Usually Carl does the music posts, but I have to throw one in to remember a great American country singer who just passed away- Toby Keith. His life and career is worthy of extended reflection especially for his patriotic support of the military after 9/11 terrorist attacks. Charles Kesler wrote a great appreciation in the CRB for George Jones after he passed, and there was also a good one in the CRB about Merle Haggard (Haggard was Keith’s model in many ways). Keith is of that stature- not just a good ole boy from Oklahoma, but a man of great depth in his singing and songwriting. Apart from the songs he lived as an upright, unapologetic Christian American.
In my book, there was an "early" Toby Keith and a "late" Toby Keith musically, and I like both eras.
The Early started with “Shoulda Been a Cowboy” in 1993, with alot of steel guitar and old school country sound.
-What a song to start your career off on:
-According to her recent documentary which I watched (don’t hate me y’all), TAYLOR SWIFT did not write songs apart from her lived experience until 2020. Keith had the moral imagination to tell other stories from the beginning- thank God, he never had to go through divorce, but he imagines what he called the worst pain he could imagine possible in this song. Who's THAT man?
-Christian experience described here; Sundays are glorious
A very typical masculine- and human- experience described here
-Personal favorite from the "Boomtown" album, which I think is the peak of his early albums in my opinion.
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The late starts with "Pull My Chain" (2001) with a new group of instrumentalists and musical style- alot more electric guitar. It covers the 9/11 era, and has the songs Keith is better known by.
Highlights:
-Speaking of “old” vs “new”…
-His most famous patriotic song; very like Merle Haggard here, but also with added humor
-The most serious and beautiful of his patriotic songs
-The great collaboration with Willie Nelson. Who would have predicted Willie would outlive Toby?!
-Another typical man song, but in this later era:
-Compare this song with Don Henley’s “Sunset Grille”; I remember the “I love this bar bar” in Dallas, started by Toby as a place where vets could get a get a meal and a drink for free
-And here is his last hit, dedicated to the “old man” Clint Eastwood, another Patriotic friend who shoulda been a cowboy. His face was thinner and thinner from the cancer, he looked more and more like Merle Haggard. And that's his wife crying in the audience
I was never really a fan of TK; I'm sure it's mostly up to my preference for so-called, classic country & western over modern country, but these clips gave me a new appreciation for Keith and his legacy. May he rest in peace, and God bless his friends and family. And God bless the USA he loved so well. Lord knows, we need it now more than ever.
Thanks, CJ, I've been talking about him with friends -- I'm hearing that he meant a lot to a lot of people in my generation, even before or outside of his more political songs...