Album Review – George Strait’s “Cowboys and Dreamers”
#510 (Traditional Country) on the Country DDS.
Good music never gets old or goes out-of-style. It only becomes more legendary. George Strait was supposed to have retired from the road and most everything else ten years ago, but he might be as popular as ever, and his music is just as relevant as it’s ever been as the retro cycle and time has been very kind to his catalog. That’s why despite his best efforts, Strait just doesn’t seem to be able to stay away.
“Some days, I feel like the last of a dying breed trying to find where I fit, somewhere between high on top of the world and fighting with calling it quits.” This is what Strait sings in the title track of his latest album Cowboys and Dreamers. Even after his “retirement” from the road, he’s still out there playing 20-something shows a year. And despite having done more than his fair share to keep the flame of true country music alive, here he is offering up 13 new tracks.
The early singles from Cowboys and Dreamers put a fright in some since they relied a little too heavily on standard country music tropes. “Three Drinks Behind” is a typical country drinking song that doesn’t really go much of anywhere. “MIA Down in MIA” is fun for a second or two, but gives away its punch line in the title, and is a little to close to the old Keith Whitley classic “Miami, My Amy.” Besides, we probably have enough of these “island time” songs in country music to last us until eternity.
But as Cowboys and Dreamers unfolds, it reveals itself to have a lot more depth and body, and a few really fun moments as well. “Honky Tonk Hall of Fame” with Chris Stapleton sounds like a song Merle Haggard and Johnny Paycheck would have cut in the early ’80s as they were both three sheets to the wind and working through the proceedings of their 3rd divorce. This is honky tonk country music at its finest.
The late great Keith Gattis who died in 2023 in a farming accident gets not one, not two, but three cuts on this album, and that’s not all. For the song “Rent” that Gattis co-wrote with Guy Clark, George Strait starts it off with a little spoken word tribute to Keith. But really the greatest tribute to Gattis is how lovingly George delivers this song while the acoustic guitar typical of Guy Clark’s style graces this excellent composition.
Some have wished that George Strait would be more animated about what has happened in country music since he was last relevant on radio and award shows. But that’s just not Strait’s fashion. He’s too laid back and mild-mannered to ruffle feathers too much. But for anyone wondering where his heart lies, covering one of Waylon Jennings’ signature songs on this album with “Waymore’s Blues” signals where George Strait stands.
Perhaps one of the best tracks on the album is one Strait co-wrote himself called “The Little Things.” Here Strait really spells out his philosophy in life at this stage in his career. He spent so many years forging his legacy and chasing stardom. And since he was always a staunch traditionalist, this often meant working twice as hard as some of his high-flying contemporaries suspended on wires, soaring across stadiums.
“The secret to life, hey, we all wanna find it
But the more I look, the more that I’m reminded
What we want is always right there, hiding
In all the little things…”
George Strait did his duty, to God, to country, to family, and to country music. He owes us nothing more. Anything else is gravy. Yet he still takes moments to contribute like he does on Cowboys and Dreamers, or even set attendance records at stadium shows, proving his popularity remains strong.
Years previous in country music as Bro-Country was dominating everything and making many country fans hang their head in shame, we kept searching for a hero or savior who could come to our rescue. But in truth, we never needed that. The catalog of “King” George and other country legends was always there, and so was their influence and legacy. Sometimes in the noise of the present tense, all of that can get lost temporarily. But when the dust settles, there it is like a rock and a steady hand on the rudder.
That’s the music of George Strait.
7.8/10
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September 9, 2024 @ 7:38 am
We listened to the new album this weekend and your review is on the mark. “Honky Tonk Hall Of Fame” is a blast, one of the reasons he’s “The King.” “The Little Things” really hit my heart. I’m approaching 70 and I suppose one gets very sentimental and thoughtful about their life and what and where the *really* important things lie. George expresses this as well as anyone ever. I, for one, am glad he’s still a giant presence among us.
September 9, 2024 @ 7:39 am
He’s still the best!!
