Countdown Part XIV: Songs # 341-350

It's a rainy day here in Ohio, and boy do the crops need it! Today is also Sunday, which means ints time for another entry in our 90's country music countdown! I know that last week I said that we would be likely moving to our new DOT COM site before this week's blog came to be, however, we have recently been in contact with a professional web designer who is going to help make our website far better than I could do myself. We will be meeting in mid-June, so hopefully our official home will follow shortly after!

BORN Country's 505 Favorite Country Singles of the 90's!

350. Lee Roy Parnell - Tender Moment
Album: Love Without Mercy
Year: 1993

Country/blues guitar master, Lee Roy Parnell, released 4 singles to country radio without touching down in the Top 40 chart. Parnell's album "Love Without Mercy" brought much more luck to the table. Three of the 4 singles, including "Tender Moment," reached the Top 10 on the Hot Country Songs chart.



349. Diamond Rio - Night Is Fallin' On My Heart
Album: Love A Little Stronger
Year: 1994

Diamond Rio's "Love A Little Stronger" is another album I remember buying through the BMG music service in the mid-ninties. "Night" is hands down one of the easiest Diamond Rio songs to sing-a-long to. The group recently released a live CD/DVD set, but haven't put out new material since 2009. Let's keep our fingers crossed that there is a new project in the works!



348. Garth Brooks - Longneck Bottle
Album: Sevens
Year: 1997

The first radio single from Garth's 1997 album, "Sevens", was written by long time friend of Brooks, Steve Wariner, who has also been featured in our countdown.



347. BlackHawk - Like There Ain't No Yesterday
Album: Strong Enough
Year: 1995

I've always considered BlackHawk to have one of the most distinguishable sounds in country music. Back in high school, there is no doubt that BlackHawk's "Greatest Hits" CD was one of the most played discs in my ol' 1992 Ford Explorer. I am absolutely thrilled that I will be seeing these guys perform for the second time, this summer. They sound exactly the same live, as they do on disc!



346. Lee Ann Womack - I'll Think Of A Reason Later
Album: Some Things I Know
Year: 1998

Making her debut on our 90's countdown, Lee Ann Womack! I'll say it right now, the fact that Womack has not blown up again on country music after the release of her latest album, "The Way I'm Livin'", is an absolute CRIME. If you haven't heard it, BUY it now. Womack is probably best known for her 2000 hit "I Hope You Dance", but she has so much more to offer, and her strongest material came AFTER her "Greatest Hits" album!



345. Dwight Yoakam - I Ain't That Lonely Yet
Album: This Time
Year: 1993

That thing I said about BlackHawk having an easily distinguishable sound? Enter Dwight Yoakam. No one in the past 25 years, sounded like Dwight in the mainstream.  "Lonely" is about that place in which one has to convince themselves that while heartbroken, going BACK to the one who caused the pain in the first case, won't solve your problem. Dwight reached #2 on the Hot Country Songs chart, in 1993.



344. Rhett Akins - That Ain't My Truck
Album: A Thousand Memories
Year: 1995

What a solid country song. Despite only hitting the Top 10 twice, throughout the 90's, Thomas Rhett's  daddy charted eleven singles on the Hot Country Songs chart. I think it pretty wild, the difference between Akins Sr.'s country music and his son's. I've been a fan of the majority of Jr.'s work so far (with the exception of his current single, "Crash And Burn"), but its almost like two different worlds!



343. Vince Gill - What The Cowgirls Do
Album: When Love Finds You
Year: 1994

We haven't heard from Vince Gill for awhile on our list! While mostly known for slower songs of heartbreak, the occasional Vince Gill, honky tonk rock song would sneak through the cracks on country radio. This song, along with the video, is just plain fun. Gill too "Cowgirls" to #2 on the Hot Country Songs chart.



342. Dolly Parton - Romeo (Feat. Billy Ray Cyrus, Tanya Tucker, Pam Tillis, Kathy Mattea & Mary Chapin Carpenter 
Album: Slow Dancing With The Moon
Year: 1993

This may be the best worst song on our countdown, so prepare yourself. Throughout 1992, Billy Ray and Achy Breaky Heart were the hottest things going in country music. While Dolly is one of country music's all-time greats, "Romeo" makes our list almost purely due to it's ability to crack me up every time I hear Cyrus join in with "Wontcha beeeee my Juliet?!" Tears, I tell ya.



341. Neal McCoy - For A Change
Album: You Gotta Love That
Year: 1994

Man, Neal McCoy is hands down one of my all-time favorite artists. Every single radio hit was fantastic, his live show is full of energy and he was a blast to meet in person. "Change" is from the album that I had him sign for me back in February. He was surprised to see someone carrying around a CD from 1995, and referred to it as "Old shit". Ha! If you get a chance, do yourself a favor and see Neal in concert. You will not be let down! "For A Change" hit #3 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.




We are getting closer and closer to our midway point on the countdown! Have there been any artists that you expected to see, but haven't been represented yet? There are still so many more songs to come! Share with us your thoughts, memories or anything else that 90's country music brings to mind! We love feedback!

Don't forget to visit us on Facebook! Make sure you "Like" and share our page with friends!

