Given the current mainstream climate, it’s been a while since I’ve felt able to heap unfettered praise on a piece of country music here, and that frankly bums me out a bit. So in the spirit of un-bumming, I’m going to share ten country songs from the 70′s on that I find absolutely flawless – my “Perfect 10″ – and I invite you to do the same. It’s a simple enough concept – you could just think of it as Recommend a Track times 10 plus a punny name.

Still, I suspect the outcome could be really interesting if everybody puts in the effort to pick ten songs that they consider the absolute cream of the crop. We’re talking all-time best material here, whatever “all-time” happens to mean to you. You don’t have to rank them, and they don’t have to be your definitive top ten; I sure wouldn’t be able to produce that list without a lot more thought. They just have to be up there – the kind of songs that you love fully and deeply, that still engage and surprise you after countless listens.

Most of the ten I’ve picked below are pretty well-known. Feel free to go as popular or as obscure as you like – great music is great music!

In chronological order:

Bobbie Gentry, “Ode to Billie Joe”

I’ve never heard anything else like this. Even if you ignore the compelling Southern Gothic mystery the song serves up in just over four minutes, there’s so much magic in the writing itself. The intense attention to detail doesn’t just paint a vivid picture; it serves an actual literary kind of purpose, illustrating the insensitivity of the narrator’s family. I miss songs with subtexts.

Loretta Lynn, “Fist City”

“Fist City” is in the inner circle of big Loretta hits, but it usually has its spotlight stolen by more topically revolutionary numbers like “Don’t Come Home A Drinkin’” or “The Pill.” But no longer! This saucy prelude to a catfight could be her most tightly-written anthem ever, with a killer hook and excellent one-liners all around. “The man I love, when he picks up trash, he puts it in a garbage can. And that’s what you look like to me.” Damn!

John Denver, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”

Call it musical comfort food. Denver’s stuff was never good for extremists: the hardcore folkies found it too simplistic and starry-eyed to be intellectually palatable, while the hardcore country fans found it too poppy to have any hillbilly integrity. If you ask me, those arguments were more about context than substance. This single seamlessly blends its folk, pop and country sensibilities, and Denver’s soaring voice can sell this kind of romanticized lyric all day.

Jerry Jeff Walker, “Gettin’ By”

Another helping of comfort food. This here’s a take-it-easy anthem with a similar vibe to “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” but with less potential to annoy you.

Merle Haggard, “If We Make It Through December”

The kind of understated song that speaks for itself and doesn’t try to sound more important than it really is, which is charming, since this song’s sentiment is actually more significant than a lot of songs which employ a more dramatic approach. Haggard’s writing here is also proof that specificity of storytelling often makes a song that much more relatable.

Alabama, “Dixieland Delight”

What can I say; I love the feel-good anthems. I have to admit that I mostly included this because I wanted to give the 80′s at least one song and it was the first thing that came to mind, so it may be a tier lower than some of the others in terms of my love. But I don’t think these guys get enough credit for the legitimately good country-rock stuff they did.

Mary Chapin Carpenter, “Why Walk When You Can Fly”

Easily the most obscure thing on this list, this gorgeous album opener was released as a single and peaked at #45. I first heard this while driving to Kroger at night and just about pulled over so I could listen properly.

Dixie Chicks, “Long Time Gone”

If there is any justice whatsoever in the country music world, historians will remind the public hung up on “the incident” that the Chicks also produced some of the best singles of their time, especially with this Darrell Scott-penned beaut. What a masterwork.

Josh Turner, “Long Black Train”

I reached a point in life last year where my religious beliefs just seemed to fall out from underneath me, and I’ve been pretty much undecided on that front since. Incredibly, it’s only made me appreciate Turner’s spiritual beckon even more, which is a testament, I think, to how substantially it presents its point-of-view. And gosh, does it ever sound good. Josh oughta crack open that Hank Williams box set more often.

Nickel Creek, “This Side”

This was one of the key songs that hooked me for good into country music, so I had to include it. The writing is more abstract pop-rock than anything else, but the pulsating instrumentation is so sweet that you’re a fool if you care one way or the other. Listen to this with a good pair of headphones and hear the world unfold.

As soon as possible after depositing my chair and blanket between a large stack of hay bales and the largest speaker I could find, I split for the side stages. With fewer people on the grounds, I finally realized how big the Festival actually was—it was huge!  It had everything, from a CMT sing-a-long tent to a bucking bronco ride. It even had an abhorrent t-shirt tent full of homophobic and xenophobic t-shirts (an anomaly at an otherwise pretty classy event).  Thankfully, on Day Two I also discovered the heart of the Festival: the bands playing in the two large tents off to the side of the Mane stage. The crowds weren’t nearly as large—at the beginning of the day, the large airy tents were mostly empty—but the smattering of hay bales were packed, the audience enthusiastic and the artists often times more talented than their famous peers on the Mane stage.

