kickin’ It Up and was also certified quadruple platinum. If I had to guess, it was “Sold” and not “I Can Love You Like That” that contributed more to the sales. The album itself is of very varying quality, with the two songs I just mentioned being the only real standouts.
Grade: B-
1958 (Debut of ‘Hot CW Sides’ Chart): City Lights — Ray Price (Columbia)
1968: Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye — Eddy Arnold (Fraternity)
1978: Tear Time — Dave & Sugar (RCA)
1988: Strong Enough To Bend — Tanya Tucker (Capitol)
1998: Where The Green Grass Grows — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2008: Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven — Kenny Chesney (Blue Chair/BNA)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018: Simple — Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
1958: Bird Dog / Devoted To You — Everly Brothers (Cadence)
1958 (Disk Jockeys): Alone With You — Faron Young (Capitol)
1968: Harper Valley P.T.A. — Jeannie C. Riley (Plantation)
1978: Heartbreaker — Dolly Parton (RCA)
1988: Streets of Bakersfield — Dwight Yoakam & Buck Owens (Reprise)
1998: Where The Green Grass Grows — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2008: Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It — Darius Rucker (Capitol Nashville)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018 (Airplay): Blue Tacoma — Russell Dickerson (Triple Tigers)
1958: Bird Dog / Devoted To You — Everly Brothers (Cadence)
1958 (Disk Jockeys): Alone With You — Faron Young (Capitol)
1968: Harper Valley P.T.A. — Jeannie C. Riley (Plantation)
1978: Heartbreaker — Dolly Parton (RCA)
1988: Honky Tonk Moon — Randy Travis (Warner Bros)
1998: Where The Green Grass Grows — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2008: Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It — Darius Rucker (Capitol Nashville)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018 (Airplay): Hotel Key — Old Dominion (RCA)
Rodney Crowell has decided to revisit a number of his best known songs in acoustic format.
The poetic ‘Earthbound’ from 2003 sounds very like the original recording. ‘Anything But Tame’ comes from his 2012 collaboration with poet Mary Karr, is similar but a little more stripped down, but it is a song I admire rather than love.
First recorded by Rodney in 1978, and made famous by near-contemporary covers by Emmylou Harris, and the Oak Ridge Boys (for whom it was a #1 hit in 1979), the new version is ‘Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight’ is taken at a more relaxed pace than any of the previous versions I have heard. The dominant accordion makes it feel full of Cajun atmosphere, and I enjoyed this take. The remake of the same era’s ‘Ain’t Living Long Like This’ feels less essential.
Less familiar to country fans, ‘Shame On The Moon’ was recorded by Rodney in 1981, and was a pop hit for Bob Seger the following year. Rodney has revised the actual song for this project, but it remains one of the more pop-styed tunes in Crowell’s repertoire.
The up-tempo ‘Lovin’ All Night’, a top 10 hit for Rodney in 1992, and later covered by Patty Loveless, is a country rocker which gets a vibrant acoustic reworking.
There is a lovely reading of the tender ballad ‘Making Memories Of Us’, a big hit for Keith Urban. A solemn string arrangement is the perfect accompaniment. The same treatment is afforded to ‘Please Remember Me’, a hit for Tim McGraw.
At the heart of the album are three songs from my favorite of Rodney’s albums, and his most commercially successful, 1988’s Diamonds And Dirt. In fact they are three of that album’s record breaking run of five straight #1 hits. The upbeat ‘I Couldn’t Leave You If I Tried’ was the first of the three, followed by the tongue-in-cheek Guy Clark co-write ‘She’s Crazy For Leavin’’. My favorite is the lovely ballad ‘After All This Time’.
‘Tennessee Wedding’ is a new song which Rodney wrote for his daughter’s wedding, from the point of view of his new son in law.
