George Strait Album Series

[bboat11]

There you have it! In the showdown of this album's huge hits, "I Can Still Make Cheyenne" was able to sneak around "Carried Away" like it wasn't able to in the singles rankdown, thereby securing a placement in RotB Part VI sometime next year!!! It was not able to gain any ground on the title track, however, which continues to be one of the biggest George favorites both on Pulse and among his real-life fans.

"I Can Still Make Cheyenne" is a masterpiece in every way. Nobody does "washed-up-rodeo-cowboy" songs better than George, and this one is by far his best attempt at that subject. A tired rodeo cowboy calls his wife to apologize for being so absent and not paying enough attention to her, and says he wants to come home and do better, just for her to be like "don't bother coming home. I've found somebody else". It's heartbreaking enough from that angle. But when you throw in the fact that his response is basically, "Oh, darn, okay, I've gotta go then, because if I hurry I can still make it to Cheyenne in time for the next show", it adds an entire new dimension of heartbreak. I mean, if you think about it, she was basically giving him one last opportunity to fight for her, and prove that she was what mattered most and that he was ready to change and be the man that she deserves, but instead he just gives up on her with no resistance whatsoever and succumbs to his vice once again. He's missing out on love and life because of a habit that clearly brings him more pain than joy at this point in his life, and yet he just can't give it up. On top of it all, this song comes with one of the most haunting fiddle parts in country music history.

"Blue Clear Sky" is like the polar opposite of "Cheyenne"! This song is lightweight and fluffy, but I'll be damned if it isn't the catchiest song I have ever heard in my life! The way he sings "Here she cooooomes, a walking, talking true love!" has got to be one of the catchiest chorus openers of all time. I literally could put this on repeat for hours and never get tired of it. I love his delivery; the warmth in George's voice makes him the perfect vocalist for this song. Also, this is an insanely difficult song to sing! I'm not sure if you guys have ever tried to sing along with it, but that chorus is so hard to sing well. It's high but not his highest song (I think the highest notes are only E♭4s, while he's gone all the way up to a A♭4 in "The Big One"), and yet they feel soooo much higher than they are. To just nail those notes the way that he does, especially in the live videos, is proof that George deserves plenty of credit for his abilities as a vocalist.

Thank you to everyone who participated and followed along! I'll post prediction questions for Carrying Your Love With Me shortly!

[ClevelandRox]

YASSSSS Blue Clear Sky Def in my top 3 George songs of all time. It always gives me hope my true love is finally going to up and fall out of the blue Clear Sky when I'm least expecting him. 😂

[bboat11]

If anyone still needs to submit for Carrying Your Love With Me, the time has come! I'll be starting reveals tomorrow sometime!

[bboat11]

Carrying Your Love With Me Rankdown: Results Time!

Final Participant List: (16)
1. tim
2. LBTrocks
3. George Strait Junkie
4. gardyfan
5. ClevelandRox
6. fearlessarrow
7. castleoblivion26
8. someguy
9. bboat11
10. .indulgecountry
11. gonecountry
12. lady𝓐fan
13. kw9461
14. Kanenrá:ke
15. taylor
16. Cody Wants Out...


If anybody else is working on a last minute list, I will still take them! I'm just posting this so people can get started on making predictions while we wait

---

Questions to get us started:

1) What will be #1?

2) What will be #10?

3) Which songs belong in the top 5?

4) What song will be most polarizing? Least polarizing?

5) Which of the singles will place highest? Where will it place? (One Night At A Time, Carrying Your Love With Me, Today My World Slipped Away, Round About Way)

6) Do any of the singles have a chance of missing the top 5?

7) What will be the highest-placing album track? Where will it place?

8) Which album tracks would you prefer to see do the best?

9) Any other thoughts/predictions?

[tim]

I’ll catch up on the reveals later this afternoon, but here’s my predictions for the next album:

1) What will be #1? “Carrying Your Love With Me”

2) What will be #10? “That’s Me (Every Chance I Get)” or “I've Got a Funny Feeling”

3) Which songs belong in the top 5? All four of the albums singles are top 5 worthy and very likely will encompass the top 4, so that leaves a lone album track sneaking in. That spot will likely come down to either “The Nerve” or “She’ll Leave You With a Smile”.