My first act of the day on the Palomino Stage was James Intveld, an artist I had previously never heard of. As such, I did a slight double take when Intveld walked out on stage. With his slicked back hair, old-fashioned black suit with white piping and arm slung around the back of his guitar, my first thought was: Johnny Cash impersonator? He’s not. What he is, is a very talented artist with a strong voice and a broad range of styles. He moved easily between rockabilly, honkytonk and Southern California country rock. And with songs like “This Place Ain’t What It Used to Be,” “All the Way From Memphis” and “Cry Baby,” a song he wrote for Rosie Flores, Intveld was the perfect way to start the day.

On stage immediately after Intveld was The Duhks (pronounced “ducks”) from Winnepeg, Canada. Although I had previously not heard their music, I fell at least halfway in love with The Duhks halfway through their opening number, “Mighty Storm,” when fiddler Tania Elizabeth suddenly went into a fiddle breakdown. Seemingly in her own world half the time, swaying to the music, she was incredible. The only person more intriguing in The Duhks is lead singer Sarah Dugas. What a voice. Strong and bluesy, she carried the band across a multitude of languages and a fusion of musical styles. Unlike the traditional bluegrass coming from the Mustang Stage, The Duhks are impossible to classify as anything other than extremely talented. For a nearly an hour, I was entranced by their songs, which included “95 South,” “Fast Paced World,” “You Don’t See It” and “Les Blues De Cadien/Whole Lotta Love.”

Once again proving that country music knows few boundaries, Jerry Jeff Walker took to the Palomino Stage after The Duhks. He could not have been more different in appearance and style, but, in addition to the new fans that flocked to the stage to see him, many of the same folks who checked out the Duhks and Intveld stuck around to check him out. I didn’t catch Walker’s entire performance, but it’s clear the man is a legend, and his concerts a lot of fun. Essentially, a Jerry Jeff Walker concert is like hanging out in your favorite Irish pub. The entire audience not only knows the words, but they know their parts and when to chime in. As I walked out, I wasn’t sure who was doing more singing—the audience or Walker himself.

By the time I arrived back at my chair in front of the Mane Stage, the sun was high in the sky. While not quite as hot as Coachella last weekend, Day Two of Stagecoach was definitely a bit of a scorcher, and it was going to take a lot of work by the Zac Brown Band to get the sunburned and slightly lethargic audience to its feet. Fortunately, the Zac Brown Band was up to the challenge. Equal parts college jam band and seasoned pros, the Zac Brown Band thoroughly entertained the audience from the opening “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” to the closing “Chicken Fried,” which earned perhaps the biggest sing-a-long of the Festival. In between, ZBB threw in some Bob Marley (“One Love”) a lot of coconut-fried Kenny Cheesiness (“Toes,” “Where The Boat Leaves From”), and a healthy dose of feel good earnestness (“Free,” “Highway 20 Ride” and “Whatever It is”). I don’t know if ZBB will ever make it big, but they can surely put on a fun show.

Lady Antebellum took to the stage next and picked up where the ZBB left off. I’ve never been a huge Lady A fan, but their catchy R&B flavored pop-rock tunes were ridiculously enjoyable on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood kept the audience rockin’ with a number of the songs from their self-titled debut album, including “Lookin’ for a Good Time,” Loves Lookin’ Good On You,” “Slow Down Sister,” and “I Run to You.”  Scott took the tentative lead on “Home is Where the Heart Is” and “All We’d Ever Need,” but it must be said that Kelly is the bona fide star of Lady A. In addition to a magnetic stage presence, his deep and raspy voice has soul and power. While Scott holds her own, her slightly off-key twang definitely sounds best when complementing Kelley. By the time Lady A closed their set with “Love Don’t Live Here,” I got the strange feeling that along with Miranda Lambert, they’re going to show up the main attraction (Chesney) on tour this summer.

Rounding out my first Stagecoach Festival experience was Miranda Lambert.  Compared to Lady A, I had high expectations for Lambert, and, for the most part, she didn’t disappoint. Dressed in aviator sunglasses and tight blue jeans, Miss Thang kicked off her set with “Kerosene” and a lot of attitude.  Lambert continued with a nearly twang-free version of “Guilty in Here” and then picked up her acoustic guitar for “New Strings.”  Lambert killed her new single, “Dead Flowers,” but her trademark growl is growing increasingly more hard rock than country.  She continued growling through “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and “Down,” before stepping back to Lindale and bringing out “Famous in a Small Town,” one of my all-time favorites.  A nice segment in the middle of the set featured “More Like Her,” “Me and Charlie Talkin’” and “Dry Town,” but the calm interlude didn’t last.  

