George Strait Sets Record at CMA Awards with "Troubadour"

George Strait, one of the most enduring artists in music history, took home another four Country Music Association (CMA) Awards Wednesday night (November 12) in Nashville, Tennessee. He has won 22 throughout his career and leads the second-place artist (and former award leader), Brooks & Dunn, by three awards. Strait won Album of the Year and Single of the Year, plus two producer awards.

George Strait has been around for what seems like forever. He reached the Top Ten on the country charts with his first single, "Unwound," in 1981 and began a career that would have many labeling him the "King of Country Music," a "living legend," and place him as the tenth best-selling artist in Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) history with 67.5 million units sold. In 27 years, Strait has released 38 albums, 22 of which have reached platinum (one million sales) status, 12 multi-platinum status, and 4 gold (500,000 sales).

Strait has had a record 56 No. 1 country hits -- the first, 1982's "Fool-Hearted Memory" -- surpassing the previous record-holder, Conway Twitty, earlier this year. Twitty had 55.

And he did it with simplicity. This writer was 18 when he heard George Strait for the first time. Except for Alabama, Kenny Rogers, Merle Haggard, and the Outlaws (Willie and Waylon), I had nearly stopped listening to country music. But George Strait's smooth return to traditional country and western music appealed to me.

And apparently quite a few others as well. Nearly three decades later, he is still charting No. 1 songs and producing platinum albums.

There was something of the Hag (Merle Haggard) in him, in his voice. Growing up listening to Haggard, George Strait pulled up memories for me of "Branded Man," "Sing Me Back Home," and "Daddy Frank." By the 80's, Merle Haggard's voice had attained a scratchy quality. Strait's voice was a return to the smoothness I loved. And songs like "Amarillo By Morning" and "The Cowboy Rides Away" pulled at the inner cowboy in me. Strait's simple style of music, the occasional touch of Bob Wells' Texas swing, the clear guitar notes, the steel guitar, all were somewhat reminiscent of Merle Haggard's style, and I was hooked.

But it was "The Chair" that made me a George Strait fan for life. The 1985 single off of his "Something Special" album became a No. 1 song for Strait. And its premise could not be simpler. The entire song is one side of a conversation where the narrator is attempting to pick up a woman in a bar. He starts off with: "Excuse me, but I think you have my chair..." to start the conversation. By its end, the narrator tells his target that he likes her, too, and admits that the chair wasn't really his to begin with.

Simple. Direct. Pure country magic.

And George Strait is still pulling it off, remaining true to his Texas roots while country music goes through its phases of pop-country alternated with traditional, a cycle the music genre seems to suffer every half-decade or so. His latest album, "Troubadour," which won him four CMA Awards, still carries that simple, traditional, laid-back sound Strait has become famous for. His voice is just as smooth as it was when he laid the first track for "Strait Country" in 1981. "Troubadour" hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, has been on the charts for 32 weeks, and is currently in the No. 83 position (week ending 11/22/2008).

Listening to him on YouTube.com as I write this, George Strait sounds as if he has another fifty No. 1 songs in him - and a few more awards as well. For all the country music traditionalists out there, and for myself, let's hope so.

******

Sources:

Billboard.com

Marketwatch.com

Wikipedia.org