George Strait Album Series

[tim]

1) What will be #1? "Check Yes or No"

2) What will be #27? "Red River Valley" or "South Of The Border (Down Mexico Way)"

3) Which songs belong in the top 5? "Check Yes or No", "I Hate Everything", "The Best Day", "Designated Drinker", and either "Murder on Music Row" or "I Know She Still Loves Me

4) What song will be most polarizing? "I Know That She Still Loves Me" and "Everything But Quits" Least polarizing? "Check Yes or No" and "I Hate Everything"

5) Which of the singles will place highest? Where will it place? "Check Yes Or No" at #1

6) Do any of the singles have a chance of missing the top 5? Hello "Shiftwork"...and possibly "I Know She Still Loves Me" but unlikely

7) What will be the highest-placing Alan Jackson duet and Where will it place? "Designated Drinker" in the top five

8) Which live recording will do the best? Probably "Jackson" because of y'all Martina stans, but "Take Me Back to Tulsa" is the better song

9) Any other thoughts/predictions? This is going to be a mess. And y'all better not have tanked "Big Ball's in Cowtown"

[bboat11]

at me putting the prediction questions right at the end of a page. Normally I pay more attention to stuff like that.



Also at me forgetting "Shiftwork" in the singles question! Although it wasn't technically one of George's singles, so... I guess that's why I didn't include "Hey Good Lookin'" either!

[gonecountry]

1) What will be #1? probably Check Yes or No. It's not my #1 though

2) What will be #27? I don't know, maybe the bloated Hey Good Lookin'.

3) Which songs belong in the top 5? I Hate Everything, Designated Drinker, Murder On Music Row, The Best Day and Check Yes Or No feel like safe bets.

4) What song will be most polarizing? Least polarizing? Most - Shiftwork? Least - Check Yes Or No or Hey Good Lookin

5) Which of the singles will place highest? Where will it place? (Check Yes Or No, I Know She Still Loves Me, The Best Day, I Hate Everything) Check at 1

6) Do any of the singles have a chance of missing the top 5? I Know She Still Loves Me

7) What will be the highest-placing Alan Jackson duet (Murder on Music Row, Designated Drinker)? Where will it place? Murder at #4. They both deserve Top 5, IMO

8) Which live recording will do the best? ("Take Me Back To Tulsa", "Jackson" ft. Martina) Jackson will do better, though Tulsa is the better live song

9) Any other thoughts/predictions? I really liked the "down on the border" themed songs, I'm sure I'll be alone on that. And thank God he rerecorded one of these songs for Love is Everything, because the original made my neighbor's dogs howl. This is going to be a mess of a rankdown.

[taylor is terrified]

So how’d I do with breaking the 5-way tie?!

[tim]

Mar 17, 2021 6:38:53 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Also at me forgetting "Shiftwork" in the singles question! Although it wasn't technically one of George's singles, so... I guess that's why I didn't include "Hey Good Lookin'" either!

That one slipped my mind while I was doing the predictions as well! That'll for sure join "Shiftwork" down near the bottom I'd think.

[bboat11]

Mar 17, 2021 11:02:05 GMT -5 taylor is terrified said:

So how’d I do with breaking the 5-way tie?!

Well, considering that all 5 songs had the same point value before you submitted, and you literally had to give a different point value to each song.......you successfully broke the tie :kii:

[bboat11]

Let's jump strait into the results, shall we??!

SPOILER: Click to show

{Strait People}
tim -
George Strait Junkie -
ClevelandRox -
bboat11 -
gardyfan -
castleoblivion26 -
gonecountry -
kw9461 -
Cody Wants Out... -
LBTrocks -
.indulgecountry -
taylor is terrified -

[.indulgecountry]

I'll say something you'll rarely find me ever saying but... let's get Lee Ann Womack tf out of here! :kii:

[bboat11]

27. "Red River Valley"

Album: The Horse Whisperer Soundtrack (Various)

Total: 265
Average: 22.08
Std Dev: 6.07


gonecountry - 10
taylor is terrified - 10
LBTrocks - 20
tim - 22
castleoblivion26 - 22
.indulgecountry - 24
ClevelandRox - 25
Cody Wants Out... - 25
kw9461 - 26
George Strait Junkie - 27
bboat11 - 27
gardyfan - 27

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
(That Don’t Change) The Way I Feel About You
Any Old Love Won’t Do
Big Ball’s In Cowtown
Check Yes Or No
Designated Drinker
Everything But Quits
Fly Me To The Moon
Hey Good Lookin’
Houston Solution
I Don’t Want To Talk It Over Anymore
I Hate Everything
I Just Can’t Go On Dying Like This
I Know She Still Loves Me
I Thought I Heard You Calling My Name
Jackson (Live)
Kicked Outta Country
Murder On Music Row
Sea Of Heartbreak
Shiftwork
Six Pack To Go
South Of The Border (Down Mexico Way)
Take Me Back To Tulsa (Live)
The Best Day
The Eagle
What Would Your Memories Do
You Gotta Go Through Hell

[castleoblivion26]

Mar 18, 2021 20:40:56 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

I'll say something you'll rarely find me ever saying but... let's get Lee Ann Womack tf out of here! :kii:

Umm NO!

