The Big One - A George Strait Rankdown (Revealing)

[bboat11]

I have been teasing this one for so long...it's time to finally start this puppy! This is going to be the most epic celebration of George Strait's career that anybody has ever seen. The man is a walking, talking legend. He has been releasing singles since 1981, when he burst onto the scene with his debut album, Strait Country. Since then he has released 97 singles, 60 of which went all the way to #1 on various country charts. And this is no boring-ass vanilla #1 streak either; listening to these songs, I would challenge anybody to tell me that he did not deserve to have that many #1s! In fact, when I first claimed a George Strait rankdown, it was only going to be his #1s...

Ultimately, however, I could not limit us to just 60 songs. From the beginning of his career until 2012, George released 90 singles, and literally only 1 of them missed the top 20... His 7 singles since then have had waning success, but only because radio started phasing him out. Due to the overall commercial strength of his catalog, we simply HAVE to include them all. Several of his non-#1s are among the biggest country hits of all time!

So, here they are! George's 97 solo singles, plus his #2 peaking duet with Kenny Chesney, and his 2 album tracks that climbed all the way into the top 40 due to unsolicited airplay giving us a grand total of 100 songs.

---

The Songs:

1. Unwound
2. Down and Out
3. If You’re Thinking You Want A Stranger (There’s One Coming Home)
4. Fool Hearted Memory
5. Marina Del Rey
6. Amarillo By Morning
7. A Fire I Can’t Put Out
8. You Look So Good In Love
9. Right Or Wrong
10. Let’s Fall To Pieces Together
11. Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
12. The Cowboy Rides Away
13. The Fireman
14. The Chair
15. You’re Something Special To Me
16. Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her
17. It Ain’t Cool To Be Crazy About You
18. Ocean Front Property
19. All My Ex’s Live In Texas
20. Am I Blue
21. Famous Last Words Of A Fool
22. Baby Blue
23. If You Ain’t Lovin’ (You Ain’t Livin’)
24. Baby’s Gotten Good At Goodbye
25. What’s Going On In Your World
26. Ace In The Hole
27. Overnight Success
28. Love Without End, Amen
29. Drinking Champagne
30. I’ve Come To Expect It From You
31. If I Know Me
32. You Know Me Better Than That
33. The Chill Of An Early Fall
34. Lovesick Blues
35. Gone As A Girl Can Get
36. So Much Like My Dad
37. I Cross My Heart
38. Heartland
39. When Did You Stop Loving Me
40. Easy Come, Easy Go
41. I’d Like To Have That One Back
42. Lovebug
43. The Man In Love With You
44. The Big One
45. You Can’t Make A Heart Love Somebody
46. Adalida
47. Lead On
48. Check Yes Or No
49. I Know She Still Loves Me
50. Blue Clear Sky
51. Carried Away
52. I Can Still Make Cheyenne
53. King Of The Mountain
54. One Night At A Time
55. Carrying Your Love With Me
56. Today My World Slipped Away
57. Round About Way
58. I Just Want To Dance With You
59. True
60. We Really Shouldn’t Be Doing This
61. Meanwhile
62. Write This Down
63. What Do You Say To That
64. The Best Day
65. Murder On Music Row (duet w/ Alan Jackson)*
66. Go On
67. Don’t Make Me Come Over There And Love You
68. If You Can Do Anything Else
69. Run
70. Living And Living Well
71. She’ll Leave You With A Smile
72. Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa
73. Cowboys Like Us
74. Desperately
75. I Hate Everything
76. You’ll Be There
77. She Let Herself Go
78. The Seashores Of Old Mexico
79. Texas*
80. Give It Away
81. It Just Comes Natural
82. Wrapped
83. How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls
84. Shiftwork (duet w/ Kenny Chesney)
85. I Saw God Today
86. Troubadour
87. River Of Love
88. Living For The Night
89. Twang
90. I Gotta Get To You
91. The Breath You Take
92. Here For A Good Time
93. Love’s Gonna Make It Alright
94. Drinkin’ Man
95. Give It All We Got Tonight
96. I Believe
97. I Got A Car
98. Let It Go
99. Cold Beer Conversation
100. Goin’ Goin’ Gone

* = Album track that peaked in the top 40 due to unsolicited airplay


Preference Revealer, if anyone wants to use it!

