Showing posts with label country music 1990's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label country music 1990's. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Talkin' About More Nineties Country


What happens to these guys?  Do they just go POOF! and disintegrate into a cloud of dust?

Clint Black was the quintessential black-hat wearin' cowboy in the 1990's, and where is he now?  I don't know.

The 1989 newcomers to country music were Clint Black, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Travis Tritt, Suzy Bogguss, Lionel Cartwright, and Mary Chapin Carpenter.  The only one of that bunch still (barely) hitting the charts is Alan Jackson.

Yet, Clint Black was huge in his day.  And he was good!  I'm sure he still is good, but if you're a 51-year-old country singer, you're approximately 30 years too old.  You know, they put them out to pasture once they hit thirty.  That's the rule.

Nevertheless, I still think this is a killer song.  This was Clint's first hit, in 1989:


The problem with having a "killer song" right out of the chute is that nothing much lives up to that.  That still didn't stop him, though.  This song was also released in 1989:


I don't know if the music video budget ran out after those two songs, but there appears to be no official video for "Nobody's Home", which is, regardless, a great country song; plus, it makes excellent use of the pejorative, "the lights are on, but nobody's home".


One year later, Clint was still pumping out hits; one of which I found on an unknown site; and if it gives my computer a virus, I'm going to be seriously upset with Clint for not just sticking it up on YouTube, although I understand he doesn't actually have any control over that.  Here it is:


"Burn One Down" was released in 1992.  In my book, the mark of an excellent country song is if even an amateur like me could do a passable karaoke version of it, and I do believe I could.  I don't know if an official music video was ever created for this song, but if it was, it's long gone, so stare at the black-and-white photo as you listen:


Clint had some other hits between then and 1995, but I didn't really care for them, so I'm ignoring them.   This one, however, is sort of good (sorry the sound quality is lacking):


Fast forward to 1998, when Clint released this song, co-written by Steve Wariner.  I really like this one; and again, I don't know if an official music video was ever created for it, but I sure can't find one.

Still a really good song, though; and it hit number one on the charts::


After that, eh.  Clint did have a number one hit  in 1999 with a duet he recorded with that girl from Knot's Landing.  I figured that was just a vanity project; since he was married to her and all, and therefore it didn't exactly lodge in my memory bank.  However, I bet the royalties were great, since they deposited them in their joint bank account.

After 1999?  Well, much like Joe Diffie, Clint Black went POOF!

Kind of doesn't seem fair, but who am I to quibble with the unwritten guideline that once the twenty-first century hits, those old timers are out on their ear?  It's the circle of life.

I'm just here to make sure that we don't forget those grey-bearded relics.