George Strait Day on BAM’s Blog
George Strait (Associated Press photo)
In conjunction with tonight’s TV special “George Strait: ACM Artist of the Decade,” I’ve declared it George Strait Day here on BAM’s Blog. I’ll be bringing you video of some of Strait’s memorable performances, photos and stories on the talented “King of Country” during the course of the day.
The Academy of Country Music has bestowed the Artist of the Decade title for the 2000s on the Country Music Hall of Famer. To honor him, the ACM put together a special tribute concert in Las Vegas on April 6, the day after the ACM Awards.
That concert airs from 7 to 10 tonight on CBS (KWTV-9 here in Oklahoma City). The special pays tribute to “The King of Country” and his legendary 25-year career.
Performers for the show include Oklahomans Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton and Brooks & Dunn (which includes Tulsan Ronnie Dunn). Other performers that will be featured include Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Jamie Foxx, Jack Ingram, Alan Jackson, Jamey Johnson, Montgomery Gentry, John Rich, LeAnn Rimes and Lee Ann Womack.
Only four other country artists have received the Artist of the Decade accolade: Marty Robbins in 1969, Loretta Lynn in 1979, Alabama in 1988 and Oklahoman Garth Brooks in 1998. This marks the first time the honor will be presented in a separate television special.
-BAM
Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton and more to sign autographs at CMA Music Fest
Reba McEntire (Associated Press photo)
NASHVILLE – The 2009 CMA Music Festival, recently named “the country’s premiere Country Music festival” by the New York Times, is planning a full range of experiences for fans, with more than 100 hours of live music, celebrity events, family activities, and more. The event, now in its 38th year, will take place over four days – June 11-14 in downtown Nashville.
CMA Music Festival is a celebration of the relationship between the fans and the artists, and this connection is vividly demonstrated at the Greased Lightning Fan Fair Hall. Inside the Nashville Convention Center, the Greased Lightning Fan Fair Hall gives four-day attendees the exclusive opportunity to meet some of their favorite entertainment personalities, discover new rising artists, and obtain an autograph and photo, according to a news release.
“The heart of CMA Music Festival has always been the interaction between the artists and the fans, and the best place to witness that special relationship is in the Greased Lightning Fan Fair Hall,” said Tammy Genovese, CMA Chief Executive Officer, in the release.
For the first time in 13 years, six-time CMA Award winner Reba McEntire, an Oklahoma native, will be among the artists meeting their fans and signing autographs in the Greased Lightning Fan Fair Hall.
Taylor Swift, 2007 CMA Horizon Award winner, will be signing in the Big Machine Records booth all day (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) on June 14. Swift is a Fan Fair Hall favorite. Last year, she signed more than 900 autographs in eight straight hours with no break – the longest consecutive signing since Oklahoman Garth Brooks’ legendary 23-hour signing in 1996.
Other Oklahoma stars who will meet with fans in the Greased Lightning Fan Fair Hall include Carrie Undewood, Blake Shelton, Keith Anderson and Point of Grace.
Julianne Hough, Montgomery Gentry, LeAnn Rimes, Gretchen Wilson, and Wynonna will also meet their fans in the Greased Lightning Fan Fair Hall. Other artists scheduled to be in booths include: Frankie Ballard, Luke Bryan, Sarah Buxton, Caitlin & Will, Jason Michael Carroll, Eric Church, Brad Cotter, Bucky Covington, Whitney Duncan, Gloriana, Jessica Harp, Randy Houser, Jack Ingram, Joey + Rory, Jason Jones, Jypsi, Kate and Kacey, Little Big Town, The Lost Trailers, Charlie Louvin, Love & Theft, Neal McCoy, Richie McDonald, Justin Moore, Craig Morgan, Lorrie Morgan, David Nail, Heidi Newfield, James Otto, Jake Owen, Michael Peterson, Julie Roberts, Ashton Shepherd, Sunny Sweeney, Aaron Tippin, Trent Tomlinson, Jimmy Wayne, Emily West, Chuck Wicks, Holly Williams, Mark Wills, Darryl Worley, Chris Young, and many more.
Dates and times for the signings are still being scheduled, so fans should check the artists’ Web sites for details. The most current information will also be posted in the individual booths onsite at CMA Music Festival. Artists and schedules are subject to change.
Check for ticket information and other tidbits after the break.
