The Return of Garth Brooks Could Have a Colossal Impact
Oh the irony that the man whose name is on the tip of many people’s tongues as the one who brought country music to its knees and made it more about money than music, could also be the man in the best position to ultimately help save it.
Yes ladies and gentlemen, I’m talking about Garth Brooks.
Over the past few weeks and months, Garth has been dropping hints to fans that the future will hold some big announcements, and big events. Last week he released the cryptic message, “The sevens have aligned. It has begun”¦ Thank you for believing”¦ love, g.” He also announced recently that he will be ending his Las Vegas residence, and that his last show on November 29th will be televised on CBS. Rumors and conjecture are swirling, but so far there has been little information that is either concrete or confirmed about Garth’s future.
In truth there’s a lot less mystery here than some would like you to believe. What’s going to happen is that here very soon, either on his November 29th TV special or shortly before or after, Garth will announce a new album, and plans for a subsequent arena/stadium tour in support, and it will all transpire in 2014. As much as Garth may want to get everybody buzzing with speculation and anticipation, this is exactly what he said he was going to do when he quote “retired” from country music in 2000. He said then that he wanted to take more time to be with his family, and that once his kiddos were done with school, he’d ponder a return. And lo and behold, his youngest daughter Allie is now 17, and scheduled to graduate High School this year. So yes, 7’s are aligning, or whatever.
This is 2013, and everything surrounding the name “Garth Brooks” has changed. If you’re taking to some social network channel to beam, “Hey you know what? With the crap that’s out there today in country music, Garth Brooks doesn’t even sound half that bad,” then you are already a couple of years behind the relevant opinion curve. Whatever Waylon Jennings said or didn’t say about Garth, pantyhose, and a certain element of foreplay that Garth was the equivalent to, it’s all virtually irrelevant at this point. The simple fact is Garth Brooks, despite a nearly 15-year absence from the full-time music hustle, is as poised as any to make major waves in the country music world, and to do so his way.
READ: Why Time Has Been Kind to the Music of Garth Brooks
In many ways the 7’s have aligned for Garth, and not just because of the particulars of his personal life. Last year George Strait announced he would end full-time touring, and he’s making his final rounds on the arena/stadium circuit as we speak. Both Alan Jackson and Vince Gill have recently accepted their fate that they’re no longer top tier concert draws, and have gone in a more rootsy direction and taken their places as country music legacy acts. Even Kenny Chesney said recently he’s going to take a break from touring. All of this leaves a massive void in the country music touring realm for a big-drawing, well-established artist.
But just what shape will Garth’s triumphant return take? That is really the only question left to answer. We really don’t have much intel or insight into this subject this early in his phase of returning, but what I do feel confident in going on the record as saying is that I don’t see Garth getting involved in either the country rap or laundry list lyric craze, or any other current pop country trend. As much as Garth’s detractors hate to admit it, one of the reasons he retired, and one of the reasons his regrettable Chris Gains era reared its ugly head is because Garth was bored, and didn’t want to chase trends. Garth wanted to make his own trends, and his own music. Whatever Garth does, it will be true to Garth.
And Garth also won’t do anything unless he knows it’s going to be successful, both with its reception and its financial reward. He’s already voiced concerns about how the digital age will effect his ability to release music. If/when he does release music and go on tour, he will have all bets hedged, and it will be huge.
And even if Garth gets out on stage and acts like a jukebox of his Greatest Hits with some new material mixed in, this will offer such a stark contrast to country music’s current flavors, it will immediately constitute a positive counter-balance, swinging the scales in whatever degree back to the true sound of country music. Look at what Garth has been doing at his Vegas shows. He’s been stripping them back, just him and his acoustic guitar, playing songs from Merle Haggard and George Jones. I don’t expect to see this specifically from his reboot, but I do expect it to be traditional and substantive in nature compared to the current country mainstream. Garth isn’t going to be able to fool anyone. He can’t fit in Luke Bryan’s skinny jeans. He’s going to get out there and be Garth, and by the sheer draw of a man who’s bested only by Elvis in album sales in music history will create a dramatic amount of interest, and assert a tremendous amount of influence.
October 31, 2013 @ 9:21 am
I know it’s fashionable for hating on Garth for “ruining” country music in the ’90s, but the fact of the matter is that without him a lot of people never would have become country fans in the first place. And when he brought new fans to the genre, they actually came in as country fans instead of today when people say “I hate country, but I like ______”. Maybe it’s because I grew up on him, but I’ve never understood the hate he gets from people. His music has always been unmistakably country and when he talks about people like Strait and Jones as his idols it’s clear he actually means it.
And every time I read someone talk about the “Chris Gaines phase” I always feel like I’m apparently the only one who realizes that was all done to promote a movie where Chris Gaines was the main character that ended up not getting made. And that album really isn’t too bad as ’90s pop/rock goes.
October 31, 2013 @ 11:56 am
Very well put Andrew.