---

I know that this is a huge list, and that it will be a serious undertaking if you want to participate. But I promise it will be worth it. I have completed my own list, and I can say that I would be happy with literally anything in my top 90 making it into the top 10! Granted, I am very possibly the biggest George Strait fan you have never met (sorry tim )... But still, George is the master of consistency, and I think that everybody could find something to like in many of his songs. Plus, most country fans probably already know the vast majority of his catalog even if they don't realize it, because they are all pretty much huge hits!

Since this is such a large rankdown, I am setting the deadline for December 1! I want as many people as possible to participate in this! If you like country music, you NEED to do this, because George Strait's hit list is truly one of the most watershed achievements in all of country music history.

I look forward to celebrating with everybody

---

dm2081 bigfan101 rgreen0625 bboat11 zaclord 🌈 CoJoFan LBTrocks Kentucky25 @walker9 Mr. Thonk Eyes @jamesflame austin YotamTS .indulgecountry zjames Sambalada sabre14 raylatch98 fearlessarrow countrymusicjunkie castleoblivion26 Leo ✔ awesomecharts someguy Darkest Hour Troublemaker Kanenrá:ke trustypepper maine codyj100 d3vin44 vann chicken077 jtd Thee Stallion Andy edph1 14887fan @adam1995 Au$tin brinkeronline @antigonerising Rose "Payola" Nylund sbp17 Sean The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 stonemc06 mamasaid Cody Wants Out... tim @anythingbutmine toomuchboy 🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 kansasmeetsmo cerulean BlueShades874 wavey. andrewantonio aerodynamite BackwoodsBarbie dub Juanca

[bboat11]

Song list for the preference revealer!!

Unwound
Down and Out
If You’re Thinking You Want A Stranger (There’s One Coming Home)
Fool Hearted Memory
Marina Del Rey
Amarillo By Morning
A Fire I Can’t Put Out
You Look So Good In Love
Right Or Wrong
Let’s Fall To Pieces Together
Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
The Cowboy Rides Away
The Fireman
The Chair
You’re Something Special To Me
Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her
It Ain’t Cool To Be Crazy About You
Ocean Front Property
All My Ex’s Live In Texas
Am I Blue
Famous Last Words Of A Fool
Baby Blue
If You Ain’t Lovin’ (You Ain’t Livin’)
Baby’s Gotten Good At Goodbye
What’s Going On In Your World
Ace In The Hole
Overnight Success
Love Without End, Amen
Drinking Champagne
I’ve Come To Expect It From You
If I Know Me
You Know Me Better Than That
The Chill Of An Early Fall
Lovesick Blues
Gone As A Girl Can Get
So Much Like My Dad
I Cross My Heart
Heartland
When Did You Stop Loving Me
Easy Come, Easy Go
I’d Like To Have That One Back
Lovebug
The Man In Love With You
The Big One
You Can’t Make A Heart Love Somebody
Adalida
Lead On
Check Yes Or No
I Know She Still Loves Me
Blue Clear Sky
Carried Away
I Can Still Make Cheyenne
King Of The Mountain
One Night At A Time
Carrying Your Love With Me
Today My World Slipped Away
Round About Way
I Just Want To Dance With You
True
We Really Shouldn’t Be Doing This
Meanwhile
Write This Down
What Do You Say To That
The Best Day
Murder On Music Row
Go On
Don’t Make Me Come Over There And Love You
If You Can Do Anything Else
Run
Living And Living Well
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa
Cowboys Like Us
Desperately
I Hate Everything
You’ll Be There
She Let Herself Go
The Seashores Of Old Mexico
Texas
Give It Away
It Just Comes Natural
Wrapped
How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls
Shiftwork
I Saw God Today
Troubadour
River Of Love
Living For The Night
Twang
I Gotta Get To You
The Breath You Take
Here For A Good Time
Love’s Gonna Make It Alright
Drinkin’ Man
Give It All We Got Tonight
I Believe
I Got A Car
Let It Go
Cold Beer Conversation
Goin’ Goin’ Gone

[bboat11]

Results:

100. Shiftwork
99. Overnight Success
98. Drinking Champagne
97. You're Something Special To Me
96. I Believe
95. River Of Love
94. Lovesick Blues
93. Down And Out
92. Twang
91. Let It Go

