George Strait began 1998 ranked in the Top 10 among artists of all genres-in career record sales as well as popularity. As a concert performer, he continues to break records-most of them set by himself—for ticket sales and attendance. Amazingly, after 18 years and 22 gold, platinum and multi-platinum records, George Strait may experience his greatest year yet in 1998.
He started off the year with a pair of American Music Awards, for Country Male Artist of the Year and Album of the Year. His hit "Carrying Your Love With Me," was nominated for a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance, and he garnered a second Grammy nomination for Best Country Album for his role as co-producer of Carrying Your Love With Me. In the summer of 1998, he'llheadline a new touring show, the George Strait Chevy Truck Country Music Festival. The extravaganza features performances by a half-dozen stars plus a large area for country lifestyle exhibits, including a Straitland exhibit. In typical Strait fashion, he set a record for ticket sales for the tour's kickoff show at Arizona's Sun Devil Stadium, selling 56,000 tickets—outselling the Rolling Stones in the same venue by 20,000 seats.
Strait's new MCA album, One Step At A Time, confirms the sentiment expressed by USA Today reviewer David Zimmerman: "Sometimes you wonder: Is country music getting worse or is Strait just getting better and better?"
"I Just Want To Dance With You," the album opener and the first single, sets the scene for a great Strait album, with a straightforward lyric, an engaging touch of an island/mariachi feel and Strait's easy, understated vocals. As always, he has picked strong songs, all potential hits, and his production work (he co-produced with Tony Brown) is tasteful, whether he's creating a romantic mood in the ballad "Remember the Alamo" or getting the juices flowing with the rock-a-billy/cajun beat of "We Really Shouldn't Be Doing This."
The key element, of course, is Strait's singing. Despite the intense emotion of "Neon Row," where he's lost his woman to the lure of the night life, or the haunting loneliness of "You Haven't Left Me Yet," where he's lost everything except the memory, he maintains a stoic resignation, expressed most directly in the lyric of "That's The Breaks." Rather than wringing every drop of emotion out of a song with a heart-wrenching performance, Strait simply tells the story. He quietly explains how an angel walks away in "One Step At A Time," conveying how much it hurts by the simple truth in his voice.
When it's time for love, Strait is honest and open, whether asking "Why Not Now," declaring his love in "Maria," or singing "True" about things you can count on in this world, like a stream winding through the mountains, a falling rain or a baby's smile.
George Strait grew up in Pearsall, Texas, and got hooked on country music in the army while stationed in Hawaii. He returned to Texas in the early 1970s and put together the Ace in the Hole Band. They were popular in the dance halls of the southwest, able to fill entire evenings with Bob Wills songs if that's what a crowd wanted.
MCA executive Erv Woolsey, who would later become Strait's manager, convinced MCA to sign him, and his first MCA single, "Unwound," was released in 1981. In the Urban Cowboy era of packaged country music, country fans knew the real thing when they heard it.
Billboard magazine named Strait New Male Artist of the Year, and he would ultimately become the top male artist of the entire decade. By the end of the 1980’s, a new generation of "hat acts" were pointing to George Strait as their biggest influence.
In the 1990’s, Strait broadened his career with a starring role in the film Pure Country, and the soundtrack became his most popular album, selling over 5 million copies. His 1995 boxed set, Strait Out Of The Box, was a monumental collection of 72 cuts, ranging from 31 number one singles to obscure, intriguing recordings from his early days, all with rare personal comments from Strait himself. It sold 4 million copies, making it the third-biggest-selling boxed set in history, behind Bruce Springsteen and Led Zeppelin. Every one of his 22 albums has been certified at least gold, with 20 achieving platinum (1 million) or better. In cumulative record sales, heÕs topped 42 million albums, which ranks him #10 among all artists, between Boyz II Men and Eric Clapton. A Louis Harris poll ranked him in the Top 10 of America's favorite singers on a list that included Frank Sinatra and Whitney Houston.
Strait's success as a recording artist is matched by his live performances. His concerts have always sold out, and he's now setting records for how quickly they sell out. He set a personal best in 1996, selling over 33,000 tickets for three shows in Phoenix in less than two hours. At the Houston Astrodome, he broke his own attendance record, playing to 125,000 people in two shows, and heÕs now played to over 1 million fans at the Astrodome's annual rodeo.