In addition to “Dead Flowers,” Lambert introduced another song from her new album coming out in September, which she dedicated to “all the rockers” in the audience.  The lyrics were difficult to understand, but musically the dedication said it all.  Lambert also turned to “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” to supplement her own material, and tapped into her inner soul for rousing renditions of “Stay With Me” by the British rock group (featuring Rod Stewart), Faces, and “In the Midnight Hour”  by Wilson Pickett.  If Miranda’s vocals, cover choices and first two songs are any indication, her next album is destined to be a straight up rocker.  I’m looking forward to the album regardless of its direction, but I have to admit that while not completely fair, I’m already feeling little nostalgic for the old Miranda.  We shall see.

Since I had to be in the office bright and early Monday morning, I didn’t stick around to see Kid Rock and Kenny Chesney.  No big loss in my book, although I did gain a certain morbid curiousity about the former as the night wore on (especially to see how the throngs of non-cowboy boot wearin’ fans that arrived soon before he took the stage mingled with the country folk). 

All in all, I had a fantastic time. Festivals are brutal, but they are a great way to take country music’s temperature.  My only regrets of the festival were missing the Infamous Stringdusters, Poco and Jim Lauderdale. Maybe next year…

I was glad to see such a nice turnout this week. It reminds me that I really ought to thank the boys at The 9513 here for continually linking to this feature, which seems especially appropriate since this was Texas week. Thanks, y’all!

Since this is the first week and there wasn’t much variation in scores, I’m just going to list the folks who scored perfectly:

pselby | Mike K | Brody | sarah | amu | Sam G | Kelly

The answers have been added, plus clips so you can sample the artists you’re unfamiliar with, and your comments should be visible now. See you next week – bring your bluegrass caps!

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Country Quizzin’ is back for its fourth month, and this time, the whole month is going to be united around one overarching theme: sub-classifications or “relative” genres of country music. I’ve tended to ask a lot of questions about mainstream country over the past three months, but I think it’s important that any informed country music fan have a well-rounded understanding of the genre.

Therefore, I’m going to dedicate a quiz each week this month to one of the following: Texas country, bluegrass, rockabilly, and country rock (which I define to include a lot of what is now commonly called alt-country), all of which have ties to country music but are very much their own musical beasts. Because these subjects will be new to many readers, I encourage you all to study them beforehand to help you do better on the quizzes and for your own enrichment (but as always, please no cheating during the quizzes themselves).

This particular week we’re starting slow, so you’re just testing your knowledge of eight essential Texas country artists, both past and present.

You have until 10 EST (try not to be late!), and answers/rankings/comments will be revealed at 10:30.

Oh, and as always, there is a $20 Amazon gift certificate waiting at the end of the tunnel for this month’s lucky winner…which could be you!

Without further ado:

For each blurb, please name the artist described.

1. One of the bedrock artists of the Texas music scene, he ironically hails originally from Upstate New York. He is most widely-known as the composer of the now-legendary “Mr. Bojangles”; however, Texas fans regard cuts like “Gettin’ By” and “Sangria Wine” as classics, too.

Jerry Jeff Walker

2. Currently signed to a very successful Nashviille indie label, this fella had been going at it for about a decade down in Texas before mainstream success came his way. I won’t name any songs – that would make it too obvious – but I will mention that Todd Snider recently told Texas fans in an open letter that “y’all are spoiled rotten with talent, and it’s my opinion that [this artist] is your current flagship. So land ho [expletive]s.”

Jack Ingram

3. A country-rocker with too many credits to list here, but here’s one nice highlight: he helped found the Flatlanders. His first name has the same number of letters as his last, and the most recent album he appears on is called Live Cactus!

Joe Ely

4. This gal became a “Texas” artist somewhat involuntarily, as critical consensus holds that by all proper logic, she should have broken through in Nashville when she was signed to MCA. At least now, Texas fans have recognized her smart blend of country and other genre styles and embraced her. It helps that she’s married to another Texan celebrity. That probably gives it away.

Kelly Willis (husband is Bruce Robison)

5. Formed in Oregon and named after an infamous bank robber, this band produces hard-driving rock tunes with tasteful country flourishes. They just won the Austin Music Award for Best Country Band, plus a LoneStarMusic Award for Best Album Artwork.

Reckless Kelly

6. One of the artists who got the whole interest in Texas music started through his part in developing the Outlaw Movement there, and probably the most iconic figure in country music history who isn’t named Hank Williams.

I meant Willie Nelson, but wasn’t specific, so I also accepted Waylon Jennings.

7. Had the first nationally successful “Texan” country song, a little something you may have heard of called “Walking the Floor Over You.”

Ernest Tubb

8. Currently sitting at #1 on the Texas chart with their current single, this group was recently nominated for ACM Top New Vocal Group, although they lost out to Zac Brown Band. Their name is not actually a reflection of one person, as is typical, but of two.

Eli Young Band

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Playlist of featured artists:

While the Grammys have honored country music from the very first ceremony in 1959, they did not begin honoring by gender until 1965, when the country categories were expanded along with the other genre categories. This year, the 45th trophy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance will be awarded.

