Good Times
Identifying With the Urban Cowboy
By Edward Morris
Because country music in the 1980s was bracketed by two truly epochal events—the end of the Urban Cowboy phenomenon and the arrival of Garth Brooks—we tend to recall the musical activity within that period as being an echo of the former or a foreshadowing of the latter. Critics of the genre are particularly susceptible to this form of historical simplification: They accurately cite Ricky Skaggs, George Strait, Dwight Yoakam, and Randy Travis as bright spots in the decade, but they skim over or dismiss a legion of other influential figures. I fear that we’re doing the same thing today when we succumb to the temptation to put a name and a spin on a fairly diverse body of music. But let’s look back for a moment.
To begin with, the Urban Cowboy movement, while manifestly trendy and artificial, was never as pervasive nor as monolithic as it is now depicted. Nor was the music it generated all bad. While the movement was hastening toward its natural death, Skaggs and John Anderson were simultaneously reasserting the beauty and vitality of traditional country music. Alabama was already blazing a trail that would make the format receptive to such future self-contained bands as Restless Heart, Shenandoah, Desert Rose, Southern Pacific, Sawyer Brown, Highway 101, and the Kentucky Headhunters. Mickey Gilley and Johnny Lee—the two singers most identified with Urban Cowboy—were able to use the momentum from that movie to turn out some fairly solid music up through the middle of the decade. George Strait made his melodic, roots-sensitive, no-nonsense Texas bow at the height of this supposedly frothier period.
By achieving superstardom through her prime-time network television show at the start of the decade, Barbara Mandrell forced the industry to take women artists more seriously. It is doubtful that we would have had today’s Reba McEntire absent yesterday’s Barbara Mandrell. Indeed, the entire stretch of the ’80s was enriched by distinctive women artists, chief among them McEntire, Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, the Judds, K.T. Oslin, Kathy Mattea, the Forester Sisters, and Sweethearts of the Rodeo.
This was the decade that saw the blossoming of the matchless Earl Thomas Conley and the reemergence of Vern Gosdin, perhaps the only singer who could stand voice-to-voice with George Jones. Willie Nelson, Conway Twitty, and Ronnie Milsap gave us some of their best music during this time, while hardcore Keith Whitley flourished alongside the grandly romantic Ricky Van Shelton. Lee Greenwood made a magnificent start with “It Turns Me Inside Out” but too soon opted for political persona over music. The dominating male vocal presence throughout the ’80s, of course, was Hank Williams Jr. With his eagerness to act as a proud father figure for younger acts, Williams provided country music with a degree of cohesion, swagger, and assertiveness it never had before.
To cite but a few of the hundreds of great songs that came out of the ’80s is to invite yet another Heartland collection. But here goes: “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” George Jones; “You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma,” David Frizzell and Shelly West; “Seven Year Ache,” Rosanne Cash; “I’m Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home,” David Frizzell; “Wild and Blue,” John Anderson; “You Take Me for Granted,” Merle Haggard; “Holding Her and Loving You,” Earl Thomas Conley; “Some Fools Never Learn,” Steve Wariner; “Everything That Glitters Is Not Gold,” Dan Seals; “I Wish That I Could Hurt That Way Again,” T. Graham Brown; “One Promise Too Late,” Reba McEntire; “Somewhere Tonight,” Highway 101; “Chiseled in Stone,” Vern Gosdin; “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” Keith Whitley.
The biggest news of the ’80s—although none of us recognized it at the time—was the launching of the Nashville Network and Country Music Television in 1983. While country music was not quite a stranger to television audiences, up to this point it was mostly limited to low-budget syndicated shows. Country superstars showed up now and then on the networks, but not in sufficient numbers or frequency to advance the whole genre. Because they needed an endless supply of talent to stay on the air, TNN and CMT democratized country music. Initially, at least, there was room for everyone. Thus viewers eventually learned that there was infinitely more to the music than what they heard on Hee Haw and the annual CMA Awards Show.
Viewed from a distance, the 1980s held their own with any other period in country music history. And once we’ve treated ourselves to the ecstasy of mindless bitching, I suspect we’ll see that the same holds true for the ’90s.
Currents
♦ Cheyenne Records’ Lisa Daggs was proclaimed entertainer of the year at the Christian Country Music Association’s fourth annual awards ceremonies, held Nov. 14 at the Ryman Auditorium. Vince Gill scored wins for mainstream country artist, musician, and video of the year (for “Go Rest High on That Mountain”). The event was hosted by Bryan White and singer/actress Rebecca Holden.
Other winners were: Loretta Lynn, Living Legend Award; Paula McCulla (Gateway Entertainment), female vocalist; Ken Holloway (Ransom Records), male vocalist; the Fox Brothers (Sierra Nashville), vocal group; Seneca (Ransom), vocal duo; “Lake of Fire” (recorded by Jeff McKee on Mountainview Records and written by McKee and Buddy Hyatt), song of the year; Wilcox & Pardoe (Light Records), new artist of the year.
Other winners were: Loretta Lynn, Living Legend Award; Paula McCulla (Gateway Entertainment), female vocalist; Ken Holloway (Ransom Records), male vocalist; the Fox Brothers (Sierra Nashville), vocal group; Seneca (Ransom), vocal duo; “Lake of Fire” (recorded by Jeff McKee on Mountainview Records and written by McKee and Buddy Hyatt), song of the year; Wilcox & Pardoe (Light Records), new artist of the year.
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