Country Singles Jubilee 4.13.09: The Trisha Yearwood Edition
Posted by Jasper Jones on 04.13.2009
Country singles reviews are being put on hold to allow the charts to fill with new songs. In the meantime enjoy a spotlight of one of the most endearing and underrated female country vocalists, Trisha Yearwood.
Welcome back, Jubileers, to another edition of The Country Singles Jubilee! Once again I have covered just about everything on the Billboard Top 40 Hot Country Chart. It's time to give the chart some more breathing room, so The Jubilee's format will be changing again for the next couple of weeks. Last time I spotlighted some feature country songs from previous decades. This time I'm going to highlight one country artist in each edition. I'll give a brief biography on the artist and then list my top 5 favorite singles from their career.
Trisha Yearwood
Trisha Yearwood has the honor of being the first country artist to be covered. I've been infatuated with this woman ever since a little nine year old me saw the music video for "She's In Love With The Boy". Many people talk about the beauty of Shania Twain or Faith Hill, but Trisha Yearwood is the one who does it for me. It's most likely has to be a combination of her smooth, rich voice, her playful attitude, and the fact she doesn't have to get all doll-ed up to be beautiful. She's a real live woman, pun intended.
Trisha Yearwood was born in Monticello, Ga in 1964 to a farmer and part-time banker. She spent her school years idolizing Elvis Presley and singing in musicals, choral groups, and talent shows. She attended The University of Georgia after graduating high school but not for very long. Trisha hated the "big school" feel and wanted to be closer to country music, so she transfered to Belmont University in Nashville. While in Nashville, she started interning at MTM Records where she soon became an in-demand demo singer. It was through this that she was hooked up with her first big breakthrough. An up-and-coming Garth Brooks took her out on tour as a back-up singer! Brooks liked her performances so much, he decided to use her on his albums as well. Trisha sang background vocals on Garth Brook's debut 1989 album and also on his follow-up smash No Fences. Her voice caught the ear of Nashville record producer Tony Brown (producer for country artists like Steve Earle, Brooks & Dunn, and Vince Gill) who quickly signed her to MCA Records Nashville.
Trisha Yearwood's childhood dream came true in 1991 when she released her debut, self-titled album. "She's In Love With The Boy" was her first single released and it sky-rocketed up the charts, becoming an instant country classic. Driven by the success of "She's In Love With The Boy" and the massive amounts of exposure from opening up for Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood would go on to sell more than two million copies. This makes Trisha Yearwood the first female country artist to have a Platinum debut.
Hearts In Armor, her second album, was considerably less successful, but is considered by many to be one of her best. Even though her debut sold far more copies, Hearts In Armor did score Trisha two Top 5 hits, "Wrong Side of Memphis" and a duet with Don Henley entitled "Walk Away Joe". The album has a few other guest stars including Emmylou Harris and Raul Malo, the lead singer of The Mavericks.
Trisha's next taste of huge success came in 1995 with the release of her fourth album Thinkin' About You. This album saw Yearwood's sound turn to more of an adult contemporary sound. Some country critics claimed the album was "too slick", but that didn't stop it from going Platinum and spawning back to back number one hits. "XXXs and OOOs (An American Girl)" and the title track were Trisha's first number one singles since "She's in Love With The Boy" by in 1991. It was during the recording of this album that she got married for the second time. This time to Robert Reynolds, the bass player for The Mavericks.
1996 saw the release of Everybody Knows, which peaked at number six on The Billboard Country Albums Chart. "Believe Me Baby (I Lied)" was the only single released from the album to reach number one, although the title track peaked at number three. Yearwood's first number one country album finally came her way with 1997's Songbook: A Collection of Hits. The album did pretty well on the pop charts too, peaking at number five. It was essentially a greatest hits collection with three new songs as well. One of those new songs was Diane Warren's "How Do I Live", written for the movie Con Air. The song was nominated for an Oscar, but failed to win. Trisha did eventually win a Grammy for it though. It was presented to her directly after rival LeAnn Rimes preformed the song on the show. Ouch, burn! The other two originals from Songbook: A Collection of Hits did quite well too. "Perfect Love" climbed all the way to number one. "In Another's Eyes" marked the first time Trish Yearwood and Garth Brooks would duet together. It peaked at number two.
