Why I Won’t Buy Strait’s “The Cowboy Rides Away” Deluxe Edition
It was announced last week that a deluxe CD/DVD edition of George Strait’s The Cowboy Rides Away: Live From AT&T Stadium album will be released on November 10th exclusively through Wal-Mart. The much more expansive version than the 20-song The Cowboy Rides Away album that was originally released on September 16th will include eight more audio tracks, including collaborations with Alan Jackson and Miranda Lambert, and most notably, it will include a DVD of the 40-song show, and exclusive interviews. The Cowboy Rides Away chronicles George Strait’s final concert during his farewell tour held at the home of the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas on June 7,2014, that shattered indoor concert attendance records.
Though this new deluxe edition seems like an excellent way to experience the concert if you were unable to attend, or the perfect reminder if you were, or it might make a great gift for the country music fan in your family since it’s being released right before Christmas, I for one will not be purchasing this deluxe edition, or frankly any edition of The Cowboy Rides Away. An no, it’s not because of a natural aversion to placing a foot into Wal-Mart, though that certainly doesn’t help.
It is because up to this point, the entire Cowboy Rides Away project has been so unnecessarily and gratuitously slathered with Auto-Tune, it has ruined the entire experience for many George Strait fans. Starting with the first television broadcast of the concert that aired on CMT on August 29th, to the first 20-song album, Auto-Tune usurped the recording of the twang and tone that went into making George Strait’s songs and voice so memorable during his Hall of Fame career.
Sorry Universal Nashville, but yes, I’m that overgrown Boy Scout who won’t let an issue rest.
Nor should we. We’re talking about a historic event, and the way it has been chronicled for future generations is not only inaccurate, it isn’t particularly entertaining in its current form for people who love George just like he is, without the unnecessary and distracting enhancements. There has been positively no acknowledgement of the Auto-Tune issue from the label or George Strait’s camp, even though all of the most prominant customer reviews on iTunes and Amazon, and many of Strait’s own threads on Facebook and Twitter, are full of fans condemning the Auto-Tune on the album.
READ: George Strait Fans Sound Off About Auto-Tune on New Album
The deluxe edition release of The Cowboy Rides Away could be the perfect opportunity to correct this issue, and if so, it would be all the more reason to purchase it. But unless someone expressly says the Auto-Tune issue will be resolved, we have no other choice but to believe the expanded content will only be more of the same.
Let The Cowboy Ride Away with dignity, not saddled with pitch correction.
October 16, 2014 @ 8:39 am
Amen, Trig! What a wasted opportunity — King George deserves better…
October 16, 2014 @ 9:18 am
This is a shame, and I’m genuinely puzzled why they think auto-tune would appeal to Strait fans.
October 16, 2014 @ 9:52 am
I can’t believe that Strait would be in approval of the massacre that was done to the album. I won’t purchase the deluxe edition unless the autotune removed.
October 16, 2014 @ 10:11 am
George Strait fans know that he is not the best singer technically speaking, but neither are a lot of the greats, and thats what we love about them. Whats next, edit Willie Nelson so he sings in time, or autotune Merle Haggard? This has to be an attempt to bring in the Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan fans who love the electronically mutated music. I am another who will not be purchasing this album.
October 16, 2014 @ 10:19 am
It is cynical (i.e. money-grabbing) enough that they reel in the fans with
the original (shorter) release, and almost immediately chase it with this expanded version – thereby getting George enthusiasts to pay out twice for the same material – never mind failing to listen to disgruntled buyers and failing to ‘de-autotune’ this new version. But don’t worry – watch for that version in the future, assuring that you pay out for the thing on three separate occasions.
October 16, 2014 @ 10:54 am
Yes, we see this with a lot of “Deluxe Editions” of albums these days, where fans are forced to purchase the same songs multiple times to receive bonus content. I can understand if it’s years later an new content is unearthed. But especially in such a quick turn around to get people coming and going makes this entire thing look like a massive cash grab at the end of an artist’s touring career. The legacy of George Strait should be represented in a better manner than this. And since they’re still only releasing 28 of the 40 songs, who’s to say there won’t be a “box set” or something else that will be released in the future?
October 16, 2014 @ 10:58 am
AutoTune aside, this really chaps my ass. I begrudgingly bought it when it came out, knowing it was only 20 of the 40 songs, and now to see this, well, frankly, it’s a total bullshit move by UMG. And I agree, it wouldn’t surprise me either to see an audio package of the full show released.
