People Loving Prizefighters

While country has been a staple of the music industry for eons, the 90's saw the genre take a breath of fresh air with the emergence of Garth Brooks.

Brooks swept on to the scene with his raucously infectious brand of country that had listeners on their feet from the first note of each song.

For a decade, it seemed Brooks could do no wrong, (well, except for his venture into pop as "Chris Gaines"), releasing hit after hit; selling out shows everywhere, and smashing all sorts of records as he went.

Even many who previously had a dislike of country music liked what Garth Brooks was offering to listeners.

Then, in 2000, Brooks announced he was retiring; at least until his youngest daughter was 18. On a side note, it was also the year his 14 year marriage to his wife, Sandy, ended.

Though he'd retired, in 2005 Brooks released a new song, "Good Ride Cowboy".  He wrote the song in honor of one of his idols, bareback rider/singer Chris Ledoux, who had died that year.

A few years later, Garth came out of retirement again, to play a series of intimate, acoustic concerts in Las Vegas, and also released music, (old and new), exclusively through Wal-Mart stores. Regardless of the ventures during this time, Garth's fans proved they hadn't left the singer behind; they were there, waiting for anything new Brooks had to offer.  Even in "retirement", Brooks was still exceeding sales and concert attendance records everywhere.

Now, in 2014, Brooks has officially announced he's coming out of retirement.  He's released a list of tour dates, as well as a new single, "People Loving People".

During Brooks' retirement/divorce period, he got together with long time friend and fellow country singer, Trisha Yearwood.

The two had been friends for many years during their time in Nashville, but had never been an actual couple until after each had been previously married.  Yearwood's first marriage had been to Robert Reynolds, a member of the Mavericks.

During the 90's Yearwood racked up an impressive string of hits of her own, including, "Walk Away Joe", "XX's & OO's", and "She's in Love With the Boy", as well as other tunes.

By the time Trisha and Garth became a couple, Yearwood's musical career had slowed some, and the singer

began branching out in new directions.

She co-wrote a cookbook of down home recipes and had her her own cooking show on the Food Network, "Trisha's Southern Kitchen".

Like Garth, it seemed, Yearwood had "retired" her singing career for one sharing home cooked food with fans.

This year though, like Garth Brooks, Trisha has released new music to country radio.

Yearwood's latest offering, "Prizefighter", features Kelly Clarkson, and proves that, though Yearwood may not have been putting out new music, she hasn't lost any of the talent or energy she was known for with previous hits.

Though it's been quite awhile since either Garth or Trisha has had new music on the radio, it seems that each has hit the jackpot again with their new tunes. Now it's just a matter of who reaches the highest peak on the country radio charts.  Either way, listeners will definitely be the winners.

Of Life & Death

Today's post is in honor of two of my favorite recording artists. One is celebrating 70 years of life; the other, I'm remembering a life that ended seven years ago.

March 9, 1942, Mark Allen Lindsay was born in Idaho.

For those not familiar with the name, Mark was the original singer for Paul Revere & the Raiders. He was one of the biggest teen heartthrobs of the sixties.

I first saw Mark on TV one summer when I was nine years old. It was the show, "It's Happening", starring the Raiders. Even at nine, I was like many girls from that era, instantly taken with Mark's good looks and voice. I was further intrigued by the fact that the Raiders were from my home territory, the Pacific Northwest.

Over the years, because of the music, Mark and the local connection, I've been a loyal fan of the man and the band.

Happy 70th birthday Mark!

On a sadder note, it was seven years ago today that rodeo champion, and country singer Chris LeDoux passed away.

Known mostly for rodeo and singing, there were other facets to Chris' life that most didn't know. For instance, he was also an artist, working in metal sculpturing. His work was beautiful, and reflected his passions in life.

LeDoux was one country artist that both my son and I just had to see whenever he was playing nearby. Chris put on a show that was always excellent and worth seeing.

I remember when he first became ill, needing a liver transplant. Many automatically assumed Chris was a heavy drinker, and that's why the transplant was needed. In reality, he had a rare liver disease that had nothing to do with alcohol. Fortunately, a donor was found for LeDoux, and he was afforded a few more years on this earth.