September 9, 2024 @ 7:47 am
There’s rarely, if ever, going to be any major surprises from George Strait. He just, as the old saying goes, is what he is. He can be relied on to put out great traditional country music and never chase trends. Solid album. It’s great to have new music from The King.
September 9, 2024 @ 1:02 pm
Any major surprises from Geoege would be an automatic denouncement about how he’s trying to be this or that. He’s always known what works for him and it’s a testament to how he’s literally the ONLY one left standing from his class and beginning era and selling out stadiums at this stage in his career. It’s truly incredible.
September 9, 2024 @ 7:48 am
Forever my favorite! Great review, Trigger!
September 9, 2024 @ 7:57 am
I thought Twang in 2009 was going to be this traditional, elder statesman shift in Strait’s music, but for the most part he’s since doubled down on his formula and just gave us less of it. But instead of making us nostalgic through time, his music has become stale.
I was bored listening to the first half of this albym. It’s nice but it’s all been down a million different times and dull and predicable. Until I came to the track on the list I thought I’d have the least interest, “Calling from the Car.” Maybe because it used to be a staple on Strait’s set list, this song reminded me of “Linda on My Mind.” Then I saw Bobby Braddock wrote it and wondered if he also wrote “Linda on My Mind” (it’s credited as a Conway Twitty solo write). It’s a terrific song excellently executed.
From there the album got so much better! The one two punch of “The Book” and “Rent” pushes this album to AOY candidacy. I bet “Rent” is used at John Dutton’s opening scene funeral on Yellowstone. The instrumentation/production of “Rent” is where Strait excels and should focus moving forward.
Strait has been ending albums for the last decade with “My Life’s Been Grand” like songs for 18 years, but “The Journey of Your Life” even surprises with less than expected troupes.
Overall, best Strait album since Twang.
September 9, 2024 @ 8:03 am
Agreed about the slow start of the album, and that some of the early singles were lackluster. I encourage folks to hang with it, because there are some really great songs in the 2nd half.
September 9, 2024 @ 1:06 pm
“Arkansas Dave” alone from the “Twang” album was enough to reestablish him for the new millennium as the elder statesman. Even AJ has fallen by the wayside.
As far as being stale, maybe he thought so too. Hence, the five year gap in album releases.
September 9, 2024 @ 8:05 am
I felt the 3rd paragraph in the article when I heard the first few singles he released. A little let down we waited 5 years for that. But now that I’ve heard the rest of the albums I think it’s really good. ” To The Moon”, “Cowboys and Dreamers” and “Honky Tonk Hall A Fame” are all stand outs for me. I think the later could be a hit on FM country radio if George even cares about that anymore. George has been pretty selective with who he’s sang with throughout his career, but him and Chris sound great together.
September 9, 2024 @ 8:16 am
It doesn’t really matter but I’d like GRAMMY voters to reward The Little Things to spare us from the inevitable Taylor v Beyonce (Tayonce) nonsense which will last months.
It’s also lovely to note that his son Bubba and Dean’s daughter Jessie Jo are both credited; nobody ever mentions Stapleton as the new George Strait, but is there a case for calling him Prince Chris?
Very fair write-up, and some of the arrangements – you didn’t even mention Wish I Could Say – are magnificent.
(PS If you need to write about something awful, I think the Yung Gravy album verges on the Walker Hayes.)
September 9, 2024 @ 8:50 am
Kendall Marvel and Marty Brown also co-wrote some great songs on this album!
September 9, 2024 @ 5:40 pm
Marty Brown? Nice to see he’s still pluggin’!
September 23, 2024 @ 3:42 pm
KM is an awesome songwriter
September 9, 2024 @ 8:56 am
To the moon, calling from the car, and the journey of your life have the most replayed on my streaming platform.
September 9, 2024 @ 9:28 am
Damn, no mention of “Wish I could Say” or “Prople Get Hurt Sometimes”? Two really great songs with superb delivery. Anyone complaining that his old stuff is better, these are 80s George. The latter is very reminiscent of “What’s Going on In Your World”. Such a great album. And Stapleton really did write a perfect George Strait song and he knew George’s delivery would bring it home. Chris seems to try to match him. Great tune!