You’re not alone in your factual basis on Chris Gaines project. I am always floored when people think Garth was doing that because of anything but it being part of a movie project. And, the album, isn’t all that bad from a pure musical standpoint.
I might add, I never thought Garth ruined country music. Nearly everyone after him did. They all tried to catch the lighting in a bottle in his wake, and they found that it wasn’t so easy to do, and eventually the direction it went was to appeal to 15-22 yr. olds, which Garth’s music is much deeper than music for 15-22 yr. old group.
Garth might be a marketer, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be authentic. Dale Earnhardt Sr. was a marketer of his brand, but anyone going to call Dale fake or in it for the money only?
Garth loves country music, true country music. We can all bash his rock shows, but he stole that from Chris Ledoux. Are we ready to say Ledoux wasn’t country?
Waylon mentioned something about Garth once, but I can assure you that Garth has a lot of respect for Waylon. Waylon’s negative feelings on Garth aren’t any different than Waylon’s negative feelings on Merle Haggard. But do we hang Merle for Waylon’s opinion. No.
I’m excited he is coming back and I think he is just what is needed.
November 1, 2013 @ 12:13 pm
What did Waylon say about Merle? I know he covered “The Bottle Let Me Down.”
November 1, 2013 @ 12:15 pm
I can see them having differences, but I would be very shocked if he didn’t respect him as a brilliant musician.
November 4, 2013 @ 5:36 pm
In his autobiography, Waylon tells a story about Merle taking advantage of him in a poker game. He’s also made several snide remarks about Merle’s sound, saying that Ralph Mooney made Merle famous or that Merle got his sound from Lefty Frizzell. I don’t know Waylon personally but it sure seems like he carried some resentment towards Merle.
October 31, 2013 @ 9:39 am
As long as he doesn’t come back as a rapper, I’m good with it. Go Garth.
October 31, 2013 @ 1:06 pm
Begin countdown until monogenre pop pushers start saying “Garth rapped in Ain’t Goin’ Down ‘Til the Sun Comes Up” to try to justify their bad pop/rap songs.
October 31, 2013 @ 10:16 am
Wow, when Eric Church said we needed a “Country Music Jesus”, I didn’t realize he meant raised from the dead and everything…
October 31, 2013 @ 10:30 am
I am very interested to see what Garth Does. I have always ben a huge Garth fan and thought Garth always sang for the most part, very country songs. You always hear a lot of people talk about how after his first two or three albums he changed so much. His live act and persona may have gotten bigger, but most of his songs sounded country to me and definitely a lot more country than what you hear today. These songs below were all released after his first three albums and there are a lot of good songs in there I think and these are the releases, his album cuts that didn’t go to radio were even more country. I’m not saying all these are “two thumbs way up songs”, but they would sound nice on today’s radio.
Somewhere Other Than the Night
That Summer
Learning to Live Again
Standing Outside the Fire”
The Night I Called the Old Man Out”
“American Honky-Tonk Bar Association”
“Ain’t Goin’ Down (‘Til The Sun Comes Up)”
“The Red Strokes”
.”Callin’ Baton Rouge”
“That Ol’ Wind”
The Change”
The Beaches of Cheyenne”
“She’s Every Woman”
“Ireland”
.”Longneck Bottle”
“She’s Gonna Make It
Don’t Have to Wonder”
Two Piña Coladas”
You Move Me”
“In Another’s Eyes”
Beer Run
Squeeze Me In”
“Pushing Up Daisies”
Rodeo or Mexico
When You Come Back to Me Again
October 31, 2013 @ 12:06 pm
I agree there was some good stuff in his later releases but it seemed to me that he was tailoring too many songs for the live shows and they many times weren’t all that great to listen too. Some of the intimacy of songs like ‘Somewhere Other Than The Night’ a great song I think was lost in later years though some like his cover of ‘Callin Baton Rouge’ were really good.
I still think the best song he ever recorded was his very first single ‘Much Too Young(Too Feel This Damn Old)’. It brings chills to me when I stumble across it after not hearing it for awhile. Only reached #8 on the country chart too.
October 31, 2013 @ 12:20 pm
That would be my pick. I’d also add “The Dance” and maybe “We Shall Be Free”…
October 31, 2013 @ 12:40 pm
I agree with you also, “Much too Young” is one of those songs I never get tired of hearing. I agree that his earlier stuff was his best, I just posted the list to show there were some pretty country songs compared to today’s music,
October 31, 2013 @ 10:51 am
This may be an overstatement on my part but I believe Brooks is at a crossroads in his career. It is pretty evident that he is coming out with a new album which means no Garth Brooks material. The question is does he try to bank on the newer trends that are diminishing country music (albeit even if it is to a lesser extent then the Luke Bryan’s of the world) or does he have the balls to stick with what got him there and buck the current trends. My thought is the latter. Like Trigger said, he is maybe one of a few artists that could pull this off and I don’t think his ego will let him do it any other way. I say he is at a crossroads because I believe his return with authentic country music will, down the road, solidify him as one of the most authentic commercially successful artist of this era. Anything less for him in his mind I believe would be a failure.
