I find that I’m bored with the mundane. Aren’t you?

Maybe that’s why I hate new country music so much. It’s so boring, so predictable. Everybody is afraid to do anything against the grain. “Ooh, if it doesn’t sound like what Kenny Chesney/Keith Urban/whoever the heck is popular now, is putting out there, then I’m doomed. DOOMED!”

But enough about what they call “country music”. This is a rock song, and a concept, if you will.

I find it interesting, and challenging, to get inside someone else’s head and come up with something suitable.

As someone who relies upon pre-presented photos and little animated GIFs that I find here and there, my resources are limited. I work with what I have, and that’s sort of the fun of it.

So, herewith, is “A Black Horse”:

Just because a guy had his first hit song in 1958 doesn’t mean that he’s over the hill. Just because he happens to be 74 years old, that doesn’t mean that there’s still not great songs rattling around up there. Because apparently there are.

Again, I am….well, I was going to say “aghast”, but that doesn’t really fit, does it? I am…awed…by the prolificacy of the great songwriters.

Bill Anderson has been around for my whole life (obviously), and when I first became aware of him, it was through his syndicated TV show, which my channel always broadcast on Saturday afternoons, which they apparently considered the “dead” time slot, but not for me! I think it was Porter Wagoner’s show and then Bill Anderson’s show, and probably the Wilburn Brothers’ show, or somebody’s. I only actually remember Porter’s and Bill’s.

The show looked something like this:

Let’s just say at the outset that Bill (whom I’m sure would be the first to tell you) is not the world’s greatest singer.

As a matter of fact, he’s really kind of a bad singer. Which is probably why he always did those sappy recitations. Which were awful! In fact, many performers through the years have parodied those recitations, and who can blame them? It’s almost too easy.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:

Be that as it may, I don’t think Bill really set out to be a singer anyway. I’m not sure how or why it happened, but somebody somewhere said, “Hey Bill ~ LOVE your voice! Did you ever think about recording?”

And Bill said, “Huh? Is this a joke? That’s kind of cruel.”

But none of us can sing, really. Unless you’re LeAnn Rimes, and you’ve made yet another crappy cover album (even if it was produced by Vince Gill), in which you’ve slowed down all the songs that were meant to be up-tempo, just so you could put your “stamp” on them. And you’ve ruined them; just ruined them.

I digress (Don’t I? But I still managed to make my point.)

But back to Bill Anderson.

The year was 1958. That year of Bill’s first hit song. And it was a good one. I remember listening to this song (not in 1958!) and thinking, that’s a really well-written song. And it didn’t hurt that Ray Price was singing it:

Bill, as you know, or maybe don’t know, was in essence responsible for Connie Smith’s career. I bought Connie’s first album, and I think every song on it was written by Bill Anderson (There might have been one or two that weren’t, but I’m not going to dig through my closet to find the album to prove myself right or wrong).

Here’s Connie’s first big, big hit:

Here’s another one, introduced by Bill himself. “Cute and Country” Connie Smith (aww, isn’t that sweet?)

One more, a bit more recently performed:

But Bill wasn’t just about Connie Smith and Ray Price, and well, himself. No. Do you remember this one? I wanna say 1963, but I’m really just guessing, to be honest. The only hit song that Roy Clark ever really had, and he managed to parlay that into a pretty lengthy career (Thanks again, Bill! Says Roy.)

Yet, Bill moved into the almost-twenty-first century, with songs like this one, recorded by Steve Wariner (I think Steve deserves a post all his own, really.)

And, you know, this one, of course:

And yes, here we go again, with this video that I really dislike, but I really, really like the song:

That’s a damn long good career! Bill Anderson is someone who can get up in the morning and honestly say, “I’m going to write a hit song today. Or at least I know I can write a hit song today.”

To be honest,and not satirical, Bill Anderson is a songwriter who has been able to adapt to the times.

If you listen to the songs he wrote in the late fifties, early sixties, they were different from the songs he writes now. Not lyrically, so much, although perhaps his lyrics are a bit more frank now than they were back then. That’s a sign of the times, no doubt.

There was a formula in those days. It was basically, verse chorus, verse chorus. Simple? Well, not so simple that you or I could write a great one. Deceptively simple, maybe.

