George Strait: Always One to Step Up for His Songwriters
In 2019, George Strait received The President’s Keystone Award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International, or NSAI. It was a bit strange for Strait to earn a songwriter’s award since throughout his illustrious career, he’s been known more as a great song picker as opposed to a great songwriter. Strait has somewhat famously written very few of his own songs, though there are a few he wrote scattered throughout his catalog, especially his latest releases.
But the NSAI wasn’t recognizing George Strait for his own songwriting efforts. The President’s Keystone Award was given to Strait in “recognition of his contributions toward the betterment of all songwriters.”
This betterment of songwriters has taken form in many different ways throughout George Strait’s career. There are many songwriters who may never have been successful or had a career, or excelled in the profession as they did if it wasn’t for Strait recording their songs, and being so prosperous with them. This is a testament to Strait’s excellence as a performer and singer.
Songwriter Dean Dillon is one of the few pure songwriters in the Country Music Hall of Fame. This would have never happened if it wasn’t for George Strait selecting so many Dean Dillon songs to record over his career, and those songs doing so well. Because of that success, Dean Dillon wasn’t just able to make a career out of it. He was able to become one of the most successful songwriters in country music history. George Strait was there to personally induct Dean Dillon into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2021.
Jim Lauderdale might be one of the most under-appreciated songwriters and performers in country music in the last few decades. The fact that radio and major labels weren’t paying attention to Lauderdale is one of the reasons the Americana Music Association was founded. Independent and grassroots-minded people in the music business felt they needed to open up an alternative to mainstream country if people like Lauderdale were slipping through the cracks.
George Strait recorded over a dozen of Lauderdale’s tracks, filling up Lauderdale’s mailbox with royalty money, and making fans out of the folks who pay attention to songwriting credits. When the Americana Music Association gave Jim Lauderdale a Lifetime Achievement award in 2016, George Strait showed up to the Ryman Auditorium to personally pay tribute to Lauderdale, singing “The King of Broken Hearts” that Lauderdale wrote and Strait sang for the Pure Country soundtrack in 1992.
Even though George Strait officially retired from touring in 2014 and only takes the bus out these days if he’s headlining a stadium show or a residency in Las Vegas, he still makes the time to appear to support the songwriters who helped ensconce him as modern country music’s “King.”
Keith Gattis was another guy that George Strait helped support over the years. Similar to Jim Lauderdale, Gattis was incredibly overlooked and underrated throughout his career. When he died tragically on April 23rd, 2023 in a tractor accident on his property at the age of 52, performers from across the country music world stepped up to remember him as one of the good guys.
Keith Gattis wrote the song “I Got a Car” on George Strait’s 2013 Love Is Everything album, as well as “Goin’, Goin’, Gone” and “Let It Go” for Strait’s 2015 album Cold Beer Conversation. Keith Gattis was also a beloved producer and musician. In 1996, Gattis signed as a major label artist to RCA Nashville and released a debut self-titled album. But like so many in the country music industry, it never clicked for him as a performer, despite his undeniable talent.
On November 28th, family, friends and fans of Keith Gattis gathered at The Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville to pay tribute to the late songwriter and producer. The 1,200-capacity venue is tiny compared to the places George Strait is used to performing in, but he was there along with a host of others including Jon Pardi, Wade Bowen, the aforementioned Dean Dillon, and others.
George Strait sang the Keith Gattis songs “I Got a Car” and “Goin’, Goin’, Gone” for the crowd.
Some have criticized George Strait over the years for not writing more of his own material. But there is nobody in country music who is more aware of how important his songwriters were to him than George Strait. Whenever called upon to prop them up or pay tribute to them, King George appears, proving he isn’t just an A+ performer, but a stand up guy.
December 10, 2023 @ 8:58 am
I imagine John Prine and his family are quite grateful for George Strait’s recording of “I Just Want to Dance With You,” also. Damned if I remember where I first heard this, but JP used the royalties from that record to pay for his lung cancer surgery.