October 17, 2014 @ 6:55 am
Looks like the DVD in the package will be the full show, however. Hmm.
October 17, 2014 @ 10:48 am
So, what are the odds that they autotune the show? I saw a clip from the dvd and it didn’t sound the same as the album. If that were the case, I would buy it strickly for the dvd and find a way to get it onto my ipod.
October 17, 2014 @ 1:08 pm
Where the concerns about the Auto-Tune started was when CMT aired a portion of the concert, and some people at home were shocked to hear Auto-Tune being used on George’s vocal. All indications are he wasn’t using Auto-Tune on the actual stage that night, but that it was added afterwards. There’s no guarantee the DVD will have Auto-Tune, but I would be pretty shocked if they Auto-Tuned the CMT special and the album, but left the DVD raw because I think it would give them away. But who knows. We’ll have to wait and see.
March 17, 2015 @ 5:22 pm
I know I’m late to the show here, but did you confirm if the DVD is auto-tuned? I want to buy it if it’s not the same as the rest of the material released, so if you bought it and know please reply. Thanks!
March 18, 2015 @ 11:46 am
I have not yet purchased it. I’m still debating on buying it. Probably still will because I have every single album he released, so it would make sense to get it for my collection. I will let you know once i buy it.
October 16, 2014 @ 1:16 pm
Awful. Absolutely awful.
October 16, 2014 @ 1:36 pm
Just wondering — Has there been any word from the producers, either on- or off-the-record, as to why they went the Auto-Tune route? Surely they know Strait’s fans accept and love him (and his voice) for who he is. And how heavy was the use of Auto-Tune on his albums?
With some singers — and Strait is in this category — there’s a certain “off”-ness in their voice that makes them what they are and, as such, they are somehow more real.
Thank God the Auto-Tune people never got hold of Gram Parsons….
October 16, 2014 @ 2:23 pm
I know I’m in minority here, but I don’t really care about this auto tune thing: I mean, sure voices ain’t genuine, still the music is great and the concert is historic!
I agree about the stupid re-release of the album. fortunately I didn’t buy the album on the day it came out (as I usually do) because I was so upset that ‘I Got a Car, I Saw God Today and Amarillo by Morning had been excluded from the track list.
October 16, 2014 @ 2:48 pm
“………………I was so upset that ………… Amarillo by Morning had been excluded from the track list.”
You have got to be freakin’ kidding me. I haven’t paid that much attention because I simply don’t buy major-label music much anymore – not out of any kind of protest, it’s just that most big-name artists’ music is available online at no charge, even without pirating it – but this is just absurd. King George has recorded a ton of memorable songs over the course of his 35-plus year career, but to most fans “Amarillo” is to him what “Hello Darlin'” is to Conway Twitty or “He Stopped Loving Her Today” is to George Jones.
October 16, 2014 @ 3:14 pm
yeah it’s absurd and offensive that they don’t put such a great classic on the album while they find a place to throw that as-stupid-as-hell jason aldean. it’s an offense to the intelligence of us Country music fans!
October 16, 2014 @ 3:17 pm
correction
*to throw that ASAH jason aldean in it.
October 16, 2014 @ 11:26 pm
The cash grabs continue while the idiots in charge of the major labels continue to wonder why they’re not moving as many units as they used to. Wash….rinse….repeat.
October 17, 2014 @ 10:41 am
Not just George Strait
how about Aretha?
wash. Post a week or so ago…
“While it is generally accepted that nothing Aretha Franklin does (or wears) is anything less than perfect, the new single has prompted some listeners to wonder whether the singer is being (gasp!) Auto-Tuned ”” or at least overproduced in some manner.
Especially in the first verse, one can hear a pretty distinct vocal effect that, for some, suggests the use of pitch-correction software.”
autotuning Aretha Franklin?
October 17, 2014 @ 10:52 pm
What do you have against Wal-Mart Trig?
October 17, 2014 @ 11:07 pm
The lighting. The lighting is terrible in those stores.
October 18, 2014 @ 12:23 am
Oh ok. I thought maybe it was some really crazy reason, like not wanting to save money when you buy stuff. I also considered the outside possibility that you were a red diaper baby.
October 18, 2014 @ 8:31 am
Doesn’t the Artist have a say in anything anymore??
I find it hard to believe that his voice has deteriorated to the point this crap is necessary.
The man could sing like a freakin’ God back in the day.
Oh yeah Trig, the lighting IS terrible in those stores. Hilarious!!!!