October 31, 2013 @ 10:51 am
Hasn’t he already tried a comeback before?
October 31, 2013 @ 11:05 am
He released an album called “The Lost Sessions”, which wre a bunch of songs that he didn’t cut on previous albums that he wanted too and he did like a week of shows in Kansas City I think, but that was it. I have to give him credit for sticking to his word and just being there to raise his kids and not fully coming back to music.
October 31, 2013 @ 11:40 am
I think this is a point that gets lost in the shuffle with Garth. Good on him for putting family first, and for knowing when it is time to step away.
October 31, 2013 @ 9:16 pm
Not really, he hasn’t come out of retirement except to make a greatest hits album and do a small number of shows. His latest big single was More Than A Memory in 2007 and it was for a hits album. It’s fairly country and he didn’t use the bro country writers, hope that hasn’t changed. Big Machine did the radio promotion and it broke a record as the first single to debut #1 on Hot Country. Then there was the Workin’ for a Livin’ duet with Huey Lewis, and Midnight Sun. George Strait is retiring from touring so maybe that makes room for Garth.
November 30, 2013 @ 4:56 pm
I think he should not even trying a comeback, he is pathetic. Tries comedy and its a total boring flop. Used to didn’t seem like he was so boring but he tried this comedy act and I couldn’t stand to watch him any longer.
October 31, 2013 @ 11:14 am
It will be interseting to see how this plays out. The first 2 Garth albums were both stone country. Trig, you are right, my goodness, by comparison with the Luke Bryan’s of the world he will seem very tradtional by todays standards. He steps into a void for the country act that can fill stadiums/arena’s. The guy is a master marketer of his brand that is for sure. He wouldn’t step back out into the touring world unless he was convinced it will be wildly successful and it will.
October 31, 2013 @ 11:38 am
I come at Garth a bit differently. My family has deep country roots but I did not grow up listening to it because my dad avoided it. This was an act of rebellion on his part because his dad loved it and played in a band in Stockton CA (on Cherokee Ln, where Chris Isaac grew up sneaking into honky-tonks). So growing up I only knew country music through Wilf Carter, Hank Snow and Hank Williams, the stuff my grandfather listened to and it was not my cup of tea. When Garth was huge I was in high school and had established the classic rock and grunge scenes as my sonic landscape. So at the time Garth Brooks, being as big as Garth was, was my primary image of country music and it was not a pretty one. When I went off to college, fell in with some good ol’ boys and was introduced to Waylon, Merle and Hank Jr. I got a different perspective on county music and it was much more to my liking. Four years of gradschool in Texas only solidified my identification with real country music.
All this to say, as I explored backwards into the 90’s (this was going on in the mid 00’s), I had a better appreciation for guys like Travis Tritt and Clint Black. As far as Garth went…I could not get past the flying cowboy and his music, with only a couple of exceptions, just never clicked with me.
So, I certainly would not count myself as a Garth Brooks fan and I can only stand to listen to a couple of his songs but I wish him success. If he can help right the right the sinking ship that is mainstream country than his legacy will be much greater in my estimation, even if I don’t like his music.
October 31, 2013 @ 11:45 am
Isn’t he supposed to be a marketing genius? Don’t you think he sees the opportunity to jump on that money train now that so many folks are pissed off at Pop Country? I never saw him sit on stage with an acoustic and do Merle Haggard songs before. Not that it’s a bad thing, I just don’t trust his motives.
October 31, 2013 @ 9:20 pm
“I never saw him sit on stage with an acoustic and do Merle Haggard songs before.”
Well that’s what he’s been doing in Las Vegas for the last 4 years. That’s a long time to do something just to pull wool over people’s eyes.
November 1, 2013 @ 10:59 am
Ah yes, Vegas. Now I know where to go to get my Classic Country fix!
October 31, 2013 @ 11:49 am
Comeback or not, I am not welcoming the return of Garth Brooks. I blame him- and Shania Twain- all the bullshit faux country music we listen to now. Waylon was right. And if he has a comeback that will only be about Garth, not country music. Country music was never really of interest to Garth Brooks. It was only a conduit to making money and becoming famous. His songs are all hit or misses. Some of them are as plastic as the ones Aldean and his frat brothers play.Garth wants you to love him , worship him. He wants to be the Elvis or Michael Jackson of country. He never had the same realness as Strait or Alan Jackson, or for that matter Toby Keith. He was all image and desire. Comeback? He is always with us. And if he were famous today he would be rapping too if it made us turn our attention his way.