December 20, 2023 @ 1:20 pm
I’m a JP fan and didn’t know that those royalties paid for his surgery. GS does a wonderful recording of that song. And it does not matter to me that GS rarely writes songs. With his career and time demands, songwriting time was scarce. To the benefit of all songwriters involved with country music.
December 10, 2023 @ 9:23 am
I’ve never understood the criticisms of George regarding songwriting. Is it because he’s a country singer who doesn’t write his own songs? Because as I have said many times over the years, Elvis and Sinatra didn’t write songs, and they are two of the greatest and most popular singers ever. And many songwriters either are not good singers or performers or really can’t sing at all. Some people just want to write. Singers like George and Elvis and Sinatra were able to take those writers’ words and make them their own.
December 10, 2023 @ 10:14 am
Rob, I agree. It didn’t used to be this way, there was a time when actual songwriting itself was seen as a career choice and truly great singers like Ray Price, Jones, Don Williams, Strait, Whitley and many, many others were celebrated and lauded on their vocal and performing talents. That wasn’t a bad thing in my estimation at all. Though these guys didn’t write much material, they handpicked their writers and the songs themselves, and created their own signature style. This made them superstars and to this day, those folks still stand as all-time legends. Sure, guys who are singer-songwriters are cool and most of us admire them greatly and I think both approaches can exist and be relevant. Unfortunately, there is a pronounced snob view among younger music fans, very noticeable in the Americana circles and the East Nashville hipster contingent, that not writing your own songs makes you way less legitimate.
Over the years , many SCM regulars have filled the comments sections with these type of remarks, expressing disdain for Strait and really anyone who doesn’t write, while at the same time extolling the Blaze Foley’s of the world as if they were the real superstars. To me its creating an alternate universe and pretending the bedrock legends never existed. And why, I ask, do folks feel the need to do this? Remember that songwriting is a different animal entirely than performing. Same with musicianship, I lean towards great players and pickers, but I stop myself short of saying a killer lead guitar player is more important than a band front man or featured vocalist. Its called entertainment, and everyone has a role and a place in making it happen. How about recording engineers and producers? Don’t they count for something? You can write a tremendous song, have a mediocre at best voice, and no real performance skills, and your song is dead on arrival in terms of money making potential, without a great vehicle to deliver the song. Thats when a talented producer, engineer, musicians and yes vocalists can help you to take your skeleton and flesh it out into something amazing. Yeah, the snooty attitude on this baffles me to no end. I genuinely enjoy great songwriters and great performers; they live side by side in my listening universe. Rant over. HAha!
December 10, 2023 @ 5:57 pm
Blaze Foley is the GG Allin of country.
December 14, 2023 @ 4:13 am
ahaahah perfect
December 10, 2023 @ 9:23 pm
Thank you Kevin, perfectly stated. 100%!
December 10, 2023 @ 10:22 am
Mostly unrelated question that pertains to George Strait. Considering driving 5 hours and spending $300+ on ticket to see George Strait and Chris Stapleton next summer. Is this worth it?
December 10, 2023 @ 11:12 am
definitely…..should be a great show. Once in a lifetime. Wish I could go!
December 10, 2023 @ 12:11 pm
I saw that lineup (with Ashley McBryde opening) when they played Atlanta back in 2019.
Definitely worth the trip.
December 10, 2023 @ 1:55 pm
Unfortunately it’s Little Big Town opening in Detroit, the closest to me, but, two outta three ain’t bad!
December 10, 2023 @ 9:08 pm
You’ll likely NEVER give yourself of you don’t go. King George NEVER disappoints and Chris Stapleton is an amazing performer and writer as well. George is the King and Chris Stapleton is certainly on the top 10 list for a country music Prince today.
December 11, 2023 @ 3:32 pm
Yes it’s worth it . I love George Strait, Chris Stapleton, Alan Jackson, and a bunch of others . Not to much into the country music of today .