90. Lovebug
89. The Breath You Take
88. Don't Make Me Come Over There And Love You
87. Goin' Goin' Gone
86. Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa
85. I Know She Still Loves Me
84. Lead On
83. King Of The Mountain
82. What's Going On In Your World
81. So Much Like My Dad

80. Am I Blue
79. Texas
78. The Man In Love With You
77. When Did You Stop Loving Me
76. I Gotta Get To You
75. If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain' Livin')
74. We Really Shouldn't Be Doing This
73. It Ain't Cool To Be Crazy About You
72. Right Or Wrong
71. Let's Fall To Pieces Together

70. Gone As A Girl Can Get
69. Ace In The Hole
68. Famous Last Words Of A Fool
67. Drinkin' Man
66. What Do You Say To That
65. The Seashores Of Old Mexico
64. If You're Thinking You Want A Stranger (There's One Coming Home)
63. Cold Beer Conversation
62. Love's Gonna Make It Alright
61. Give It All We Got Tonight

60. The Chill Of An Early Fall
59. The Best Day
58. I'd Like To Have That One Back
57. Meanwhile
56. If You Can Do Anything Else
55. Round About Way
54. You Can't Make A Heart Love Somebody
53. Desperately
52. Go On
51. I Just Want To Dance With You

50. The Big One
49. Nobody In His Right Mind Would've Left Her
48. I've Come To Expect It From You
47. Unwound
46. The Fireman
45. I Cross My Heart
44. You'll Be There
43. Murder On Music Row
42. How 'Bout Them Cowgirls
41. A Fire I Can't Put Out

40. Here For A Good Time
39. Adalida
38. Cowboys Like Us
37. Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind
36. Easy Come, Easy Go
35. I Saw God Today
34. One Night At A Time
33. Wrapped
32. Living For The Night
31. Baby's Gotten Good At Goodbye

30. Living And Living Well
29. Baby Blue
28. She'll Leave You With A Smile
27. Today My World Slipped Away
26. Marina Del Rey
25. All My Ex's Live In Texas
24. The Chair
23. It Just Comes Natural
22. Heartland
21. Fool Hearted Memory

20. I Hate Everything
19. You Know Me Better Than That
18. The Cowboy Rides Away
17. Troubadour
16. I Got A Car
15. You Look So Good In Love
14. She Let Herself Go
13. If I Know Me
12. Love Without End, Amen
11. Give It Away

10. Check Yes Or No
9. True
8. I Can Still Make Cheyenne
7. Ocean Front Property
6. Write This Down
5. Carrying Your Love With Me
4. Carried Away
3. Run
2. Amarillo By Morning
1. Blue Clear Sky

[maine]

I'll be passing on this one. Thanks for the tag though!

[.indulgecountry]

*squeals in excitement*

There's so much time before this is due so I'll definitely be procrastinating on this one for awhile, but I am quite stoked for this!

[Deleted]

Can't wait for this, but it might be a few days before it's in.

[castleoblivion26]

excited to participate in this. Already have my list half done but need to listen to 37 songs that tbh I don't remember though I'm sure once I hear them will be like oh that song lol. Look forward to seeing how this plays out as I can already tell I'm gonna have songs I like as low as the 60's at least if not lower than that. So many great songs and I know my #1 has no prayer of making Top 10 but while I hope to be proven wrong hopefully it makes it far!

[mamasaid]

Always happy to participate for the World's Most Perfect Man....my late hubby used to just laugh and buy the tickets.

Thanks for the tag.

I had to put it on a spreadsheet....alphabetized it and have it broken into groups of 10...Party On!

[BackwoodsBarbie]

I am listening to I Want To Dance With You at the moment for the CMA rankdown so I can as well do this rankdown since I started to get familiar with his songs and deadline is far away.

[bboat11]

Just so everyone is aware, I have finished editing the audio links into each of the song titles.

[.indulgecountry]

Oh and we can do album tracks for this as well right? Since he has such an incredibly long career, could we maybe do a Top 20 or something bigger instead? Or would a Top 10 still be the more manageable way to go? Just airing some very early thoughts.

[tim]

Sept 23, 2017 19:35:16 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

I know that this is a huge list, and that it will be a serious undertaking if you want to participate. But I promise it will be worth it. I have completed my own list, and I can say that I would be happy with literally anything in my top 90 making it into the top 10! Granted, I am very possibly the biggest George Strait fan you have never met (sorry tim )... But still, George is the master of consistency, and I think that everybody could find something to like in many of his songs. Plus, most country fans probably already know the vast majority of his catalog even if they don't realize it, because they are all pretty much huge hits!