Tis is a very pleasing album showcasing Rodney Crowell as a songwriter. It may not be an essential purchase if you already have all his recorded work, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Grade: A
1958 (Sales): Ballad of a Teenage Queen — Johnny Cash (Sun)
1958 (Disk Jockeys): Ballad of a Teenage Queen — Johnny Cash (Sun)
1968: Skip A Rope — Henson Cargill (Monument)
1978: Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You — Margo Smith (Warner Bros.)
1988: Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star — Merle Haggard (Epic)
1998: Just To See You Smile — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2008: Letter To Me — Brad Paisley (Arista)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018 (Airplay): Legends — Kelsea Bellerini (Black River)
1958 (Sales): Ballad of a Teenage Queen — Johnny Cash (Sun)
1958 (Disk Jockeys): Ballad of a Teenage Queen — Johnny Cash (Sun)
1968: Skip A Rope — Henson Cargill (Monument)
1978: Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You — Margo Smith (Warner Bros.)
1988: Tennessee Flat Top Box — Rosanne Cash (Columbia)
1998: Just To See You Smile — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2008: Letter To Me — Brad Paisley (Arista)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018 (Airplay): Written In The Sand — Old Dominion (RCA Nashville)
1958 (Sales): The Story of My Life — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1958 (Disk Jockeys): Ballad of a Teenage Queen — Johnny Cash (Sun)
1968: Skip A Rope — Henson Cargill (Monument)
1978: I Just Wish You Were Someone I Loved — Larry Gatlin (Monument)
1988: Wheels — Restless Heart (RCA)
1998: Just To See You Smile — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2008: Letter To Me — Brad Paisley (Arista)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018 (Airplay): Losing Sleep — Chris Young (RCA)
1958 (Sales): The Story of My Life — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1958 (Disk Jockeys): Ballad of a Teenage Queen — Johnny Cash (Sun)
1968: Skip A Rope — Henson Cargill (Monument)
1978: Out of My Head and Back in My Bed — Loretta Lynn (MCA)
1988: Goin’ Gone — Kathy Mattea (Mercury)
1998: Just To See You Smile — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2008: Letter To Me — Brad Paisley (Arista)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018 (Airplay): Yours — Russell Dickerson (Triple Tigers)
1958 (Sales): The Story of My Life — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1958 (Disc Jockeys): The Story of My Life — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1968: Sing Me Back Home — Merle Haggard (Capitol)
1978: Out of My Head and Back in My Bed — Loretta Lynn (MCA)
1988: Where Do The Nights Go — Ronnie Milsap
1998: Just To See You Smile — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2008: Our Song — Taylor Swift (Big Machine)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018 (Airplay): Yours — Russell Dickerson (Triple Tigers)
1958 (Sales): The Story of My Life — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1958 (Disc Jockeys): The Story of My Life — Marty Robbins (Columbia)
1968: Sing Me Back Home — Merle Haggard (Capitol)
1978: What A Difference You’ve Made In My Life — Ronnie Milsap (RCA)
1988: One Friend — Dan Seals (Capitol)
1998: Just To See You Smile — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2008: Our Song — Taylor Swift (Big Machine)
2018: Meant To Be — Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line (Big Machine)
2018 (Airplay): I Could Use A Love Song — Maren Morris (Columbia Nashville)
It’s no secret that two of the most influential artists that have shaped my understanding and love of country music is Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. Their love story was the first celebrity love story I bought into as a kid and the one that has lasted the longest. Hill, especially, remains one of my favorite artists.
Count me among those who found it puzzling that McGraw would exit Big Machine to be a little fish in a big pond at Sony Nashville. His artistic credibility had reached new heights in 2016 and he was back in the Male Vocalist of the Year race at the CMA Awards. You do have to commend him for giving that up to help re-launch Hill into the mainstream. His heart was definitely in the right place.
But the first taste of new music from the pair, the Adult Contemporary “Speak To A Girl” was not. The ballad may have shot to #19, but it exposed Hill’s newly-acquired rasp in her lower register. Her inability to hold onto notes in her lower register was painful to hear and distracted by the message of the song, which wasn’t all that thought out anyways.
