Google “Gary Harrison songwriter” and you won’t find a website or MySpace. There’s not even a Wikipedia article. Don’t know where he’s from, how he got into songwriting or what he likes to eat for dinner.

As far as I know, he has never made an album. When he co-writes a song, does he write the music or the lyrics or a little of both? Don’t know. He’s a Grammy nominated songwriter as co-writer of “Strawberry Wine”, the 1997 CMA Song of the Year, and has penned many BMI Award-Winning Songs. It appears that his first big hit was “Lying in Love with You”, written with Dean Dillon for Jim Ed Brown and Helen Cornelius. The duet went to #2 in 1979.

Since there is so little data to draw from, a chronological treatment of his illustrious career would be difficult. I’ve decided instead to begin with the collaboration Gary is best known for, his work with Matraca Berg, and then continue with his other significant songwriting collaborations.

In his excellent Favorite Songs by Favorite Songwriters article on Matraca Berg, Kevin gave us his favorite 25 songs written by Berg. Gary Harrison has frequently collaborated with Matraca. On Kevin’s list the following 9 songs are written by Berg/Harrison:

• #25 Wild Angels – Martina McBride
• #22 Give Me Some Wheels – Suzy Bogguss
• #20 Demolition Angel – Pam Tillis
• #19 Everybody Knows – Trisha Yearwood
• #10 Strawberry Wine – Deana Carter
• #7 Wrong Side of Memphis – Trisha Yearwood
• #5 Diamonds and Tears – Suzy Bogguss
• #4 Dreaming Fields – Trisha Yearwood
• #3 My Heart Will Never Break This Way Again – Patty Loveless

Give a read to Kevin’s write-up for all 25. Kevin asked for comments from his readers on their favorite Matraca Berg songs. In the 29 comments received, three more collaborations with Gary were mentioned that didn’t make Kevin’s cut, including “Hey Cinderella” and “Eat at Joe’s” by Suzy Bogguss and Pinmonkey’s “That Train Don’t Run”.

“Hey Cinderella” is from Suzy’s 1993 CD, Something Up My Sleeve. Fantasy turns into “dreams that lost their way” by the end of the first long verse. In the second verse, reality sets in. In “Eat at Joe’s”, from her 1992 CD, Voices in the Wind, Suzy’s sounds like a sultry waitress in an all night diner – “here’s a hot top on your coffee, honey you’re a mess, I ain’t your wife I ain’t your momma, but I’ll do I guess”. The bridge is a wistful but not really hopeful call out to prince charming.

My favorite Pinmonkey song is still “Barbed Wire and Roses”, but “That Train Don’t Run”, from their 2006 Big Shiny Cars CD, isn’t far behind. It’s up-tempo like Barbed Wire. It was also a single for Matraca Berg from her 1997 “Sunday Morning to Saturday Night” cd. The singer recalls a former lover who may have been a bit on the wild side. It must be “your memory rattlin’ the shutters, that train don’t run by here no more”. The next line is “I lie and listen to the last boxcar, sweet dreams baby wherever you are”. Love that last phrase. Sounds like something Bogie might have said.

A bit of trivia: I wonder how many times that last phrase, “sweet dreams baby, wherever you are”, has been used in a song. In addition to the Pinmonkey song, I found it in “Goodnight”, written by Charlie Black and Dana Hunt, from Suzy Bogguss’ self-titled 1999 CD. The last line of the chorus is “I’m signing off, sweet dreams baby, wherever you are”. A song by Jedd Hughes, “Time to Say Goodnight” has “sweet dreams baby, sweet dreams baby wherever you are tonight”. It was written by Hughes, Tommy Lee James and Terry McBride and can be found on Hughes’ 2004 CD, Transcontinental. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone else finds another instance.

I found another Berg/Harrison collaboration but this time with Jeff Hanna on a Chely Wright song, “Emma Jean’s Guitar”. It’s an album track from Chely’s 1997 Let Me In CD, which featured “Shut Up and Drive”. The story tells of a guitar with Emma Jean’s name etched in the finish found in a pawnshop. The singer wonders about Emma Jean’s hopes and dreams and feels that she’s the guardian of her guitar.

Gary has written quite a few great songs without Matraca. Another frequent co-writer for Gary has been Tim Mensy. My favorite Mensy-Harrison collaboration is Trisha Yearwood’s “Nearest Distant Shore”, an album track from her 1992 Hearts in Armor CD. It’s a song about getting out of a bad relationship: “You did your best but “the one you swore to love is pulling you down, you’re in over your head, chilled to the bone by the waters you’ve tread, chart a course to land before you drown”.

“That Wasn’t Me” was an excellent album track for Martina McBride on her 1993 CD, The Way That I Am. She knows that the guy is still hurting from the memory of an old girlfriend. She tells him “that wasn’t me”. It’s time to move on because she “can no longer pay the price” of his not letting go.