4) What song will be most polarizing? Hmm, this is a tough one to guess if only because I don’t think there’s a bad song to be found on here...so maybe one of the album tracks like “The Nerve” or “I’ve Got a Funny Feeling” Least polarizing? The title track

5) Which of the singles will place highest? Where will it place? The title track for the win followed by “One Night At A Time” and “Today My World Slipped Away” in the top 3

6) Do any of the singles have a chance of missing the top 5? Not likely to happen

7) What will be the highest-placing album track? Where will it place? “The Nerve” or “She’ll Leave You With a Smile” for lone top 5 position

8) Which album tracks would you prefer to see do the best? “She’ll Leave You With a Smile” for sure

9) Any other thoughts/predictions? This album is a great example of how George managed to remain so successful and consistent throughout his career. Much like Pure Country just a few years before this, he always found a way to adapt to the times and modernize his sound without compromising his principles and who he is as an artist. I was a freshman in high school when this album came out and just anecdotally I can tell you this era helped introduce his music to a younger generation of fans as I remember quite a few classmates talking about the song “Carrying Your Love With Me” and how much they liked it. All of a sudden it was cool to like George Strait again

[gonecountry]

1) What will be #1? “Carrying Your Love With Me”

2) What will be #10? Who knows? "I've Got A Funny Feeling"?

3) Which songs belong in the top 5? All four singles and probably “The Nerve”

4) What song will be most polarizing? “The Nerve” Least polarizing? The title track

5) Which of the singles will place highest? Carrying at 1

6) Do any of the singles have a chance of missing the top 5? Probably not, but "Today My World Slipped Away" is my least favorite of the singles by far

7) What will be the highest-placing album track? Where will it place? “The Nerve” at #4

8) Which album tracks would you prefer to see do the best? “A Real Good Place To Start"

9) Any other thoughts/predictions? I don't think we'll see a ton of dissension on this album - particularly in the top 3. But who knows?

[castleoblivion26]

Happy to see "Blue Clear Sky" win as I love that song! While "Carried Away" is probably one of my favorites from George altogether I love "I Can Still Make Cheyenne" and "Blue Clear Sky" and am happy those 3 are the top 3!

1) What will be #1? "Carrying Your Love With Me" easily

2) What will be #10? "I've Got A Funny Feeling"

3) Which songs belong in the top 5? "Carrying Your Love With Me", "One Night At A Time", "Round About Way", "Today My World Slipped Away", and "The Nerve"

4) What song will be most polarizing? Least polarizing? MOST: "The Nerve" maybe. LEAST: "Carrying Your Love With Me"

5) Which of the singles will place highest? Where will it place? (One Night At A Time, Carrying Your Love With Me, Today My World Slipped Away, Round About Way) All in the top 5 with "Carrying Your Love With Me" at #1

6) Do any of the singles have a chance of missing the top 5? Don't think so but I do believe both "The Nerve" and "She'll Leave You With A Smile" will give the singles a battle to make it

7) What will be the highest-placing album track? Where will it place? "The Nerve" at #5 hopefully.

8) Which album tracks would you prefer to see do the best? "The Nerve" and "She'll Leave You With A Smile"

9) Any other thoughts/predictions? This album is so good, I really enjoy this one!

[tim]

I really couldn’t have asked for a better top 5 result as it went just as about as I expected and hoped it might. I thought that “Do the Right Thing” might just sneak in as it always seems like it’s one of the album tracks that comes up in conversation as a possible missed single opportunity. I had a bit of hard time ranking this myself as I do enjoy it, but I do find it to be a tad repetitive just as bboat11 made reference to. This actually charted from unsolicited airplay which even for that time was still a bit rare for album tracks to do and because of that I remember thinking it was likely going to be released as the fourth single, but alas they went with “King of the Mountain”.

Speaking of the top 5, I really had set my expectations low for “I’d Just As Soon Go” if only because I didn’t want to be disappointed if it left early. I remember this being an immediate favorite track of mine when I first listened to the album and it remains one of my go-to songs to this day. I’m glad y’all seemed to like it as much as I do as I wasn’t at all expecting it to come out as the highest placing album track.

I must admit that I don’t often revisit “King of the Mountain” as much, but whenever I do I’m reminded of what a terrific song it is made even better by George’s take on it. I have no doubt that this is probably his favorite song from the album and I’d also assume he pushed the label to release this as the fourth and final single. As a young boy I can’t say this song connected with me the same way it does now as I remember not being entirely thrilled it was released as a single, but looking back it was the right decision as I have a much greater appreciation for it now. Granted, I was irked that it barely cracked the top 20 and thought it might have an impact on his momentum going into the next era, but if anything it only made country radio more excited to hear what he had planned next.

