Tim McGraw – Page 15 – Country Universe

CMA Awards: Entertainer of the Year (1967-2013)

November 3, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 5

Since its inception, the top honor an artist could be given at the Country Music Association awards is this one: Entertainer of the Year. Originally a revolving door of winners, the winner in early years was often not even nominated the following year. In 1981, Barbara Mandrell became the first artist to win the award twice. Alabama succeeded her with a three year run from 1982-1984. Fourteen years later, Garth Brooks became the first artist two win four times, a feat later matched by Kenny Chesney in 2008.

Here’s a look back at the award from the very beginning, along with some facts and feats about the category and its nominees.

1967

Bill Anderson
Eddy Arnold
Merle Haggard
Sonny James
Buck Owens

One year after being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Eddy Arnold was named the very first Entertainer of the Year at the inaugural CMA awards in 1967. Don’t assume it was a sympathy vote. Arnold had three #1 hits in the twelve months leading up to the ceremony, as he was in the middle of his impressive mid-sixties comeback, a period best defined by the 1965 classic, “Make the World Go Away.” He remains the only member of the Hall of Fame to win this award after being inducted.

Single Reviews Round-Up: Rascal Flatts, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw ft. Taylor Swift and Keith Urban, & Kip Moore

April 11, 2013 Tara Seetharam 16

Rascal Flatts, “Changed”

Like “I Won’t Let Go” a few years back, “Changed” is built on a sweeping sentiment, rousing melody and very little else. That’s not an inherently bad thing; despite an ounce of detail about the confessor, “Changed” feels like a confession –it pleads and swells and submits. Add in an earnest and relatively restrained performance, and the song has legs.

Written by Gary LeVox, Wendell Mobley & Neil Thrasher

Grade: B

Album Review: Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, <em>Old Yellow Moon</em>

March 17, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 7

Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell
Old Yellow Moon

The single biggest obstacle between a critic and a critical review of Old Yellow Moon is the reverence demanded by a collaboration of such artistic and historical significance. So why don’t we get that part out of the way first?

Album Review: Tim McGraw, <i>Two Lanes of Freedom</i>

February 15, 2013 Ben Foster 8

Tim McGraw
Two Lanes of Freedom

Though Tim McGraw’s music was among the best to be heard on country radio in the late nineties and early two thousands, recent years have seen his choice of material embarking on a gradual downward slide before bottoming out entirely with last year’s Curb Records swan song Emotional Traffic. With McGraw’s recent output being what it is, and with him now being in the clutches of Scott Borchetta, it’s hard to approach Two Lanes of Freedom with high expectations.

Single Review: Tim McGraw, "One of Those Nights"

November 3, 2012 Ben Foster 2

Great hooks have become a dying breed in mainstream country music. It seems every other single review I write includes criticism for a hook that falls flat. Exhibit A: Tim McGraw’s new single.

Retro Single Review: Tim McGraw, "Unbroken"

October 25, 2012 Kevin John Coyne 5

2002 | Peak: #1

“Unbroken” was the fourth consecutive #1 single from Set This Circus Down, a streak unmatched by any other Tim McGraw album.

Retro Single Review: Tim McGraw, "The Cowboy in Me"

August 28, 2012 Kevin John Coyne 13

2001 | Peak: #1

I don’t get it.

More importantly, I don’t get it and the song isn’t interesting enough to make me want to get it.

Single Review: Craig Morgan, “More Trucks Than Cars”

August 21, 2012 Ben Foster 17

It is not “Corn Star.”

Here is where the praise must end.

iPod Check: Most Played Song by Twenty Country Artists

August 12, 2012 Kevin John Coyne 24

Since bringing back Recommend a Track proved so popular, I’m resurrecting another CU oldie but goodie: the iPod check.

I’ve only recently discovered the Most Played feature on iTunes, since it never had any relevance until iPods were large enough in memory to sync all of my music. So going back to early 2011, I have a lengthy list of the songs I’ve played the most.

Retro Single Review: Tim McGraw, "Angry All the Time"

August 10, 2012 Ben Foster 11

2001 | #1

I will append a “-” onto the grade as a means of acknowledging the fact that the Bruce Robison original is overall superior. That said, Tim McGraw’s hit recording of “Angry All the Time” is an excellent record in its own right.

I’m sure there are relatively few artists who would have listened to Bruce Robison’s noncharting self-written 1998 single “Angry All the Time” and thought, ‘Hey, that sounds like a hit!’ But “Angry All the Time” was a classic instance of McGraw finding a hit in the most unlikely of places, and thus giving mass exposure to what was already an achingly beautiful, yet underrated composition.