With the Memorial Day Holiday weekend here, I thought it might be fun to revisit some of the best Memorial Day songs over the past number of years.   Country has a long history of being proud of the country and the brave people that have defended it  -  and still do.  We do it better by far than any other format of music.

Thank you for your service and enjoy these GREAT songs! 

Great Memorial Day Songs!

Workin' Man's PHD  -  Aaron Tippin -  1993 -  (Album - Call Of The Wild)

  Aaron Tippin was a real favorite of the 1990's.  He had a very loyal fan base that loved him.  I felt he was singing for the hard working fan, the underdog, or the misunderstood.  Fans loved him for it, and after his first big song, You've Got To Stand For Something, he got everyone's full attention.  This song celebrates the American worker, and we all love when  we do that. This is one of those songs I can only hear Tippin singing.  In fact, he had a few like that including My Blue Angel, Kiss This, and That's As Close As I'll Get To Lovin' You.  He has that rare ablilty to make the song his very own, and I believed every word he ever sang.  I can't help but wonder in a different time would he have had even bigger success as the 90's were just stacked with marquee artists.  But I always say, guys LIKE Tippin were a huge part why the 90's were as big as they were.  Because the under card of artists were the best we have had in my 43 years of this format. The stars just below the Mega Stars absolutely insured we always had a GREAT song on the radio.  This song is terrific, always sounds good, and the message is timeless!

He's Still Part Of The Roots And Boots Tour

Blake Shelton – God's Country -  2019

Liking this is one of the easiest things on the planet to do.  First, this written song (Hardy and others) is simply fantastic. I think it's one of the best country songs and singles of this new century.  But a country anthem this intense has to find its way to the right artist.  Blake Shelton was absolutely the right guy, as this song has to be done by an artist with some miles on them to make it special.  For some reason some songs do that, as you have to earn the right to sing them.  This gutty, driving and determined performance and arrangement of this gritty, hard knocks sermon of a song is just terrific. This song even sounds like it's working hard for you. Even though this is presented in a fashion a bit out of the norm from many other country songs, the subject matter and message is pure, direct and spot on country. I feel this is one of Shelton's best songs ever, if not THE best.  At the time Shelton had seemingly fallen in love with softer, slower love ballads, and it was great to hear him break out with this incredibly powerful song.  Right song, right artist, right time. It was a big number one, was multi-platinum, and a multi-award winner.  One of my real favs over the past few years, I love playing this song on the radio, I hope we do for many years to come. 

Last Week #32

It's late May and I don't know about you, but my eating habits change when things heat up. I love things like this with my burger, steak, or dog off the grill.

Check it out!

Delicious And Refreshing For Warmer Weather

Riley Green has a new song out with Luke Combs, and I feel that many are going to grab on to this song and hang on. Yes, it's a list song to a degree, but it celebrates the lifestyle of many.  Yes, it takes a stand but is not overly opinionated, angry or closed minded.  And it's flat out country.  This song is so powerful, that Luke Combs is the background singer here.  High honor. 

Grab a coffee, and take a listen!

Happy Mothers Day, Mom

Eat Of The Week

50 Favorites From 40+ Years - #32

Forgotten Jukebox - B-19

Country Music Memory Lane - Revisiting George Strait (B-Day)

Wynn At The Movies And More!

Box Office Results  -   Guardians 3  -  (61 million)

#2 - Mario - (13 Million)  -  Total so far -  1.6 BILLION world wide

New This Week -  Fast X  /  Buddy Games:Spring Awakening

BeetleJuise 2 - Yes, with Micheal Keaton comes out in 2024  (Story)

Tuesday - HBO Max becomes Max. Depending on your devices, HBO Max will automatically update to Max, or when you open HBO Max, you’ll download the Max app. 

Eddie Murphy - May play Inspector Clouseau in a new Pink Panther movie. Would be a live-action/CG hybrid Clouseau and the cartoon version of the Pink Panther  (Story) 

Avatar: The Way of Water - Will start streaming on both Disney Plus and Max June 7th  (Story) 

AMC Theaters - Are rolling out their own line of candies starting later this year  (Story) 

It's Just Begining - Actors could join writers on the picket line. SAG-AFTRA - they will vote ahead of their June 7th negotiations with the major studios. Their contract expires June 30th.

This Weekend – Check out my Country Music Memory Lane (link)

Also - My 50 Favorites Over 40+ Years This Week -   #32   (Link)

Today is George Strait's birthday, and when you have over 60 number one songs in your resume, you get to be revisited on this page.  One of, if not the most overall successful country singer ever.

Happy Birthday George!

Revisiting George Strait On His Birthday!

Highway Patrol  - Junior Brown - 1995  - (Album -  Junior High)

It's National Police Week, so what better song to feature than Junior Brown's 1995 hit, Highway Patrol- that wasn't a chart hit at all, but listeners loved it.  We'll play this one for all our police friends and families.  This did not chart well, but fans loved JB, and so did the Grammy's. This album, Junior High, over a 2-year period had 3 Grammy nominations including Best Country Album.  He also won the CMA Video Of The Year, 1996.  Brown is an incredible guitar player, and he still tours and plays the guitar he built himself, The Guit Steel guitar.  Brown is an act way outside the norm, and next to his guitar playing he has that booming and distinctive baritone voice.  I've seen him in concert a few times and he's a master entertainer and flat out fun to watch.  He never had any chart success, but with video, TV, and live performing he found a following.  This song is fun, the video is too and yes, that's his wife playing guitar with him.  Guys like Brown somehow find a fan base that become extremely loyal.  Then they find fans outside of country because of his eclectic persona, style, and sound. He is an incredible talent even though radio success eluded him, he's a first class musician, and fans love this song.  I have been a fan for years.  Perfect song for the Forgotten Jukebox!

Georgia On My Mind  - Willie Nelson - 1978

I completely get it, it's a generational thing as this was a long time ago.  This is one of the few songs on my list released before my time in country radio.  I joined in 1981, this was three years prior, but I played this and others off this album for many years.  Stardust, by Willie Nelson is one of the greatest albums ever recorded. (I didn't say that  -  sales, history, reviews even Rolling Stone says it).  It's Willie performing standards -  songs written by some of the best composers ever.  This song was a Country #1, a Grammy award winner as a remake of the classic Ray Charles song.  But the story is the Stardust album itself.  This was the lead single from the album that would stay on the charts for a record setting 511 consecutive weeks, or 10 years! (That would be from now till March 2033).   Astonishing to say the least.  It was recorded in 9 days in the producers LIVING ROOM with harmonica parts recorded in a TILE SHOWER.  There are no background singers, everything recorded in very few takes. The sheer simplicity of this song and album are its absolute strength.  The record company was upset this wasn't Willie's Outlaw Image and were also very upset he was not on the album cover.  It is one of the most loved albums of all time, and has sold too many millions to count.  This song is a work of art as is the entire album as Willie is incredible here.  Oh, and Willie is still winning Grammy's, like this year and is still touring as he'll be at Blossom this summer.  There is a real thing called timelessness   -  and this is.

Last Week #33