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on this point bboat11 :)

Really looking forward to this one...and as Dusty says "LET'S DO IT!"

Sept 24, 2017 3:25:30 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Oh and we can do album tracks for this as well right? Since he has such an incredibly long career, could we maybe do a Top 20 or something bigger instead? Or would a Top 10 still be the more manageable way to go? Just airing some very early thoughts.

I'm all in for either one!

[Cody Wants Out...]

I'll try to send something in.

[bboat11]

Sept 24, 2017 3:25:30 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Oh and we can do album tracks for this as well right? Since he has such an incredibly long career, could we maybe do a Top 20 or something bigger instead? Or would a Top 10 still be the more manageable way to go? Just airing some very early thoughts.

I have been kinda on the fence regarding album tracks, because he just has so dang many of them that I am not sure if we would get any semblance of consistency between submissions. And even then they STILL might not have enough submissions to represent all of his best songs!

But you are right that a top 20 could help with that. Tell you guys what, if anyone wants to submit an album track list, make it a top 20! I'll make decisions from there about how to highlight songs during the reveal, depending on how many people submit album tracks and whether there ends up being any consistency between lists

[fearlessarrow]

*pop poster coming to ruin country rankdowns* (I do think I'm one of the country-leaning pop posters but anyways)

I'll try sending a list for this since I have over 2 months plus I've always wanted to become more familiar with George Strait's music. I've pretty much liked what I've heard from him so far, so even though this will be a lot of work it'll be exciting for me (hopefully)!

[castleoblivion26]

Sept 24, 2017 12:44:00 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Sept 24, 2017 3:25:30 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Oh and we can do album tracks for this as well right? Since he has such an incredibly long career, could we maybe do a Top 20 or something bigger instead? Or would a Top 10 still be the more manageable way to go? Just airing some very early thoughts.

I have been kinda on the fence regarding album tracks, because he just has so dang many of them that I am not sure if we would get any semblance of consistency between submissions. And even then they STILL might not have enough submissions to represent all of his best songs!

But you are right that a top 20 could help with that. Tell you guys what, if anyone wants to submit an album track list, make it a top 20! I'll make decisions from there about how to highlight songs during the reveal, depending on how many people submit album tracks and whether there ends up being any consistency between lists

I'll be honest I haven't listened to many albums of his so I don't know too many album tracks but I will go through the songs I know and try and put together a list. Question though would collaborations with other artist and live tracks from live albums be allowed? Have a few songs that I would definitely include

[bboat11]

Sept 24, 2017 12:49:06 GMT -5 fearlessarrow said:

*pop poster coming to ruin country rankdowns* (I do think I'm one of the country-leaning pop posters but anyways)

I'll try sending a list for this since I have over 2 months plus I've always wanted to become more familiar with George Strait's music. I've pretty much liked what I've heard from him so far, so even though this will be a lot of work it'll be exciting for me (hopefully)!

My suggestion for somebody who is mostly unfamiliar with George's music would be to go buy his 50 Number Ones cd right now, and then put it on repeat for the next couple weeks. (Or Spotify/Apple Music, whatever). Don't even look at the song list for this rankdown yet, just go familiarize yourself with his number ones cd.

Then when you come back to this rankdown, you'll think, "Holy crap, I am already so familiar with a lot of these!" And that will give you a good starting point to start catching up on everything else Cause with a huge list of unfamiliar songs like this, it definitely helps to have a framework in your mind of which songs you love and how you would rank them, and then start filling in the gaps with the ones you don't know.

Or you can just tackle the list however you want to. You're a grown damn man, and I won't tell you what to do

[bboat11]

Sept 24, 2017 12:57:14 GMT -5 castleoblivion26 said:

Sept 24, 2017 12:44:00 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

I have been kinda on the fence regarding album tracks, because he just has so dang many of them that I am not sure if we would get any semblance of consistency between submissions. And even then they STILL might not have enough submissions to represent all of his best songs!

