Comments on: 100 Greatest Men: #89. Sawyer Brown

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:45:40 +0000

Sawyer Brown is one of my all-time favorite country bands, right there with Alabama and Restless Heart. A great song that they did and one nobody probably has heard, is “Another Side” off the Six Days On the Road album. It’s a song about the civil war, if you haven’t heard it then go listen to it immediately.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 18:55:13 +0000

I agree with the last two that Miller’s voice is very good (and distinctive), but not in the same class as Marty Raybon (and I also have an affinity for Henry Paul’s voice as well). My favorite Sawyer Brown song is probably still Cafe Down On The Corner, although I really like The Walk and This Time as well.

By: Mike K

Mike K — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 18:52:10 +0000

They may be campy, but I always liked Mark Miller’s dance moves. I think they put video to great use in building their success as a group. I saw them just a couple years ago and they still put on a great show. Apart from the songs mentioned, I always liked there version of “This Night Won’t Last Forever.”

By: Jon G.

Jon G. — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:50:53 +0000

I do think Miller is highly underrated, but in my mind, he isn’t in the same league as Raybon or Dunn (I don’t really place much of anybody in that category). Maybe Larry Stewart, whom I also feel is undervalued as a vocalist.

I concur about the Mac McAnally tunes’ being Sawyer Brown’s best, as well as the general consensus that the second stage of their career was better than the first.

By: Paul Dennis

Paul Dennis — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:47:49 +0000

Their second act definitely was better than their first, alhough some of the early Sawyer Brown material (“Step That Step” and “Leona”) does fall into the category of “guilty pleasures” that I still go back and liste to every now and then

As Jonathan noted, their very best material was that penned by Mac McAnally. While I wouldn’t put Mark Miller’s voice up there with Marty Raybon, he certainly matches up to Ronnie Dunn and the various vocalists for groups such as Exile and Restless Heart

By: Leeann Ward

Leeann Ward — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 03:07:17 +0000

Mark Miller has a strange, but cool voice. “The Walk” is my favorite SB song, but they’ve got a ton of great ones.

By: Travis in VIrginia

Travis in VIrginia — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:20:13 +0000

Thanks for this, I had forgotten about alot of their songs and went a youtubed their 90;s. Those songs took me back to when I was a kid and really just made my day! I miss those days!

By: Travis McClain

Travis McClain — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:19:17 +0000

We had their Shakin' album on cassette and played the hell out of it in the car. Mind you, we didn't have a tape player built into the car; we used a portable tape deck and turned it all the way up. My brother loves dogs, and being the spoiler, so he immediately latched onto "Billy Does Your Bulldog Bite," which he insisted we play over and over. The rest of the album is pretty fun, too, including "Betty's Being Bad," "Out Goin' Cattin'" and the titular "Shakin'." I always gave the band points for the Cincinnati Reds ball cap prominently worn on the Shakin' album cover.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 22:19:14 +0000

My favorite of Sawyer Brown’s songs where those written by Mac McAnally including “Cafe On The Corner,” “All These Years,” and “Thank God For You.” McAnally is a master at writing simple yet thought-provoking country songs.

“Cafe” is the perfect example of what a country song should be – a socially conscious story song that spoke to the current climate of America. Songs like that are sorely missing from country radio today.

I’ve always enjoyed Mark Miller’s voice – he can do uptempo songs with a great energy yet turn around and produce some very tender moments with ballads. His delivery on songs like “All These Years” and “Treat Her Right” made him a delight to listen to in the 90s. He never got the acclaim of, say, a Ronnie Dunn, but he’s just as good. I would put Miller and Marty Raybon in the same category of underrated voices.

I’m glad to see Sawyer Brown getting their due on this list. I’m betting that most people wouldn’t think to look deeper than “Some Girls Do” or “Thank God For You” to find their real worth. Radio (including Sirius/XM’s Prime Country) has all but ignored their best material which is a real shame. They had more standout moments in their career than most of their contemporaries.

I can’t say I care for any of their music post- Drive Me Wild, but they have some really classic moments worth celebrating. The only song of their’s I cannot stand is “Step That Step.” The 80s sheen is too much for me.