October 31, 2013 @ 12:33 pm
Did Garth want to be successful, of course he did. He was very smart in his marketing, but his songs were still very country. Thre are a ton of artists full of hits and misses and George Strait is one of those. You don’t think the machine behind George Strait is a monster, well it is. He has had a bunch average songs, that just flew up the charts to number one. I love George Strait, but I know he hasn’t put out great song after great song and look who he has opening for him on some of his farewell tour stops, Jason Aldean, Sheryl Crow, Little Big Town. He could have anyone he wants open for him, he’s all about the show of George Strait also. He is a good ol country boy, but their is a very smart cowboy under that hat and a powerhouse of a team behind him.
October 31, 2013 @ 12:42 pm
Hank Sr., Waylon, Willie… they all were looking to get paid too. They all had people around them too. Why Garth gets such a bad wrap, I guess opinions are fine, but to state things as if they are fact…that’s not fair.
October 31, 2013 @ 12:14 pm
Garth’s comeback will be interesting.
The current mainstream country crowd knows little about his past success.
I think the current mainstream artists think he was just some conjured up act (like many of them are), so how they receive him will be interesting.
I don’t see Garth getting into the bubble gum pop music. Some of his songs were fairly basic party songs, but overall, his catalog is much deeper and that is what brought him his success. I don’t see him changing his formula..if he has one.
I don’t see him bashing pop country either, but I do think he sees how country music is far from where it was when he hit Nashville.
Bottomline, the folks that say he is only in it for the money? Clearly he is not, because he stepped away when the biggest amount of money in the industry was being made.
And he has made enough money. Now, maybe he sees an opportunity to step in, on his terms, and help the genre he loves. Yes, he loves it. People that say he just marketed his way to success are ridiculous. Was Elvis just a marketer? Is Mick Jagger just a marketer? Elton John? The Beatles? Hank Sr.? No, all these guys are over the top talented and driven. With that, comes some money. Also comes some excess, but they all love/loved what they were doing.
This isn’t the savior that SCM followers might want, but it is someone that wields influence beyond Nashville record labels.
Can you imagine if Garth’s new album did cover some Merle tunes? Maybe new material similar to Garth’s debut “Much too young” ??? Don’t be surprised if that is what it is.
October 31, 2013 @ 12:43 pm
I am really looking forward to this!
My favorite Garth Brooks songs (in no particular order):
The Dance
Much Too Young
If Tomorrow Never Comes
Unanswered Prayers
Friends in Low Places
Beaches of Cheyenne
October 31, 2013 @ 1:58 pm
I think it’s all just a lead-in to his investment of crotchless pantyhose. Just sayin’… “woop woop”.
October 31, 2013 @ 2:07 pm
The denial of time and reversal of desire.
Auto tune and studio enhancements have come a long way.
October 31, 2013 @ 4:05 pm
The BIGGEST question is: Will he get airtime on radio & TV?? Alan Jackson still gets some air play, but apparently isn’t the draw he was. Vince Gill is practically non-existent on radio & TV, to the chagrin of his many fans! Vince is very actively involved in all phases of country music, but most (not all) young people have no real idea of who he is, other than he does ‘All for the Hall’ with Keith Urban and did duets with Carrie Underwood & Kelly Clarkson. It’s really sad! So let’s see how Garth makes out-only time will tell.
October 31, 2013 @ 7:07 pm
This really is the big question isn’t it? I would say with the first single he would get massive radio play and if he is really all back in the game I would imagine he would produce an elaborate video for it (since YouTube plays count for the Billboard charts) and he has the two hour special coming up so there is that also. The bigger test though is when he gets deeper into the release and if it’s not all dirt roads in the moonlight drinking cold beer songs (and please God make it not) will radio play them?
November 1, 2013 @ 9:21 am
Garth Brooks is not Alan Jackson. We’re talking about the country music equivalent to Elvis, whose records have outsold The Beatles. There are no fair comparisons to make to Garth. I do think there is some question of how he will be accepted by the public, but I’m not sure it’s fair to compare Garth to anyone else. It can’t be understated how massive he was in his day.
November 1, 2013 @ 11:10 am
These claims about Garth outselling the Beatles aren’t quite correct. Speaking specifically to the US, Garth is third behind the Beatles and Elvis in all-time sales. Still no easy feat, but the Beatles are the Beatles 🙂
(Source: http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinum.php?content_selector=top-selling-artists)
November 2, 2013 @ 11:49 am
Splitting hairs. Maybe it’s the international sales that put him second, but the point is he is in the very very top echelon of sellers and shouldn’t be written off or compared to Alan Jackson and Vince Gill just because he’s been away for a while.
October 31, 2013 @ 6:13 pm
Here’s the thing. Garth’s music at its core was country based. Normally lots of steel guitar, talk of rodeo culture, cheatin songs, love songs (which if you noticed have become somewhat non-existant, etc. I remember him being on the radio nonstop when I was younger but wasn’t old enough to remember the backlash except for my mom being mad about him smashing his guitar. Looking back now I’d love to hear a song like “Two of a Kind” or “Beaches of Cheyenne” on the radio. It may have been slick populist stuff but at least it wasn’t repackaged twangy nu-metal. I’ll talk Garth doing polished country over some douche like Aldean doing twangy Linkin Park anyday of the week.