In a continuation of our Grammy Flashback series, here is a rundown of the Best Country Vocal Performance, Male category. It was first awarded in 1965, and included singles competing with albums until the Best Country Album category was added in 1995. When an album is nominated, it is in italics, and a single track is in quotation marks.

As usual, we start with a look at this year’s nominees and work our way back. Be sure to vote in My Kind of Country’s Best Male Country Vocal Performance poll and let your preference for this year’s race be known!

2009

• Trace Adkins, “You’re Gonna Miss This”
• Jamey Johnson, “In Color”
• James Otto, “Just Got Started Lovin’ You”
• Brad Paisley, “Letter to Me”
• George Strait, “Troubadour”

As with the album race, this year’s contenders for Best Male Country Vocal Performance are a combination of unrecognized veterans and promising newcomers. In fact, none of this year’s nominees have won in this category, and only one of them – Brad Paisley – has a Grammy at all.

First, the veterans. Paisley has numerous ACM and CMA victories to his credit, including two each for Male Vocalist.  Although he’s been nominated for this award twice before, this is the first time he’s contended with a cut that can’t be dismissed as a novelty number. The touching self-penned “Letter to Me” is his best shot yet at taking this home.

Trace Adkins has been at this a bit longer than Paisley, but this is his first Grammy nomination. His crossover exposure from Celebrity Apprentice might help him out here, along with the fact that the song was considered strong enough by voters to earn a nomination of its own.

But the real veteran to watch out for is George Strait. After being nominated only twice for this category in the first 25 years of his career, voters have now given him three consecutive nominations. This is one of four nods he’s earned for the 2009 ceremony, and “Troubadour” is essentially the story of his epic career distilled into a radio-length song. It would be the perfect way to honor the man and his music in one fell swoop.

However, there’s a newcomer that might be a Grammy favorite already.  We just haven’t found out yet. Not James Otto, of course, who is nominated for his charming romantic romp “Just Got Started Lovin’ You”, but rather, Jamey Johnson. The recent Nashville Scene critics’ poll further confirmed the depth of his support among tastemakers, and his nominations for Best Country Song and Best Country Album indicate that he’s very much on the academy’s radar. It helps that he has the most substantial track of the five, and it’s the obvious choice for traditionalists, who have little reason to split their votes in this category. If voters aren’t considering legacy when making their selections, he has a great shot at this.

2008

• Dierks Bentley, “Long Trip Alone”
• Alan Jackson, “A Woman’s Love”
• Tim McGraw, “If You’re Reading This”
• George Strait, “Give it Away”
• Keith Urban, “Stupid Boy”

The often offbeat Grammy voters have been surprisingly mainstream in this category for the past three years, a trend best exemplified by this lineup, which was the first in more than a decade to feature only top ten radio hits. Tim McGraw and Keith Urban were the only two who had won this before, and it was Urban who emerged victorious. ”Stupid Boy” was a highlight of his fourth studio album, and this was the only major award that the impressive collection would win.

2007

• Dierks Bentley, “Every Mile a Memory”
• Vince Gill, “The Reason Why”
• George Strait, “The Seashores of Old Mexico”
• Josh Turner, “Would You Go With Me”
• Keith Urban, “Once in a Lifetime”

Vince Gill returned to win in this category for a ninth time with “The Reason Why.” Not only is he, by far, the most honored artist in this category, his wins here account for nine of the nineteen Grammys currently on his mantle.

2006

• George Jones, “Funny How Time Slips Away”
• Toby Keith, “As Good As I Once Was”
• Delbert McClinton, “Midnight Communion”
• Willie Nelson, “Good Ol’ Boys”
• Brad Paisley, “Alcohol”
• Keith Urban, “You’ll Think of Me”

Urban’s biggest and probably best hit launched his second album to triple platinum and established him as a crossover artist. He gave a killer performance of the song on the show. Toby Keith was a first-time nominee here, and while he publicly groused that the Grammys put too little emphasis on commercial success in picking their nominations, he lost to the only track that was a bigger hit than his own.

2005

• Johnny Cash, “Engine One-Forty-Three”
• Lyle Lovett, “In My Own Mind”
• Tim McGraw, “Live Like You Were Dying”
• Willie Nelson, “You Are My Flower”
• Keith Urban, “You’ll Think of Me”

McGraw’s biggest hit won him his first Grammy in this category. His other wins have been for his collaborations with wife Faith Hill.  To the Grammy voters’ credit, they have been reluctant to shower Johnny Cash with posthumous Grammys, so his predicted win here for a mundane effort didn’t come to pass.

2004

• Ray Benson, “Annabelle”
• Vince Gill, “Next Big Thing”
• Lyle Lovett, “My Baby Don’t Tolerate”
• Tim McGraw, “She’s My Kind of Rain”
• Joe Nichols, “Brokenheartsville”
• Randy Travis, “Three Wooden Crosses”

My vote would’ve gone to Randy Travis, who was nominated with his finest single in years, but Gill remained the voter’s favorite. Travis did; however, win two Grammys in the gospel categories, this and the previous year.

