George Strait is the King of Country Music with 57 Number One songs to his name. His career has spanned three decades, and he is the ACM Artist of the Decade for the millennium. I can't think of a song that he's recorded that has been a dud. It was a difficult decision, but I've picked ten of what I consider to be his very best songs to create the ultimate George Strait playlist.
MCA NashvilleThis western swing toe-tapper was from George's 1989 release Beyond the Blue Neon. It features the genre's requisite fiddle and steel, and it easily reached the top of the charts. It featured snappy lyrics that warn to keep an "ace in the hole" not only in poker, but in life as well. The song also provided inspiration for George as he later dubbed his road band the "Ace in the Hole Band."Download/Purchase
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MCA NashvilleWhile this mid-tempo rodeo tune never made it to No. 1 on its release on the Strait to the Heart disc in 1983, it has become one of Strait's signature songs, popular not only with fans, and also critically praised for its mournful tune and traditional country-western feel. The sorrowful story of a rodeo cowboy's life riding on the circuit rings true. The song defined Strait as a western artist. "Amarillo By Morning" peaked at No. 4, and was later released as part of the 22 More Hits as a companion piece to the 50 Number Ones release, as a nod to songs that defined Strait's career, but didn't quite make it to the top of the charts.Download/Purchase
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MCA NashvilleThis smooth ballad tells the story of a man picks up the lady in a bar by telling her she's sitting in his chair. At the end of the song he admits that he likes her, and that it wasn't really his chair after all. You can hear the smile in George's voice as he delivers that last line. The melody is relaxing, and fits the story perfectly with the highlighted steel guitar and soft percussion.Download/Purchase
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MCA NashvilleGeorge Strait has always picked great story songs during his career. One of the very best is this mid-tempo tune about how a father's love is not based on if you were good or bad, but is given all the time. A son gets sent home from school, and he dreads facing his father. But, when he does talk with his father, the elder man tells him that "Daddies don't just love their children every now and then. It's a love without end, amen." It was the debut single from his Livin' It Up album of 1990, and one of his many No. 1 songs.Download/Purchase
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MCA NashvilleBack in 1981, a young man named George Strait released his first single. It was a honky tonk-styled song about a man who had a fight with his lady, and she kicked him out of the house, so he decided to go drink her off his mind. While it didn't top the charts, as many of his later tunes would do, it did give him his first Top 10 song. He would celebrate his first No. 1 the following year, and by 2004, would collect over 50 No. 1 songs.Download/Purchase
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MCA NashvilleGeorge Strait shows his humorous side as he relates the story of a man who has a large collection of exes living in the state of Texas. George has tongue planted firmly in cheek as he sings "Sweet Eileen's in Abilene. She forgot I hung the moon...and Dimples who now lives in Temple's got the law looking for me." The song shuffles along at a mid-tempo pace, as we learn about all those women who did this man wrong, and why he now lives in Tennessee. This No. 1 was from Strait's Ocean Front Property disc of 1987.Download/Purchase
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MCA NashvilleThis two-stepping dance tune was George Strait's first No. 1. This mainstream country hit was perfect for jukebox play. From his Strait from the Heart disc, it provided the first major cornerstone in what would become a monumental career. This slick number would prove to be a shining example of Strait's impressive catalog.Download/Purchase
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MCA NashvilleThis song was featured in the motion picture Pure Country, which featured George Straitin his first lead acting role. The heartfelt ballad, sung so convincingly by Strait as Dusty to his love interest in the movie, is the highlight of the film. The song isn't overly country, until it gets to the steel guitar solo towards the end. This is one of the prettiest love songs ever recorded by Strait.Download/Purchase
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MCA NashvilleThis guitar-driven love song is accented with piano and a bit of steel. It features a story of a man who meets a woman on a trip to the coast, and when they part, and he returns to Tennessee, he realizes that he left his heart back in Marina Del Rey.Download/Purchase
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MCA Nashville"Carrying Your Love With Me" was a four week No. 1 song for George from the album of the same name. It also won him the CMA Album of the Year honor in 1997. The tempo here is somewhere between a ballad and mid-tempo. The story is of a man that spends a lot of time traveling, but wherever he goes, he carries his love with him in his heart. Strait delivers an emotional performance of the tender lyrics of a man who, unlike the man in the song "Amarillo By Morning," can't wait to get back to his love. The song features a perfect balance of instruments, guitar, percussion, bass, and steel guitar.Download/Purchase
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"Unwound" 4/23/81 #6 "Down And Out" 8/28/81 #16 "If You're Thinking You Want A Stranger (There's One Coming Home)" 1/7/82 #3
MCA NashvilleGeorge Strait's knack of picking out just the right songs to add to an album has given his work a steady consistency and reliability. For Honkytonkville he revs up the honky tonk style in such tunes as "I Found Jesus on the Barroom Floor," in keeping with the stalwart tradition that all Saturday night sinners are Sunday saved. The singles, the yearning "Desperately," the weeper "Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa" and western-themed "Cowboys Like Us" all became Top 10 songs for Strait, but none of them reached the top of the charts. Another standout track is the toe-tappin' "She Used To Say That About Me."