October 31, 2013 @ 6:16 pm
I’m actually a Garth Brooks fan. Saw the guy years ago on the “Fresh Horses” tour, and it was by far the best concert I’d seen to that point. I go to a ton of concerts, and Garth was only recently edged out in the past few years for me by an amazing “Somewhere In Time” show from Iron Maiden. Other than that, though, best show I’ve ever been to. Plus, Garth keeps his ticket prices reasonable as well as his merch prices, which goes a long way, if you ask me. Factor in that his music is actually pretty good (not traditional country, but good anyways), and you have a recipe for success. I would have no problem plunking down cash to see his show again. In fact, I wouldn’t think twice.
People seem to have this notion that Garth Brooks is bad for country. Bullshit. In fact, he and others that have been mentioned here above paved the way for a country music resurgence during their peak era. Now, we can debate whether that’s good or bad, but it’s interesting that when Brooks was on top, even the classic artists got more recognition because more country music in general was getting played, and at least he publicly tipped his hat to past artists and was respectful to them (at least in the media). Nowadays, it’s a tough job to get guys like Luke Bryan and crew to do anything but vacantly and absent-mindedly name check any of the legends or past artists. So there’s that.
And honestly, I’ll take Garth over just about any of the other big name country acts that are out there right now….because they’re no damn good! Mark my words, with legends like George Jones passing away at a sadly consistent rate, we’ll look back in a few years when we’re old and wish for “the good old days” with Garth.
Your mileage may vary, but personally, I don’t think this is a bad thing, like I said.
October 31, 2013 @ 9:40 pm
It just occurred to me that given crap like “1994” and Church’s “Outsiders”, maybe the country market is finally ready for Garth to come back and give the Chris Gaines thing another shake. I’d say it sounds about as country as those two steaming turds do. Maybe more so.
On a positive note, though I never liked Garth Brooks, I did think he was game in this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM71S5ESfek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0AcQ2abULo
November 1, 2013 @ 1:25 am
This isn’t really about this article, but about the site in general. I stumbled on this while looking up that funny Earl Dibbles Jr. online, and I have to say, while I appreciate the site’s intent, there are also some nagging concerns I have about it. For one, I don’t think this site and most of it’s readers like or believe in fun. While I believe that the country “checklist” culture is aggrivating, I think it’s unfair to label everyone who listens to pop country as stupid… There are such things as guilty pleasures. Also, a lot of people live the lifestyle described in those songs. I drive a truck, I chew tobacco, I like beer and moonshine, why is it such a damnable thing to sing about it? Seriously, you don’t have to tear down someone else to enjoy what you want. I love Waylon and Willie and Townes Van Zandt, but is so bad that I like the stupid songs about kicking ass and mudding? I feel like the culture that this site promotes is that music should be MORE homogeneous as opposed to diverse. Of course popular music is what the majority of what people listen to, that’s what the name popular implies. Most people who listen to country music like Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean, that’s why it’s popular! Nashville suits wouldn’t use the formula if it didn’t work. The truth of the matter is it does, because that’s what people like. That’s what I like as well! I like stupid songs, and trash art! It’s easy, I don’t have to think about it, and when I don’t want to think, you can bet I’m listening to Toby Keith. When I want to think I listen to Waylon, Wiliie, Merle. I would say I listen to them more than other kinds of country, but that’s my preference. I like Waylon over Jason Aldean, I don’t have to berate Jason Aldean because of it! I mean if it’s something about musical complexity or originality, then you shouldn’t listen to country, you should listen to John Cage, or Stockhausen, or Stravinsky, or Schoenberg. But again if you don’t like those guys (which I doubt you will) I don’t care! It’s cool, if I knew you we would just chill and listen to Kris Kristofferson! Music is about pleasant sounds, and if Jason Aldean is pleasing to one person, hey good for them. But if it’s not to you, then find some pleasant sounds, kick back and rekax! It’s really not as inflammatory as you guys are making it out to be.
(Btw I loved your country music feud article, I thought it was pretty cool)
-S
November 1, 2013 @ 9:18 am
“I don”™t think this site and most of it”™s readers like or believe in fun.”
There is nothing wrong about music that is simply made to be enjoyed and not challenge the listener. There’s nothing wrong with guilty pleasures or even pop music to a point. What you must understand is that to a certain segment of listeners, laundry list songs are so repugnant, that it is painful to listen to. It’s not that we don’t want to have any “fun,” it’s that we couldn’t enjoy these songs even if we wanted. But if you enjoy them, that’s all that matters, and you shouldn’t let anyone’s opinions sway you from that joy.