2003

• Johnny Cash, “Give My Love to Rose”
• Pat Green, “Three Days”
• Alan Jackson, “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)”
• Joe Nichols, “The Impossible”
• Brad Paisley, “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song)”

I fully expected Jackson to win here, but his understated performance lost out to one of the only gems on Cash’s fourth American project. Voters wisely acknowledged Jackson in the Best Country Song category, making him one of the few artist-songwriters to sweep the industry songwriting awards with one composition.

2002

• Ryan Adams, “Lovesick Blues”
• Johnny Cash, “I Dreamed About Mama Last Night”
• Lyle Lovett, “San Antonio Girl”
• Tim McGraw, “Grown Men Don’t Cry”
• Willie Nelson, “Maria (Shut Up and Kiss Me)”
• Ralph Stanley, “O Death”

This was one of those times where you are just thankful the Grammys exist. Stanley’s “O Death” was the most powerful track on the storied O Brother soundtrack, but without a video, it was only known to those people who listened to the album all the way through. That NARAS had the good taste to both nominate it and vote it the winner, which was a welcome surprise.

2001

• Johnny Cash, “Solitary Man”
• Vince Gill, “Feels Like Love”
• Billy Gilman, “One Voice”
• Tim McGraw, “My Best Friend”
• Dwight Yoakam, “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere” (Acoustic)

Grammy voters listening to this category couldn’t get a more drastic difference in male voices than the withered-with-age Cash and the prepubescent Gilman. “Solitary Man” was one of the most inspired covers Cash ever did with Rick Rubin, and it deserved the gold.

2000

• Vince Gill, “Don’t Come Cryin’ to Me”
• George Jones, “Choices”
• Lyle Lovett, “That’s Right (You’re Not From Texas)”
• Tim McGraw, “Please Remember Me”
• Dwight Yoakam, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”

Jones won his first Grammy in twenty years for his harrowing “Choices,” which became oddly prescient as it was released in the aftermath of his near-death experience in an alcohol-related car crash.

1999

• Clint Black, “Nothin’ But the Taillights”
• Garth Brooks, “To Make You Feel My Love”
• Vince Gill, “If You Ever Have Forever in Mind”
• Steve Wariner, “Holes in the Floor of Heaven”

Gill won a record-setting fifth year in a row, a domination that no country category has seen before or since. After being nominated for three years in a row, Black hasn’t been cited since.

1998

• Clint Black, “Something That We Do”
• Johnny Cash, “Rusty Cage”
• Vince Gill, “Pretty Little Adriana”
• Willie Nelson, “Peach Pickin’ Time Down in Georgia”
• George Strait, “Carrying Your Love With Me”
  

NARAS was so sure that Strait would get his first Grammy that they invited him to perform on the show, and he agreed. Unfortunately, sickness required Vince Gill to fill in for him, and Gill won the award, allowing him to acknowledge the memory of the young girl who inspired the song.

1997

• Clint Black, “Like the Rain”
• Junior Brown, “My Wife Thinks You’re Dead”
• Vince Gill, “Worlds Apart”
• Lyle Lovett, “Private Conversation”
• Dwight Yoakam, “Nothing”

Amid a strong lineup, the Grammy again went to Vince Gill.   This time around, he won for a tender plea for harmony within families and among all races and creeds.   A very inspiring song that was written while eating grilled cheeseburgers with Bob DiPiero at Rotier’s in Nashville.

1996

• John Berry, “Standing on the Edge of Goodbye”
• Vince Gill, “Go Rest High on That Mountain”
• Alan Jackson, “Gone Country”
• John Michael Montgomery, “I Can Love You Like That”
• Dwight Yoakam, “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere (Live)”

Strong entries from Jackson and Berry, plus a well-known song that was a hit for All 4 One after topping the charts for Montgomery, couldn’t stop Grammy powerhourse Gill from winning again. Patty Loveless and Ricky Skaggs provided the soaring harmonies.

1995

• David Ball, “Thinkin’ Problem”
• John Berry, “Your Love Amazes Me”
• Vince Gill, “When Love Finds You”
• John Michael Montgomery, “I Swear”
• Dwight Yoakam, “Pocket of a Clown”

The Grammys were getting dull, with Gill winning his third in this category the same evening that Mary Chapin Carpenter picked up her fourth in the Female category.

1994

• Garth Brooks, “Ain’t Goin’ Down (’Til the Sun Comes Up)”
• Alan Jackson, “Chattahoochee”
• George Jones, “I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair”
• Aaron Neville, “The Grand Tour”
• Dwight Yoakam, “Ain’t That Lonely Yet”

An astonished Yoakam accepted his Grammy on the live telecast, his only victory in this category in ten nominations. It’s also one of the few hits he had that was neither self-written nor a cover of another artist’s hit.