But you are right that a top 20 could help with that. Tell you guys what, if anyone wants to submit an album track list, make it a top 20! I'll make decisions from there about how to highlight songs during the reveal, depending on how many people submit album tracks and whether there ends up being any consistency between lists

I'll be honest I haven't listened to many albums of his so I don't know too many album tracks but I will go through the songs I know and try and put together a list. Question though would collaborations with other artist and live tracks from live albums be allowed? Have a few songs that I would definitely include

Yes, definitely! You can use any song that George Strait sings on, that is not included in this rankdown (You can include live versions of songs that are in this rankdown too, since you are not ranking the live versions for the purposes of the rankdown, so they might as well be considered album tracks if you enjoy them enough to feature them).

[bboat11]

Holy smokes, we have our first submission! @adam1995 wasn't kidding when he said "It might be a few days before it's in." Literally a few days later, it is in. Thanks Adam!

[Deleted]

^No problem! I unfortunately have a lot of time at work, lol. It was incredibly hard. Some of those match ups in the preference revealed were criminally hard.

[bboat11]

Sept 25, 2017 16:39:06 GMT -5 @adam1995 said:

^No problem! I unfortunately have a lot of time at work, lol. It was incredibly hard. Some of those match ups in the preference revealed were criminally hard.

I agree. Especially considering how solid his hits are over pretty much his entire career. Like, how the heck am I supposed to vote between "The Chair" and "I Saw God Today"? The 30-year age gap just makes it that much harder!

[bboat11]

Bumping this, 'cause it's been over a month since this thread saw any action. There are now 5 weeks until the deadline! Still plenty of time, but don't forget about it

[zaclord 🌈]

Ugh I need to do this but it'll be awhile before I can do it. I don't know a lot of his older material so I'll need to dig through that. I'll honestly probably do this over Thanksgiving break

[Cody Wants Out...]

Still need to play catch-up on a few rankdowns I promised myself I'd do. I'll try to get this one started in this coming week, though, since I know over half of this list already.

[Cody Wants Out...]

Oct 27, 2017 10:06:51 GMT -5 Cody Wants Out... said:

Still need to play catch-up on a few rankdowns I promised myself I'd do. I'll try to get this one started in this coming week, though, since I know over half of this list already.

Update: I know almost 60% of these songs, thanks to Prime Country and Y2Kountry.

[bboat11]

Here he comes, your walking talking host!

I am just here to let you know that if you have been procrastinating on this one because the deadline was so far out, you may want to put this back on your radar. The deadline is now 1 month away! December 1st is officially 4 weeks from tomorrow. I do not plan to give extensions because a) I purposely gave this a longer-than-necessary submission period because it is so long, b) I want to get started with this one right away in December so that the 2017 rankdown does not get held up waiting for me to finish presenting this one, and c) I AM SO DARN EXCITED FOR THIS ONE!!!!!!

So far @adam1995 and myself are the only 2 participants. But I know a lot of you have expressed interest, so I am super excited to see your lists and see how this all shakes out! We are going to have so much fun with this one Y'all rarely get to see me geeking out over George, but I can guarantee it is every bit as entertaining and/or annoying as me geeking out over Martina!

---

dm2081 bigfan101 rgreen0625 bboat11 zaclord 🌈 CoJoFan LBTrocks Kentucky25 @walker9 Mr. Thonk Eyes @jamesflame austin YotamTS .indulgecountry zjames sabre14 raylatch98 fearlessarrow countrymusicjunkie castleoblivion26 Leo ✔ someguy Darkest Hour Troublemaker Kanenrá:ke trustypepper codyj100 d3vin44 vann chicken077 jtd Thee Stallion Andy 14887fan @adam1995 brinkeronline sbp17 Sean The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 stonemc06 mamasaid Cody Wants Out... tim  toomuchboy 🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 kansasmeetsmo cerulean BlueShades874 andrewantonio aerodynamite BackwoodsBarbie dub

[Cody Wants Out...]

I'm working on it...one night at a time! *wink*

BTW, I'm making room for the song you just implied in my top 5.

[bboat11]

Nov 2, 2017 20:03:02 GMT -5 Cody Wants Out... said:

I'm working on it...one night at a time! *wink*

BTW, I'm making room for the song you just implied in my top 5.

Falling right into your top 5, like rain on the desert...hive? Drive? Clive?

[tim]

I’ve been working on this one night at a time and am pretty much wrapped up with the big one. I’ve had to rock-paper-scissors some of the songs lol. I’m gonna get this to you but I believe you know me better than that and it won’t be until that final hour.

[codyj100]

I’m working on this. DOING THIS AND SO READY!