November 1, 2013 @ 11:01 am
Part of the thing I hate about the crap out today is the image it gives to “country” people, small towns, and how it encourages douchebag fratboy ideals. I don’t like guys like Bryan or Aldean portraying their version of country any more than an urban black person likes seeing suburban white kids rapping about inner city life.
Hell I have pretty low expectations with Garth. I’m at least hoping we get a country singer in front of people who looks like they shop at Drysdales and not wearing an Aflliction shirt and their girlfriends jeans.
November 1, 2013 @ 4:49 am
Listen, I really do want Garth to come back and show these new kids how to roll, but I think there is some serious revisionist history going on. As much as I think No Fences was the Thriller of my generation, turning legions of kids onto country music, he constantly flirted with pop. This was most notable on “We Shall Be Free” or “Standing Outside the Fire” or “Shameless.” His most famous performance moments don’t feature Willie or Waylon, they feature Billy Joel and Kiss.
And that Chris Gaines album. It is terrible. By any standards. Go listen to it right now and try to convince me otherwise. If you can make it through the first minute of “Get Together” without laughing out loud you’re a better person than me. It was Garth getting presumptuous and showing he could sing in other voices. I don’t see how being part of an aborted movie makes it any better.
Finally, I have this sneaking suspicion that Justin Moore will be an opener on a Garth tour. Won’t that be great.
November 2, 2013 @ 11:45 am
Without question, Garth Brooks continues to have baggage from some questionable decisions throughout his career, and regardless of how more country his music may sound now, this baggage doesn’t change. However, I think that if Garth’s return somehow spurns a return to a more roots sound or a greater attention to songwriting in popular country in whatever capacity, it still remains a good thing.
November 2, 2013 @ 12:07 pm
In regards to that last comment about Justin Moore being picked as a possible opener, I actually talked with Texas Country singer Wade Bowen on twitter about the possibility of a campaign for him to be the Opening Act of Garth Brooks and I’m happy to say that he’s actually agreed to be part of it.
Now I know Garth ain’t touring now and there’s probably that possibility that a tour might not even happen next year despite what Ms Yearwood said, but I figure if we start early the chances of that campaign working would be greater than say if we were to start next year and Garth does plan a tour.
With that said: I don’t think a twitter campaign is gonna work because Garth obviously doesn’t have one but a petition would definitely work so if any of you know of some petition websites where I can start one please let me know so I can start this campaign.
November 1, 2013 @ 6:12 am
I don’t think this will have that much of an impact at all. Everybody will kiss his ass when he’s in and around Nashville for concerts and award shows, much like they do with George Strait, but Nashville will continue to produce garbage music. The best thing Garth can do for country music is help promote new and upcoming traditional artist.
November 1, 2013 @ 8:27 am
I know he is writing, and I know he’s been seen at Allentown Records (formerly Jack’s Tracks), which he owns. He also owns his label, so he’s not beholding to the ‘suits’. I fully expect a solid cd of material he’s written, co-wrote, or from past collaborators. Scarecrow was a good mix of music as was The Lost Sessions.
Can I just say the ‘ recaptcha’ are every hard on someone with poor eyesight?
November 1, 2013 @ 8:46 am
I actually saw Garth Brooks live right before his first album came out in 1989. I was a Freshman at Texas Tech in Lubbock at the time. It was at a big dance club bar that played both rock, dance and country (I have this really vivid memory of being drunk with everyone there on the dance floor yelling the Billy Idiol “Hey M—F— get laid get drunk” variant around that same time). Even before his album had come out everyone knew who he was and the place sold out to capacity fast. Looking back it’s odd how in the pre-Internet and Social Media era and before he had an album out, everyone my age seemed to know who he was.
A few months later his album came out and there was a big stink in Lubbock because he was suppose to play at the Texas Tech stadium concert and backed out. It was bad there at the time, like everyone thought he was “one of us” then hit it big and abandoned us. The covered the store a few times on the local news.
No one under 30 really knows who he is though anymore though. I’d say 70% of his success was all due to women having a crush on him (my wife included whose best moment in life might be when she was around 20 at one of his concerts and for a split second “he looked right at me!”. He’s too old to appeal to the tweens (who are the only people that spend money on music anymore). Funny how the man seems like the good old days when country still sounded country and he didn’t even sound that country to begin with. It’s going to be funny if 20 years from now people talk about the good old days of Jason Aldean when country still sounded country.
November 2, 2013 @ 11:52 am
“No one under 30 really knows who he is though anymore though.”
I respectfully disagree. I don;t think you can underestimate his impact. Even if the kids ignore him, one of the big problems in country music right now is people 30-years-old and older are being dramatically undeserved, and with the retirement of George Strait, there is a massive hole in the market for Garth to fill.
November 2, 2013 @ 1:33 pm
I saw him in las vegas and was blown away. As a kid that grew up in the 1990’s with parents that were huge Garth fans, his music brings me certain nostalgia, so his return is highly anticipated.