1993

• Garth Brooks, The Chase
• Billy Ray Cyrus, “Achy Breaky Heart”
• Vince Gill, I Still Believe in You
• Randy Travis, “Better Class of Losers”
• Travis Tritt, “Lord Have Mercy on the Working Man”

Gill was the last artist to win this category for a full-length album. The same set won Album of the Year at the CMA’s.

1992

• Garth Brooks, Ropin’ the Wind
• Billy Dean, “Somewhere in My Broken Heart”
• Vince Gill, Pocket Full of Gold
• Alan Jackson, Don’t Rock the Jukebox
• Travis Tritt, “Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)”

Despite breaking records, Brooks was left out of the big categories at the 1992 Grammys. He did win for his only nomination that evening, over a field that shows just how excellent commercial country was in the early nineties.

1991

• Garth Brooks, “Friends in Low Places”
• Vince Gill, “When I Call Your Name”
• Doug Stone, “I’d Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)”
• Randy Travis, “Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart”
• Dwight Yoakam, “Turn it On, Turn it Up, Turn Me Loose”

It would eventually become a yearly tradition, but when Vince Gill won his first Grammy, it was after more than a decade in the recording industry.

1990

• Clint Black, Killin’ Time
• Rodney Crowell, “After All This Time”
• Lyle Lovett, Lyle Lovett & His Large Band
• Randy Travis, “It’s Just a Matter of Time”
• Keith Whitley, “I’m No Stranger to the Rain”

Lovett is another frequent nominee in this category who has only actually won once.  The album includes his cheeky cover of the Tammy Wynette classic “Stand By Your Man.”

1989

• Rodney Crowell, Diamonds and Dirt
• Lyle Lovett, Pontiac
• Dan Seals, “Addicted”
• Randy Travis, Old 8×10
• Dwight Yoakam, Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room

Not one of Travis’ better albums, but who doesn’t enjoy “Deeper Than the Holler”?  Seals’s only nomination in this category is for a song written by popular folk star Cheryl Wheeler, who also penned the Suzy Bogguss hit “Aces.”

1988

• Steve Earle, Exit O
• George Strait, “All My Ex’s Live in Texas”
• Randy Travis, Always & Forever
• Hank Williams, Jr., Born to Boogie
• Dwight Yoakam, Hillbilly Deluxe

Grammy partially redeems itself for overlooking Travis, Earle and Yoakam the previous year. Travis’ second album is almost good as his legendary debut.

1987

• Steve Earle, Guitar Town
• Ronnie Milsap, Lost in the Fifties Tonight
• Randy Travis, “Diggin’ Up Bones”
• Hank Williams, Jr., “Ain’t Misbehavin’”
• Dwight Yoakam, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.

Three of country’s most artistically significant newcomers lose to the album home of the previous year’s winning entry. The most charitable explanation I can come up with is they split the vote.

1986

• Lee Greenwood, “I Don’t Mind the Thorns (If You’re the Rose)”
• Mel McDaniel, “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On”
• Ronnie Milsap, “Lost in the Fifties Tonight”
• Willie Nelson, “Loving You Was Easy”
• Ricky Skaggs, “You Make Me Feel Like a Man”

Milsap, ever the Grammy favorite, hit the sweet spot of nostalgic voters with this swooning throwback to fifties pop that borrowed heavily from “In the Still of the Night.”

1985

• Lee Greenwood, “God Bless the U.S.A.”
• Merle Haggard, “That’s the Way Love Goes”
• Willie Nelson, “City of New Orleans”
• Ricky Skaggs, Country Boy
• Hank Williams, Jr., “All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight”

Haggard finally wins in this category, and with one of his very best ballads.   He would later cover the song with Jewel, back when she was first contemplating making the jump to country music.

1984

• Ray Charles, “Born to Love Me”
• Earl Thomas Conley, “Holding Her and Loving You”
• Vern Gosdin, “If You’re Gonna Do Me Wrong (Do it Right)”
• Lee Greenwood, “I.O.U.”
• Ronnie Milsap, “Stranger in My House”
• Kenny Rogers, “All My Life”

Lee Greenwood’s triumph here with “I’m Just a Gigolo” “I.O.U.” came just months after being named Male Vocalist at the CMA awards.   Surprisingly, he was not a winner of the Grammy for Best Album Package.

1983

• Ronnie Milsap, “He Got You”
• Willie Nelson, “Always On My Mind”
• Jerry Reed, “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)”
• Kenny Rogers, “Love Will Turn You Around”
• Ricky Skaggs, “Heartbroke”

Willie Nelson’s career has been one with many zeniths.   Commercially speaking, “Always on My Mind” was the highest one.   It’s no surprise that it earned him a Grammy.