The title track, and second single, wasn’t much better. It throws the pair further into pop territory, with a lyric (co-written by Ed Sheeran) that attempts to trace a romantic relationship. The lyric is terrible, especially in the Hill-led second verse:
I’ve been making plans for children
Since I’ve been looking in your eyes
I even have names picked out for them
Daughter’d be Rose
Son it’d be Ryan
The pair debuted two of the tracks on their tour last summer. “Break First,” is a mid-paced ballad of temptation (dominated by an electronic drum loop) in which a couple is eying each other from across the room. “Telluride,” is a funky up-tempo change of pace, and while it shares a name with a track from Set This Circus Down, it is most definitely a different song.
The majority of the album is dominated by songs that just aren’t that great or worth adding to your collection. “Devil Callin’ Me Back” strips them of their individually and highlights everything that’s wrong with modern commercially-focused music. “Roll The Dice” is an electronic mess while “Love Me To Lie,” in which Hill sings lead throughout, is at least okay.
“Sleeping In The Stars” lets the pair’s harmonies shine through. “Cowboy Lullaby” is a somewhat well-written song and a good vehicle for McGraw, but I can’t help but think it would’ve sounded a lot stronger with a far less watered down arrangement.
The final two tracks were co-written by Lori McKenna and I cannot help but hold them to a higher standard. She reunited with The Love Junkies on “The Bed We Made,” which actually has bones, but likely would’ve been more appropriate for someone younger and not a couple who has been married for twenty-one years.
“Damn Good At Holdin’ On,” which McKenna wrote with Barry Dean, is the album’s strongest track by a mile. I don’t like the chorus that much, but this is the closest Hill and McGraw come to rekindling the magic of their previous duets.
The lack of that magical spark found on “It’s Your Love” or “Let’s Make Love” is truly what sinks The Rest of Our Life. Hill and McGraw are far better than most of the material they pulled together for this album. They don’t need to craft an entire album of love songs – we all get it by now. If they had diversified, with another “Angry All The Time,” or at least put effort into finding even a couple artistic moments to sprinkle amongst the radio fodder than all might not have been lost. But as it stands, The Rest of Our Lives is beneath both of them. They’ve more than proven they can do a heck of a lot better than they do here.
Grade: C
If popular culture is to be believed, it seems the 1990s is the hottest decade right now. Most of the ‘new’ television shows are reboots of classics from the era, including Full House and Will & Grace, with the originals casts reprising their roles. In popular music, if you were a major player 20-25 years ago, then its suddenly fashionable to return with new music and slews of concert dates.
In country music, this trend extends to the return of Faith Hill and Shania Twain with their first new music in more than a decade while Garth Brooks is wrapping up his massive three-year tour this month in Nashville. Even Dixie Chicks came home to the United States with their first tour in ten years. What’s old is new again or rather the music that defined my childhood is suddenly hip again.
It would be a stretch to place Tracy Lawrence at the same level since he was never a global superstar or wheeled much influence on an international stage. But he was one of the most consistent and traditional artists in his day, with a catalog that more than stands up to anything released by the artists who may have eclipsed him in status.
To celebrate this resurgence, Lawrence has released Good Ole Days, which recognizes what he refers to as a ‘hunger for the music from my era.’ The album pairs him with modern day country artists singing his hits. The whole concept does seem like a gimmick, a cash grab for the gullible fan unaware they are likely only lining the pockets of the executive who dreamt up this project. But really it’s a chance to finally hear country’s current class sing real well-written songs for the first time in their careers. I jumped at the chance to review this album simply so I could hear how these artists sound when forced to interrupt the actual country music. I’ve always had a theory that there is talent there if these artists had the proper vehicle to show it off.