November 1, 2013 @ 10:31 am
Have you read the mission statement? “When a culture’s music is lifeless……”
How about when the culture is so lifeless in general…generic?
Saving Country Music didn’t invent the rainy day but this site is providing an umbrella.
Our culture is throwing away diminished brain cells like confetti.
November 1, 2013 @ 10:42 am
I will certainly sit this one out, like I did his ascension to the top of country music (at least Nashville’s version of it) 20 years ago.
When he and Shania Twain were tearing up the big country scene, I kept listening to the voices (over and over) of the artists who made me a country music fan (Willie, Waylon, Jessi, Tompall, DAC, Johnny Paycheck, Bocephus, Jerry Jeff, Emmylou, Gary P. Nunn and a few others whose music spoke to me at a very deep level).
I wish this guy the best, and I won’t say anything negative about him, but he can do it (quite well, I am sure) without me.
I certainly don’t see the Nasvhille royalty of my generation as being the saviours of true country music.
November 1, 2013 @ 11:30 am
Lost me at Bocephus.
November 1, 2013 @ 12:36 pm
Do you not think “The Pressure Is On” is a strong album?
November 1, 2013 @ 12:10 pm
Who needs Garth Brooks? According to a recent article posted on CM___ Jason Aldean believes Florida Georgia Line are the shot in the arm country music needs. One jackass validating the music of two other jackasses. Well done Aldean….
November 1, 2013 @ 12:21 pm
Big release coming. Probably out Black Friday. 4 cd & 2 DVD’s.
November 1, 2013 @ 12:37 pm
i was still a young boy in the 90s and only heard about the “Garth ruining country music” when I went to college in 2004. Back in the 90s I listen to Garth and knew he’s pure country than ,say, Shania Twain and most of what passed as country in the 80s (Kenny Rogers, Anne Murray, etc). I put Garth in the same category as Randy Travis, Alan Jackson, and Brooks and Dunn. So I was surprised when I found out when they said he ruined country because most of Garth’s hits sound very country to me (Beer Run, Friends in Low Places, If Tomorrow Never Comes, Cowboys and Angels, etc).
November 1, 2013 @ 3:33 pm
Garth is the farthest thing from country, if u started listening to country because of him or any of these pop country stars u never heard good real country. I wouldn’t shame country music by even using the term with his name. DOWN WITH POP COUNTRY!!!!
November 1, 2013 @ 7:45 pm
So this is what Waylon said about Merle. I don’t believe it can begin to be compared to his thoughts on Garth. Obviously not a musical issue. And Waylon is the one who comes off worse.
“I was just wobbling around, on pills and drunk. Merle Haggard and his manager, Fuzzy Owens, got me in a poker game and cleaned me out. I had four or five thousand dollars on me, and they won everything. They were there to get my money. That was it. I think Merle is a great singer and songwriter, and probably he was in as bad a shape as I was, but we’ve never been close since that night. I can still remember their faces. When I was broke, they said their good-byes and left. I never forgot that.”
November 1, 2013 @ 8:13 pm
What’s your point here, Joe?
Look, I’m a huge Waylon AND Haggard fan, but that shit’s just not cool. Yeah, Waylon was probably stoned and drunk, but that still doesn’t mean Haggard should have bilked him out of his cash. I’d say he had more than enough reason to be pissed off. No matter how much I enjoy Haggard’s music, that kind of drops him down a couple of notches in my book. The guy’s a legend musically, but that’s a whole different thing than how he acted as a person. I don’t take anything away from The. Hag musically, but that was a dick move.
November 2, 2013 @ 7:48 am
Waylon at some point or another had something to say about almost everybody. I think musically he felt like he had to take a little harder road. He talked about how Johnny Cash was a very big “yes” man in Nasville and did mostly what they wanted him too, so he always laughed when people called Cash an outlaw. When it comes to personal things, such as his poker game with Haggard, I’m sure there’s two sides to every story. Being lit on pills and alcohol can change your view on hexastyle how things happened. He’ll he could have been aggressive with them and demanding they play or he could have seemed completely functional and got pissed after he got cleaned out. I love Waylon, but I’m not gonna say thers no way his version of the story could be a little off.
November 2, 2013 @ 2:03 pm
Sounds like a good ol boy hazing or initiation to me…still lovem’ both.
November 3, 2013 @ 7:36 pm
Another poster wrote that “Waylon”™s negative feelings on Garth aren”™t any different than Waylon”™s negative feelings on Merle Haggard.” This is clearly not the case, as his problem with Merle didn’t stem from a belief that he was ruining country music, but instead a fairly childish personal beef. That was my point.
November 4, 2013 @ 1:35 pm
And my point, the poster that wrote that originally, was that just because Waylon made a comment about Garth, we don’t have to re-visit it every blog about Garth and act as if Garth is to blame for everything gone wrong in country because Waylon didn’t think much of him musically.