1982

• John Anderson, “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal”
• George Jones, “Still Doin’ Time”
• Ronnie Milsap, “(There’s No) Gettin’ Over Me”
• Willie Nelson, Somewhere Over the Rainbow
• Eddie Rabbitt, “Step by Step”

Milsap again. It was a shame, since they could’ve gone for Jones again or for newcomer John Anderson.

1981

• George Burns, “I Wish I Was Eighteen Again”
• George Jones, “He Stopped Loving Her Today”
• Johnny Lee, “Lookin’ For Love”
• Willie Nelson, “On the Road Again”
• Eddie Rabbitt, “Drivin’ My Life Away”

Well, obviously. It’s not only Jones’s biggest hit ever, it’s arguably the greatest country single of all time.

1980

• Willie Nelson, “Whiskey River”
• Charley Pride, Burgers & Fries
• Eddie Rabbitt, “Every Which Way But Loose”
• Kenny Rogers, “The Gambler”
• Hank Williams, Jr., Family Tradition

Rogers has won for both of his signature songs in this category. This is the one that led to several  made-for-television movies.

1979

• Waylon Jennings, I’ve Always Been Crazy
• Ronnie Milsap, “Let’s Take the Long Way Around the World”
• Willie Nelson, “Georgia On My Mind”
• Elvis Presley, “Softly As I Leave You”
• Johnny Pacycheck, “Take This Job and Shove It”
• Kenny Rogers, Love or Something Like It
  

Nelson’s biggest-selling album Stardust gets its due as the Grammy goes to one of the album’s highlights.

1978

• Larry Gatlin, “I Don’t Wanna Cry”
• Waylon Jennings, “Luckenbach, Texas”
• Ronnie Milsap, “It Was Almost Like a Song”
• Kenny Rogers, “Lucille”
• Jerry Jeff Walker, “Mr. Bojangles”

This is the signature Rogers hit that hasn’t led to made-for-television movies, but it does boast a singalong chorus.   Who knows how many people have told off Lucille in the past thirty years?

1977

• Mac Davis, Forever Lovers
• Larry Gatlin, “Broken Lady”
• Waylon Jennings, Are You Ready For the Country
• Ronnie Milsap, “(I’m a) Stand By My Woman Man”
• Willie Nelson, “I’d Have to Be Crazy”

Less than a decade after Tammy Wynette won a Grammy for “Stand By Your Man”, Milsap’s male spin on the theme earned him a trophy.

1976

• Glen Campbell, “Country Boy (You’ve Got Your Feet in L.A.)”
• John Denver, “Thank God I’m a Country Boy”
• Freddy Fender, “Before the Next Teardrop Falls”
• Waylon Jennings, “Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way”
• Willie Nelson, “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”
  

Even classics by Fender and Jennings can’t touch the Nelson masterpiece.

1975

• Glen Campbell, “Bonaparte’s Retreat”
• Roy Clark, The Entertainer
• Waylon Jennings, “I’m a Ramblin’ Man”
• Ronnie Milsap, “Please Don’t Tell Me How the Story Ends”
• Charley Pride, Country Feelin’

Covering Kristofferson is a good way to get a Grammy. Just ask Ray Price and Sammi Smith.

1974

• Tom T. Hall, “Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine”
• Kris Kristofferson, “Why Me”
• Charley Pride, “Amazing Love”
• Charlie Rich, “Behind Closed Doors”
• Johnny Russell, “Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer”

Of course, Kristofferson recording his own work didn’t lead to a Grammy. In another year, it might have, but Rich is the stuff of legend here.

1973

• Merle Haggard, “It’s Not Love (But it’s Not Bad)
• Waylon Jennings, “Good Hearted Woman”
• Jerry Lee Lewis, “Chantilly Lace”
• Charley Pride, Charley Pride Sings Heart Songs
• Charlie Rich, “I Take it On Home”

The album home of “Kiss an Angel Good Morning” gets the Grammy that the single lost the previous year.

1972

• Freddie Hart, “Easy Loving”
• Johnny Paycheck, “She’s All I Got”
• Ray Price, “I Won’t Mention it Again”
• Charley Pride, “Kiss an Angel Good Morning”
• Jerry Reed, “When You’re Hot (You’re Hot)”
  

Reed won against a collection of classic recordings.   This was one of those years where a victory by any of the nominees would be justified.

1971

• Johnny Cash, “Sunday Morning Coming Down”
• Merle Haggard, Okie From Muskogee
• Charley Pride, Charley Pride’s 10th Album
• Ray Price, “For the Good Times”
• Jerry Reed, “Amos Moses”

The other way to lose a Grammy with a Kristofferson song? Be nominated against another Kristofferson song! In another rock-solid set of nominees, Price’s classic rendition of “For the Good Times” takes the gold, even though Cash had won the previous two years.

1970

• Johnny Cash, “A Boy Named Sue”
• Clay Hart, “Spring”
• Bobby Lewis, “From Heaven to Heartache”
• Charley Pride, “All I Have to Offer You is Me”
• Jerry Reed, “Are You From Dixie”
  

Cash became the second artist to win this two years in a row.   That both of his victories were recorded live in prison is pretty remarkable in itself.