MCA NashvilleThis album won George Strait the CMA Album of the Year award in 1984. It contains a nice mix of fast paced western swing songs, like "Any Old Time," country weepers like "I Should Have Watched That First Step" and fun honky tonk tunes like "Love Comes from the Other Side of Town," and the scorchin' hot hit "The Fireman." Four years after his impressive debut, Strait showed that he was here to stay.
MCA NashvilleWhile many of his earlier albums had 10 or 12 tracks, It Just Comes Natural has 15, with none being just placed on the album to increase the track count. From the loping tempo of the title track, to the cleverly written breakup tune, and No. 1 song, "Give It Away," to emotional western-themed "I Ain't Her Cowboy Anymore" and the two-steppin' favorite "How 'Bout Them Cowgirls," there's a nice mixture of styles, and Strait earned a second No. 1 from this album with the easy-going "Wrapped."
MCA NashvilleGeorge Strait's 2008 release Troubadour was his 37th studio release. The album won the 2008 CMA Album of the Year, and George earned another two No. 1 songs, as "I Saw God Today" and "River of Love" both topped the charts. The country waltz tune "It Was Me" has a storyline similar to Brad Paisley's "We Danced," and the reflective "I Saw God Today" talks about seeing God in many places, while the toe tappin' "Brothers of the Highway" takes on the story of truck drivers, and the title track is a introspective look back at one's life. Lastly, Strait takes a page from Kenny Chesney's songbook with the island-sounding "River of Love."
MCA NashvilleGeorge Strait went for a little change on The Road Less Traveled. On the honky tonk-styled tune "Stars on the Water," a voice enhancer was used to change Strait's voice (ala Cher on "Believe") in some parts. On the mid-tempo tune "Run," Strait opted for a percussion-driven track, with an acoustic guitar being the other outstanding instrument. Many traditional country purists balked at the vocal augmentation and the synthesized drums, but it doesn't seem to have hurt sales, as the album has sold over 1 million copies since its release. Other standout tracks include the honky tonkin' "Good Time Charlie's," the introspective Haggard-penned "My Life's Been Grand," and the mid-tempo steel-guitar soaked "Living and Living Well."
MCA NashvilleThe soundtrack to "Pure Country" is from the motion picture that starred George Strait as "Dusty," and the soundtrack was completely recorded by him as well. The album has become his biggest-selling studio album, with over six million copies sold. It also marked Strait's first partnership with producer Tony Brown, who would go on to produce all of Strait's subsequent releases.
MCA NashvilleBlue Clear Sky earned Strait the CMA Album of the Year in 1996. Strait's range as a vocalist is spotlighted here, from the western-style of "I Can Still Make Cheyenne," the fun country bopper, "Do the Right Thing," and the classic sounds of the weeper "King of the Mountain." He even includes a song that sounds like he was channeling Frank Sinatra, "Need I Say More." Album sales of Blue Clear Sky have topped three million copies.