For fans of Mark Chesnutt, there’s “I Just Wanted You to Know”, a #1 song in ’94 from the CD Almost Goodbye and a #6 the same year, “She Dreams”, from What a Way to Live. Other Mensy Harrison collaborations include Doug Stone’s “I Thought It Was You”, a #4 in 1991, “A Singer in the Band”, an album track on Joe Nichol’s Revelation CD in 2004, and a Mark Wills song “Any Fool Can say Goodbye”.

With J.D. Martin, Gary Harrison wrote “Rollin’ Lonely”, a Johnny Lee song from his “Workin’ for a Livin’ ” album, which reached #9 on the charts in 1985, “Domestic Life”, a John Conlee #4 hit from his “American Faces” album in 1987, “Two Car Garage”, a #3 hit in 1983 from the B.J. Thomas album “The Great American Dream” and “Broken Toys”, a song about child abuse from BJ’s 1985 album “Throwin’ Rocks at the Moon”. The last song was written with Gloria Thomas as well as J.D.

Gary co-wrote 3 songs with Tammy Cochran from her “Thirty Something and Single” album released in June of 2009, the title track, “It’s All Over But the Leaving” and “He Really Thinks He’s Got It”.

With Karen Staley, he wrote “Face in the Crowd” which peaked at #4, a duet with Michael Martin Murphey and Holly Dunn from the former’s 1987 “Americana” album and “Now and Then” which Michelle Wright took to #9 in Canada.

Some other Gary Harrison songs are:

- “I Hate Everything” written with Keith Stegall, a #1 for George Strait in 2005. Check out the wake-up call at the end.

- “Alone Some” with Billy Yates, an album track for Billy from his 2005 album “Harmony Man”.

- “Crazy Me” and “I Do It for Your Love” with Richard Marx, from the Kenny Rogers 2000 CD There You Go Again.

Impressive list and I’ve probably missed some songs. If you search BMI.com, you’ll find 918 work titles for Gary Harrison. He’s been so busy, he probably hasn’t had time to set up a website or MySpace.

#120
“Tonight I Wanna Cry”
Keith Urban
2005
Peak: #2

A chillingly frank portrait of loneliness, awkward reference to “All By Myself” notwithstanding. Few mainstream vocalists today could pull off something this intense. – Dan Milliken

#119
“Portland, Oregon”
Loretta Lynn with Jack White
2004
Peak: Did not chart

If you can take a healthy dose of dirty rock ‘n’ roll in your country, this is one of the coolest-sounding records of the decade, a classic one-night-stand duet. That it’s a very cross-generational pairing singing it would be creepy if not for the goofy smiles shining through Lynn’s and White’s performances. – DM

#118
“If You Ever Stop Loving Me”
Montgomery Gentry
2004
Peak: #1

This charismatic band never encountered a better hook than this one, with an instant sing-along melody that is impossible to ignore. – Kevin Coyne

#117
“I Just Wanna Be Mad”
Terri Clark
2002
Peak: #2

A song that would have felt more at home in the 90s than in 2003, Clark’s playful plea is an encapsulation of all the female charm that’s missing from this decade’s mainstream country music. – Tara Seetharam

#116
“The Long Goodbye”
Brooks & Dunn
2001
Peak: #1

They often paint in broad strokes, but the portrait painted of this crumbling relationship is sympathetically detailed, with two decent people putting off the inevitable break-up. – KC

#115
“Heartbreak Town”
Dixie Chicks
2003
Peak: #23

“Heartbreak Town” could easily be a companion to Pam Tillis’ “Band in the Window.” While “Band in the Window” sounds more like a celebration, “Heartbreak Town” goes deeper and exposes the disappointment and heartbreak found in a town with so much talent that only a select number of people get to rise to the top. – Leeann Ward

#114
“Cry”
Faith Hill
2002
Peak: #12

It may not be as haunting as the Angie Aparo original, but Hill’s willingness to make her power ballads challenging and complex keeps her leagues beyond the pretenders. – KC

#113
“Life Ain’t Always Beautiful”
Gary Allan
2006
Peak: #4

Allan turns these simple lyrics into a chilling inner dialogue that’s both painfully dark and genuinely hopeful. – TS

#112
“That Train Don’t Run”
Pinmonkey
2006
Peak: Did not chart

The rootsy country-rock outfit named for some gag or other in The Simpsons revived this 1997 Matraca Berg single with awesome gusto, tearing into it with electric guitar, bright harmonies and dobro all ablaze. A must-hear. – DM

#111
“Blame the Vain”
Dwight Yoakam
2005
Peak: #58

While not produced by Pete Anderson, “Blame the Vain” harkens back to Yoakam’s signature rhythmic Bakersfield sound. Fruitlessly blaming everyone else for his failed relationship and, while he’s at it, all that’s wrong with the world, Yoakam finally concludes that he may have some ownership in things as well: “Oh and don’t you know that blame/Is always never enough/It just keeps you in the game/Till you’ve only got yourself left to bluff.” – LW