This is the proper vehicle because instead of the artists making these songs their own, with their typical non-country producers and such, they have to stick within the confines of the original arrangements, including the steel, fiddle, and twang. Without the ability to hide, every weakness would be on the table.
Luke Bryan tackles Lawrence’s 1991 debut “Sticks and Stones” and handles it well. I wasn’t impressed with Jason Aldean’s take on “Just Can’t Break It to My Heart,” his voice was a bit too dirty, but the energy was good.
I remember reading in Quotable Country, on the dearly-departed Country California, Justin Moore says if he had a say he would make an album in the vein of I See It Now. He goes back a bit further here with “Alibis” and knocks it out of the park. Moore is a great country singer and it’s a shame he has to reside in this current climate.
Dustin Lynch sounds exactly like a young Lawrence on “Texas Tornado,” which is kind of scary. His performance isn’t excellent, but it’s damn close. I was surprised Miranda Lambert, who has been known to belt this out in concert, wasn’t singing it but that could’ve been label politics.
Probably the newest artist featured here is Luke Combs, who just hit number one with “When It Rains It Pours.” There’s no mistaking he’s a country singer and he easily pulls this off. The same is true for Chris Young, but he sounds like he’s just going through the paces on “If The Good Die Young.” If he had just let go the results could’ve been incredible.
The legend of Tim McGraw is he moved to Nashville on May 9, 1989, and has always said he’s more of a storyteller while Keith Whitley is a singer. I agree wholeheartedly, but his performance of “Time Marches On” is bland. In contrast, Easton Corbin shines on “Paint Me A Birmingham.”
Kellie Pickler’s talent is wasted on “Stars Over Texas,” which finds her regulated to singing the chorus. As the sole female voice on the whole album, you would’ve thought she’d be allowed more of a presence. I didn’t care for her vocal either, which makes her sound like a little girl.
There are two new songs in the mix. Brad Arnold, the lead singer of Alternative Rock band Three Doors Down (think ‘Here Without You’) joins Lawrence on the title track, which is being billed as his “country music debut.” The song, which also features Big & Rich, is a faux-rock disaster. The military-themed fiddle drenched ballad “Finally Home,” which features Craig Morgan, is better but not really for my tastes.
Good Ole Days is a great concept with lousy execution. These tracks are collaborations between the singer and Tracy Lawrence which doesn’t work on any level. Get rid of Lawrence entirely and turn this into the proper tribute album it’s screaming to be. His nasally twang is insufferable and pointlessly distracting. The lack of female artists in the mix is also troubling, as you don’t need just men to sing these songs.
Grade: B-
1957 (Sales): Wake Up Little Susie — The Everly Brothers (Cadence)
1957 (Disc Jockeys): Wake Up Little Susie — The Everly Brothers (Cadence)
1967: You Mean the World to Me — David Houston (Epic)
1977: Heaven’s Just a Sin Away — The Kendalls (Ovation)
1987: Right From the Start — Earl Thomas Conley (RCA)
1997: Everywhere — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2007: Don’t Blink — Kenny Chesney (BNA)
2017: What Ifs — Kane Brown ft Lauren Alaina (RCA)
2017 (Airplay): When It Rains It Pours — Luke Combs (River House/Columbia)
1957 (Sales): Wake Up Little Susie — The Everly Brothers (Cadence)
1957 (Disc Jockeys): Wake Up Little Susie — The Everly Brothers (Cadence)
1967: I Don’t Wanna Play House — Tammy Wynette (Epic)
1977: Heaven’s Just a Sin Away — The Kendalls (Ovation)
1987: Shine, Shine, Shine — Eddy Raven (RCA)
1997: Everywhere — Tim McGraw (Curb)
2007: Don’t Blink — Kenny Chesney (BNA)
2017: What Ifs — Kane Brown ft Lauren Alaina (RCA)
2017 (Airplay): What Ifs — Kane Brown ft Lauren Alaina (RCA)
My Kind of Country 