Should I think Merle is a complete asshole because of what Waylon said about a card game they played all jacked up 40 years ago?
November 5, 2013 @ 7:21 am
Cowboy Joe, I would also offer up (in the context of how much we should bring up quotes from people and how much weight they should carry) what Waylon’s opinion was of David Allan Coe and is outlaw image.
That never seems to surface over and over and over like the quote on Garth.
Picking and choosing quotes and such to support a position is nothing new, but we have to be fair and full disclosure if we are going to lend such weight to quotes.
November 2, 2013 @ 11:25 am
I knew when Garth Brooks announced his retirement a few years back, I called bullshit on it. He only said that to increase concert sales. O well hopefully we can await the arrival of Chris Gaines soon. That’ s who we really are waiting for.hehe
November 4, 2013 @ 1:42 pm
You and I guess Garth himself called “bullshit” on the retirement, since Garth said he was stepping away because he wanted to spend time with his daughters as they grow up. He even said eventually he’ll probably come back. Nostradamus on your part man.
Oh, and yea, he wanted to drive up concert sales. Yea, at $20/ticket and like he was having trouble selling out anywhere he played for his career.
Garth might be the most polarizing figure when it comes to the blatant ignorance of fan’s reasons for not liking an artist.
November 2, 2013 @ 1:56 pm
I will say one thing I do remember about Garth. He always demanded that his ticket prices stay down. He said in an interview one time that he wanted to play music for everyone, not just people that could fork out the big money. He kept his tickets under $20 most of the time when others were having ticket sales start out at $30 or more. I am sure he loved the money he made but at least he did think about his fans pocket books also to a point.
November 2, 2013 @ 5:00 pm
I say his return will be like a tree falling in the forest with no one around to hear it. Will it make a noise?——-Debate among yourselves—
November 2, 2013 @ 6:06 pm
Would you pay $700 for a classical artist concert? I wouldn’t but that’s how much they’re going for back east.
Garth did hold his ticket prices down. It was always great to see him hit our little town and act like a local. No pretense, no pomp and circumstance…. he was kind to everyone….always.
November 3, 2013 @ 2:55 pm
i don’t really consider Garth as pop country (based on my perspective) because to me he don’t sound like Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes, Rascal Flatts, and Anne Murray. Though I wouldn’t put him in the same group as that of Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Ernest Tubb, Homer and Jethro, and Roy Acuff, I consider him on the same category with Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, George Strait, and Wesley Dennis.
My introduction to country was not through Hank. i was a young boy in the mid-90’s and it was the music of Garth Brooks and Collin Raye that drew me in and even at that age I knew those two artists represented two different style of country music. I eventually discovered the music of Hank Williams, Bill Monroe, Merle Haggard, and all those legends by unearthing the influences of those 90’s artists I like.
To a hardcore country fan, I am not true country fan. But to myself, I enjoy country music and don’t really care what group of fanbase I belong to. I was more into enjoying the music I was listening.
This is just an outsider point of view since I’m not really a “true country fan” since I enjoy both a good Ernest Tubb song and a Rascal Flatts ballad without irony. I consider myself a fan of good melodic music.
November 7, 2013 @ 12:35 pm
I understand. And I happen to quite like Garth. I still think it was perfectly fair of me to point out the difference between Waylon’s issues with Garth and Waylon’s issues with the Hag though.
November 7, 2013 @ 12:37 pm
The above was supposed to be a reply to Tim, but when I got the recaptcha wrong the first time (those things are impossible) and resubmitted it, the comment wasn’t sent to the right place in the thread. Happens a lot.
November 7, 2013 @ 2:15 pm
Cowboy, I understand your point. It is a good one and I can see how my initial mention of it was taken the way you took it.
Ultimately, I’m just frustrated when some things are used over and over and over on this site as if they are factual or gospel, and they are always used in a way to take a dig at an artist no matter how old the issue is.
We don’t see quotes from Waylon about Hag or DAC on here, but we see them about Garth. We hang other artists for music they did early in careers, but we give a pass to others.
I just try to keep some balance and full disclosure on these things.
November 8, 2013 @ 12:22 pm
I can get on board with that 100 percent. Waylon’s word was not gospel.
November 8, 2013 @ 12:29 pm
Actually during Garth’s live shows he always did a stripped down segment that focused on his influences. In the middle of the show he would sing a few songs with just him and a guitar and his encore would be similar. Sometimes it would be George Jones, George Strait, and Merle Haggard. Other times it would be James Taylor, Billy Joel and Bob Seger.
Where Has The Twang Gone? | For The Country Record
November 14, 2013 @ 7:00 am
[…] actually wasn”™t nearly as pop as Taylor Swift or indeed Carrie Underwood), and Garth Brooks (who Saving Country Music tipped as the potential savior of country music in 2014) it does feel as if we”™ve come an alarming way […]