December 12, 2023 @ 3:31 pm
100% worth it
June 2, 2024 @ 11:16 am
I personally don’t care if he writes his songs. I have love GS from the beginning. He voice is beautiful and he’s a stand up guy. Also, I have liked that he doesn’t have scandals and when his daughter was killed he basically didn’t speak with journalists about it. It was private and not for public consumption. He’s been married to his sweetheart from high-school and I have never heard any scandal about extra marital affairs. He’s one of the few men that looks almost as good walking away as he does coming towards you!!
December 10, 2023 @ 10:47 am
Nice article! And for anyone reading this, I am very much enjoying the new Uncle Lucius. You should check it out
December 10, 2023 @ 10:53 am
George Strait is GREAT, but it’s okay to have more respect/like/love one’s favorite bands/singers who write their own songs. I certainly do. It’s the whole package/a true expression of their hearts and talents when you write what you sing and sing what you write.
December 10, 2023 @ 5:52 pm
Red Dirt country artists write many of their own songs, and they are elementary compared to the songs of Dean Dillon.
January 11, 2024 @ 8:45 pm
Since GEORGE STRAIT retired from touring (not from singing) he has had more TIME to write. Each album he has put out since then has included songs written by GEORGE and his SON, and some songwriter friends including DEAN DILLON. Last thing he has done was write a song with WILLIE which they sing together in concert. He is still among top sales in concert as well. For 71 years of age GEORGE STRAIT is very active, and remains – per his peers and his 45 years of fans -THE KING OF COUNTRY MUSIC.
December 10, 2023 @ 11:16 am
I suppose its nice if a singer writes his own material. More important that it is a great song well performed. George Strait is a great artist and as a result of his artistry some great songs become hits. Same applies to many other artists such as George Jones, Keith Whitely etc. Some singer songwriters write great songs but are not good performers. Strait deserves the award and all the plaudits he has got over the years. He is a great country singer.
December 10, 2023 @ 7:14 pm
What’s weird is that Keith Whitley co-wrote a lot of songs, but only one of them (“It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” appeared on an album he was an active participant in making. I’ve never seen it explained why he didn’t put more of his own songs on his albums
December 11, 2023 @ 6:59 am
Hello PHK. Keith answers that exact question in an interview with Shelly Mangrum in 1988. You can watch it on YouTube. Keith is wearing a Hawaiian shirt. I think her shows name was Video Country. Basically Keith said as a songwriter in the beginning ,he did not write for himself. He said he was trying to write songs other artists would want to record. Jim
December 12, 2023 @ 8:02 am
Keith wrote Joseph and Mary’s Boy that Alabama recorded on their Christmas album in the 80s, which for nostalgia purposes, it ain’t Christmas til I listen to that and the Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers duet album.
December 12, 2023 @ 12:17 pm
Keith is also a writer on “There’s A New Kid in Town”. It made this sites Country Christmas Playlist by two artists. Was originally done by Alabama.
December 12, 2023 @ 12:23 pm
Correction. I meant Michael Johnson not Alabama. Johnson releases in 1985 and Strait did it a year later
December 10, 2023 @ 11:57 am
The songwriters are far, far more important than the singers. After all, only one (or two or three in collaboration) can write a song, but, once the song is written, thousands can perform it. One out of every twenty people you meet walking down the street is, with training, a good singer. One out of every fifty or so is a great singer. One out of every 250 or so is a phenomenal singer. The same numbers don’t apply to songwriters, whose numbers are much, much more minute.
December 10, 2023 @ 12:42 pm
Certainly no issues with someone mostly performing songs written by others instead of writing their own. Both are talents and most people don’t have both. There are a lot of people writing their songs and singing them that would be better served just writing the songs. Some of them are doing are well known.