All this success paid off in awards. Trish Yearwood won the CMA and the AMA Female Vocalist of the Year award for 1997 and 1998. Along with her Grammy award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "How Do I Live", she also won another Grammy in 1998. Her duet with Garth Brooks, "In Another's Eyes", won the Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.
Since 2000, Trisha Yearwood has released four more albums. Two of those, Inside Out and Jasper County, have topped the Billboard Country Albums Chart. Her albums might still be a success, but her singles have almost disappeared from radio. Since 2000, Trisha has released ten more singles, but only four have cracked the Top 20. Her radio career might not be so hot at the moment, but Trisha Yearwood has nothing to fear. She has already proven herself to be a certified country star. Her induction into the Grand Ole Opry in 1999, her appearance on Sesame Street, and her name being a puzzle on Wheel of Fortune is evidence enough that country fans around the world respect her.
"That's What I Like About You" is one of the many Top 10 singles from Trisha Yearwood's debut album. The song was released in 1991 and peaked at the number eight position on the charts. In the song she describes what she does and doesn't want from a man. Fortunately, whoever the man is she's singing to has all the right qualities and none of the bad ones. One of the reasons it's one of my favorites is for the fact that "That's What I Like About You" is undeniably a country song. The simple steady drum beat, the fiddle, and the country style guitar picking clearly stamp this song country. I dare Carrie Underwood to release a song like this.
"Georgia Rain" cones from Trisha Yearwood's 2005 album Jasper County. Many critics dub this album her "return to country" for two reasons. This was her return to recording after a three year hiatus from music. Also, the album is praised for it "country feeling" that seemed absent in Trisha's last few pop-oriented records. The album was a huge hit. It hit the top of the country charts and even peaked at number four on the pop charts. Jasper County moved 117,000 copies in its first week, out-selling the legendary Sir Paul McCartney's Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. In the song, Trisha reminisces about times spent with an early love where she grew up. "Georgia Rain" might be her best vocal performance ever.
"In Another's Eye's" is a number two hit and a Grammy award winning song from Trisha Yearwood's 1997 greatest hits album Songbook: A Collection of Hits. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I am an absolute sucker for a good duet! Here we have Trisha Yearwood belting out a tune with her current husband Garth Brooks. Raise your hand if you didn't come to the conclusion they would eventually get married. The chemistry between these two here is electric! This song is a testament to the power of Trisha's and Garth's vocal power and to Garth's writing ability. This is an old-school, passionate, cheating country song about false perceptions that still gives me goosebumps to this day.
"Wrong Side of Memphis" is a number five country hit that can be found on Trisha Yearwood's second album, Hearts in Armor. The video I have provided above is of a "rocked up" version of the song, but it seems appropriate. The song is about Memphis, the birthplace of American rock n' roll. Plus, it's from Chris Isaak's television show on the Bio Network. If I may say so, Trisha and Chris Isaak sound pretty good together. "Wrong Side Of Memphis" is unique in the fact that most of Trisha Yearwood's songs tend to be ballads, but this one is pretty face paced and groovy. It's the story of a woman who has decided to leave Memphis and try to become a country star in Nashville. Yearwood sang "Wrong Side of Memphis" on the night she was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. She felt the lyric "I've had this dream from a tender age/ Calling my name from the Opry stage" seemed appropriate.
My infatuation with Trisha Yearwood began with this song and video. "She's In Love With The Boy" was Trisha's first single and first number one song. The song is arranged much like "That's What I Like About You", with the fiddle, steady drum beat, etc. This was before Yearwood started dabbling in pop music. "She's In Love With the Boy" is a story of young love in a small town with a daddy who does not approve. Katie loves Tommy, but her dad says that Tommy is a moron. Katie's daddy is about to have a "talk" with Tommy, until Katie's mom reminds him that he was dumb as a rock at one point too and all ends well. It's a nearly flawless country song, and Yearwood should be extremely grateful that she got such a great song to debut with. It was first offered to Kenny Rogers, who turned the song down because it didn't fit with his style and he was "uncomfortable singing about chickens pecking the ground". Your loss, Kenny. How's that fried chicken business coming?
That's if for this week's Jubilee! Tune in next week when the featured artist will be the big man from Louisiana, Trace Adkins!
