Garth Brooks, The #53 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Two

 

(Continued from Part One)

 

As great as No Fences was, Brooks managed to top that with his third release, Ropin' the Wind.  He released the album in 1991 and with unprecedented advance orders of four million copies, it debuted at #1, the first time in history that a Country artist achieved that feat.  Brooks was truly going "Against The Grain".

 

Garth took this Billy Joel song and made it his own--"Shameless".

As Ropin the Wind attracted fans of all ages and musical tastes, it also dramatically increased interest in Brooks' previous albums, and sales of No Fences spiked.  Would it not have been for Ropin the Wind, No Fences wouldn't be the big-seller it is today.  Those two consecutive albums hold their own against two straight by nearly any other artist in history.  At one time, Brooks had all three of his albums listed in the Top 20 of the Album chart, another first for a Country artist.

 Brooks scored an American Music Award for Favorite Country Male Artist and was nominated for an American Music Award for Favorite Country Album.  In the 1995 television special "The Garth Brooks Story", Brooks said that he tried to get others to record this one as well:

     I went all over this town trying to get it cut. The song 

     was called Miss Rodeo, and it was written for a 

     woman to sing, and no one would sing it. I crawled 

     on my knees to Trisha Yearwood, I said "please you

     got to hear this song." And she goes, "Garth, I'm sure

     it's perfect, I don't understand the song because I'm 

     not from that part of the country." She's from Georgia.

     Yearwood subsequently convinced Brooks that he was better fit to sing the song than she was, so he agreed

      to record it.  

All about the boots and the mud, the bulls and the blood:  "Rodeo".

 Brooks earned the Grammy, however, for his performance on the entire album in winning Best Male Country Vocal Performance.  Garth was also nominated for Favorite Country Single (for "The River").  He earned Songwriter of the Year honors at the ASCAP Awards and won Billboard Music Awards for Top Artist, Top Pop Artist, Album Artist of the Year, Top Country Artist and Top Country Album.  Brooks also won People's Choice Awards for Favorite Male Artist and Favorite Country Male Singer.  Garth also won the World's Best-Selling Country Artist at the World Music Awards.  This song was originally recorded by Crystal Gayle as "What He's Doing Now".

 

Garth was nominated for Best Music Video for "The Thunder Rolls" at the Grammy Awards and he won an American Music Award for Favorite Country Single (also for "The Thunder Rolls".   Brooks' catalog is a great mix of serious and intense songs that tell great stories as well as fun ones such as "We Bury The Hatchet".

(Note:  Garth's songs have been unavailable to share for decades, and are rarely available for more than a few days before they are deleted.  Finally, Brooks signed a deal with Amazon for the sharing rights to his music.  To best experience this special, it needs to be heard as if it were on the radio, one song after another.  

In this case, however, we ask for your help.  When you click on the link, it will only play a short snippet of the song.  After you click on "Try It Free" (there is no cost), please go back to this page and press the "pause" button at the bottom of the video screen and select to play the full song on the new Amazon Music screen.  When the song ends, press "stop" and come back for the next song.  You will need to do this to hear each Brooks song only available on Amazon.

We apologize for the extra trouble, but this is the only way we can share Garth's great music the way we do with the 99 other artists in this special.

Victoria Shaw, co-writer of another of Garth's gems, wrote it with Garth when he came over to her house.  They had difficulty coming up with something until Brooks hit upon the melody.  Shaw said in The American Songwriter what they composed in her living room that day is what you hear on "River".

     What I do remember debating is whether “vessel” 

     was the right word.  I thought it sounded weird.  

     Garth loved it and felt extremely strong about it 

     being “vessel.”  At the end of the day I decided to

     trust his instincts.  I found out years later that his 

     manager Bob Doyle also tried to talk him out of 

     that word.  Now “vessel” is my FAVORITE word. 

     It helped me pay for my kid’s education! 

 

Garth released the holiday album Beyond the Season, which contained an excellent version of "Silent Night".

Brooks was in Los Angeles during the time of the 1992 riots, and he was inspired to write the song "We Shall Be Free", which became the first single from his album The Chase.

 

The Chase was nominated for Favorite Country Album at the American Music Awards and for Best Male Country Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards, and Brooks won Billboard Music Awards for Top Artist, Top Pop Artist and Top Country Artist.  Brooks was named Favorite Male Artist at the People's Choice Awards for the second year in a row.  Garth also won the World's Best-Selling Country Artist at the World Music Awards. He just kept giving us one great song after another:  "Somewhere Other Than The Night".

 

"That Summer" is about a widowed woman and a young man who enjoyed a secret affair one glorious summer.

Brooks sings about making the most of a second chance on the beautiful "Learning To Live Again".

 

In 1993, Garth released the album In Pieces, which gave him another #1 album in the U.S.  Brooks fever was even beginning to spread worldwide, as the album got to #2 in the U.K.  Opening up this new market sparked success in No Fences, Ropin' the Wind and The Chase, which all simultaneously reached the Top 30 of the British Album chart.  In Pieces has now sold over 10 million copies. Another reason Brooks is so loved is that his lyrics connect with people.  One of several inspirational messages he portrays is "Standing Outside The Fire". 

 

Bryan Kennedy and Jim Rushing, writers of "American Honky-Tonk Bar Association", are long-time friends of Brooks since he moved to Nashville.

 

"Ain't Goin' Down ('Til The Sun Comes Up)" scored a Grammy nomination for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.  Brooks won an American Music Award for Favorite Country Male Artist and was nominated for Favorite Country Album for In Pieces.  Once again, he won Favorite Male Artist at the People's Choice Awards and World's Best-Selling Country Artist at the World Music Awards.

 

"One Night A Day" is another single from In Pieces.

Brooks worked hard for success in Europe, embarking on an extensive world tour in 1993.  He sold out his show at Wembley Arena in London, something previously unheard of for a Country artist.  Brooks performed throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Far East This song is a great lesson:  "The Night I Called The Old Man Out".

In 1994, Garth released the compilation album The Hits, which won an American Music Award for Favorite Country Album.  Brooks was also nominated for Top Billboard 200 Album at the Billboard Music Awards.  Once again, Garth captured Favorite Male Artist at the People's Choice Awards and World's Best-Selling Country Artist at the World Music Awards.

Join us for Part Three!