Times and tastes change, though. And Bill’s writing has changed, too. He co-writes a lot now. Maybe that’s what keeps him current. I’m not a fan of co-writing, but if it works, and it makes Bill big bucks, then, hey! I think a lot of those young co-writers can thank their lucky stars that someone of the caliber of Bill Anderson has agreed to write a song with them.

As the saying goes (MY saying, because I have repeated it so much that I’ve now laid claim to it), either you’ve got it or you don’t.

And I guess, if you had it in 1958, and you still have it more than 50 years later, then you’ve GOT IT.

You don’t have to wonder. Fifty years is the cutoff point for wondering.

I only started writing in 2002, so it would not be until the year 2052 that I would know for sure. I would then be 97-freakin’ years old. I ain’t living that long. So I guess I’ll never know. But I’m pretty sure; I don’t got it.

But that’s okay. I can still admire those who do.

~~~

I find that I’m bored with the mundane. Aren’t you?

Maybe that’s why I hate new country music so much. It’s so boring, so predictable. Everybody is afraid to do anything against the grain. “Ooh, if it doesn’t sound like what Kenny Chesney/Keith Urban/whoever the heck is popular now, is putting out there, then I’m doomed. DOOMED!”

But enough about what they call “country music”. This is a rock song, and a concept, if you will.

I find it interesting. And challenging, to get inside someone else’s head and come up with something suitable.

As someone who relies upon pre-presented photos and little animated GIFs that I find here and there, my resources are limited. I work with what I have, and that’s sort of the fun of it.

So, herewith, is “A Black Horse”.

Since I’m in a pretty decent mood tonight, I thought, why not make good on my earlier promise, and feature some sad songs?

See, one doesn’t want to listen to sad songs when they’re actually sad, because that might just push one over the edge, you know? I’m not saying I haven’t had those moments in my life, when I cried in my beer, listening to the saddest songs I could find in my playlist. Because I have. Hasn’t everyone?

And, just for the record, I don’t think crying is a bad thing. Of course, I’m a female, and females understand that. Crying is actually cathartic. Men need to learn that.

Anyway, the weird thing to me about so-called “sad” songs is, they don’t make me feel sad. They make me feel, which is completely different.

Trying to post sad songs is like trying to find three songs to download for free from your local library (And thanks, by the way. Nice feature). The choices are daunting.

Every songwriter or would-be songwriter (like me!) writes sad songs. They’re easy! Who’s happy all the time? Only the insane.

And sad is relative, I’ll say.

Some of the songs I post here may be considered more “inspirational” than sad. I don’t know. You be the judge. They seem sad, or at least wistful, to me.

So, relying on my tiny memory cells and what I can find on YouTube, let’s all get sad.

Naturally, the first song that comes to mind for me, when I think of sad songs, doesn’t actually have a real video associated with it. But I’m still starting with this one, by Earl Thomas Conley:

Brooks & Dunn:

http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:uma:video:cmt.com:449885/cp~artist%3D504574%26vid%3D449885%26uri%3Dmgid%3Auma%3Avideo%3Acmt.com%3A449885

By way of disclosure, I don’t like Rascal Flatts, generally. HOWEVER, I like this one, and this one is sad.

I don’t really like the video for this song. That’s just my personal preference. Personally, I think they should have left it up to each listener’s imagination. Nevertheless, what is sadder than Alison Krauss singing, well, anything?

Nobody features Gary Allen enough. I’m glad I have the opportunity to do it here:

No video for this song, of course, but it’s one of my favorite George Strait recordings:

And speaking of George, I didn’t really want to double up on singers here, but I think this is a mightily sad song:

Everybody tends to cite the same ones, when they’re talking about the saddest country songs. I’m not really aiming for the saddest songs “ever”, but more, the songs that make me cry. Yup, everybody has “Whiskey Lullaby” and “When I Call Your Name”, but let’s face it, they’re sad. So, there’s no getting around it. I’m not going with “He Stopped Loving Her Today”, because everyone lists that as the number one saddest country song. I don’t know. Not to me, I guess. But music is a personal thing.

In conclusion, I don’t know if this song is supposed to be sad or inspirational, but let me just say that this song makes me cry. Every time. So, I’m including it. And it gets the cherished “top spot” in my list of sad songs, because it’s just that good.

If I made you cry with at least one of the videos here, then my job is done.