Roy Clark, Barbara Mandrell, Charlie McCoy inducted into Country Music Hall of Fame
Country music stars Charlie McCoy, left, Roy Clark, center, and Barbara Mandrell meet during a reception before being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn. on Sunday. (Associated Press photo)
Tulsa resident Roy Clark, along with singer Barbara Mandrell and musician Charlie McCoy, were inducted Sunday into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The Medallion Ceremony in Nashville, Tenn., was at times emotional as stars paid tribute to the inductees, according to the Associated Press.
The three country icons were honored in a tribute that included performances by Oklahoma natives Garth Brooks and Reba McEntire, George Jones, Alison Krauss, Josh Turner, Michael McDonald, Rodney Crowell and others. With the inductions, the hall boasts 108 members.
Country music star Roy Clark performs after being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn. on Sunday. (AP photo)
To honor Clark, guitarist Duane Eddy performed the instrumental “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” one of Clark’s signature tunes. Josh Turner sang “Thank God and Greyhound.” And Garth Brooks praised his fellow Oklahoman, saying Clark inspired him to chase his dream. Brooks described Clark as “a man who never stopped being a man from where he was from,” according to the AP.
Clark, 76, learned to play play the guitar, banjo and mandolin at a young age. He started on the path to fame on Jimmy Dean’s TV show “Town and Country Time” and took over the show when Dean left. He moved to Las Vegas in 1960 and became a regular at the Golden Nugget. Later, he toured and recorded with Oklahoma native Wanda Jackson and was a regular at the Frontier Hotel in Vegas.
In the ’60s he had top 10 hits with “Tips of My Fingers” and “Yesterday When I Was Young.” He also broke into TV, appearing on “The Tonight Show,” “The Jackie Gleason Show” and the “Beverly Hillbillies.”
In 1969, Clark and Buck Owens were picked by CBS to co-host “Hee Haw,” a country version of the series “Laugh-In.” He and Owens, who died in 2006, hosted “Hee Haw” for more than 20 years.
“We love you Roy Clark. We love you,” Grand Ole Opry star Little Jimmy Dickens told Clark as he formally inducted him into the hall. “Everytime you hit the stage you update country music 10 years, and that’s what it’s all about.”
The AP reports that Clark got emotional and said it was humbling to be mentioned alongside many of his musical heroes.
“Just to be associated yourself with the members of the Country Music Hall of Fame and imagine that your name will be said right along with all the list … ,” he said.
Clark entertained the audience with a couple of humorous stories and a song, “Yesterday When I Was Young.”
Country music star Barbara Mandrell speaks after being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday. (AP photo)
Mandrell, 60, gave special thanks to her late father and longtime manager, Irby Mandrell, who died in March at age 84.
“Irby Mandrell was my manager as well as being my Daddy over my 38-year career. He taught me and guided me and directed me. It is his name, Mandrell, that I am blessed to have, and it’s the gracious loving public and the fans that made that name known and made it become popular,” she said in what the AP called an emotional speech. “So tonight I thank you with my entire being for putting my and my Daddy’s name into the Hall of Fame.”
According to the AP, Mandrell began her professional career in California when she was 11. She made her national TV debut on ABC with Red Foley’s “Five Star Jubilee.” Her first concert tour was with Johnny and June Carter Cash, Patsy Cline and George Jones.
She charted her first single in 1969, a remake of Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” and went on to have a long run of country hits including “Midnight Oil,” “Married But Not to Each Other,” “Sleeping Single in a Double Bed” and “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.”
At the height of her career, she acted in TV shows like the “The Rockford Files” and in 1980 teamed with her siblings to host “Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters” on NBC, which drew 40 million viewers a week and broadened her exposure beyond country music.
“I adore you with all my heart. You are my other big sister,” Reba McEntire told Mandrell. “I thank you for the things you taught me, not only musically but spiritually.
“And before I start balling like a baby, I’ll start singing,” McEntire said as she began “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool” with Jones.
Bluegrass queen Alison Krauss sang “The Midnight Oil,” while Michael McDonald gave a bluesy take on “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right,” originally a soul song that Mandrell made into a No. 1 country hit. Her sister Louise sang “Sleeping Single in a Double Bed.”
Musician Charlie McCoy arrives to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday. (AP photo)
For McCoy, Rodney Crowell led a harmonica-heavy rendition of Roy Orbison’s “Candy Man.” McCoy, 68, is a multi-instrumentalist best known for his harmonica work, according to the AP.
McCoy’s first session was “Candy Man” in 1961. Since then, he’s recorded with Oklahoman Leon Russell, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Gordon Lightfoot, Paul Simon, Ringo Starr, Tanya Tucker and many more.