December 10, 2023 @ 4:12 pm
I’d put Strait with Kenny Rogers in the class of country singers who were able to become long-time superstars over several decades, strictly on the strength of their singning–and by writing almost none of their own material. Rogers had to change his style over time from rock to country to pop and back to country, while Strait remained pretty much the same, with only subtle changes.
But that’s catching lightining in a bottle. Most artists need to write some of their own material to break from the cookie-cutter mold and establish a persona.
December 20, 2023 @ 1:28 pm
Kenny wrote a song the Statlers recorded called “A Stranger in my Place.” One of my favorite Statlers songs, they gave it the perfect treatment.
December 10, 2023 @ 5:50 pm
I’m not aware that Strait’s contemporaries lacked the same access to these songwriters and songs. Strait was able to select ‘great’ songs. Not to mention that his success started when country music was abandoning traditionalism for more modern pop sounds. He not only stayed traditional throughout his entire career but he kept racking up 1#’s for decades. That’s not a fluke.
No one bitches that Stapleton didn’t write Tennessee Whiskey.
December 10, 2023 @ 10:15 pm
I pitched to Strait back in the old days of cassette demos. One of the people in his manager’s office told me that he usually listened to at least 4000 songs to pick 10 for one album. His ability to pick great songs was unsurpassed, but he worked at it.
December 11, 2023 @ 12:52 am
I seriously doubt that George Strait personally listened to 4000 songs–or even 400 songs for each of what were annual albums back then. You’d go batty trying to do that and it would not be effective.
Maybe his team–some band members, producers Bowen or Tony Brown and their staffs culled through 4000 submissions, and presented Strait with a manageable number to consider. Obviously, Strait would listen to anything that Dean Dillon sent in and any other A-list songwriter–Bob McDill, Paul Overstreet et al. The record label staff would have a better idea of what country radio was looking for at any particular time than Strait would.
December 11, 2023 @ 7:49 am
As someone who screens through hundreds of albums, and thousands of songs each year (I review about 120 alone), I can attest that it’s very possible, and that you will go batty doing it. My brain is broken when it comes to music and the joy of music is mostly gone, but I’ve also become very good at vetting songs and albums.
December 11, 2023 @ 2:49 pm
Your job that you created is about discovering and being obsessive about and informing people about non-mainstream country and related music. That entails a lot of listening. Strait has a different job and a completely different type of personality. His job was recording and performing–and delegating all the other stuff, especially as he got more successful and wealthier.
I haven’t heard Strait comment on this specifically, but I recall George Jones–probably in his autobiography–saying abot making records [paraphrasing from memory]: “I don’t pick the songs. The producer and record label know better than me what’s selling and what radio is looking for. I go in and sing them.”
Obviously, some artists are more hands-on or more control-freaks than others, but saying that George Strait personally listened to 4000 songs to pick for an album is clearly hyperbole–maybe by a magnitude of 50.
December 10, 2023 @ 5:55 pm
I believe that Dean Dillon tried to launch his own singing career but never achieved enough success at it. I have one of his cd’s and he’s a fine singer. The music business is unfair and many talented singers don’t “make it.” I also enjoy listening to Nat Stuckey but he also never achieved that level of succcess but everyone has heard his song “Pop a Top.”
December 10, 2023 @ 6:26 pm
Cowboy may you continue to support all the songwriters. God gave you great gift and you have done a lot for a lot of people
December 12, 2023 @ 10:34 am
I totally agree and I think that’s an important part of who George Strait is. His talent has only improved over the years and his talent for finding songs that showcases his music style has never failed him. He’s a very humble man and will always give credit where credit is due.
December 10, 2023 @ 6:27 pm
I’m one of the people prefer songwriters. Don’t get me wrong, George is great and lots of his songs sound better by him than by the writer.
But to explain to the people who don’t get it, it adds something to the song to know that the person singing it understands what its about.
When a rodeo song mentions obscure rodeo concepts, you know the writer has some experience, or has done some research. If its another writer, they could be anyone just saying what is written down, and maybe even get it wrong and pass on false information.