The perfect top 5 was made only better by the top 3 as each one of these songs is deserving of their placement. I never expected “Carried Away” to be such a big hit for George but it ended up spending three consecutive weeks at the top of the charts in late summer ’96. It also went on to earn both Single and Song nominations at the ACM Awards the following year as well as a CMA Single of the Year nomination (of which he actually had to singles nominated in that category along with “One Night At a Time”). I don’t revisit this song much these days but it’s always a great listen.

Of all the singles released from this album, however, it is the top 2 songs that have gone on to become two of his signature and iconic hits. I still hear “I Can Still Make Cheyenne” frequently on the radio no matter if I’m down here in Texas or back home in Nebraska and I honestly never get tired of it. If any song was deserving of a win here it would’ve been this one, but alas it’s pretty hard to overtake the beloved title track. “Blue Clear Sky” is one of those songs that I can remember when I first heard it because it happened to be a Sunday when Daylight Savings Time started (don’t know why I remember that!). I was out shopping with my mom and as we were about to get out I heard George’s new song come on the radio and told her we had to stay in until it was over lol!. Anyways, my love for this song remains as made evident by the fact that both bboat11 and myself put this as our top ranking song in George’s artist rankdown which of course it went on to win as well.

[Kanenrá:ke]

I'd like to say that Blue Clear Sky's results came out more or less perfect.

"Need I Say More" was always going to go out first but I think it's one of his strongest "Sinatra songs" and I actually enjoy this one. Still a strong album so I couldn't put it higher than #8.

"Rockin' In The Arms Of Your Memory" is the only song I don't really have a love for, it's fine but I wouldn't miss it if it didn't exist either.

"I'd Just As Soon Go" is one of my favorite album tracks from George and I love that it was able to be the top one here! I hope in the Album Track Rankdown it can do well!

Perfect ending for me, that top 3 is iconic af!

Also tim you and I had the same top 4!

[bboat11]

Anyone around to see this TIE for last place?!

SPOILER: Click to show

{Carrying Your Tractors}
tim - LBTrocks - George Strait Junkie - gardyfan - ClevelandRox - fearlessarrow - castleoblivion26 - someguy - bboat11 - .indulgecountry - gonecountry - lady𝓐fan - kw9461 - Kanenrá:ke - taylor - Cody Wants Out... -

[bboat11]

Where lies the danger?

Is he a stranger or a pal?


I’ve got a funny feelin’

Somebody’s stealin’ my gal.

10. "I've Got A Funny Feeling"

Track #7

Runtime: 3:03

Songwriters: Harlan Howard, Jackson Leap




Total: 119
Average: 7.44
Std Dev: 2.06 (3rd smallest)


Kanenrá:ke - 3
George Strait Junkie - 4
LBTrocks - 6
ClevelandRox - 6
bboat11 - 6
tim - 7
kw9461 - 7
someguy - 8
.indulgecountry - 8
taylor - 8
Cody Wants Out... - 8
fearlessarrow - 9
gonecountry - 9
gardyfan - 10
castleoblivion26 - 10
lady𝓐fan - 10

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
A Real Good Place To Start
Carrying Your Love With Me
One Night At A Time
Round About Way
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
That’s Me (Every Chance I Get)
The Nerve
Today My World Slipped Away
Won’t You Come Home (And Talk To A Stranger)

[bboat11]

This album had no consistency for last place whatsoever. We had four songs in last place at various times in the submission process, and "I've Got A Funny Feeling" is the unfortunate victim to get stuck there right at the end.

This song is an ear worm with quite an infectious melody imo. I am disappointed with this last place placement, as to me this is easily the catchiest uptempo on an album that draws the majority of its strength from its ballads and mid tempos.

And several people agree with me, as ClevelandRox and LBTrocks ranked it the same as me, while George Strait Junkie and Kanenrá:ke ranked it at #4 and #3 respectively! This song tied for last place. Unfortunately the tie was broken based on highest rank.....and that #3 rank was not high enough to beat the #1 that our next song got!!!!!

[bboat11]

Picture a fella with his boots shined up,

A new coat of clean on his pickup truck,

Ringin’ your doorbell thinkin’ ‘bout love.