September 9, 2024 @ 10:07 am
This is an album review, not a song review. I tend to write longer reviews than anyone else already. Sometimes I give mentions of most or all of the songs. But usually I try to broach more overarching themes of what the album symbolizes, and mention songs as examples. No disrespect to those songs whatsoever.
September 9, 2024 @ 9:39 am
As an added bonus with respect to this album, reliable sources state that George strummed his guitar, not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES during the course of the album!bb
September 9, 2024 @ 10:13 am
I hadn’t seen this guy yet. Was starting to get worried.You always know he’s in for a guitar playing knock out of left field every George Strait article.
September 9, 2024 @ 1:09 pm
If you’ve seen him live in the past few years, he’s definitely taken guitar lessons! Lol. He’s playing it way more often then he ever did before.
September 9, 2024 @ 10:01 am
Planning on picking it up as any of his albums are a must buy. Really like the title track.
September 9, 2024 @ 10:11 am
I, too, was not terribly excited for the new George Strait album from the first three singles — and this is coming from a dude who has picked up his albums on release date ever since 1996’s Blue Clear Sky. But I got this one on release day as well, and I am glad for it, because he absolutely delivered on the rest of it. I have been playing it almost nonstop since Saturday. ”Wish I Could Say” is my favorite of the bunch — he sings the absolute fire out of this and it’s a thing of beauty — along with ”Honky Tonk Hall of Fame,” ”Calling From the Car,” ”To The Moon,” ”Rent,” and ”The Journey Of Your Life.” I also really dug the Waylon cover. Wasn’t real sure how that one would go over given that George wasn’t really a singer in the same vein as what Waylon did, but it was really good.
Great to have new music from The King, indeed.
September 9, 2024 @ 1:10 pm
100% agree.
September 9, 2024 @ 10:25 am
Trigged,
Just curious, what are your 3 highest ranking albums so far this year based on score?
September 9, 2024 @ 11:27 am
Karen Jonas and “The Rise and Fall of American Kitsch” was the largest rating so far this year (9.7). I’d have to go back and look who is behind here because the field gets very crowded from there. Shane Smith and the Saints came in at 8.6, as did Sturgill Simpson. I will aggregate all this stuff in December when we look at Album of the Year nominees and the Essential Albums list. Rating doesn’t always factor directly into that because you also have to measure impact of the release.
For this album, I thought there were a lot of really strong songs, but there were also a few really big duds. So though I think the rating was fair, I don’t think it reflects the strength of some of the top tracks. In hindsight, maybe this should have been one of those albums I did a track-by-track review for. Who knows, maybe I will do that in the future for it.
September 9, 2024 @ 7:03 pm
Man I would definitely appreciate hearing your thoughts on each song. They’re not all great, but overall I found this album to be stronger than the last few efforts.
September 9, 2024 @ 10:43 am
I think that it’s worth noting that George’s road band, ‘Ace in the Hole’, played on 4 tracks. Including the late, great Gene Elders.
September 9, 2024 @ 1:12 pm
Definitely worth noting. He hasn’t had his band on an album since “Holding My Own” in 1992, I believe.
September 9, 2024 @ 10:56 am
Lovely write-up, Trig. 🙂 After having checked out “Honky Tonk HOF” this past Friday, I definitely want to get my mitts on this album!
September 9, 2024 @ 12:59 pm
I hear ya, Trigger! George will always be my #1. Thanks for the response and the great review!
September 9, 2024 @ 1:34 pm
Yeah, well “Miami, My Amy” is a little too close to Strait’s “Marina Del Rey” recorded four years earlier! Both songs were written by the legendary Dean Dillon.
First though: Dang, Strait’s been making hits for a long time.
Second thought: How sweet would it have been if Whitley had a 40 year career?
September 9, 2024 @ 1:35 pm
It’s strange to see George Strait referred to as a “staunch Country traditionalist”, when he really hasn’t been that (debatably) since “Always Never The Same”.
