I like music.  NO. That is a wrong statement.  I LOVE good music!  Don’t care if it is rap, country, red dirt, rock, opera, whatever.  I love good music.  Now, most probably think that rock music, especially 80’s rock is my favorite.  They would be kind of right.  Trust me.  A Def Leppard, Tesla, Motley Crue, AC/DC, Van Halen deal is right up my alley.  

       However, great country music is hard to beat.  Very little of this new stuff qualifies as good country music. A couple of weeks ago, I saw a book face post of a picture that had a bunch of the country greats gathered together.  I forwarded this to a freshman student that LOVES old school country music.  I’m talking George Jones, Eddie Arnold, Jim Reeves kind of stuff.   He loves Old school!  

      Now, I’m thinking about the group of country artists that I would like to walk in and see together.  It’s hard.  Harder than I thought.   Why?  Well, I’ll tell you why.  How do you handle the groups?  Seriously.  We’ll get back to that. 

       We need a big table.  Several big tables.  Gruene Hall long table style with multiple rows of tables.  If you’ve never been there, well you should.   Here we go.  

      Front table has George Jones, Tammy Wynette, George Strait, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynne, Conway Twitty, Patsy Cline & Hank Sr.   You can’t argue with any of those.  The pic that I looked at did NOT have George Strait in it.  You can’t have a country legends pic without King George.  Can’t!  Invalid picture.  

     Next table has Marty Robbins, Charlie Daniels, Keith Whitley, Don Williams and Randy Travis.  I love those dude’s music.  Love it! So good.  I can drive for hours listening to their work.  The superstars at the other tables look up to these dudes.  Seriously, is the best country song of all time ” The Devil went down to Georgia”?  Hard to argue.  Marty Robbins, Keith Whitley, Don Williams and Randy Travis “sound” like country music.  

       Another table has Garth Brooks, Shania Twain and Reba McEntire.  Damn!  How many records have those people sold?  These might be the most commercialized country artists of all-time.  There is a reason why.  They are so good.  And they have a history of giving back and helping up & coming artists.  Oh, there is room for another.  Let’s seat Alan Jackson at this table.  

      The next table would be seated just out of the camera view.  However, this table has Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Hank Jr., & Merle Haggard.  I have never smoked a joint nor taken any drugs.  But let’s be real.  If seated at that table, it would be hard to say no.  Musically, maybe the best table group.  

    Back to the groups.  The Oak Ridge Boys and Alabama change things.  Either one might be the best country music artist(s) of all time.  It’s hard to argue the “oom poppa oom poppa mow mow” of Richard Sterban.  Who you ask?  Yeah, you know it.  The bass from the Oaks.  I’ve got a story about a former student and the Oak Ridge Boys at the Tulsa State Fair.  I’ll have to remember to tell it.  And Alabama….well, you can drive for hours and listen to nothing but hits from that group.  And I have a story about meeting Randy Owen at the Hereford Jr. Nationals.  Both of these groups need their own table.  Let’s also pull up a couple of chairs for Brooks & Dunn. 

     So who is the greatest country music artist of all-time?  In my opinion, Garth is still working towards the top.  He is trying to get ahead of George Strait.  And they would both agree that Dolly is the queen.  Although, the Dragon Lady says it is “Reba”.  I won’t argue with anybody that says that Alabama is the best. 

      George is the king and paved the way for Garth.  Today, George but when it is all said and done, Garth will be the best country artist ever.  I don’t care if you agree or not.  I’ve had fun listening to tunes while typing this crap.  

(no sign off)