McCoy, who continues to record and perform, said when he first arrived in town he wanted to be a singer and didn’t know what a “session” was. But he learned fast watching a teenage Brenda Lee record “Sweet Nothin’s” with Nashville’s top studio musicians, known as the “A Team.”
“When I watched those Nashville A Team musicians work I said ‘To heck with singing, I want to do this,’” McCoy recalled.
Check after the break to see more photos of the Medallion Ceremony.
Trisha Yearwood talks philanthropy, Mother’s Day and more
Trisha Yearwood (Associated Press photo)
Oklahoma country music star Trisha Yearwood, wife of fellow star Garth Brooks, recently talked to Parade.com about several topics.
The interview covers their work with Habitat for Humanity, her Mother’s Day plans and the progress on her second cookbook.
The Owasso resident also talks about the challenges that face fellow Oklahoman Carrie Underwood, Julianne Hough and other music stars that get their big break on reality TV.
To read the interview, click here.
-BAM
Garth Brooks’ music gets “Hushabye Baby” treatment
Garth Brooks (Associated Press photo)
There’s no musical star brighter than Garth Brooks. The Oklahoman has sold more CDs than any other musical artist in history. Since the only folks who haven’t heard of Brooks are newborn babies, “Hushabye Baby” has turned his monster hits into gentle instrumentals for the cradle crowd, with “Hushabye Baby: Lullaby Renditions of Garth Brooks,” set for a June 2 release.
The CD includes instrumental lullabies of some of the Owasso resident’s biggest hits: “Ain’t Going Down (’Til the Sun Comes Up),” “Two of a Kind, Workin’ On a Full House,” “The River,” “Friends in Low Places” and “Longneck Bottle” (sounds strange, but it’s true, according to the track listing). And as with every “Hushabye Baby” release, this one includes a custom healthy baby-food recipe, in this case “Peas In Low Places.”
These lullaby versions of Brooks’ classic hits were performed by The Halfpints: James Mitchell on guitars, Mark Thornton on guitars, glockenspiel, toy piano, celeste and marimba, and Jim Hoke on steel guitar, harmonica, glockenspiel, toy piano, celeste and marimba. Thornton also produced.
As for Brooks, his musical legacy stands unchallenged. Exploding onto the country scene in 1989, the Tulsa, who grew up in Yukon, led the genre’s resurgence and ballooning popularity throughout the 1990s. He has sold more than 128 million albums in his career and was one of the top-drawing live performers in history, including bringing an estimated one million fans into a free show in New York’s Central Park.
He retired in 2001 to spend more time with his children, returning occasionally with new singles and performances, but vowing only to return full-time once the kids had completed school. And when he does, a new generation of fans will have cut their baby teeth on his chart-topping melodies.
The Hushabye Baby collection is widely recognized and praised for its innovative and age-appropriate approach to popular music. Kid-friendly and made from 100 percent recycled materials, the album packages are adorned with colorful artwork and activities. Inside, parents will find a mini baby-book, a featured farm animal with character bio and a tasty and healthy baby food recipe created by chef Jeff Parker.
“Hushabye Baby” has been awarded four “Excellent Product” honors from iParenting Media, the premier product evaluation and testing service in the country for children’s and family products. As All Music Guide notes, the country music lullabies are ideal for “acclimatizing young listeners to country evergreens and soothing them to prepare for bed.”
CDs featuring lullaby renditions of the songs of George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Johnny Cash, Rascal Flatts, Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Patsy Cline and Willie Nelson have already been issued by Hushabye Baby, with more on the way.
Further information on the albums and sound samples can be found at www.hushabyebabymusic.com.
Here is the “Hushabye Baby: Lullaby Renditions of Garth Brooks” track listing:
1. Ain’t Going Down (’Til the Sun Comes Up)
2. Longneck Bottle
3. If Tomorrow Never Comes
4. Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House
5. Friends In Low Places
6. The River
7. You Move Me
8. To Make You Feel My Love
9. We Shall Be Free
10. The Dance
11. She’s Every Woman
12. Unanswered Prayers
-BAM
BAM’s Country Music Minute: Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton and CMA Music Fest
In this week’s BAM’s Country Music Minute, I have news on Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton, CMA Music Fest and the 18th annual Tumbleweed Calf Fry.
Check it out.
-BAM
Garth Brooks, Lifetime developing telefilm of “Unanswered Prayers”
Garth Brooks (Associated Press photo)
CMT.com is reporting that Garth Brooks and Lifetime Networks are developing a TV movie based on Brooks’ hit song, “Unanswered Prayers.”
