And then right there in the center of town, completely taking you off guard is this immaculately cared-for memorial park to Chris LeDoux, bursting with vibrancy and color, and of course, a towering 12 1/2-foot sculpture of LeDoux himself riding bareback affectionately named “Good Ride Cowboy.”
For his Hall of Fame career, Randy Travis’s ace-in-the-hole behind-the-scenes was his manager, his biggest believer, his staunchest champion, his eventual wife, and eventually, his biggest and most catastrophic adversary, Elizabeth “Lib” Hatcher. This is their story.
There may not be a more recognizable song from the catalog of country music in the last 35 years than “Friends in Low Places” performed by Garth Brooks. Garth may have popularized it, but like so many of country music’s most legendary compositions, someone else wrote it.
Welcome to Episode #5 of Country History X, which looks to tell the history of country music, one story at a time. This is story of the tragic life and death of Keith Whitley who died at the age of 34 due to alcohol abuse, and the conspiracy theories that surrounded it.
Bust out the black eyeliner and get ready to party like it’s 1999, because the G-man has promised that some new, unreleased Chris Gaines material is on the way along with a re-release of the previous stuff. This is what Garth Brooks promised recently.
The Grand Ole Opry is celebrating its 95th Anniversary with a big primetime special on Sunday, February 14th on NBC. Called ‘Grand Ole Opry: 95 Years of Country Music,’ it comes as the Opry is enjoying arguably one of its biggest resurgences in interest in the institution’s history.
He could have been a star in the NFL. Instead Jim Weatherly chose to become a songwriter. The football world’s loss was the music world’s gain, if for no other accomplishment than the Pontotoc, Mississippi native wrote the iconic Southern anthem “Midnight Train to Georgia.”
The Broken Spoke honky tonk is just about the most authentic thing you can still find within the city limits of Austin, TX. And now it’s long-time owner, mascot, patron saint, and a man that has been a major booster for music in the region and the stepping stone for many major careers has passed on.
Due to COVID-19, and then the protests and riots, the Saving Country Music snark machine has been pretty much powered down and collecting dust for the better part of 2020. But there has been as few instances of country music malfeasance so egregious, it would be unconscionable to not address.
Garth Brooks released his latest album Fun on November 20th, and though not previously mentioned or accounted for previously, the work included 15 tracks as opposed to the 14 that had been promised. The reason for the discrepancy was a track at the 13th spot that included two seconds of dead air.
It’s not that ‘Fun’ isn’t without it’s moments. But Garth Brooks is too much of a cheeseball, and too surrounded by yes men to be given the reigns to produce his own stuff. Or what you get is a record like ‘Fun.’
Many gave credit to Garth Brooks for taking himself out of contention, and you can’t blame him personally for voters awarding him the CMA Entertainer of the Year. But there’s still some bad blood out there coming from many in the country community, including Miranda Lambert, apparently.
Leave it to Garth Brooks to figure out how to finagle life to make sure he has some product to place on an end cap come Christmastime. This year it will be a re-release of a live album, and his latest studio album ‘Fun.’
Despite George Strait officially retiring from full-time touring in 2014—a commitment he’s actually stuck to unlike other superstars, only playing sporadic stadium shows and limited-run Las Vegas residencies—Strait surprisingly walked away with Billboard’s “Top Country Tour” award.
Many are calling for the head of Garth Brooks and demanding his cancellation after the misconception that he is endorsing Donald Trump for re-election went viral on social media, along with the idea that he will be appearing in ads for Trump in the coming weeks.
Just remember, “It’s only the ACM Awards.” It’s just disappointing that one of their best presentations in perhaps a decade or more—and under difficult circumstances—had to be sullied at the very end by a silly and avoidable decision.
From 2008 to 2018, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood hosting the CMAs together was one of the few bright spots on a presentation that otherwise offered you a steady diet of bad pop country being crammed down your throat. They won’t be hosting the CMAs again, but they are pairing up for the Grand Ole Opry Saturday night.
Once again Garth is being Garth, which means ultimately he’s probably doing the right thing and making a good choice. He’s just doing it in the most self-gratifying of ways. His heart is 100% in the right place. But his ego won’t allow him to make an altruistic move without letting everyone else know what he’s doing.
In a recent interview, Willie Nelson said he has a Roger Miller tribute album on the way. He also told the story of how he once turned down recording “The Gambler.” Written by Don Schlitz, it became the signature song for Kenny Rogers when Kenny released it in 1978.
Due to COVID-19, and then the protests and riots after the George Floyd killing, the Saving Country Music snark machine has been pretty much powered down and collecting dust for the better part of 2020. But there has been as few instances of country music malfeasance so egregious, it would be unconscionable to not address them.
Don’t regard this as a slandering. Please don’t mistake this as a rebuke. I bow down to the magnificent power of country music megastar Garth Brooks, and his ability to hoodwink hundreds of thousands of people and make millions of dollars even amidst an unprecedented pandemic and economic disparity.
“We Belong To Each Other” is Garth making a pathetic attempt to interpret Doo-Wop for no other apparent reason than it gives him a good excuse to put a chorus of black backup singers behind him in the mix so he can claim claim diversity and inclusion, and then double damns the song by setting it in some weird island time vibe.
At this point, it’s just as much about the principal as it is the money. Garth’s latest studio album was put up for pre-order as part of his exclusive distribution deal with Amazon nearly two years ago now, on June 19th, 2018 to be exact. Garth said the new record would be released in the spring … the spring of 2019 that is.
Quite a few country fans were left angered and agog when they saw that Gwen Stefani would be receiving an Opry berth when many more deserving country artists—including some who could benefit from both performing during this period of hardship—are once again being passed over