George Strait talks about "Troubadour"

Country Music News

George Strait talks about Troubadour

Read John Lewis's review of "Troubadour" by George Strait.

George Strait's new album, "Troubadour" rocked into the Country charts at number 1 and went straight to the top of the US pop charts too!

Rodeoattitude's John Lewis heard the Texas singer, who stands third (behind The Beatles and Elvis) as the artist with the most Platinum records to his name, explain the songs that make up what will probably be his NEXT Platinum selling album.

Strait's first task is to dismiss the theory that 'Troubadour', the title track and album opener, is about him.

He tells us: "It just kinda fit. It's kind of a romantic way of saying a singer-songwriter. You know, I don't write many songs any more, but at the time when I did go to Nashville, I did write a few songs back then. It wasn't really about me but it kinda did go along with what I'd done and so it just worked out that way."

'It Was Me'- written by Buddy Cannon and Randy Hardison - was unavailable when Strait first wanted to record it.

"It was a song that I was gonna cut probably a year or so ago but it wasn't available at the time. When it came time to cut this record, it wasn't on hold any more.

"I'd lived with the song for a good while and I think I'd talked to Buddy too and told him how much that I loved the song and  wanted to cut it. It's a great song and I was fortunate to be able to get it."

One of the album's highlights (for this writer) is 'Brothers of the Highway' and the Strait's smiling voice showed how he felt about it.

He told me: "I love it too. I haven't heard a good truck driving song in a long time. That's definitely one of them. You know, they (truckers) do work hard. I mean you cuss 'em sometimes when you're going down the road but, well, we couldn't live without 'em."

Strait said nothing about the subject (Johny Cash's home burning down) or lyrics (which some feel are in extremely bad taste) of 'House of Cash'.

Instead, he concentrated on Patty Loveless (understandable) who sings the song as a duet on the album.

"I've been a fan of Patty's for a long time and think she's a great singer. It's kind of been at the back of my mind to sing something with her some day and when we got this song it just sounded like the right one. I could just hear her singing it and so we called her up and she agreed to do it and I think it turned out great."

Strait gives little away about himself, but something of his beliefs make a guarded show as he talks about 'I Saw God Today', the album's lead off single.

"Sometimes we take a lot of things for granted, especially anybody that's had a child. When they first see them, if they're in the delivery room or not, you know when they first see that child: I mean it truly is a miracle.

"You just realize all these things that God has given us, you know, and how many blessings that we have around us all the time that sometimes you just take for granted.

"But if you just step back and take a look around you'll see what beauty we have around us in the things that he's created for us."

Music's been good to George Strait, and he's evidently grateful that he's never had to face the bank closing in to close him down - the subject of the first verse on 'Give Me More Time'.

"Fortunately, we haven't been in that situation where we've come close to losing it, but I know some other people have and it's unfortunate and that's one of the things about the song that hit home -  you know, kinda putting myself in that situation and thinking about that. But there's also other parts of the song:

"The guy's proposing to his girl and she needs more time. And then at the end of the song - which is really what grabs you, I think - when the kid goes into the doctor and he comes out saying: 'I need more time'. It's a well written song, it's a beautiful song."

Then he grins and adds: "It's another one of those Dean Dillon classics."

Strait says 'When You're in Love' is about love. "What it says is that when you're in love time seems to go by so fast and everything that you do seems like fun so I believe that's what the song is really about."

Many think Strait is at his best when he gets back to the old-style Country music he made his name with, and he admits he has a love of that kind of music.  On the album, it surfaces strongly on 'Make Her Fall in Love with Me Song'.

Strait told us: "It's what we would have done back in the old honky-tonk days and I still love playing those old tunes like that. It's the kind of song that you hear and you wanna start looking for somebody to dance with."

Dean Dillon has been one of the stalwarts of Strait's career, writing dozens of songs for Strait and yet staying neatly out of the limelight ... until now.

Strait told Rodeoattitude: "You know Dean (Dillon) just writes with a little different twist, I think, than a lot of people and his melodies are always so great. He wrote 'West Texas Town' with Robert Earl Keen who's another Texas Troubadour." (Strait chuckles at that idea!)

"Dean happened to have been there at the session when I was cutting and I kind of had in the back of my mind that if I came across a good song that I thought fit for me and Dean to sing together that I would ask him if he would sing with me. So he's sittin' in the studio there and I thought "West Texas Town" would be the perfect one. I asked him and he agreed to do it and we had a great time."

On 'House with No Doors', Strait said:"It really is very cool and Jamey Johnson's a great songwriter and he's a great singer too. You know, it's kind of an abstract way of saying that no matter what you throw in front of them, if they wanna go, they're gonna go."

The album's closer is 'If Heartaches Were Horses' and you can tell, just by the tone of his voice, just by the way he talks about it, that this is where Strait's heart lies: in good old fashioned Cowboy Country Music.

He smiles as he says: "It paints a picture and tells a story. "This poor cowboy: his girl's leaving him and he just basically saying if heartaches were horses and hard times were cattle he'd be a happy man. But his girl's gone and that's what's killing him."

One things certain: Strait's no poor cowboy and while his new album may not be up to standard of those that went before, it will sell millions, his fans will love it, and he truly is a Country music gentleman.

What do YOU think?? Tell us here!