Hey honey, that’s me!

9. "That's Me (Every Chance I Get)"

Track #9

Runtime: 2:19

Songwriters: Mark D. Sanders, Ed Hill



Total: 119
Average: 7.44
Std Dev: 2.50


George Strait Junkie - 1 (RIP :'( )
someguy - 4
kw9461 - 6
Cody Wants Out... - 6
lady𝓐fan - 6
LBTrocks - 7
fearlessarrow - 7
gonecountry - 7
tim - 8
Kanenrá:ke - 9
gardyfan - 9
castleoblivion26 - 9
ClevelandRox - 10
bboat11 - 10
.indulgecountry - 10
taylor - 10

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
A Real Good Place To Start
Carrying Your Love With Me
One Night At A Time
Round About Way
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
The Nerve
Today My World Slipped Away
Won’t You Come Home (And Talk To A Stranger)

[bboat11]

The drama commences already! "That's Me (Every Chance I Get)" tied for last place, but I allowed it to win the tie due to the fact that it was George Strait Junkie's #1... (Insert snarky comment about how anybody could rank a song like this at #1 on an album with so many of his career-best hits on it)

I could have easily chosen to let "Funny Feeling" win the tie because it was less polarizing, and because it got less last place ranks... But I couldn't bring myself to do that to GS Junkie's #1! My goodwill and respect towards him earned him the tiebreaker, lol :)

Sooo, regarding the album tracks rankdown... This album had enough hits that only one song would have missed the album tracks rankdown anyway. So I am thinking I will just include both of these! The tie-breaker could have easily gone either way, there is a decent amount of high passion for both songs, and there is already a precedent for including songs that have tied, like "Room To Breathe" making it into Reba's '00s album tracks rd.

[bboat11]

And nobody seems to be around, so I think I'll stop there for the night. Now that we've made it through our one tie, we have a good starting point for tomorrow!

[taylor]

Nov 19, 2020 23:29:34 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

And nobody seems to be around, so I think I'll stop there for the night. Now that we've made it through our one tie, we have a good starting point for tomorrow!

Right as I was coming back around! 

[bboat11]

Nov 19, 2020 23:33:39 GMT -5 taylor said:

Nov 19, 2020 23:29:34 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

And nobody seems to be around, so I think I'll stop there for the night. Now that we've made it through our one tie, we have a good starting point for tomorrow!

Right as I was coming back around! 

Well it's pushing midnight for several people anyway. It'll probably be easier to do a Friday night push to the end ;)

[gardyfan]

I'm going to go with the fact that my 2 perfect rankings here were the tiebreaker.

[LBTrocks]

I adore this album, I seriously wanted to put everything in my top 3 lol.

[tim]

Nov 19, 2020 23:37:54 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Nov 19, 2020 23:33:39 GMT -5 taylor said:

Right as I was coming back around! 

Well it's pushing midnight for several people anyway. It'll probably be easier to do a Friday night push to the end

I'll bring the booze for the all nighter!



I believe I had predicted that these would be the first two songs out as they just seemed like neither one would have enough top level support to push them any higher (except for that random top ranking!).  I should add that pretty much everything outside of my top 5 is quite fluid and my rankings likely would vary depending on my mood or the day lol.

"I've Got a Funny Feeling" has always been a go-to favorite of mine and so I'm glad that it will be included in the album tracks rankdown after all.  As bboat11 mentioned this is one of the few uptempo songs on the album and the kind that George always excels at as it shows off his laidback and funny personality that he's long been known for.  He also just sounds like he's having a lot of fun on it.

I kinda figured "That's Me (Every Change I Get)" would land somewhere near the bottom as I feel like it kind of gets lost in the shuffle amongst some of the hit singles and more standout alum tracks.  I still enjoy it though and find the chorus to be toe-tapping infectious.

[taylor]

Nov 20, 2020 9:36:13 GMT -5 tim said:

Nov 19, 2020 23:37:54 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Well it's pushing midnight for several people anyway. It'll probably be easier to do a Friday night push to the end

I'll bring the booze for the all nighter!

I hope there'll be some actual juice! Like, non-alcoholic for my only-20-year-old self?  :kii:

[LBTrocks]

Nov 20, 2020 12:24:50 GMT -5 taylor said:

Nov 20, 2020 9:36:13 GMT -5 tim said:

I'll bring the booze for the all nighter!