Brooks is serving as executive producer for the project. The movie is scheduled to air in 2010.
No actors have been publicly announced for the project.
“Unanswered Prayers” was originally released on Brooks’ 1990 album, “No Fences,” and spent two weeks at No. 1.
-BAM
Garth Brooks presents ACM Artist of the Decade to George Strait
Garth Brooks (Associated Press photo)
George Strait (Associated Press photo)
Oklahoman Garth Brooks presented fellow country music star George Strait with the ACM Artist of the Decade award at a star-studded event Monday in Las Vegas.
As BAM reported earlier, the event was set for the night after the Academy of Country Music Awards.
According to CMT.com, the concert included several Strait songs, including “Unwound” (covered by Toby Keith), “Adelida” (Sugarland), “Marina Del Ray” (Tim McGraw), “Run” (Taylor Swift), “It Ain’t Cool to Be Crazy About You” (Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton), “You Look So Good in Love” (Jamie Foxx), “All My Ex’s Live in Texas” (Jack Ingram), “The Cowboy Rides Away” (Brooks & Dunn), “Blue Clear Sky” (Dierks Bentley), “The Fireman” (Alan Jackson), “Give It Away” (Jamey Johnson and Lee Ann Womack), “Amarillo by Morning” (John Rich) and “Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind” (LeAnn Rimes). Womack also debuted a new song, “Just Stand There and Sing.”
According to CMT, current stars also paid tribute to the previous Artist of the Decade winners: Keith Urban sang a medley of Marty Robbins’ hits to mark his achievements during the 1960s. Faith Hill performed “You Ain’t Woman Enough” in honor of ’70s winner Loretta Lynn. Montgomery Gentry performed “Mountain Music” in recognition of ’80s honoree Alabama.
Martina McBride sang “The Dance” in honor of Brooks, who won the award in the ’90s.
Brooks said backstage that Strait is deserving of the award and also commented on Strait’s youthful good looks, according to CMT.
“I love him and I hate him because he looks so good. He looks the same as he did 30 years ago,” Brooks said.
Strait sang “Ocean Front Property” and “Write This Down,” and the grand finale was a group sing-along to his latest song, “Troubadour.”
The TV special “George Strait: ACM Artist of the Decade All Star Concert,” will air on CBS on May 27.
- 3D
Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Brooks & Dunn and more added to George Strait tribute show
George Strait (Associated Press photo)
Oklahomans Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert and duo Brooks & Dunn (which includes Tulsan Ronnie Dunn) are among the musical stars that have been added to the line-up for the upcoming “George Strait: ACM Artist of the Decade All Star Concert.”
Jamie Foxx, Jack Ingram, Alan Jackson, Jamey Johnson, Montgomery Gentry, John Rich, LeAnn Rimes and Lee Ann Womack also have been added to the list of performers for the special, which will air May 27 on CBS.
The special will pay tribute to Strait, whom the Academy of Country Music has chosen as its “Artist of the Decade,” and his legendary 25-year career.
Previously announced performers include Oklahoma star Toby Keith, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban.
Only four other entertainers have received the Artist of the Decade accolade: Marty Robbins in 1969, Loretta Lynn in 1979, Alabama in 1988 and Oklahoman Garth Brooks in 1998. This marks the first time the honor will be presented in a separate television special.
The tribute special will be taped at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 6, the night following the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, which will air April 5 on CBS.
-BAM
Toby Keith will be among the performers paying tribute to George Strait
George Strait (Associated Press photos)
Oklahoman Toby Keith, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban will be among the performers on “George Strait – ACM Artist of the Decade,” according to a news release. The new, all-star concert special will be broadcast on CBS later this year. The show, produced for television by dick clark productions, will pay tribute to “The King of Country,” George Strait, and his 25-year career.
Only four other acts have received the Artist of the Decade accolade, including Marty Robbins in 1969, Loretta Lynn in 1979, Alabama in 1988 and Oklahoman Garth Brooks in 1998. This marks the first time the honor will be presented as a separate television special.
The tribute special will be taped at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 6, the night following the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, which will be broadcast 7 to 10 p.m. April 5 on CBS.
“George Strait – ACM Artist of the Decade” is produced for television by dick clark productions. Orly Adelson and R.A. Clark are the executive producers; Barry Adelman the producer and Bob Bardo the executive in charge of production. Glenn Weiss is directing the special.
-BAM