The remission ended though, and on March 9, 2005, so did Chris LeDoux's fight for life.

I remember where I was, and how I found out Chris had died. Some friends and I were at the Ponderosa Lounge in Portland, Oregon, waiting to see David Lee Murphy. During the concert, David Lee mentioned that Chris had passed away that day, and told about Chris recording a song he'd written. He then sang the song, "Scatter the Ashes", in tribute to Chris.

I don't have a version of the song by David Lee Murphy, so I'll add Chris' version here, in tribute once again to a life ended too soon.

Songs That Should Never Be Redone

(Today's word will be in ALL CAPS, BOLD, ITALIC, and STRIKETHROUGH.)

On yesterday's "Simon in the Morning" show they had a bit about songs that should never be redone. The discussion came about because LeAnn Rimes has done a cover of George Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today". Scott felt this song is a true country classic, and should never be done by anyone else.


Scott, Jolynn and Jake also took calls from listeners about what songs they thought shouldn't be remade. In the process they also had people calling in with songs they thought should be. All of it got me to thinking what songs I thought shouldn't be redone, and ones that I thought were as good, or better than the original.

The only song I could think of that I thought should never have been redone isn't a country song; it's "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby. I know others have done the song, however, I have yet to hear one better than Bing.


The song "Drift Away" was originally written and sung by Dobie Gray. The first time I'd ever heard of Uncle Kracker, it was this song that he was doing. I've always loved this song, and I honestly like Uncle Kracker's version as much as the original.



As for songs I thought were better than the original, two stood out in my mind, "Walkin' In Memphis", and "Life Is A Highway". These songs were originally done by Marc Cohn, and Tom Cochrane, respectively. These are two of my favorite songs, but not by the original artists.

"Walkin' In Memphis" has been recorded by a lot of people, in all genres of music. For country, my favorite version is by Lonestar.


"Life Is A Highway" has been covered by both Chris LeDoux and Rascal Flatts. The Flatts' version is the most well known, having been in the movie "Cars". For me though, Chris LeDoux has always had the best version of this song.


Everyone has their opinion of things, this is just a sample of mine when it comes to song COVERS.

Simon in the Morning-4-19-11--Favorite Tim McGraw Songs

Yesterday's “Simon in the Morning” show reminded me just how much I sometimes see things differently than the rest of the world.

Listeners were asked to either call KUPL, or post on the “Simon in the Morning” Facebook page, their favorite Tim McGraw song.  Near the end of the show, the votes were tallied and a list of the top 5 Tim McGraw songs was compiled.

When I heard the #1 listener voted song, “Live Like You Were Dying”, I realized I wouldn’t have chosen that song; it wouldn’t have even crossed my mind.  For as sentimental and caring as I am, for some reason I tend to shy away from songs like this one.  I have no idea why. 

It got me to thinking of other songs that were big hits that I just didn’t understand how it could be.  
The first song I thought of was “Amazed” by Lonestar, which was a huge hit.  To me, it’s okay, though their cover of Marc Cohen’s “Walkin’ in Memphis” is a song I like much better.  Also, Lonestar had a minor hit with the song “Mountains”; another song I like even more than “Amazed”.

Then there’s the late Chris LeDoux.  In my opinion, just about everything Chris recorded is underrated. This point is emphasized by the song, “Life is a Highway”.  Most people know the Rascal Flatts version from the movie “Cars”.  However, Chris had a minor hit with the song well before Rascal  Flatts recorded it.  Though the Flatts’ version is good, I still like Chris’ better.

Of course, before Chris LeDoux, the writer of “Life is a Highway", Tom Cochrane had a minor hit with it in 1991.  No offense to Tom, but I really don’t like his version at all. 

Even when it comes to my all-time favorite country artist, David Lee Murphy, I have to be honest…I’ve never quite understood how “Dust on the Bottle" became a #1 hit; yet “Party Crowd” and “Loco” didn’t.  “Dust on the Bottle” just isn’t one of my favorite DLM songs, while I love both “Party Crowd” and “Loco”.

I could ramble on and on about any number of songs I like; and how most of them are ones others probably wouldn’t choose to be a hit.  I’ll end this for now though, secure in the knowledge that the tuba player I follow is still within my sight.  :)