[bboat11]

Alas, our first song to leave was "Red River Valley"! This song had pretty much no chance here. It only got 3 last place ranks, but it also got ranks in the 20s from literally everybody except for two lonely people who put it barely in their top 10.

I have always liked "Red River Valley" as a song. The melody and lyrics all work together to create a really nostalgic sound imo. However, George's version just kinda plods along! I do like it, but he has so many stronger songs in this list that this was an easy last place for me.

[tim]

I had guessed that "Red River Valley" would likely exit first and unfortunately I was correct. I myself remember going to see the movie The Horse Whisperer in the theaters and also fondly remember playing the soundtrack quite a bit during that time. I'm not sure who has or hasn't seen the movie (a young Scarlett Johansson is in it), but I believe George likely wanted to be a part of this project due to the subject matter of the film and the events surrounding Scarlett's character in the movie (I don't wanna give too much away there). Anyways, it's a great movie and I highly recommend it for those that haven't seen it.

[bboat11]

26. "South Of The Border (Down Mexico Way)" - Asleep At The Wheel ft. George Strait

Album: Still The King (Asleep At The Wheel)

Total: 256
Average: 21.33
Std Dev: 5.21


gonecountry - 9
Cody Wants Out... - 15
taylor is terrified - 19
ClevelandRox - 20
kw9461 - 20
LBTrocks - 23
George Strait Junkie - 23
gardyfan - 23
.indulgecountry - 25
castleoblivion26 - 26
bboat11 - 26
tim - 27

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
(That Don’t Change) The Way I Feel About You
Any Old Love Won’t Do
Big Ball’s In Cowtown
Check Yes Or No
Designated Drinker
Everything But Quits
Fly Me To The Moon
Hey Good Lookin’
Houston Solution
I Don’t Want To Talk It Over Anymore
I Hate Everything
I Just Can’t Go On Dying Like This
I Know She Still Loves Me
I Thought I Heard You Calling My Name
Jackson (Live)
Kicked Outta Country
Murder On Music Row
Sea Of Heartbreak
Shiftwork
Six Pack To Go
Take Me Back To Tulsa (Live)
The Best Day
The Eagle
What Would Your Memories Do
You Gotta Go Through Hell

[.indulgecountry]

"Red River Valley" was a bore. Still not as dreary as "Everything but Sucks" tho.


ETA: This one sucked, too.

[tim]

I'm two for two in my guesses for the bottom 2!

[tim]

Still the King was more or less a sequel to Asleep at the Wheel's previous project celebrating the music of Bob Wills that was released in 1993 ("Big Ball's in Cowtown" is the song featured here from that album). Needless to say, this didn't quite match the level of that one but there's still some good songs on there. I don't dislike this song, but I certainly never go out of my way to listen to it.

[bboat11]

This mariachi-influenced Texas country is seldom a sound that I get into. George and Asleep at the Wheel always have such great chemistry performing together, but the sound of this just isn't something I frequently want to revisit. And even when I do revisit the song, they pretty much guaranteed I won't get the urge again for a loooooong time thanks to that stupid "ay ay ay ay, ay ay ay ay!" section that wraps up the song

This song was in the bottom 2 for the entire submission process, but in the end only finished one point behind the #25 song!

[bboat11]

25. "Fly Me To The Moon" - ft. Frank Sinatra

Album: Strait Out Of The Box

Total: 255
Average: 21.25
Std Dev: 5.58


gardyfan - 10
tim - 12
Cody Wants Out... - 17
castleoblivion26 - 19
kw9461 - 22
.indulgecountry - 23
bboat11 - 24
gonecountry - 25
taylor is terrified - 25
ClevelandRox - 26
LBTrocks - 26
George Strait Junkie - 26

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
(That Don’t Change) The Way I Feel About You
Any Old Love Won’t Do
Big Ball’s In Cowtown
Check Yes Or No
Designated Drinker
Everything But Quits
Hey Good Lookin’
Houston Solution
I Don’t Want To Talk It Over Anymore
I Hate Everything
I Just Can’t Go On Dying Like This
I Know She Still Loves Me
I Thought I Heard You Calling My Name
Jackson (Live)
Kicked Outta Country
Murder On Music Row
Sea Of Heartbreak
Shiftwork
Six Pack To Go
Take Me Back To Tulsa (Live)
The Best Day
The Eagle
What Would Your Memories Do
You Gotta Go Through Hell

[.indulgecountry]

I actually didn't totally hate this one like I expected given I usually HATE when he does the dreary crooner songs, but this was still low due to the competition of the other songs it was up against.

[tim]

"Fly Me To The Moon" is a jam! Still, I'm not surprised to see it out this soon as the big band-infused style of music isn't really Pulse's thing. This was originally recorded for Frank Sinatra's Duets II album, but for whatever reason they opted to go with another vocalist for the duet. George has always stated his desire to record an album in the vein of Frank Sinatra and I'm sure at some point he might decide to record one (much like Willie Nelson did recently and Trisha Yearwood).

