NASHVILLE, TN. (MCA/Universal) - Country music's reigning King of Country,
George Strait, will release his 33rd album, Somewhere Down in
Texas (MCA/Universal) on June 28.
George Strait once said,
'I want to reach a point where people hear my name and immediately think of real country music.' Mission clearly accomplished and it didn't take 20 years worth of albums from the hard-working ranch hand from tiny Poteet, Texas, to do it. It happened with his very first. Strait Country was released in 1981, when one of country music's few real cowboys was just 29 and with each subsequent release and it just got better culling with the release of his last collection, 50 Number Ones which chronicled his record-breaking string of hits. (Upon its release, the only new song on the 2-CD set went to No 1 and scored him his 51st.)
Some artists might be content to take those laurels into the corral and head into the bunkhouse for a rest. Not George Strait. He's back at it again with the June 28 release of Somewhere Down in Texas, the reticent superstar Texan's 33rd album for MCA. Close your eyes and listen to the pool balls clacking in the background as good ol' boys – and gals – dilute icy beers with tears for loves lost and found.
To country purists, Strait's greatest gift is his ability to deliver songs that fit him like his trademark Wranglers. George Strait continues to prove that skill and tighten his lock on legend status with Somewhere Down in Texas. From the first rollicking strains of 'If the Whole World Was a HonkyTonk,'' to the poignant refrain of 'By the Light of a Burning Bridge'' this is vintage Strait.
George Strait also pays homage to one of the greats of country music, Merle Haggard, with a gripping version of Haggard's 'The Seashores of Old Mexico.'' Strait's so-simple-it's-complex baritone adds a new layer to the song traditionally delivered in the Hag's melodic rasp. Not better, necessarily; George Strait would be the first to tell you that, but different, almost reverential, as befits a star like Haggard.
In 'Good News, Bad News,'' Strait unleashes a wrenching duet with Grammy winner Lee Ann Womack. It's a tear-soaked lament that anyone who has ever found and lost love can understand.
A simple tune called 'Texas'' talks about all the things we'd be missing if George Strait's beloved home state did not exist. The first line of the chorus is taken directly from one of George Strait's greatest and most loved hits. If it wasn't for Texas, the song goes, 'Fort Worth would never cross my mind.''
You need no more proof that George Strait succeeded in his early wishes to become synonymous with real country music. Quite truthfully, George Strait IS country music.