The release of the single “If You Can Do Anything Else” marked a change in his career where he went from mostly traditional with some modern leanings, to mostly modern with some traditional leanings. I think the last album I bought was “Honkytonkville”. I just got sick of being disappointed.
Honky Tonk Hall Of Fame would be a pretty cool song, but Chris Stapleton, who is extremely overrated as a country vocalist, ruins it.
I wish George would spend the rest of his life just cutting traditional stuff…make up for all the radio trash he released the last 2 decades.
Shoot, I can think of a bunch of covers I’d love to hear him sing.
September 9, 2024 @ 3:41 pm
Interesting i wouldnt know what to call george other than traditional country music. Hes def not classic country. The term modern just doesnt mean anything to me. Im not a huge fan but i have liked a lot of his stuff. I tend to favor those who write most of their stuff. Still you have an interesting take, i just dont see it.
September 9, 2024 @ 6:10 pm
Strait sure is a good singer. I saw him in Indy with Stapleton, and George’s voice got stronger the longer he sang. It was a solid two hours. At his age, that’s remarkable and admirable.
Stapleton is a rock singer (Jompson Brothers) and all blowtorch all the time. But like all blowtorches, he gets attention, and boy can he light up a stadium. I think he’s a fine writer, too.
Strait’s longevity can best be explained by the fact that it’s just not in some guys to give up. He loves music too much, and the fans know a faithful lover when they see one.
September 10, 2024 @ 8:47 am
“Always Never The Same” was my first CD and I’m happy to see it mentioned here. Good review, Trigger.
September 9, 2024 @ 1:51 pm
love king George since was 16 still do matter of fact my sweet wife got this for me and listened to in the truck and she said the book sounds like it written about me great record welcome back king George i missed you T J Hilkert Aka A George Strait wannabe
September 9, 2024 @ 2:22 pm
I struggle with George Strait – he’s not a vocalist on the level of Jamey Johnson or Chris Stapleton and he doesn’t write his songs. I’d say he’s good, not great. IMO
September 9, 2024 @ 5:31 pm
I completely understand this. George is really what I tend to stay away from in music. I like singer/songwriters and if they write their own music that’s even better. George has made a career of performing others material. But, those first ten records are flipping amazing. Those are top tier musicians playing on those records. And man they swing. You put his heart and delivery on that and imo you have King George. He’s not a great singer but he’s honk for sure. As real as there is.
September 10, 2024 @ 11:37 am
Jamey Johnson seems to have the attitude of he can take it or leave it and he comes across bitter at times. You would think that would be George’s attitude. But it’s not. Also, George has been writing his own material for probably the past 10 albums when Bubba started writing. He began his career writing his own songs but then he met Dean Dillon and there was no way he could compete with that, so he let him write mostly everything from there.
September 9, 2024 @ 2:33 pm
I’m glad to see the review for this. I’ve not picked up a new Strait album in years (decades?) since I was introduced to the independent/Texas/Red Dirt/Americana scene which in turn led me to this site and converted my whole tribe from radio country/ Dead Head / 90’s-2000’s rock fans.. That said, I really enjoyed the album and can come full circle now to see what inspires much of the music this site buoys with its existence. The man isn’t in his prime. MIA in MIA and a couple others were a little gimmicky but the majority of this album is really really great stuff. Glad to see he’s got some left in the tank.
September 9, 2024 @ 3:44 pm
Ill try to give this a listen. I tend to only like a few songs of his on an album.
September 9, 2024 @ 4:14 pm
I have to say its a solid album. Two songs really stand out to me. To the moon and Rent. Rent is pure music gold. Its almost like something alan jackson would write. Its kind of clear his voice isnt what it was. Old age comes for us all. But hes still pretty smooth.
September 10, 2024 @ 11:33 am
That extra grit or “wrinkle” in his voice has only added to his stature and it brings so much more maturity to a song that only he can do. And honestly, I think Tony Brown knows it and is exploiting the ever loving sh*t out of it.
September 9, 2024 @ 5:02 pm
Great album from The King!!!