Or they could cut out Loop and Lil. Thats the best line in a pretty tacky love song.
December 10, 2023 @ 6:32 pm
Or rodeo can be used as a half-metaphor that can be applied to other pursuits – such as in ‘ Still Make Cheyenne’
December 10, 2023 @ 7:39 pm
I was a bull riding 16 year old twerp when Still Make Cheyenne came out. It was a song to listen to with the buckle bunnies.
Good tune, but not an appropriate substitution for Gold Buckle Dreams blaring in an old pickup, driving down to Stephenvile, pretending to be some cool rodeo star.
December 10, 2023 @ 7:40 pm
I’d argue that that song kind of makes my point. The singer might not understand the rodeo connotations of Cheyenne (think worldwide) and might think its just another breakup song.
Just like I heard a singer introduce ‘9 pound hammer’ as a coal mining song. When its a railroad song. Well, I think it is. If Merle travis said its about coal mining then I’m happy to change my mind, but not by someone who is just a singer
December 11, 2023 @ 6:20 am
…sorry blackhat, you didn’t quite get “cheyenne”. the song is not about rodeo in the first place, therefore, it does not need specific technicalities of any sort in it. it’s about passion(s)/love. it raises the question what’s most important to you/closest to your heart and what price you are willing to pay for that – or not as the woman in it makes it pretty clear. at the end it provides the answers: “don’t bother coming home…” and “if i hurry, maybe i can still make cheyenne… the rodeo background is just the stage for a big dilemma. one of the best songs in strait’s catalogue of great songs – although, perhaps not about rodeo as such. then again, it works there too, as james’ comment confirms. outstanding songwriting and a great choice made by king george.
December 10, 2023 @ 6:30 pm
I should add to my comment that the flipside is also true. If someone writes their own songs it can also reveal their lack of knowledge and understanding and make it even more painful to listen to.
E.g. every political song at a folk festival.
December 10, 2023 @ 7:15 pm
Strait can’t write songs, he needs a team to write for him. He’s a good singer but he ain’t no artist and musician. He just an overpriced cover singer
December 10, 2023 @ 7:44 pm
1) Strait spent nearly a decade paying his dues singing in clubs, trying to make it before he got a break in Nashville
2) saying you have to be a songwriter to be an artist and musician is as dumb as saying I should build my own car if I want to be considered a driver
December 12, 2023 @ 12:28 pm
Strait is the mist overrated singer that ever was, he’s just an overpriced cover singer
December 12, 2023 @ 11:22 am
Don’t care rather hear Strait sing something someone else wrote vs some good writer with an awful voice which is a good amount of artists I’ve heard covered here.
December 10, 2023 @ 9:32 pm
If you’re known for writing your own songs, people assume you wrote a song that hear you sing, even if you didn’t. People who were not versed in classic country music thought Willie Nelson wrote “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.” I once won a twenty-dollar bet from a guy in a bar who insisted that Jim Croce wrote “I Got A Name” and told me I was an idiot for saying that he didn’t. (It may be the only song associated with Croce that he did not write.)
December 11, 2023 @ 7:35 am
I’m often in these comments calling George Strait a karaoke singer and all of his albums covers albums. I stand by that. I come from the Alt-Country / Americana angle, too, as the article states.
I know not everyone will agree, but I will try to describe where I’m coming from.
This seems arbitrary, but have you ever noticed when you see lists of 100 greatest artists or albums of all time, there aren’t any country albums on it? Artists like George Strait are why. Country is considered a lesser art form to the wider music fandom because it’s a commercial product made by an assembly line. Everyone on the assembly line may be crazy talented at what they do, but you can’t compare that to a real band or someone like Bob Dylan as an artistic product. It would be much more accurate to compare George Strait to boy bands like NSYNC.