#110
“Every Friday Afternoon”
Craig Morgan
2003
Peak: #25

In one of the saddest singles of the decade, Morgan’s naturally plaintive voice perfectly captures the devastation of a father who is faced with the dilemma of his ex-wife moving far away from him with his little boy. Up until that point, he had him every weekend, but he now realizes that “there’s no way [he] can be there every Friday afternoon.” – LW

#109
“Best I Ever Had”
Gary Allan
2005
Peak: #7

A decent soft rock song is transformed into a guilt-ridden meditation on death, solely by the vocalist who has chosen it as his vehicle to express his grief. – KC

#108
“Beer in Mexico”
Kenny Chesney
2007
Peak: #1

Part Buffett, part Mellencamp. Part frat boy drinking anthem, part sincere self-reflection. And it’s about hanging out down by the equator. Such a perfect encapsulation of Kenny Chesney’s musical identity from this decade that you could skip over the most of the rest of his work and still get the basic idea. One of his few self-written hits, too. – DM

#107
“What Hurts the Most”
Rascal Flatts
2006
Peak: #1

Angst-ridden power pop country done right. – KC

#106
“It Just Comes Natural”
George Strait
2006
Peak: #1

This is simply a delightful celebration of love that “just comes natural”…or naturally. – LW

#105
“Up!”
Shania Twain
2003
Peak: #12

Twain’s incessantly peppy poppy positivity fully concentrated. – KC

#104
“Lost in This Moment”
Big & Rich
2007
Peak: #1

There’s nothing extraordinarily unique about the lyrics in this wedding ballad – besides the fact that it’s the otherwise bad-ass Big & Rich singing them – but somehow they feel incredibly commanding against the duo’s power vocals. It’s just a beautiful song with beautiful harmonies, and I’m not ashamed to admit that lines like, “Bow our heads while the preacher talks to Jesus: ‘please bless this brand new life’” get me every time. – TS

#103
“Just Got Started Lovin’ You”
James Otto
2008
Peak: #1

Otto’s suave performance and a purely addictive bass line makes for an irresistible piece of smoldering ear candy. – LW

#102
“Would You Go With Me”
Josh Turner
2006
Peak: #1

There’s something endearing about the way Turner covers the theme of free-spirited love in this song – the whimsical lyrics contrast sweetly with his deep, sensible vocals. – TS

#101
“Keep Your Distance”
Patty Loveless
2005
Peak: Did not chart

The best line of 2005 not played on country radio: “I played and I got stung. Now I’m biting back my tongue, and sweeping out the footprints where I strayed.”  I love Loveless the most when she taps into that Ronstadt growl. – KC

- – -

• The 201 Greatest Singles of the Decade, Part 1: #201-#181
• The 201 Greatest Singles of the Decade, Part 2: #180-#161
• The 201 Greatest Singles of the Decade, Part 3: #160-#141
• The 201 Greatest Singles of the Decade, Part 4: #140-#121
• The 201 Greatest Singles of the Decade, Part 5: #120-#101
  
• The 201 Greatest Singles of the Decade, Part 6: #100-#81
• The 201 Greatest Singles of the Decade, Part 7: #80-#61
• The 201 Greatest Singles of the Decade, Part 8: #60-#41
• The 201 Greatest Singles of the Decade, Part 9: #40-#21
• The 201 Greatest Singles of the Decade, Conclusion: #20-#1

See, like any warm-blooded entertainment blog, CU totally gets off on ranking stuff. So naturally, we’ve been hard at work piecing together our opinions on the decade’s finest albums and singles. The former category has proven easy enough to probe; the latter, however, presents a significant challenge, since singles that aren’t mainstream hits are often swept under the public carpet as the years go by.

I think it would be a shame to overlook some of the Aughts’ best work just because of our limited recall and research abilities, though, and I know our readers are diverse and knowledgeable enough to help us fill in the gaps. So I’m inviting everyone to name a bunch of their lesser-known favorites to help us broaden our selection pool (and have a little fun while we’re at it).

For example, my personal list would include:

• Nickel Creek, “When You Come Back Down”
• Dolly Parton, “Shine”
• Alison Krauss & Union Station, “Restless”
• Alison Krauss & James Taylor, “How’s The World Treating You”
• Loretta Lynn with Jack White, “Portland, Oregon”
• Old Crow Medicine Show, “Wagon Wheel”
• Ryan Adams, “Let It Ride”
• Pinmonkey, “That Train Don’t Run”
• Randy Rogers Band, “Somebody Take Me Home”
• Ashley Monroe, “Satisfied”
• Bruce Robison, “All Over But the Cryin’”
• Randy Travis, “Dig Two Graves”

And those are just some of the easy ones. But I’ll let y’all take over: What are some of your favorite non-hit singles from the past decade? Feel free to include anything from any classification of country – mainstream, Alt-Country/Americana, bluegrass, Texas, independent – and definitely include as many as you like, especially if you have a few that haven’t been mentioned yet. If it didn’t go Top 20 and was shipped to radio, it’s fair game!