I’m betting it’s the last one. But that’s entirely up to you. But you’d be crazy if it wasn’t that last one.

I won’t say that “Crazy Over You” is the all-time best two-stepping song. Okay, I will.

This is how I first got to know Radney Foster:

Is that a kick or what? I love this song.

So, my introduction to Radney Foster was through his partnership with Bill Lloyd. Foster & Lloyd weren’t around for a long time (although they’re now back together), but they had some fine recordings.

Here are two (and regretfully, the guys only seem to have a couple of actual music videos from their halcyon days):

True music aficionados, I believe, pull out that little booklet from a new CD and check out who the writers are. As well as the lyrics, of course.

I always read my little booklet.

So, I found that Radney didn’t just write for Radney. He wrote hit songs for other artists, too.

Like this one, by Tanya Tucker and T. Graham Brown (what the heck ever happened to T. Graham? He’s a great singer!)

And this one, by Diamond Rio (Wasn’t this DR’s first hit song?):

How about Nitty Gritty?

Ha ~ and just to prove that I’m hip; I’m “with it” (although I have never in my life heard this song before), this is one that Radney wrote for Keith Urban:

Back in my sordid musical past, when I finally decided to give country music another go, I bought a couple of cassette tapes. One was by the Sweethearts of the Rodeo (and I don’t remember the other one). I’d heard the SOTR a couple of times, and I liked their sound. It was, you know, country-sounding, as strange as that may seem today. I didn’t know that Radney had written this song; I just knew that I liked it (and sorry for all the chatter in this video, but hey, it was the best I could find):

Lest we forget that Radney Foster is also a performer, here are some songs from his solo album, “Del Rio, Texas, 1959″ (My, he looked much younger then!):

I’m kinda partial to this one:

And then there is this one, recorded by Sara Evans.

This song reminds me a lot of Texas in 1880. I think it was released around the time that I started to wean myself off of country music (not because of this song!), but it’s kind of the last good one that I remember hearing on the radio.

The thing that I find about Radney Foster’s songs is, melodically, they’re superior. I, in fact, at one point, looked up the chord progression for this song, and tried to incorporate it into one of my own. Well, that didn’t work.

What makes a good songwriter? Magic fairy dust? I don’t know. I still say, either you’ve got it or you don’t. You can’t force things like that. Unfortunately.

I watched a video interview with Radney, in which he said that he has written between 25 and 50 songs a year for at least thirty years. I can’t even comprehend that. Does he eat or sleep? Does he get any of that good exercise? I think he should get out and walk around a bit; stretch his legs; soak up a few rays. Man does not live by song scribbles and guitar chords alone. Does he?

Maybe writing 25-50 songs a year for thirty years makes one a master songwriter. But I truly think that if I wrote 25-50 songs in 30 years, I’d just have 750-1500 crappy songs. And what would be the point of that? How many crappy songs need to exist in this world? I’ll say one. One crappy song. Just to have something to contrast with the good ones.

And to prove that good songwriters beget good songwriters, here’s Radney’s version of you-know-who’s song:

I wonder how many people in this world consider themselves to be songwriters.

I’m thinking there’s a lot.

I’ve so far featured three singer-songwriters. Three damn good ones. (Not to confuse you. You’ve only read about two, but trust me, I’ve written about three. It’s just all out of order, because, well, that’s how I roll, apparently).

How many damn good ones are there? I’ll say you can count them on the fingers of two hands. Okay, maybe three. But how many people actually have three hands?

I don’t think songwriting is like a puzzle. It’s not as if you can work on it long enough and hard enough to crack it.

You either have it or you don’t.

Yes, I’ve used that phrase every time I’ve posted one of my “episodes”. That’s because it’s true.

I’ve called myself a songwriter for about nine years or so. And I’m thinking, nuts to that. I’m not going to crack the code.

Unlike Radney Foster, I haven’t written 25-50 songs per year. I frankly don’t have the subject matter. Some years, in fact, I probably wrote two. If it wasn’t for FAWM, I would be sitting at about number 13 at this point.

Oh, it’s not for lack of desire.

It’s for lack of ability.

I’m not trying to discourage anyone. But I will say, write for yourself.

If you like it, that’s really the only point there is. I still really like some of mine; not most of them, but some. I guess you had to be there (ha); you know, in my subconscious, to really “get them’. That’s, I guess, the problem.