Thanks for reading!
-Arthur

Facebook: BORN Country Blog
Twitter: @BORNCountryBlog
E-Mail: BORNCoutryBlog@gmail.com

Record Convention, Neal McCoy, 90's Country/a.k.a. "Old Shit"

Hello again! I meant to get this thing rolling much earlier today, but I just woke up from a long Coricidin induced slumber as I'm dealing with a little bit of a bug this weekend. However, I didn't want to disappoint anyone by missing my second post as I planned it! I'm just going to touch on a few things, then its back to bed for me.

- This morning, despite feeling ill, I went to the Northeast Ohio Record/CD Convention in Fairview Park, OH with a few friends this morning. While they didn't find much, and a lot of stuff was overpriced, I scored some pretty great classic country deals on vinyl! Loretta Lynn, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Flatts & Scruggs, Kris Kristofferson, Charlie Daniels Band and, what I am most excited about, a copy of Waylon Jennings: Honky Tonk Heroes! 8 solid records for around $20.

- Last Saturday, in celebration of my 31st birthday, Amy took me to see 90's country superstar, Neal McCoy at the Dusty Armadillo down in Rootstown, OH. Via Twitter, the manager of the venue hooked us up with some meet and greet passes. Despite it typically a 90 minute or so drive, due to the crazy snow we have been getting up here, it took nearly 3 hours! We arrived just in time to meet Neal before he went on stage, and he was awesome! I brought along a copy of his CD "You Gotta Love That" from 1995 for him to sign. I could see that he was happy to see it as he signed the cover. Neal said "Daaaang boy, that right there is some old shit! You have good taste!" I told him that I've been listening to his music for many, many years. "You'd have to be, cuz, boy, this is some old shit! Then again, all of our shit is old." He had a good laugh about that one, ha! 

After our photo, he asked us where we were from and thanked us for coming out. As we were leaving the tent, he said "Hey! Let me know when the wedding is!" Ha! I responded, "Will do!"

- Next, the "project" that I mentioned in my first blog last week: This past Christmas marked 20 years since the day I received my first CD player/stereo and CD from my parents. It was a Sony bookshelf stereo (with remote!) and Garth Brooks - The Hits. I had loved listening to country music on my AM/FM alarm clock every night before bed, but this changed the game completely. I joined Columbia House and BMG multiple times over (Yes, at 10 years old) and CDs came pouring in. Brooks & Dunn, George Strait, Alan Jackson, everything! 

I only really knew the music that played on the radio. To this day, 90's country music is still my absolute favorite. Yeah, the 70s had Waylon & Willie, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, etc., but we are talking Little Texas, David Lee Murphy, Shenandoah, Sawyer Brown! 

"Who?" some of you are maybe asking. Or, some of you may be thinking, "I loved those guys!" Well, I have done a lot of digging and even more listening over the past few months and while its not completely finished, I have compiled the 500 BEST country radio singles from 1990-1999!!! Each week, I will share a handful of songs, some well known and some long forgotten, and hope to bring back memories or bring lesser known artists to your attention for the first time! A lot of these guys and gals are still going, recording and touring, despite lack of radio support. I hope to get it started by next Sunday's post, so stay tuned!

- Now, I'm going to live up to the mostly untrue classification of country fans, and watch WWE's Fastlane Pay-per-view in bed, while I snack on some treats that Amy dropped off while I was in my Coricidin coma. 

Please leave comments, share the blog and keep an eye out for another post around mid-week!

-Arthur Born

Twitter: @arthurborn

Instsgram: @arthur214

#iwasBORNcountry

"I was BORN country!"

Welcome!

Being that you are here reading the very first post on this new blog, it's probably safe to bet that you know me personally. For those few that do not, I will start with a little intro.

My name is Arthur Born (See what I did with the blog title there?) Other than minor stints in NYC and Los Angeles, I have spent the majority of my life here in the northern farming region of Ohio. I grew up in 4H, raising cattle for the county fair, playing on my uncles' farms, riding dirt bikes and 4 wheelers, etc. The typical farm kid stuff.

One thing that has pretty much been a constant as far back that I can remember, is country music. My parents never played it at home much that I can recall, as they grew up on the classic rock of the 70's, but somehow, I found myself gravitating towards it.

Recently, I decided that I wanted to start writing again after I dumped the hobby around 2009. What better topic I thought, than the music I love and listen to everyday? Sure, there are probably thousands of blogs on the same topic, but this would be MINE. I won't pretend that I know what I'm talking about from the technical side of music, but I will write about the things I like and don't like. Will we agree? Not likely all of the time, but I feel like I have a pretty good way of looking at the genre.

I'm planning on starting with one or two posts a week, as i don't want to get myself too jammed up right at the start. More than likely, I'll be posting on Sundays and another day. This coming Sunday, I will write about the Neal McCoy show (Incredible!) I attended this past weekend at the Dusty Armadillo in Rootstown, OH for my 31st birthday with my girlfriend Amy. ALSO, I have a huge project I have been working on for a few months that I'm excited to share here.

I don't know much about this blogging stuff, HTML, etc, but I'll try to spruce the thing up as i learn. Bear with me!



-Arthur Born
Twitter @arthurborn
Instagram @arthur214
#iwasborncountry