One More (?) Go Around: A Hundred Songs I Absolutely Must Have With Me on 1/48/50

#310) "Ace in the Hole" by George Strait - These days, George Strait is considered the "King of Country Music", and that's fair enough. He's been around a long time and has been one of the most reliable hitmakers for a lot of years, so his natural evolution as an artist was bound to include becoming an elder statesman at some point. I believe he still holds the record for the most number one hits in country music, and this does not surprise me. Already well on his way to "elder statesman" status by the mid-1990s, when I was working in country radio, the man simply could not release an unpopular song, never a half-baked single wheezing its way halfway up the charts for George Strait. They all seemed to shoot to #1 and maintain a prolonged presence on "all-request Friday nights".

And to me, there was something refreshing about the George Strait persona. He was neither a rowdy redneck stereotype, nor did he come across as a lamely forced caricature of the broad, gleaming white smile, plate-sized belt buckle and 300 gallon hat-wearing cowpoke dude. Moreover, his song selection was top notch. Choosing the right songs at the right time in one's career would seem to be a unique skill set for artists who generally don't write their own music but rely on the talents of others. George Strait always chose really catchy music - "mid-tempo country in the neo-traditionalist style" at its finest - and it was almost as if he stood out by not standing out, singing the perfect (somewhat idealized, but still truthful) accompaniment to all the little moments that make up small town life, or rural life, or cowboy life.

Released in the summer of 1989, when I was sixteen and had no interest in country music whatsoever (was in fact hostile toward it), "Ace in the Hole" became Strait's 18th #1 single, and what I might have hated about it back then is what I love about it now: the finger snappy, ragtime / big band / rockabilly feel, its positive but not overly preachy message. Among George Strait songs it does stand out, and totally works. Some songs are simply pleasant to listen to, and remain so.

"Life is a gamble, a game we must play..."

#311) "Lawyers in Love" by Jackson Browne - Once again, Jackson Browne reveals himself to be worthy of a place among the rock and roll intelligentsia (although I got to admit, I'm never quite sure what I mean when I say things like that), with a song that says something about the society we live in, with a Bob Dylan-style presence of mind that too often Browne doesn't get enough credit for.

As surely as "The Pretender" predicted the rise of the yuppie in 1976, "Lawyers in Love" is kind of the play-by-play as it was happening in 1983's Reagan era. As with a lot of Browne's music, it's all about the lyrics. He really can turn a good phrase, but does it so skillfully, the lyrics never seem too arcane or forced. They remain easily interpretable, and when you interpret them, you realize (or I do, at least): holy shit, he's right.

"I can't keep up with what's been going on..."

The Top 100 (or so) Songs I Absolutely Must Have With Me on 1/48/50 (cont...)

#84) "Amarillo by Morning" by George Strait - I'm not a fan of horses, somewhat wary of an animal so large and so aware of what's going on around it, and the one and only time I went riding resulted in my face and eyes swelling up like tomatoes...from an allergic reaction to horse hair, or hay, or something. Nevertheless, I'm a sucker for a good 'cowboy' song (the late Chris Ledoux has some douxzies...;-).  They often exist in that singular emotional moment I speak of, which the best songs of any genre capture handily by looking neither too far ahead, nor too far behind.

1983's Amarillo by Morning is a good example of the difference between capturing a moment in the life of someone who just happens to be a cowboy - story-telling in its most basic sense - and perpetuating a stereotype, which is what country music seems to do best nowadays. George Strait's pared down delivery coupled with an equally austere instrumentation complement the story of someone who is actually pretty nebulous, between towns and between lives.

This particular cowboy's thoughts do not travel much past later that day, bucking at the county fair, though it's clear it's a long way to fall from where he once was. The melody is haunting, but never becomes mawkish, and at the end, the fiddle keeps going after everything else has stopped, until it too fades away like the night, leaving me with the impression that the song is still playing somewhere, for someone.

And what fuels a road trip, what sparks wanderlust with greater fidelity, than the maddeningly delicious thought of everything that's going on at any given moment in all the places you aren't?

"I ain't rich, but Lord I'm free..."



HORSE'S ASS -  My one and only trail ride was spent sneezing and wheezing my way through an allergic fit, and culminated with two swollen, red eyes and congested lungs. I think my expression, as I gratefully guide 'Moose' back to his stable, says it all.

#85) "The Secret of Life" by Faith Hill - Penned by one of the best songwriters in country music (Gretchen Peters), Faith Hill brings to life this reflection on priorities and simple pleasures, makes it 'ready for prime time' with her voice and star power.  Once more, I generally don't go for songs bent on teaching me a lesson, but Peters' philosophy and wit temper the preachy-ness here, and the song turns into a potent cautionary tale for one powerful line, at just the right moment.

"Ad on TV says 'just do it' / hell if I know what that means..."

#86) "The Boys of Summer" by Don Henley - To me, The Boys of Summer isn't so much a song as an experience.

It's what it sounds like when rain starts to drench a sidewalk that's been baking in the sun all afternoon, and it is the feeling that comes when that storm has passed, when all that remains are flooded streets to splash through, and you realize that you are at a crossroads in your life, that it might very well be the end of an era, and the wind that follows the storm, which comes from the southwest and is warm in the manner of slowly drawn butter, means more than it ever has before, and might ever again.

"Out on the road today, I saw a deadhead sticker on a Cadillac..."