Clearly, George Strait does keep on getting better and better. With One Step At A Time, he carries forward his personal tradition of excellence and pushes an already stellar career to new heights. George Strait began 1998 ranked in the Top 10 among artists of all genres-in career record sales as well as popularity. As a concert performer, he continues to break records-most of them set by himself—for ticket sales and attendance. Amazingly, after 18 years and 22 gold, platinum and multi-platinum records, George Strait may experience his greatest year yet in 1998.
He started off the year with a pair of American Music Awards, for Country Male Artist of the Year and Album of the Year. His hit "Carrying Your Love With Me," was nominated for a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance, and he garnered a second Grammy nomination for Best Country Album for his role as co-producer of Carrying Your Love With Me. In the summer of 1998, he'll headline a new touring show, the George Strait Chevy Truck Country Music Festival. The extravaganza features performances by a half-dozen stars plus a large area for country lifestyle exhibits, including a Straitland exhibit. In typical Strait fashion, he set a record for ticket sales for the tour's kickoff show at Arizona's Sun Devil Stadium, selling 56,000 tickets—outselling the Rolling Stones in the same venue by 20,000 seats.
Strait's new MCA album, One Step At A Time, confirms the sentiment expressed by USA Today reviewer David Zimmerman: "Sometimes you wonder: Is country music getting worse or is Strait just getting better and better?"
"I Just Want To Dance With You," the album opener and the first single, sets the scene for a great Strait album, with a straightforward lyric, an engaging touch of an island/mariachi feel and Strait's easy, understated vocals. As always, he has picked strong songs, all potential hits, and his production work (he co-produced with Tony Brown) is tasteful, whether he's creating a romantic mood in the ballad "Remember the Alamo" or getting the juices flowing with the rock-a-billy/cajun beat of "We Really Shouldn't Be Doing This."
The key element, of course, is Strait's singing. Despite the intense emotion of "Neon Row," where he's lost his woman to the lure of the night life, or the haunting loneliness of "You Haven't Left Me Yet," where he's lost everything except the memory, he maintains a stoic resignation, expressed most directly in the lyric of "That's The Breaks." Rather than wringing every drop of emotion out of a song with a heart-wrenching performance, Strait simply tells the story. He quietly explains how an angel walks away in "One Step At A Time," conveying how much it hurts by the simple truth in his voice.
When it's time for love, Strait is honest and open, whether asking "Why Not Now," declaring his love in "Maria," or singing "True" about things you can count on in this world, like a stream winding through the mountains, a falling rain or a baby's smile.
George Strait grew up in Pearsall, Texas, and got hooked on country music in the army while stationed in Hawaii. He returned to Texas in the early 1970s and put together the Ace in the Hole Band. They were popular in the dance halls of the southwest, able to fill entire evenings with Bob Wills songs if that's what a crowd wanted.
MCA executive Erv Woolsey, who would later become Strait's manager, convinced MCA to sign him, and his first MCA single, "Unwound," was released in 1981. In the Urban Cowboy era of packaged country music, country fans knew the real thing when they heard it.
Billboard magazine named Strait New Male Artist of the Year, and he would ultimately become the top male artist of the entire decade. By the end of the 1980’s, a new generation of "hat acts" were pointing to George Strait as their biggest influence.
In the 1990’s, Strait broadened his career with a starring role in the film Pure Country, and the soundtrack became his most popular album, selling over 5 million copies. His 1995 boxed set, Strait Out Of The Box, was a monumental collection of 72 cuts, ranging from 31 number one singles to obscure, intriguing recordings from his early days, all with rare personal comments from Strait himself. It sold 4 million copies, making it the third-biggest-selling boxed set in history, behind Bruce Springsteen and Led Zeppelin. Every one of his 22 albums has been certified at least gold, with 20 achieving platinum (1 million) or better. In cumulative record sales, heÕs topped 42 million albums, which ranks him #10 among all artists, between Boyz II Men and Eric Clapton. A Louis Harris poll ranked him in the Top 10 of America's favorite singers on a list that included Frank Sinatra and Whitney Houston.
Strait's success as a recording artist is matched by his live performances. His concerts have always sold out, and he's now setting records for how quickly they sell out. He set a personal best in 1996, selling over 33,000 tickets for three shows in Phoenix in less than two hours. At the Houston Astrodome, he broke his own attendance record, playing to 125,000 people in two shows, and heÕs now played to over 1 million fans at the Astrodome's annual rodeo.
Clearly, George Strait does keep on getting better and better. With One Step At A Time, he carries forward his personal tradition of excellence and pushes an already stellar career to new heights.
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