I also don’t understand the fascination with singing. Singers grow on trees. Why is the singer so famous and worth hundreds of millions? Why not bass players, or drummers, or guitar players? Why does it get to be a “George Strait” song upon release when he is functionally a studio musician playing what someone else tells him to, just like these other musicians? Songwriting is the hard part. There are singers everywhere.
It’s not fair when comparing artists as legends, either. “George Strait had 300 #1 songs”, or whatever. No, he sang them. No one can write that many #1 songs. Merle Haggard is not a lesser artist because he didn’t have as many #1 songs. He is in fact a much better artist because he actually wrote his songs.
I’m glad songwriters exist. If each country album had 10 songs written by the singer and 2 songs they really loved written by someone else, you’d never hear a peep about it from me. But when people make whole careers simply from being good looking and singing karaoke, then get compared as legends to real artists I roll my eyes.
December 11, 2023 @ 8:51 am
Although Country Fanatic. You are to me quite literally exhibit A of what I was referring to. I mean you no offense but by your own admission, you came into this by means of Alt- Country and Americana.. very different world from the world of traditional industry and radio marketed Country music. I get that, and you sort of pick and choose like an Ala’ Carte menu certain songs and artists that meet your very specific criteria. Such a different background than many of us who grew up listening to Country radio in the 70s and 80s and 90s where we genuinely heard everything coming down the pike. It gave me a wonderful education on the greatness of the music and its history. Perhaps this is one of the reasons I feel a disconnect between classic country fans and Americana fans, because of your take on our music. You don’t have to like Strait or for that matter anything and I’m fine with that. But it’s the attitude that puzzles me. Boy band? Are you friggin kidding?! Do you know the George Strait story?
Firstly the guy fronted his own band called The Ace In The Hole Band for like a decade before his first record contract. He made a living as a professional touring the Texas dance hall circuit as front- man and guitar player in his own freaking band. He played western swing, Honky Tonk and classic Country and doing 3 hr plus sets. He was a contemporary with Asleep At the Wheel, Johnny Bush and other Western Swing acts. As a bandleader, guitar picker and lead singer, it was his setlist, his arrangements, his musicians, his contracts and so on. He called the shots. Does that sound like a karaoke act to you?
There was nothing boy band about him. When he got his record contract, he searched for great songs like sifting for gold. He chose the songs, he forged his relationships with writers like Dean Dillon, he told the producers his vision, he had enormous input into the entire process. He continued on touring with his own Ace in the Hole Band, and kept that same musical vision and sound he started with. And to this day, that’s how he’s rolled. And yeah he does some songwriting as well. And don’t get me started on George Jones…
December 11, 2023 @ 9:43 am
I’m just showing an outsiders perspective. Could it be you don’t like boy band music and like George Strait so you value one over the other?
Justin Timberlake is a pretty talented musician. Probably all of the boy band guys are.
My point is that it is pre-packaged on an assembly line for the market. It isn’t as highly regarded as art by the wider public vs. bands or singer/songwriters.
This is how country is viewed from the outside. I love country music. I love George Jones. But he’s a singer. He isn’t an artist on the level of say, Merle or Dolly or Stapleton, in my personal opinion.
December 11, 2023 @ 3:51 pm
Just because a view is “from the outside” that doesnt mean it is automatically correct. Many of the famous ‘on the greatest list’ rock bands owe their success to the producers for helping to taylor their sound into something good. Rollingstone magazine and all these other rock centered lists never embraced country music as an equal genre. Country music relies on having good lyrics more than other genres. It’s just that the songwriters are the uncredited extra members of those bands.
December 11, 2023 @ 5:03 pm
Strait, good comments. I think when you have such an extreme viewpoint as folks like this, nothing you say will change it. This whole you ain’t legit unless you write is the height of insanity. To literally write off 75% of recorded music like this guy is nuts. Pretty much covers all Motown music too and most old school R&B, all the great crooners in history, most bedrock country performers, pop music, and so on. Heck while we are at it, let’s throw away symphony orchestras cause they didn’t write the music they play! Sorry Elvis, sorry Sinatra, sorry Dean Martin, sorry Tom Jones, Michael Jackson, Linda Ronstadt, Trisha Yearwood, Kenny Roger’s, Oak Ridge Boys, Statler Brothers, Charley Pride, Don Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tanya Tucker, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, and on and on and on. You are all officially boy bands and not legit!
