Different Perspectives: Toby Keith and Conway Twitty
tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070624/ENTERTAINMENT01/706240307/1005/RSS04″>Toby Keith:
But he still feels that he hasn’t been given the respect he deserves on Music Row, especially by Country Music Association awards voters. He’s been nominated 27 times but has taken home only two awards: top male vocalist in 2001 and top music video in 2005.
“The very same two years I swept through the ACMs and had entertainer of the year twice, I was sitting on the front of the CMAs getting zero,” he said.
He said he doesn’t know why. “You tell me,” he said. Is it because he’s not liked? “I don’t care; it never mattered.
“The hardest people to answer to was your fans,” he said. “It just makes you question the integrity of a system where the person who has the biggest year and is most nominated and has outperformed and been the No. 1 ticket seller, which I was in that time, to walk out 0 for 16.”
Because of these experiences, Keith said, he won’t attend any future CMA awards shows.
(H/T: The 9513 )
And though his pairing with Loretta Lynn was one of the most celebrated duets in history, he never complained that the Country Music Association never recognized him with an award for his accomplishments as a solo artist. “Each one of my fans is enough of an award for me,” he’d say.
AP: You do a lot of shows for the troops overseas. Have you ever had any close calls?
Keith: I set the standard for other artists to go there. I want the troops coming home and talking about where they saw me and they can’t believe I was there. Maybe other acts will be inspired to do it, but I don’t want to scare them off either.
Conway TwittyIn the early rock days when he was barely clearing enough money to cover expenses, Twitty was approached at a truck stop by a man asking for $20 so he and his pregnant wife could buy enough gas to return home. Twitty gave the man $200. Years later, Twitty and his children were dining at a restaurant in Oklahoma City when a man asked to speak to the star. Twitty’s children watched their father talking quietly with the man, and saw him grow misty eyed as the man handed their father an envelope.
Despite Twitty’s insistence that the money was a gift, the man from the truck stop was determined to repay him. Charitable endeavors were something rarely discussed. “If you have to talk about it, it’s not from the heart,” Twitty would say.
I had been noticing the trend in Toby’s self entitlement schlep, but its interesting to see put up against similar circumstances from an obviously great man.
Good job pulling up the Conway quotes, Kevin. I liked Toby Keith, but his attitude has really started irritating me lately. The sense of entitlement, the whining, the stupid album titles; it’s all annoying.
Thank you Kevin. It’s about time somebody put this man-child in his place. You’d need a cheese factory to keep up with Toby these days. And over what? He’s so abused. Right. And I’ll go a step further with it too. He wants to whine that the pop-country crap he doles out to the world once a year is so very award worthy. May I point out that, along with Conway, he should consider himself in good company. During his years with Rick Rubin, and the American Records, Johnny Cash did not exist to these slanted and biased award shows. He wasn’t even nominated. Wasn’t mentioned. And did we see Johnny crying? Hell no. We saw his full page ad in Rolling Stone, the picture from San Quentin, and his “heartfelt” thanks to the Nashville establishment. Look that one up. And send a copy to Toby. Grow up, Big Dog Daddy. Stop being such a pup, and try to be the “MAN” you want so desperatly for us all to believe you are.
Times and attitudes have changed and trecent generations of people (not just recording artists) are less polite, less civil and more in-your-face than would have been acceptable when young Harold Jenkins was growing up. If Conway Twitty were born 30 years later, he too might sound like Toby Keith. If the Dixie Chicks were 30 years older, their complaints might have sounded more like those of Skeeter Davis.
I agree with Mike Whitaker’s sentiment when he says ” Grow up, Big Dog Daddy. Stop being such a pup, and try to be the “MAN” you want so desperatly for us all to believe you are.” but I would extend that sentiment to the Dixie Chicks, Michael Moore, Howard Stern and Ann Coulter (and many many others) as well
Kevin,
The touching story you brought up about Conway fot me to thinking about an old Johnny Cash story, and I thought you might enjoy it as much as we enjoyed the one about Conway. Tommy Cash, Johnny’s younger brother, told this one in the book “Ring of Fire: A Tribute To Johnny Cash”
“In 1976, I did a whole year with “The Johnny Cash Show”, I opened and emceed the show during the bicentennial year. It was the Carters and myself, and sometimes Carl Perkins, sometimes Gordon Terry, and sometimes other people on the show.
We were at the University of Wisconsin – I think at the Eau Claire branch. I was in the dressing room with John, which was the men’s locker room. I saw him walking up down the aisles, looking in the lockers. The lockers had little square holes where you could look in the top of them and see what was in the locker.
I saw him looking, and I said, “What are you doing?” He said, “Aw, nothin’.” Then I saw him stop, roll up a bill, put it through a hole, and drop it into somebody’s tennis shoes. I said, “What did you do?” He said, “Well, it doesn’t matter.” I said, “No, tell me. What were you doing?” He said, “Well, I was looking gor the guy that had the oldest, raggediest tennis shoes and gym clothes. I dropped a hundred-dollar bill in his tennis shoes.”
That’s true Johnny, isn’t it? Always for the underdog. I have to wonder if the guy who found that bill ever realized where it came from, and I somehow doubt that mattered to him or to Johnny. Anybody else got some stories like that from our legends? They always find a way to keep me inspired, and I hope they do the same for you.
I do not understand why Toby Keith has not received the recognition I truly believe he deserves. He is an outstanding performer, his vedios as well as his voice are top of the line. So if he expresses himself what’s the big deal? I take my hat off to that. I am his biggest and oldest fan and wish him all the luck he deserves