I hope there'll be some actual juice! Like, non-alcoholic for my only-20-year-old self?  :kii:

Didn't you see? Karen brought 'juice' just roll with it!

[bboat11]

Sorry y'all, my sister came over for dinner and stayed awhile... So I'm getting a later start than I anticipated. It's too late to finish the entire thing, but I'll get us down to the top 5!!!!

SPOILER: Click to show

{Ive Got Some Funny Tractors}
George Strait Junkie -
someguy -
kw9461 -
Cody Wants Out... -
lady𝓐fan -
LBTrocks -
fearlessarrow -
gonecountry -
tim -
Kanenrá:ke -
gardyfan -
castleoblivion26 -
ClevelandRox -
bboat11 -
.indulgecountry -
taylor -

[tim]

Going to predict "Won’t You Come Home (And Talk To A Stranger)" is out in the bottom 3.

[bboat11]

Nov 19, 2020 23:29:34 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

And nobody seems to be around, so I think I'll stop there for the night. Now that we've made it through our one tie, we have a good starting point for tomorrow!

I need a new beginning,

And girl, you fit right in.

Sometimes a new beginning

Is found in an ol’ friend.

And if I’m ever gonna mend this broken heart,

You look like a real good place to start.

8. "A Real Good Place To Start"

Track #10

Runtime: 3:55

Songwriters: Dean Dillon, Gary Nicholson



Total: 115
Average: 7.19
Std Dev: 2.51


lady𝓐fan - 2
gonecountry - 3
ClevelandRox - 3
Kanenrá:ke - 6
someguy - 7
bboat11 - 7
taylor - 7
fearlessarrow - 8
gardyfan - 8
castleoblivion26 - 8
Cody Wants Out... - 9
LBTrocks - 9
tim - 9
.indulgecountry - 9
George Strait Junkie - 10
kw9461 - 10

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Carrying Your Love With Me
One Night At A Time
Round About Way
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
The Nerve
Today My World Slipped Away
Won’t You Come Home (And Talk To A Stranger)

[tim]

Oh snap...well that's not what I thought it might be!

[LBTrocks]

Love "A Real Good Place To Start" but I'm in LOVE with this whole damn album so what was I gonna do? It pained me to put this @ 9...

[bboat11]

"A Real Good Place To Start" was almost done HELLA dirty... It started out as our consistent last place contender for the beginning of the rankdown... Thank goodness it gained its footing as we went!

As I said before, this album draws its strength from its ballads and mid tempos. This song may be on the weaker end of the ballads, but that doesn't mean it is anywhere near weak. I have always thought this one had a really good melody and vocal, and the lyrics are really unique. The scenario of having a good friend of the opposite gender who helps pick you back up when love gets you down...only for them to finally fall for each other in the end. It's such a feel-good story, and I just feel so pleasant every time I listen to this song I'm glad it found some more love as the lists came in!

[bboat11]

Well, I sat there about an hour

Talkin’ with the rest of the guys.

When she walked through that front door,

She had “get home” in her eyes.

She said, “You’ve danced and talked

With every woman in town but me,

And if you’d just come around the house

You might like my company.”

7. "Won't You Come Home (And Talk To A Stranger)"

Track #5

Runtime: 2:51

Songwriters: Wayne Kemp



Total: 104
Average: 6.50
Std Dev: 2.68


Kanenrá:ke - 2
taylor - 3
George Strait Junkie - 3
.indulgecountry - 4
kw9461 - 4
gonecountry - 6
someguy - 6
gardyfan - 6
castleoblivion26 - 7
lady𝓐fan - 8
bboat11 - 8
LBTrocks - 8
ClevelandRox - 9
fearlessarrow - 10
Cody Wants Out... - 10
tim - 10

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
Carrying Your Love With Me
One Night At A Time
Round About Way
She’ll Leave You With A Smile
The Nerve
Today My World Slipped Away

[tim]

I'm glad that "A Real Good Place To Start" managed to escape the bottom 2! I did originally think that this might land down there if only because it'd get overshadowed by the other ballads, but alas it appears it had just enough support to escape such a fate. After having closed a couple of his previous albums with Sinatra-esque styled songs, I thought this was a nice change of pace and more true to form. I'd even go so far to say that this might be one of my favorite songs George has closed out his albums with.