NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -
George Strait's new album, "The Road Less Traveled,'' was released Tuesday, just a week before the highly anticipated comeback album by Garth Brooks.
Concerned about the competition, George?
Strait laughs. "This is news to me, right now,'' he says of the heavily publicized Nov. 13 release of "Scarecrow,'' Brooks' new album. "I didn't even know that.''
Strait, 49, a bit more gray and much more talkative than his public persona, doesn't keep up with the business side of country music. "Why should I?'' he says.
Then he laughs - for a long time.
Strait's albums - he releases one each year - spawn hits and sell well. He's done a tour of stadiums for four years. It added up to 16 days of work this year. The rest of the time?
"I rope,'' says the native Texan. "I stay at my ranch a lot. I love to deep-sea fish, and we do that a lot.''
He does pay attention to the music. He believes his new album is his best in years, though he's not sure why things came together so well. "I always have the intention of making a better album when I go in,'' he said. "It just doesn't always work out that way. I'm sure that every artist feels that way.''
"The Road Less Traveled'' is indeed a return to form for Strait, who's sold more than 50 million albums and scored such enduring hits as "Amarillo by Morning.''
The first hit single, "Run,'' is an effective change of pace; a moody, reflective song from a singer known for straight-ahead country. "My Life's Been Grand,'' a Merle Haggard song, is an elegiac nod worthy of Frank Sinatra, one of Strait's idols.
But the real shocker on first listen is Rodney Crowell's "Stars on the Water.'' Effects have been added to Strait's voice to give it a robotic feel, like Cher's on the dance hit "Believe.''
This from the guy who complained with duet partner Alan Jackson on the hit "Murder on Music Row'' that traditional country music was losing out to pop sounds. He laughs even longer this time.
"Really, my producer Tony Brown did that,'' Strait said. "I really didn't care for it at first. ... He kept easing it off and easing it off. I kind of like it now.''
Strait's never been the musical purist that "Murder on Music Row'' suggests. He appreciates great singers and doesn't adhere to a particular style or genre. He loves the work of Sinatra as much as he does that of Haggard. "When I listened to `Murder on Music Row' the first time, I laughed,'' Strait said. "I thought it was funny because people are always worried about the traditional country music, which happens to be my personal favorite. "I certainly didn't mean it as a slap in the face. It was just poking fun at the people that were having the same conversations (about country music) for 20 years.''
In "The Real Thing'' by Chip Taylor, Strait criticizes music that strives too hard for crossover appeal. Early rock 'n' roll acts Pat Boone and The Crew Cuts ("Sh-boom'') are singled out. "I don't want you under my roof/With your 86 proof/watered down 'til it tastes like tea/If you're gonna pull my string/Make it the real thing for me,'' Strait sings.
Again, he anticipates some fans will take the words too literally. "It's just a fun song,'' he said. "I like some of the lines in it, you know? They kind of ring true.''
Strait was heralded as the great hope of traditional country in the early 1980s when he became a star. He was signed to MCA in 1981. "Unwound'' that year started a streak of hits that continues to this day.
Though Brooks is credited with influencing a generation of country singers in cowboy hats, print shirts and jeans, it's often overlooked that Strait was Brooks' early model.
Strait says he doesn't spend time worrying about who gets credit for what. "I'm just going along and enjoying every minute of it, hoping that it keeps on,'' he said. "It's going to be over someday. And when it is, I'm not going to like it, but I'm going to accept it. "I've had a good career. But I'm going to ride it as long as I can.''