On a side note, George wasn't too pleased that they didn't include his version on Frank's album and made a point to make sure it was included for the box set.

[bboat11]

I mentioned all throughout the album series that George's Sinatra-inspired sounding tunes typically are among my least favorites from him....and that most definitely goes for this one as well that is literally a duet with Sinatra! I do like this one a LOT more than songs like "Need I Say More", and "We Must Be Loving Right", hence it being in my bottom 5 rather than last place, lol. But it is still easily the worst of the previously unreleased tracks from his first boxed set.

Apparently this was recorded to be on a duets project Frank Sinatra was making, and Sinatra ended up shelving it for whatever reason rather than putting it on his album, which miffed George quite a bit because he was a huge fan that was of course super excited to have a song on his idol's album At least George was still able to put it out on his own, so the fans were able to hear it after all!

Edit: Lmao I should have known tim would bring this fact up before I could ;)

[tim]

Mar 18, 2021 21:08:04 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Edit: Lmao I should have known tim would bring this fact up before I could

I personally think they chose a different vocalist because George outsang Ol' Blue Eyes himself

[tim]

I'm expecting that I'll be taking quite a hit going forward, so before we get too much further I should add as a footnote that I've literally grown up with these songs! Such is the case with "Fly Me to the Moon" as I've been listening to that since 1995 whereas this was likely a first-time listen for most of you. Anyways, I'm only saying that because I assume I'll be losing a handful of songs that I ranked high early on into the reveals.

[gonecountry]

You guys are killing me. The sentimentalist in me loves Red River Valley from all the westerns it was in that I saw as a kid. On the other hand, South of the Border sounds great. A few of the songs in this rankdown barely had a pulse. As long as the Top 5 is good, we're good. The rest of this is going to be a big ole shit show...

[bboat11]

24. "Shiftwork" - Kenny Chesney ft. George Strait

Album: Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates (Kenny Chesney)

Placement in the Singles Rankdown: #100 out of 100

Total: 252
Average: 21.0
Std Dev: 5.19


gonecountry - 11
George Strait Junkie - 12
gardyfan - 17
tim - 20
Cody Wants Out... - 21
.indulgecountry - 22
castleoblivion26 - 23
taylor is terrified - 24
kw9461 - 25
bboat11 - 25
LBTrocks - 25
ClevelandRox - 27

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
(That Don’t Change) The Way I Feel About You
Any Old Love Won’t Do
Big Ball’s In Cowtown
Check Yes Or No
Designated Drinker
Everything But Quits
Hey Good Lookin’
Houston Solution
I Don’t Want To Talk It Over Anymore
I Hate Everything
I Just Can’t Go On Dying Like This
I Know She Still Loves Me
I Thought I Heard You Calling My Name
Jackson (Live)
Kicked Outta Country
Murder On Music Row
Sea Of Heartbreak
Six Pack To Go
Take Me Back To Tulsa (Live)
The Best Day
The Eagle
What Would Your Memories Do
You Gotta Go Through Hell

[tim]

I don't dislike "Shiftwork" as much as some of you, but I have to say that as time has passed this song hasn't aged so well. That said, I still can find some humor in the song and enjoy it for what it is.

[gonecountry]

Mar 18, 2021 21:18:57 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

24. "Shiftwork" - Kenny Chesney ft. George Strait

Album: Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates (Kenny Chesney)

I knew this was going out early in the Pulse.  We may as well just call this Shitwork

[.indulgecountry]

Lol @ me technically being in the top half for ranks on this one.

[bboat11]

Imagine if "Shiftwork" had been George's 55th #1!!!!! This song peaked at #2 on the charts.

This song has never been a favorite for me, nor has it been a Pulse favorite. It was literally last place in George's singles rankdown. It did get a little more love here than I was expecting it to though! I figured it might be a last place contender, but it was our pretty solid #24 after things started to settle!

[bboat11]

23. "Hey Good Lookin'" - Jimmy Buffett ft. George Strait, Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, & Clint Black

Album: License To Chill (Jimmy Buffett)

Total: 245
Average: 20.42
Std Dev: 5.99


castleoblivion26 - 9
gardyfan - 14
kw9461 - 14
ClevelandRox - 17
tim - 18
bboat11 - 21
Cody Wants Out... - 22
George Strait Junkie - 24
gonecountry - 26
.indulgecountry - 26
taylor is terrified - 27
LBTrocks - 27

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
(That Don’t Change) The Way I Feel About You
Any Old Love Won’t Do
Big Ball’s In Cowtown
Check Yes Or No
Designated Drinker
Everything But Quits
Houston Solution
I Don’t Want To Talk It Over Anymore
I Hate Everything
I Just Can’t Go On Dying Like This
I Know She Still Loves Me
I Thought I Heard You Calling My Name
Jackson (Live)
Kicked Outta Country
Murder On Music Row
Sea Of Heartbreak
Six Pack To Go
Take Me Back To Tulsa (Live)
The Best Day
The Eagle
What Would Your Memories Do
You Gotta Go Through Hell