1969

• Glen Campbell, “I Wanna Live”
• Henson Cargill, “Skip a Rope”
• Johnny Cash, “Folsom Prison Blues (Live)”
• Roger Miller, “Little Green Apples”
• Porter Wagoner, “The Carroll County Accident”

It was already one of his best songs, but after hearing it performed live for the inmates of Folsom Prison, the original recording sounds almost quaint.

1968

• Jim Ed Brown, “Pop a Top”
• Glen Campbell, “Gentle On My Mind”
• Jack Greene, “All the Time”
• Charley Pride, “Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger”
• Porter Wagoner, “Cold Hard Facts of Life”
  

Glen Campbell’s crossover success would help him win several Grammy awards in 1968 and 1969.  Wagoner’s cited here for his best single.

1967

• Ben Colder, “Almost Persuaded No. 2″
• Jack Greene, “There Goes My Everything”
• David Houston, “Almost Persuaded”
• Charley Pride, “Just Between You and Me”
• Jim Reeves, “Distant Drums”

David Houston emerged victorious with a classic anthem for those who almost cheat.   Perhaps Colder came in second.

1966

• Eddy Arnold, “Make the World Go Away”
• Bobby Bare, “Talk Me Some Sense”
• Carl Belew, “Crystal Chandelier”
• Roger Miller, “King of the Road”
• Jim Reeves, “Is it Really Over?”

Can’t you hear those sweeping strings and Arnold’s soaring vocals as soon as you read the words “Make the World Go Away”?   Anyway,  not only did “King of the Road” win several Grammys in 1966, the parody “Queen of the House” even won the female trophy.

1965

• Bobby Bare, “Four Strong Winds”
• Johnny Cash, “I Walk the Line”
• George Hamilton IV, Fort Worth, Dallas or Houston
• Sonny James, You’re the Only World I Know
• Hank Locklin, Hank Locklin Sings Hank Williams
• Roger Miller, “Dang Me”
• Buck Owens, My Heart Skips a Beat

Miller won the first trophy in this category, one of eleven victories in just two years.

The time has come for Ronnie Dunn to step aside. Not from Brooks & Dunn, mind you, but as the default lead singer of the duo. For the past sixteen years, Kix Brooks has been all but a backup singer in his own headlining act, as nearly all of the singles released by this duo featured Ronnie Dunn on lead.

It’s easy to understand why. Dunn is virtually peerless among male country vocalists. If he’d been a solo act with the same level of success, he’d probably be a staple in the Male Vocalist category. But as a songwriter, he’s treading the same ground repeatedly. Dunn dominates the proceedings for the first half of this album, and my eyes glazed over by the third cowboy song to surface in four tracks. I suppose that if you truly believe that when you get to heaven, Saint Peter is going to tip his hat and welcome you to Cowboy Town, you’ll be happy to indulge him, but it isn’t until Kix Brooks takes the reins – see, I can do cowboy metaphors, too! – that this album starts to get interesting.

The first great song on the record is “The Ballad of Jerry Jeff Walker”, and it’s a personal remembrance of Brooks’ early days in Texas honky-tonks. It’s the type of song you’d expect to hear from a Todd Snider or a Charlie Robison, a pure celebration of the underground country subculture. Walker himself shows up to share his hazy recollections of that era, noting that they were “trying to get paid, trying to get laid” and working to get as high as their crowd by the end of the set. The attention to detail radiates authenticity, a stark contrast to the throwaway “Johnny Cash Junkie (Buck Owens Freak)” that Dunn had turned in a few tracks earlier.

Brooks can’t approach Dunn as a vocal stylist, but his sincerity is undeniable, and his songwriting is in peak form. Songs like “Drop in the Bucket” and “Chance of a Lifetime” have a pulsing energy, and not the fake kind that Nashville hacks try to force with big guitars and loud drums. The latter has a brilliantly funny subplot involving the cat a woman leaves behind when she leaves Brooks for the Bahamas. Even better is “American Dreamer”, which is a more believable take on “Only in America”, where the true American spirit is captured: it’s not that we dream as big as we want to, as that big hit claimed, but rather that we persevere in the face of obstacles that should be insurmountable.

Thankfully, when Dunn returns to the lead vocalist spot for the final track, “God Must Be Busy”, he’s paired with material that’s worthy of his talents. It’s a more interesting exploration of faith than the widely praised “Believe.”

Perhaps their upcoming solo albums are just what these two need. Brooks deserves an entire project to showcase his songwriting and unique style, and Dunn could do wonders with a solo album if he’s wise enough to stack it with outside material. As for this album, Cowboy Town shows both an aging formula and the potential for some new musical directions to shake things up for Brooks & Dunn.

Buy: Cowboy Town