September 9, 2024 @ 5:04 pm
“Calling From the Car” is a great song but what exactly it is about? A player or a dedicated husband?
September 10, 2024 @ 4:32 am
I had the thought that it was a player turning into a dedicated husband.
September 10, 2024 @ 5:16 am
A married man calling his wife to tell her he’s working late, then going through his little black book to find a hookup. Everyone seems to be busy that night, so he ends up home.
September 10, 2024 @ 1:06 pm
Thanks, hoptowntiger. I scanned the lyrics but couldn’t figure out if it was cynical or sincere.
Great song that harkens back to the classic age of great country music songwriting.
September 10, 2024 @ 7:19 pm
No doubt! Bobby Braddock (“D-I-V-O-R-C-E,” “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” and Mark Chesnutt “Old Flames Have New Names”) wrote it.
September 11, 2024 @ 2:15 pm
Love Braddock’s work.
Definitely has shades of “Old Flames” in it with the fun rhymes.
I miss that era of country music.
September 10, 2024 @ 11:30 am
I had a hard time getting a handle on this song as well.
September 9, 2024 @ 5:42 pm
Class, class, class. Always class.
September 10, 2024 @ 10:17 am
My favorite singer of all time
September 10, 2024 @ 12:19 pm
I first heard George sing on a flatbed 18 wheeler in Houston. He was wearing a baseball cap and had a hole in his wranglers at the knee. I was 16 or 17 when “Unwound” came out and I was there, in the Astrodome, when he subbed for Eddie Rabbit. I am a huge George Strait fan and it pains me to say this, but if you are having trouble sleeping, then you should listen to this album. Outside of the abominable “Drinking Champagne” album, it is the worst album he has done. Save your money. No swing, no driving honkey tonk………no…..nothing. If that’s the best he can do then he needs to quit.
September 11, 2024 @ 10:54 am
Cowboys and Dreamers what delight to hear king George Strait sings: ‘To the Moon’ after singing ‘Amarillo by Mornin’’—-my favorite song of all times for so long. Just when I thought I had laughed my lungs out with the ‘Amarillo’ song, then I heard ‘’Calling from the Car’. The selfishness of the man in the song had me busting out in laughter even though I was mourning the loss of my dear husband. Great job George Strait. God has blessed you with an amazing talent. Keep up the good work.
September 11, 2024 @ 2:28 pm
I love all of George Straight songs and love him alwayse forever
September 12, 2024 @ 4:28 pm
I thought his version of “Waymore’s Blues” was excellent.
September 12, 2024 @ 6:34 pm
God bless George Strait.
September 13, 2024 @ 9:29 am
After first listen, I found the first few songs to be very dry and nothing overly great. Then it opened up and began to feel great. King George can still bring it!
September 14, 2024 @ 6:58 am
All I have to say to the other people making comments on particular songs. This is an album that has it all just what The King delivers all the time. He goes for a good story, good melody and the rest is his voice that turns it in to a gem. All the songs are great! I love them all especially “wish I could say more” but not taking away from the other ones at all. I can’t believe someone saying negative things about the king. He already recorded so many great songs during his career and now he has slow down to spend more time with his family so be glad he is still recording for us and this is what we get so enjoy. Cheers to all the cowboys and dreamers and even haters
September 16, 2024 @ 1:08 pm
George Straight is an absolute legend. The most life giving part of his career is that fact that it has been so successful for such a long time. If you truly listen to his music from his earliest albums to now, there is so much wisdom found. Life lessons, experiences, points of view, and genuine truth fills his music. It’s also beautiful to see what aspects of his style has stayed and what has changed. I am glad he didn’t retire ten years ago, I feel like he has so much more to say.
September 23, 2024 @ 12:21 pm
I love his latest album and have played it over and over. Actually, I have a George Strait concert in my house and car every single day. Just can’t get enough of his music. Some of his songs I like better than others, but ALL of his songs are GOOD. I have been a big fan ever since I heard him in the 1980’s. Just hope he will continue to perform on stage and record new songs. God bless you, George.