''I want to reach the point where people hear my name and immediately think of real country music.'' ''I got classified early in my career as Mr. Traditional Country. I guess it had a lot to do with the hat and the way I dressed. I didn't think there was a lot to that, especially after I'd done songs like 'Marina Del Ray' and 'The Chair', and some of these songs that were about as far away from really traditional type country as they could be. Anyhow, that's the label I got. It doesn't bother me at all. I mean, I love that kind of music. It's just I don't think that all my music is like that.'' ''I don't need a legacy. I'm no better or worse than the next guy. I've had a ton of success doing something that I really love doing. I'm thankful to God for the talent he gave me, and I'll keep on using it for as long as people want me to hear me or as long as I'm able.'' Out of all the new country singers to emerge in the early '80s, George Strait stayed the closest to traditional country. Drawing from both the honky tonk and Western swing traditions, Strait didn't refashion the genres; instead, he revitalized them for a new decade. In the process, he became one of the most popular and influential singers of the decade, sparking a wave of neo-traditionalist singers from Randy Travis and Dwight Yoakam to Clint Black, Garth Brooks, and Alan Jackson. Strait was born and raised in Texas, the son of a junior high school teacher who also owned and operated a ranch that had been in the Strait family for nearly hundred years. When George was a child, his mother left the family, taking her daughter but leaving behind her sons with the father. During his childhood, he would spend his weekdays in town and his weekends on the ranch. Strait began playing music as a teenager, joining a rock and roll garage band. After his high-school graduation in the late '60s, Strait enrolled in college but soon dropped out and eloped with his high-school sweetheart, Norma. In 1971, Strait enlisted in the Army; two years later, he was stationed Hawaii. While in Hawaii, he began playing country music, initially with an Army-sponsored country band called Rambling Country. They played several dates off the base under the name Santee. Strait left the Army in 1975, returning to Texas with the intent of completing his education. He enrolled in Southwest Texas State University at San Marcos, where he studied agriculture. While he was studying, he formed his own country band, Ace in the Hole. Ace in the Hole made a few records for the independent Dallas-based label D in the late '70s, but they never went anywhere. Toward the end of the decade, Strait attempted to carve out a niche in Nashville, but he failed since he lacked any strong connections. In 1979, he became friends with Erv Woolsey, a Texas club owner who had formerly worked for MCA Records. Woolsey had several MCA executives come down to Texas to hear Strait. His performance convinced the company to sign him in 1980. ''Unwound,'' Strait's first single, was released in the spring of 1981 and climbed into the Top Ten. The follow-up, ''Down and Out,'' stalled at 16, but ''If You're Thinking You Want a Stranger (There's One Coming Home)'' reached number three in early 1982. The song sparked a remarkable string of Top Ten hits that ran well into the '90s. During that time he had an astonishing 31 number one singles, beginning with 1982's ''Fool Hearted Memory.'' Throughout the '80s, he dominated the country singles charts, and his albums consistently went platinum or gold. Strait rarely abandoned hardcore honky tonk and Western swing — toward the beginning of the '90s, his sound became a little slicker, but it was only a relative change. Strait was also one of the few '80s superstars to survive the generational shift of the early '90s that began with the phenomenal success of Garth Brooks. In 1992, he made his first movie, Pure Country, which featured him in the lead role. Strait released a four -disc box set career retrospective, Strait Out of the Box, in 1995. By the spring of 1996, it had become one of the five biggest-selling box sets in popular music history. Blue Clear Sky, his 1996 album, debuted on the country charts at number one and the pop charts at number seven. In 1997, he released Carrying Your Love With Me, following it with One Step at a Time in 1998. Always Never the Same appeared a year later, as did the seasonal effort Merry Christmas Wherever You Are. The simply titled George Strait, featuring the hit single ''Go On,'' hit the shelves in late 2000. Did Strait slow down? Nay. 2001 saw the release of The Road Less Traveled, which qualified as an experimental album of sorts for the veteran performer. While it didn't stray very far from his new traditionalist country sound, Road did include a foray into vocal processing that was about as country as a pair of Stiletto-healed cowboy boots. But the experimentation was welcome, for it revealed that Strait was still hungry, even after millions upon millions of records sold. Strait issued two projects in 2003. For the Last Time: Live From the Astrodome chronicled his headlining set at the last Houston Livestock and Rodeo ever held in the big Texas dome, while Honkytonkville was a fiery set of hard country, lauded by critics for its mixture of the old Strait with his modern, superstar self. He released the songs, ''Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa'', ''Cowboys Like Us'', and ''Desperately''. In 2004, Strait released the single ''I Hate Everything'', which is on his 50 Number Ones album that was released in October 5th, 2004. ''I Hate Everything'' went to #1 giving Strait 51 number ones. He finished his short tour with Dierks Bentley and Amber Dotson. In March 2005, he introduced his first single ''You'll Be There'' to radio, from his album, Somewhere Down In Texas The next single from his album was ''She Let Herself Go'', which charged to #1 in the first week of 2006. Before that, George and Lee Ann Womack won the 2005 CMA Musical Event of the Year award for their duet, ''Good News, Bad News'' (Womack is the first female to duet with George EVER). The third radio single released was ''The Seashores of Old Mexico''. -from All Music Guide with some addition by webmaster |