Comments on: 100 Greatest Men: #41. Ronnie Milsap

By: Ben Foster

Ben Foster — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 12:40:23 +0000

It’s definitely a much more competitive list than 100 Greatest Women – That’s for sure. Personally, I think #41 out of 100 ain’t bad.

By: Erik North

Erik North — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 02:54:29 +0000

Thirty-five #1 hits on the country charts, several of which crossed over onto the pop charts…plus he sessioned with Elvis. Now if that ain’t impressive, you tell me what is.

By: caj

caj — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 15:29:28 +0000

This is way, way too low for Milsap.

He is one of my favorite singers and musicians. Such an amazing talent that appealed to many genres of music.

I’ll add my favorites: Only One Love in My Life, What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life, and Pure Love.

By: Chad

Chad — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 06:05:05 +0000

I too am surprised by his lower ranking on here, especially given his top three ranking for #1 singles in the genre, the length of his career, and the impact he made on stars of the time and the future. But, I also recognize that this is the men’s list, and country music has also been a men’s game so moving up in this ranking is a bigger feat of notoriety and impact, fair or not.

By: Paul W Dennis

Paul W Dennis — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 05:10:18 +0000

The quintessential Ronnie Milsap song is “Pure Love”. How can you not like a song with a lyric like ‘milk and honey and Cap’n Crunch and you in the morning’

I was aa big Milsap fan through about 1980; after that, not so much.

By: Leeann Ward

Leeann Ward — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 04:40:40 +0000

My favorite Milsap songs are “Pure Love”, “Smokey Mountain Rain”, What A Difference You’ve Made in My Life” and “Lost in the 50s Tonight.”

By: J.R. Journey

J.R. Journey — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 03:30:34 +0000

I am a bit surprised at Milsap’s low ranking given the scope of his influence and talents, but there ya go …

Bob, I had nearly forgotten “Houston Solution”. Thanks for bringing it to my attention again. Love that song!

By: Ben Foster

Ben Foster — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 02:50:12 +0000

It seems almost every discussion of likely future Hall of Fame inductees includes mention of Ronnie Milsap. He could end up getting in very soon – you never know.

Some of Milsap’s eighties crossover efforts feel a tad slick for my taste, but I enjoy quite a few of his songs, including “Daydreams About Night Things” and “Smoky Mountain Rain,” plus I’m a bit of a sucker for the sweeping self-pity of “It Was Almost Like a Song.”

By: bob

bob — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 01:44:15 +0000

Oops! I see you had the “Legend” song already. Age is my excuse for missing the first song on your list.

By: bob

bob — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 01:38:29 +0000

I can’t argue with any of your choices for essential singles but he had so many other great songs. Some additional favorites of mine include “I’d Be a Legend in My Time”, “Stranger in My House”, “Inside”, “Nobody Likes Sad Songs” and “Houston Solution”. Don Schlitz sang “Houston Solution” at his last Bluebird Cafe show a few weeks ago. He co-wrote it with Paul Overstreet.

Re the albums, I would add his 2006 cd, “My Life”. It didn’t produce any hit singles but every song was good.

Why isn’t Ronnie Milsap in the country music hall of fame? Looking at the names of the inductees, I find it hard to believe he still hasn’t been selected. I was lucky enough to see him do a show at Westbury in the late 80′s. He was great. He has a good sense of humor too. His joke about driving the bus may have been predictable but it still got a lot of laughs.