I don’t even know what it is about us that makes us want to do this. It’s not for commerce. Because that would be the most doomed business enterprise ever created.

Can you imagine a storefront advertising songs for sale? Nobody would stop in. Or, if they did stop in, they’d say, oh, that’s okay; I’m just browsing. And then they’d surreptitiously make their way over to the door, and slither out.

There you’d be, following them around, wearing your nice white apron, asking, “Is there something I can help you with?” And they’d murmur, “I was just looking for something bright and shiny; you know, something I can dance to”.

“Well, I’ve got this song about love and loss”, you’d say. “Oh, that’s okay. I was kind of looking for something different. A little variety. I’m not really in the mood for love and loss today. I’ve already got a bunch of that at home.”

“Well, let me just play you this one. You’ll like it, I think.”

Then strum, strum, strum. Your three-minute intro.

And you look up, and they’re gone. Out the door.

You mutter to yourself, I don’t know what people want. Maybe I should have stayed in customer service. Maybe starting my own songwriting business wasn’t such a great idea. I guess people just don’t understand greatness.

At this point in my songwriting career (okay, I can call it a career if I want), I look at the songs I’ve written sort of like a diary. I think maybe only one or two of them are completely fictional.

I read something that another songwriter wrote on one of those songwriter sites, and I’m paraphrasing, because I’m really too lazy to go back and re-read it, but he said that every song he wrote had some personal truth in it, even if he had to go back afterwards and cover up all the tell-tale signs. I kind of like that.

Songwriters (at least the un-schlocky ones) are really telling their life stories.

The problem with that, commercially, is that most people don’t care about other people’s life stories. Not really. Even if you know somebody really well, you are sort of interested, but not as interested as you are in your own life.

So, it’s the rare (again, count ‘em on three hands, if you have them) songwriter who can transcend that complete and utter disinterest, and invoke some kind of recognition in the listener’s mind.

Either that, or the songs need to have a catchy beat.

I can go either way on that.

I’m being semi-facetious, but not really. For what is music, really, if not entertainment? What’s wrong with a nonsense song that’s infectious? I’ve got some of those guilty pleasures in my music collection, and I really like them.

That same songwriter that I referenced earlier (I think I’ll call him “Jed”) likes to talk about hearing music that touches his soul, or something like that. And I like that sometimes.

But sometimes, I’ve had a really crappy day, or a crappy week. My husband has lost his job (like a quarter of the population, apparently), and I’m worried about stuff like paying our bills, and insurance, and how we will survive when we’re old; that kind of fun stuff. And I don’t really want to hear some singer crying about…well, anything. I don’t need to listen to some sad song to make me feel sad. I’m already sad. I just want to forget my troubles for one measly hour of my life and hear something fun and mindless.

And, come to think of it, the few songs of mine that people say they actually like are those kinds of songs. Entertainment. No offense to Jed, but I don’t think the majority of people want to wallow.

So, what is the point of this post?

Well, it’s two-fold. Listening to great songwriters (and so far, there have been three, but there are many more to come), I realize that this just isn’t the gig for me.

I’m at a crossroads, and the road I’m traveling on right now is leading me toward just writing, but not songwriting.

Maybe I’ll change my mind later (probably), when I’m in a better frame of mind. But I’m thinking, why keep beating my head against the wall? It’s giving me a real headache, and I’ve got enough headaches already.

The other point is, let’s have fun!

I’m going to search my music collection for “fun” songs, and post a few here and now. The week has been long and difficult (for you, too?), so it’s time to kick back.

(Thank you, Dwight. I can always count on Dwight).

(Thank you, George. I used to always be able to count on George).

(Thanks, Marty. You’re a rock.)

I know I posted this one before, but I don’t care! If you don’t like this one, well, I guess you just don’t like country, and you just don’t care, and you just don’t really know what real country music is. Pity.

(My four go-to guys: Dwight, George, Marty, and Mark. George, you’re moving further down my list, but you still have time to rise to the challenge. I haven’t given up on you yet; at least not completely).

We’re not done.

And while we’re having fun, and throwing caution to the wind, let’s not forget this one:

Tomorrow (or sometime) I will post the sad songs. But not tonight.

Don’t forget, songwriters, that music is entertainment. We all just want to feel better; forget our troubles. So, while you’re pouring out your guts, and lamenting your life circumstance, everybody else doesn’t want to think about that.

I think that’s the best advice I can give.

Do you know Rodney Crowell? Well, you damn sure should.

This guy is like some kind of savant. Which just proves my point; it’s nature; not nurture.

I read Chinaberry Sidewalks, and I unequivocally recommend it! But how this guy, with this kind of childhood, became Rodney Crowell (okay, he always was Rodney Crowell, but you know what I mean) is utterly fascinating.

The first time I even became aware of Rodney was through Emmylou Harris’s album, Elite Hotel. To wit:

And then this guy’s name kept coming up.

Like here:

And again, here:

Here, too:

And here, he popped up again!

But it really wasn’t until 1988 that it began to sink in for me who Rodney Crowell really was. That’s because my radio started playing songs such as these:

And these:

And, Lord, this one:

Do you remember when you got your first CD player? After all those years of messing around with LP’s? And all the cursing and hair-pulling that went along with them?

Well, I do.

I guess that dates me, but so be it. I vaguely recall buying a CD player, but I distinctly recall getting a gift certificate from my sister for a free CD, and this is the one I bought (my very first CD):

Ah, Rodney. You hold an honored place in my memory of all things consequential, from buying the album, Elite Hotel, to buying my first ever CD.

That CD also had this one:

And now I don’t even play CD’s. Well, that shows you how time marches on. But that doesn’t negate the fact that you have garnered an honored place in the history of my life.

But, CD players aside, Rodney kept keeping on.

I don’t know how Rodney manages to break hearts, but he does.

THIS is what sets country apart. I don’t really care if you like or don’t like country music. Maybe it’s too real for most people to handle. I don’t know. But you know, life happens, whether one wants to deny it or not.

And it takes nothing less than a genius to deliver that to us.

Much like this:

And, finally, say what you will about Tim McGraw, but he knows how to pick good songs. This song is ultimately heartrending, as are the comments on the YouTube page. THIS is what makes a great songwriter. The comments on this page.

You really need to get to know Rodney Crowell.

I am fascinated by good songwriters, although, alas, I am not one. I’m not even sure I want to be one, at this point. A songwriter, I mean. I didn’t mean that I wouldn’t want to be a good songwriter. That would just be dumb.

I have thought about what makes a good songwriter.

And I believe the answer is…..nothing.

I know this will fly in the face of all those people who want you to part with your money; you know, to become a good songwriter. I have probably single-handedly just killed off a bunch of new start-ups, but c’mon; really. You know, Hank Williams didn’t go to “songwriting school”.

I think either you have it or you don’t.

Oh, I’m not saying you can’t get better. My theory is, one can get better at pretty much anything, except math.

But “better” is a far cry from “good”.

So, my criteria for what makes a good songwriter are these:

1. Intelligence (both lyrical and melodic)
2. Having something to say (surprise!)

Okay, that about sums it up.

Therefore, I tonight begin my series, “The Singer-Songwriter”. This is not to snub the non-singing songwriters, but let’s face it…..Unless you’re a celebrity, you really don’t matter (ha).

No, I may at some point feature some non-singing songwriters. In fact, I’m sure I will. And I’m not really sure which category Kris Kristofferson belongs in (I’m just teasing Kris).

And I’m going with my favorites, because this is my blog, and thus, my prerogative.

So, Singer-Songwriter #1 is Don Henley.

It’s quite an honor, I know, Don, to be the debuting star of this series, and I’m sure you’ll just be all crabby about it, and think it’s part of some conspiracy, and wonder where your share of the earnings are, but really it’s an honor just to be nominated. Isn’t it?

(Okay, let’s get this out of way right now: Don is not making it easy for me to feature him, because the Eagles notoriously do not make their videso available online. Therefore, we’re going with the bootlegs and other assorted things that I can find. Thanks, Don.)

But let’s start where we should start, shall we?

My favorite, and I apologize for the poor video quality:

My new theme song!….

No performance video of this, but let’s talk about cutting right to the heart of the matter (yea, I get the irony of what I just said):

We got the bubbleheaded bleach-blonde
Comes on at 5