December 11, 2023 @ 6:34 pm
Yeah, I stopped reading at ”It would be much more accurate to compare George Strait to boy bands like NSYNC.” If you’re gonna compare George Strait to NSYNC you might as well do it to people like Glen Campbell, too. I mean, he didn’t write ”Wichita Lineman,” after all.
December 11, 2023 @ 7:47 pm
“This seems arbitrary, but have you ever noticed when you see lists of 100 greatest artists or albums of all time, there aren’t any country albums on it? Artists like George Strait are why.”
No. Country albums aren’t on this lists for the same reason that Giant Steps by Coltrane isn’t on those lists: it’s music that the vast majority of folks aren’t interested in and often don’t understand. That’s OK, there’s plenty of music I’ve never quite understood. Big band, for instance (which reminds me, you never see Money Jungle on those lists either).
“Country is considered a lesser art form to the wider music fandom because it’s a commercial product made by an assembly line.”
First, says who? Second, much of the insanely great music of the 60s, 70s, and 80s was made by an assembly line. Whether it be the Wrecking Crew on the West Coast or the Memphis Horns or the Hi records band. Candi Staton was using the same band as Rev. Al Green. In country, pop, and soul, that was the rule, not the exception.
“Everyone on the assembly line may be crazy talented at what they do, but you can’t compare that to a real band or someone like Bob Dylan as an artistic product. It would be much more accurate to compare George Strait to boy bands like NSYNC.”
You think Aretha Franklin & NSYNC have a lot in common too?
“I also don’t understand the fascination with singing. Singers grow on trees. Why is the singer so famous and worth hundreds of millions? Why not bass players, or drummers, or guitar players? Why does it get to be a “George Strait” song upon release when he is functionally a studio musician playing what someone else tells him to, just like these other musicians?”
In most popular music, the singer’s voice is the song. The quality of their voice and the ability to convey an emotion – to get the lyric over – is the entire foundation of pop music. Turns out some folks have a very, very unique ability to do that. That includes “crap” singers like Bob Dylan, who is one of the most important vocalists of the 20th century.
“This is how country is viewed from the outside. I love country music. I love George Jones. But he’s a singer. He isn’t an artist on the level of say, Merle or Dolly or Stapleton, in my personal opinion.”
If, in your mind, Stapleton has exceeded George Jones in the country music realm or that Jones is just “a singer”, you ain’t just missed the boat, you fell in the river.
I get it – I like folks who can write & deliver a song too. But, it ain’t an accident George Strait had all those hits. Yeah, lot’s of folks can sing the song, but only one dude sings them like George Strait (although, I’m betting Haggard could have done a fair imitation).
December 11, 2023 @ 8:36 pm
Let’s start listing some of the most distinctive singers in country who were not primarily songwriters….Reba, Oak Ridge Boys, McGraw, Skaggs, Kenny, Ronnie, Conway, Trisha…shall I keep going, cause there’s many more. Take them all out of country music because they weren’t primarily songwriters. What’s left? A less enjoyable, less interesting genre.
I could easily list as many who were also songwriters. But it’s foolhardy to use songwriting as a dividing line in any genre. I honestly think this is one of the most ridiculous arguments I’ve ever seen on this site.
December 14, 2023 @ 10:02 am
Elvis is the only artist I listen to that did write songs.
December 18, 2023 @ 2:28 am
Dear George,
As ABBA put it so aptly “ Thank you for the music for bringing it to us. we can’t live without you we love the lyrics and sound of your voice so much, thank you.