Every #1 Single of the Nineties: Vince Gill, “What the Cowgirls Do”

“What the Cowgirls Do”

Vince Gill

Written by Vince Gill and Reed Nielsen

Radio & Records

#1 (1 week)

September 16, 1994

Vince Gill continues his run of ten consecutive No. 1 singles.

The Road to No. 1

As noted above, Vince Gill achieved ten straight No. 1 singles on at least one chart, dating back to “Take My Memory With You” and including all singles from I Still Believe in You.  This was the second No. 1 single from his multiplatinum album, When Love Finds You.

The No. 1

Vince Gill wasn’t big on novelty records, but this one came close.

“What the Cowgirls Do” is a more inclusive spin on the way “God Blessed Texas” celebrated girl watching, even managing to squeeze in a reference to the ladies of Bangor. Maine.

He’s such a gentleman that it comes off as cute instead of creepy, but in a run that included so many nineties classics, this is probably the least memorable of his chart-topping run.

The Road From No. 1

When Love Finds You will produce another two No. 1 singles, with the next one being the title track.

“What the Cowgirls Do” gets a B.

Every No. 1 Single of the Nineties

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6 Comments

  1. I will say it again: it is hard to remind people of how insanely brilliant, consistent, and dominant Gill was, from his run of ten straight chart topping hits to his 18 CMA awards and 22 Grammy awards.

    What might be Gill’s least memorable hit would be a feather in most any other artist’s cap.

  2. As the resident Vince Gill superfan, this one isn’t a favorite of mine, but I don’t hate it either. I love that Bangor, ME. is named in it, as a Bangor resident, but he says it wrong. It should be pronounced like bang-gore.:)

    • Leeann – Any country song mentioning the state of Maine also gets bonus points from me, simply because it’s a state I’ve loved to visit ever since we’ve been going on family vacations there in the 90’s. We usually always stayed around the Portland area, but we almost made it up to Bangor on one of our more recent trips. :)

      Another cowgirl song that immediately came to mind after reading this is George Strait’s “How Bout Them Cowgirls,” which also mentions Bangor.

  3. Considering all the people who say the capital of New Hampshire is “Conchord” and not “Conquered”, and the city in central Massachusetts is “War-chester” or “Woo-ster” instead of a softer o, it’s par for the course for non-New Englanders pronouncing New England names.

  4. While it’s definitely one of Vince’s most lightweight offerings to radio and not one of my favorites of his either, it’s still a fun enough listen today. The video is also a whole lot of fun. It would also make a solid solid selection on the jukebox at the Texas Roadhouse if they still actually had 90’s country on their jukeboxes (or jukeboxes at all, for that matter, thanks to Covid now).

    This is one of the singles from the When Love Finds You album that I heard on the radio quite often when I started listening to country radio again in 1995, along with “You Better Think Twice,” and “Which Bridge To Cross (Which Bridge To Burn)”. Not only is it easy to overlook just how on fire Vince was at radio in the first half of the 90’s, but I’m also reminded and impressed by the solid steak of singles that this album alone produced (though, the iconic “Go Rest High On That Mountain” did deserve to go higher on the charts than it did).

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