She can tell you about the plane crash
With a gleam in her eye
It’s interesting when people die
Give us dirty laundry

(c) Don Henley

Remember when the days were long
And rolled beneath a deep blue sky
Didn’t have a care in the world
With mommy and daddy standing by
When happily ever after fails
And we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers dwell on small details
Since daddy had to fly
But I know a place where we can go
That’s still untouched by man
We’ll sit and watch the clouds roll by
And the tall grass wave in the wind
You can lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair fall all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence
O’ beautiful, for spacious skies
But now those skies are threatening
They’re beating plowshares into swords
For this tired old man that we elected king
Armchair warriors often fail
And we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers clean up all details
Since daddy had to lie
But I know a place where we can go
And was away this sin
We’ll sit and watch the clouds roll by
And the tall grass wave in the wind
Just lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair spill all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence
Who knows how long this will last
Now we’ve come so far, so fast
But, somewhere back there in the dust
That same small town in each of us
I need to remember this
So baby give me just one kiss
And let me take a long last look
Before we say good bye
Just lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair fall all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence

(c) Don Henley

Listen and learn, wannabe songwriters. This is your competition.

Regardless of what the Dude says, I love the Eagles. And Don Henley. A good choice, if I do say so myself, for the first featured singer-songwriter in my series.

I thought I would do something a bit different tonight. That is, review an album while listening to it for the first time.

I imagine this is what “real” music reviewers do ~ write their review while listening for the first time. Because, face it, it’s the first and ONLY time they will listen, since they’ve got a lot of irons in the fire, and they have to MOVE ON!

Music reviewing must be a really tedious job. Oh sure, we all listen to music, and we think, it would be so COOL to review albums for a living. It wouldn’t be! We’re only thinking about the GOOD albums, and how many of those are there, really?

No, they have to slog through a pile of smoldering garbage every day, and write something coherent. And that’s just the COUNTRY albums! Can you imagine having to listen to that POP stuff? At least country songs have a story one can comment on, when all else fails. The pop songs simply repeat the same line over and over and over. No wonder all the reviewers are half-insane, and are thus, Democrats.

So, here I am; Friday night. I bought Here For a Good Time a week ago, and have just now clawed off the cellophane wrapper.

As you know, I do not listen to country radio, and therefore, I didn’t even know what the lead-off single was, until I looked it up. Pathetic? Maybe? (I mean me; not the single.) But it gives me that innocent perspective, so I have no hidden agenda, other than the fact that I have been a rabid fan of George Strait since sometime back in the dark ages.

One would think that this fact would make me LOVE every little thing that George does. Au contraire. It, in fact, makes me even TOUGHER on George, since I expect a damn lot out of him. And to be frank, George has been letting me down for a few years now.

But let’s see, shall we? I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

1. Love’s Gonna Make It Alright (sic)

Aside from the misspelling of “all right”, this song seems tired. Even though he’s taking his gal out dancing, and even though he tells her she can throw her cares on the floor, poor George seems bored with this track. And no wonder. The writing is uninspired; a few well-worn themes tossed together to create a salad of lethargy. Probably not the best choice of tracks to start the album, if one is looking for a bit of peppy excitement, but then again, George hasn’t been peppy for awhile now. C-

2. Drinkin’ Man

The song was co-written by Bubba Strait and go-to guy Dean Dillon. The story flows nicely; it’s a stream of thought narrative about the life and hard times of a man lost to alcohol, but the song would have benefited from more melodic variation. However, it accomplishes its goal of setting a melancholy mood. (Side note: the singer doesn’t remember when or where he met his one true love. Really? Most people do. Maybe the booze killed off some brain cells.) B-

3. Shame On Me

The shortest track on the album is also one of the best. It’s a two-step shuffle; nothing profound, but it clearly is the style in which George is most comfortable, and that is evident in his performance. Perhaps that is also because George co-wrote the song with good ole Bubba again. At least Bubba got George to start writing. And perhaps George should begin to depend upon himself more when choosing songs for his albums. Or at least be a bit more picky. B+

4. Poison

George seems to be on a drinking kick (sonically) on this album. “Poison” is actually a bit better than track #2. Melodically, it outshines the afore-mentioned track; and it’s more philosophical than self-pitying. One has to admire the craft in the lines: “You can learn to love anything; even a bird in a cage will sing…a song”. But maybe that’s just the writer in me…. B

5. Here For a Good Time

I could probably do without the Casio keyboard that opens this song; nevertheless, THIS should have been the opening track on the album. “I’m not here for a long time; I’m here for a good time”. THAT would set the tone. Another song written by the Strait boys, with Dean Dillon. It’s apparent why this song was chosen to be the first single. It fits the George Strait groove; you know that one; the one we’ve known since nineteen eighty-mumble-something. I’ve told George for YEARS ~ skip the ballads; stick with the up-tempo numbers. But does George listen to me? No! A-

6. House Across the Bay

What is this? And does Dean Dillon just hang out with George and Bubba every day? Does he live next door? I guess this is about some lady that George lost (fictionally). But why is he not living in the house across the bay? Did he rent it out? I suppose, in this economy, it’s difficult to unload real estate. This song confuses me. And for that, along with the fact, that it’s sort of like one of those songs I write and crumple up and toss in the garbage, I give it a….. D+

7. Lone Star Blues

Delbert McClinton is a good writer, so I’m thinking this is one he had in one of those pocket portfolios, and when he heard that George Strait was recording a new album, he thought, hey, this one is about Texas! And you know how egotistical those Texas people are! Maybe I can unload this one on George! And, sure enough, he did! I got bored listening to all the verses of this song. Who can’t write a song like this? I’ve got a Texas song, too, and it’s actually a bit more clever than this one. If only I lived next door to George. C-

8. A Showman’s Life

The showman’s life is a hard life. And all that money just creates even more misery. HINT: Don’t sing about how hard your life is, when you are set for life. Most people aren’t. They won’t show you any sympathy. Even with minor chords. Kudos on the harmonies by Faith Hill, though. She needs the work, so thanks for helping to alleviate the unemployment problem. C-

9. Three Nails and a Cross

How many writers does it take to write a song? Well, four, I have learned tonight. How many writers does it take to write a good song? I’ll say, two more. The title can’t help but remind one of the song, “Three Wooden Crosses”, which is far superior. But that’s what happens when one tries to jump on the bandwagon; albeit a bandwagon that pulled out of the station many years earlier. D- (for the obvious pandering)

10. Blue Marlin Blues

Dean Dillon stopped by for coffee one day, and said, “Hey! How about this? Wanna try to come up with something to fit this title?” Sure, said Bubba and George. “We’re up for basically anything!” Thus, this song was borned. Maybe if you live in Florida, and go fishing a lot, this song will resonate with you. If you DON’T live in Florida, then I say, hey, how about “Walleye Blues”? That would make a hell of a lot more sense to me than this. And I still wouldn’t really care for it. And don’t try that organ stuff. Just leave that to Dwight. At least he incorporates the organ sound into some really GOOD songs. D

11. I’ll Always Remember You

“It all started back in 1981.” It did, didn’t it? George, this isn’t your swan song, is it? We all get older, and things change. But we have to keep trying to stay interested. The worst thing is to give in and give up. And, George, if there are still things that you want to say and do, is this really how you want to leave things? Of course not. C-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, it was really a slog to listen to this whole CD and write about it. I don’t think I would try this exercise again.

I haven’t averaged it out, but I’m guessing it would come out to be about a C. And, you know, I won’t ever listen to this CD again. Just like the last one, which was called…….something that I can’t remember.

I’ve bought every one of George’s CD’s. Every one. And I didn’t want to break the chain, so I bought this one, too. But, to be frank, the last CD’s of George’s that I actually enjoyed were Pure Country and especially, Easy Come, Easy Go. Buy those.

George was apparently too tired to create a music video for his latest release, so I guess, watch the pretty picture, and enjoy “Here For a Good Time”: