September 2, 2026 • 49 mins
Bobby’s ’90s country countdown rolls into 1992, a year where Billy Ray Cyrus turned “Achy Breaky Heart” into a full-on phenomenon, Garth Brooks kept dominating everything, and George Strait took country to the big screen with Pure Country. Bobby also gets into major albums from Mary Chapin Carpenter, Vince Gill, Joe Diffie, Randy Travis, and Wynonna, plus Alan Jackson’s run of number ones, Johnny Cash joining the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and big Opry moments for Travis Tritt and Marty Stuart. Along the way, he shares past conversations with artists like Billy Ray, Joe Diffie, Randy Travis, and more while also looking back at The Real World, the Dream Team, the Los Angeles riots, and the parts of 1992 that stretched far beyond country music.
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Speaker 1 (00:13):
Welcome, everybody, to 1992. If you missed 1990 and 1991,
get in your time machine or just scroll back on
the podcast feed and check out the episode. It's all 90s.
And now, welcome aboard the 1992 Country Music Train. Man,
that was cliche as crap. Okay, here we go. Number 10. Okay,
(00:34):
so we're going to start with some of the best
albums from 1992. And I'm going to start with Mary
Chaper Carpenter, Come On, Come On. Now, not my introduction.
Tamari Shepherd Carpenter, because she had an album before that
that had that song. That's the melody of the song.
Don't know all the words. But when I was in
(00:55):
sixth grade, and you're going to hear a little bit
of sixth grade hater coming out. When I was in
sixth grade, I did a talent show. And we did
Ray Stevens' The Streak. It was me and a buddy
of mine. And we got a kid who was a
kindergartner because we thought it would, like, Level up the cuteness.
And we did, oh, yes, they call him the streak. Hilarious.
Had the crowd laughing so hard. We got beat by
(01:17):
someone doing Mary Chapin Carpenter down at the Twist and Shout.
And they weren't even that good. But you know what
they did that was hilarious? At the end of it,
after they did all the dancing, they smiled and they
had blacked out their two front teeth and the audience
lost it. Basically, they did Carrot Top in sixth grade.
And I'm still bitter about that. But that was Mary
Chapin Carpenter's earlier album. But this album, Come On, Come On,
(01:39):
in 1992, really became a defining album when it came
to folk, country, pop influences all in one. The album
kind of established her as a major voice in country
music as well. Now, she had another hit, but you're
talking about this album. I feel lucky. Or passionate kisses. Whoa, whoa.
Or He Thinks He'll Keep Her. It was so much goodness.
(02:02):
And again, it took all these elements that everybody already
liked and put them all together. Great songwriting. The album
had multiple Grammy nominations. Come On, Come On not only
was commercially successful, it eventually went platinum. It also helped
pave the way for a new wave of the singer-songwriters
in country music. So that was what was up. And
(02:23):
that's why I put the album here. Because not that
it wasn't already happening, but she kind of proved you
could be an artist and a songwriter and just do
it yourself. So shout out Mary Chapin Carpenter. Come On,
Come On. 1992. Also from this year, I'm going to
put Vince Gill in there. I still believe in you.
This album quickly became a landmark in contemporary country music.
(02:47):
Vince's tenor voice, I would reenact it if I could,
but I can't. Because he had such an unmistakable voice
and tone within his voice. But also, he wasn't just
an elite singer. He was as good or better as
a musician. He could also produce stuff. great voice, plays
(03:08):
the crap out of a guitar, great songwriter, and just
did ballad after ballad after ballad that were monsters. Now,
he had songs that weren't ballads that were monsters, but
those are the ones that really resonated. If I were
to pick a song that wasn't a ballad, don't let
our love start slipping. Our love starts slipping away. Like
that was, I can't hit that at all. But that
(03:30):
was one of the jams. Give me just one more
last chance before you say we're through. You know I
love you, baby. It's just the last thing I can do.
Freaking awesome. So, traditional country sensibilities in this record, but
a bit polished. A bit abnormally polished. But it was
(03:52):
so good. And if I were to go, okay, what
was the song from this record that has stood the
test of time the most? I still believe in you.
Multiple awards. The Grammy for Best Country Song. And tons
of honors from CMA. It was great. And I Still
Believe in You is still great and feels contemporary and
(04:16):
is beloved in country music. Joe Diffie put out regular Joe.
I gotta say, I didn't get a chance to know
Joe until later in his life. Rest in peace, Joe Diffie.
But man, I really enjoyed being around Joe. And growing
up in Arkansas in the 90s, I listened to a
lot of Joe Diffie because he had songs that were funny.
(04:36):
He had songs that were country. He had like the
things that I was. And so I thought it was
pretty cool because what would happen is I'd play the
Opry and Joe Diffie would be playing the Opry as well.
And when you play the Grand Ole Opry enough times,
you start to form a bit of a community with
other people that perform the Opry a lot. Like I
think Joe Diffie is one of those guys. I think
Ricky Skaggs is one of those guys for me. I think,
(04:57):
I mean, the first time I ever met Kix Brooks
was at the Opry. And so Joe was awesome. Joe
did an episode of the Bobbycast before he passed away.
And what a lot of people didn't know about Joe
is that the reason he decided to move to Nashville
and chase a career as a musician is because he
was laid off by his everyday job back home. Joe
(05:17):
told me this and his entire story about being a
musician and moving to Nashville. Here's a clip of that.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
I was working at a foundry back in Duncan, Oklahoma,
and they shut the plant down and Laid us all off,
and I'd been singing little VFWs.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
How old were you?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I moved to Nashville when I was 28.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Oh, so a little bit older.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Compared to like the 19, 22-year-olds that are moving here now.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
So you get laid off.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, and I had been to Nashville once before with
my aunt and a friend of mine. We did this
little thing as a trio, and we came in, and
my aunt had known somebody here in Nashville. Anyway, we
met with them, and I just fell in love with
the city then, but I didn't have an opportunity then.
because I still had a job at the time, you know.
But when I got laid off, I was like, well,
(06:02):
you know what, I think I'm just going to try it.
So I just loaded up everything I could get in
this whole beat-up car I had, and off I went.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
So at home, are you playing around bars at home
at all?
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Not a lot, honestly. My background was more of a,
I sang in a gospel group, then I went from
that to a bluegrass group. I played bluegrass for about
six years with this group called Special Editions.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Were you known as the guy that was doing music
while working at the plant by your workers?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
By your coworkers?
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Yeah, they'd always ask me to sing.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Would you ever sing at work?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
I don't remember.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Just gather them around and be like, all right, boys.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, I mean, they'd sing that song, you know, whatever.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Isn't it funny how the things at the time that seemed,
and this happened over my career, my life, too. We're really,
I put finger quotes up, unfortunate things that happened to
us turn out to really be blessings.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
The biggest blessing ever, yeah. Because if I hadn't got
laid off, I probably would have never left there, you know.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
When you get laid off, do you remember how that happened?
Did your boss or foreman come in and go, all right,
you're done?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
No, it was just more of a, I got a
phone call, I think, and they said, yeah, plant shut down.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Don't go out there and then immediately do you go
all right time to go to nashville like was it
kind of in the chamber already no it.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Took a took a couple of months you know drawing
unemployment and i thought well you know i might as
well think of something i had a good friend of
mine we used to discuss thing he wanted to he
moved to dallas and became an accountant and he said
you gotta try music you're really good at it and
all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
So and when you got to town did you feel
like you were good enough to get in the mix
immediately I just.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Felt really lost, honestly, when I first got to town,
because I had just gotten divorced, and I missed my kids,
and I was just in this new place, and I
didn't have a place to live, and all this kind
of stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
What'd you do? Where'd you move?
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I finally moved in with a musician, a guy named
David Greer, and we rented a house with no heater
in it for about a year.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
And what are you doing when you first moved to Nashville, meaning...
Are you out trying to meet people, play ride-arounds? What
happens with the new artists?
Speaker 2 (08:02):
First with me, I needed some income, so I got
a job. I knew a guy that worked at Gibson Guitars,
and so they hired me out there to work in
the warehouse shipping guitars everywhere. And then after that, I
would just do whatever I could. I'd go to showcases
and just go hang out just to get out there
(08:23):
and meet people.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
It's so interesting to hear about Like, I know you
as a country music legend, but I love hearing, like,
the origin story of the hustle because I think so
many people don't know that there's a hustle for everyone.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Man, I tell you what, there was days, seriously, you know,
we didn't have anything in the house to eat. I mean, nothing.
One time I had, I think I had, like, I
don't know, 75 cents on me, and I went by
this funny thing. I didn't know they didn't have White
Castles in Duncan. So I saw it said a hamburger,
25 cents.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
I thought, oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
I can, you know, so I stopped getting cold burgers.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
So I know I said, the guys can help you.
I said, yeah, I'd like a hamburger, please. He goes, uh,
just one. I said, yeah, I didn't know they were,
you know, tiny.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Joe Diffie really embodied the every man of country music,
especially in the nineties. So relatable narratives was a big
part of it. I mentioned the humor, but also there
was the heart, uh, ships that don't come in.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
Are you kidding?
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Like that's, A storytelling song right there. The album's production
was very traditional country instrumentation, but also, you know, there
was a little polish in that Vince. There's a different
kind of polish on this that allowed his vocals to
shine through. So Joe Diffie, a massive part of country music.
(09:46):
1992 regular Joe comes out. It's tough to put up
greatest hits. Because anyone that says their favorite album is
the greatest hit, I go, ah, you're kind of a loser.
Because that ain't your favorite album. It ain't your favorite
artist if you pick a greatest hits. It does make
sense why you would pick a greatest hits, and it
could be the record you listen to the most. Like,
I love Counting Crows across a live wire. But if
(10:07):
someone said, what's your favorite Counting Crows album? I definitely
wouldn't say, that's my favorite album, because that was more
of a compilation of stuff, even though it was live.
Those were live. So, not a big greatest hits guy,
if I'm going to share it and talk about how
Defining that that piece of music is. That collection of music. However,
I'm going to go against what I say here. Randy Travis'
(10:27):
Greatest Hits Volume 1. A cornerstone compilation in the career
of one of country music's most influential voices. And that's
freaking Randy Travis. And I'm talking about, it was all
the great songs from the 80s, early 90s. Randy Travis,
a massive part of 90s country music, But mostly, I
(10:51):
would say, it was a lot of people being reintroduced
to some of his songs from the 80s. Because on this,
it was, I'm gonna love you forever. Forever and ever, amen.
On the other hand, I'm digging up bones. I'm digging
up bones. So it was this as a greatest hits
(11:12):
that reintroduced to some of the young 90s listeners how
great some of his songs from the 80s were. And
so the album was very much a statement on Randy
Travis's enduring impact on the genre because people were still
mimicking him even in different ways. But it also, when
he put this out, kind of cemented him as the
(11:35):
guy who was still young enough to do it, but
the guy who could bridge the gap between classic and
contemporary styles, especially when the 90s started to go, I
won't say crazy, just different. The 90s was modifying what
country music was. Greatest Hits Volume 1, I would say
that it's a celebration of all of his great songs,
but also it was an invitation for new fans to
(11:55):
discover that timeless quality of his music. Big fan of
this Greatest Hits album because I think it did a
lot for him other than just make him some money,
which is mostly what Greatest Hits albums do now. If
you're listening to this, I'm sure you know that Randy
Travis lost his voice after suffering a stroke in 2013.
And it's something we did on our show with Randy.
(12:16):
is he released an album thanks to AI. Now what
that means is they went through and they took all
of Randy's vocals. We'll call them the dry vocals. The
vocals without any instrumentation over it. And they put it
into a machine and they were able to formulate him
making other sounds and singing other songs with all of
his old vocals. And we talked about how hard it
(12:38):
was for him to accept using AI for his voice
and what that experience was like. So I wanted you
to take a listen to this. This is my chat
with Randy. and his wife when they came into the
Bobby Bones show. AI Randy, what would you say to
someone who's skeptical about the technology, given that you had
a really positive experience with it?
Speaker 5 (12:54):
Don't knock it till you try it. I've been skeptical
of technology my whole life, but given this opportunity, I
figured why not give it a shot? And we've been
pleased with the results. It's encouraging to me finally getting
a chance to sing again, just in a different way.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Dang, that's really cool. That's really cool. Let's talk about
your family's reaction. What was their initial reaction once they
heard your voice again for the first time in years?
And was there anyone who was upset by it? And
whose idea was it to do this?
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Mary said I didn't know how much I missed his
voice till I heard it again. The kids were tearing up.
It's been special sharing with the people I love most.
I have to give credit to Chris Lacey and the
team at Warm Music for the idea. We'll see where
it goes.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
That's AI Randy Travis, and I can just ask a
question and he answers it.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
That's really cool.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Pretty amazing. Mary, the first time you heard it back
in its entirety, I mean, this is your husband. This
is the person that you love, and he's had something
taken away from him, which was very important to him,
his voice. But you were able to hear that again.
What was the emotion you felt hearing Randy's voice singing again?
Speaker 3 (13:57):
I just burst out in tears. I mean, just because
11 years of not hearing that voice, which I think
is the greatest voice in the world. And with the
idea that as it was developing, we had no idea
how it would turn out. So when I heard it
in its entirety and upon its completion, it was the
(14:22):
greatest moment in the last 11 years.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Really?
Speaker 6 (14:25):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Everything I prayed for was just to hear his voice.
And this is a different way of hearing his voice,
but it's clearly his voice.
Speaker 6 (14:34):
Randy, what.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
What was the emotion the first time you heard it?
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Was it just like, whoo?
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Yeah. Yeah? Was you so happy? And you're super happy
with it? Because it sounds just, I mean, as a
fan of yours, if I were to just hear that
by itself, I would just think that is an older
recording of your voice with more contemporary sound, obviously. But
I would think that was your voice. It sounds like
you singing, not technology helping it. Did you feel the
(15:00):
same way? Yeah. Number nine. Let's talk about Wynonna Judd. Now,
we did talk about the Judds, and we talked about,
in the last episode, the Farewell Tour, and it was
the end of an era for the Judds, an iconic
country duo, iconic country artist, period. Like, duo, trio, single artist, like,
they were the real deal, always will be. But Wynonna
(15:22):
Judd now was tackling being a solo artist. And in 1992,
Wynonna Judd embarked on her solo career with a lot
of success. Her debut album, which was called Wynonna, was
released that year and became boom, she was automatically freaking Wynonna.
You got songs like She's His Only Need, I Saw
the Light, No One Else on Earth, like all top
(15:45):
of the charts. Her voice, super distinctive. And you know what?
She was very much the lead-ish singer of the Judds.
So it's almost like a lead singer of a band
or like one of the guys from, I don't want
to make the analogy that Florida Georgia Line was like
the Judds, but the guy from Florida Georgia Line, Tyler,
that's a lead singer, That's easy to go, oh, yeah,
I know that guy. That's a familiar voice. That's Tyler Hubbard.
(16:08):
Where Brian Kelly, who wasn't the lead singer, like, what's
even happening? Like, yeah, I was in Florida, Georgia, but
you weren't the lead singer, so we didn't, like, know
your voice. So she was able to have her voice.
She crushed it. If we were to talk about the
album and the awards that it won, like, millions and
millions and millions. No One Else on Earth. No one
else on earth. Became the number one most popular country
(16:30):
song of 1992, according to Billboard year end. Wynonna also
got the Billboard Music Award for Country Single for that song.
Best New Country Artist in 1992, which is crazy because, again,
she wasn't a new artist, but she was a new
artist in that capacity, being a solo artist. And critics
loved it, and people loved it, and that's the hardest
thing to do is to get critics to love it
(16:50):
and people to love it because critics are a little
snobby about stuff. The album was massive for her. It
was a breakthrough, and it really launched the next 10
years of her solo career. Let's do a bonus here.
The Real World premiered, which pioneered reality television. The Real
World was a long-running television show. If you don't know,
(17:11):
if you're a child, if you are a toddler, listen
to this. This is the show. Big Brother, Survivor, even
those early shows that you're like, man, that was all
started because Real World happened. For those that don't know,
here's a little background on The Real World. It followed
a group of diverse individuals, typically in their early 20s,
who were selected to live together in a house or
apartment in a major city. And then the cameras were
(17:31):
just always on. Now, I wasn't so much a real-world fan,
I've got to be honest with you. I didn't have
MTV growing up. And so once I got to college,
it had been on for a while, and mostly I
was just listening to that Counting Crows record I was
talking about the whole time and then studying. But you
cannot not give it credit for what it did. Cameras
were everywhere the first time that it happened, and it
was getting small interactions and relationships and conflicts and experiences
(17:55):
and jobs and social activities, and it started it all.
The first season of The Real World... took on various
social and personal issues, and then set the tone for
everything else. So you can't have a show about 1992
without bringing up the real world. There you go. And now,
let's get back to the countdown. Number eight. Next up,
George Strait. He decided to add more to his legendary career.
(18:19):
By the way, already legendary, 1992. But he decided, I'm
going to do a little acting, and he acted in
the film Pure Country. In the movie, George Strait plays
Dusty Chandler. a famous country star who is feeling disconnected
from his music and his roots, and he walks away
from all the glitz. He's just looking for meaning, looking
(18:39):
for authenticity. And Pure Country did okay in the theaters,
earned just over $ 15 million, took $ 10 million to make it.
It gained a strong following, particularly among country music fans. Listen,
people still quote it. I mean, my friends still quote it.
The most famous scene in Pure Country is Dusty's performance, a.k.a.
George Strait, of I Cross My Heart. And he's playing
(19:00):
that for Harley during the finale. And spoiler alert, except
I should have said that before I did the spoiler.
So overall, his role in Pure Country allowed him to
expand into acting while also staying true to his country
roots because he played somebody that was true to their
country roots. The movie is remembered for being heartfelt and
his presence. And that soundtrack became a massive part of
(19:22):
George Strait's legacy.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
Hang tight. The Bobbycast will be right back.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Number seven. Let's talk about Hee Haw. You know, last episode,
we talked about the show Hot Country Nights and how
it was short-lived. Well, this time around, I do want
to talk about Hee Haw. I think you probably all
know what Hee Haw is, right? Even if you've only
seen the pictures. or the clips, but Hee Haw was awesome.
And why I want to talk about it in 1992
(19:55):
is because of the significant changes the show made and
the backlash it received along with those changes. Now, first up,
let's talk about the history of the show. Hee Haw
was iconic. It was a country-themed variety show that first
hit the screen in 1969. It was inspired by the
success of other rural comedy shows like Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In,
(20:16):
but tailored toward a more country audience. His music is comedy,
his sketches. It was corny, rural humor, and I'm not
doing a corny joke. They literally were at times in
the corn. The show became a Saturday night staple. Puns,
slapstick stuff, memorable cast members like Buck Owens and Roy Clark.
It was massive and iconic. Now, anytime you mess with
(20:39):
anything iconic, people are going to be upset. And the
show's creators did mess with it. They wanted to overhaul
the show to attract a younger audience. Now, some of
the changes were a new title, The Hee Haw Show.
More pop-oriented country music to go with the times and
the music that people are listening to now. Well, in 1992.
A change in the setting from the iconic barnyard to
(21:03):
the city street and shopping mall backdrops. Safe to say
that people didn't love it. but people don't like when
anything changes in country music. Many people felt alienated, it
wasn't comfortable to them, and when it aired, and it
got its first ratings, boom, big dip. The production of
The Hee Haw Show was halted in the summer of 1992.
(21:23):
The show then transitioned to the name Hee Haw Silver,
which celebrated the show's 25th season by featuring a mix
of classic tapes and also some new footage hosted by
Roy Clark. And although the show had a brief improvement
in the ratings with the new format, The show was
ultimately canceled in June of 1993. All in all, 1992
(21:44):
was a pivotal year for Hee Haw because they tried
to fix it and they couldn't. And eventually it died
like all good things do. Now time for a quick
pause from the countdown. Also in 1992, the Los Angeles Riots,
also known as the Rodney King Riots. Now I touched
on the Rodney King video in the 1991 episode. But
(22:05):
after the acquittal of the four white police officers involved
in the videotape beating of Rodney King, riots ensued in
Los Angeles. It's crazy. Now, the incident took place March 3rd, 1991.
And I can give you a quick recap on that.
Rodney King was pulled over by LAPD. A bystander captured
a video. And the craziest part of this was, the video,
(22:26):
it wasn't like everybody had phones like they do now. Like,
you had to actually have a video camera, which in 1991...
People didn't just have a video camera. So a bystander
captures a video of the officers repeatedly striking Rodney King
with batons and using excessive force during the arrest. The
footage becomes widely publicized. There's outrage, obviously, to the apparent brutality,
(22:50):
the racial bias. And in April 1992, which puts us
in this episode, a jury acquitted all four officers of
charges related to the use of excessive force despite the
video evidence. And I will say that's a jury without
a single black member. The verdict led to frustration, then anger,
and basically minority communities saw this as systemic racism and injustice.
(23:14):
After the verdict, Los Angeles erupted into the violent protests
and riots. Six days. Extensive looting, arson, violence, many buildings
were damaged and destroyed. There were numerous injuries and fatalities.
The California governor at the time, Pete Wilson, declared a
state of emergency and requested assistance from the National Guard. Eventually,
the combined efforts of law enforcement and the National Guard
(23:36):
helped quell the riots. But the damage to the city
and the scars left on the city persisted for years
to come. The aftermath of the riots led to discussions
about police reform, community policing, and the need for addressing
underlying systemic issues. Still a significant moment, the 1992, and
unless you watch it on television, I don't think you
(23:57):
even get it. I guess you can watch some of
the YouTube videos now, but it's crazy. 1992, the Rodney
King riots. And now, let's get back to the countdown.
Number six, number six, number six. You've heard me talk
about Alan Jackson a few times on this series, and
it's no surprise. So we're going to talk about him
again because, well, the 90s were huge for Alan Jackson's career.
1992 was no different. He had three songs reach number one.
(24:21):
Here we go. The first one, Dallas. Released in December
of 1991, this was the third single of Alan's second album,
Don't Rock the Jukebox. Alan was a co-writer on the
song with his longtime producer and legendary songwriter, Keith Stiegel.
The song tells the story of a man whose lover,
named Dallas, leaves him to return to her home city,
(24:45):
which is also Dallas, Texas. He then expresses a wish
that Dallas was in Tennessee so his love wouldn't be
so far away from him. The whole inspiration from this
song It came from a performance at Billy Bob's in
Fort Worth, Texas. He made a comment after the show
that he wished Dallas was in Tennessee, and that comment
was the basis for the song. Next up, Love's Gotta
(25:05):
Hold On You, written by Carson Chamberlain and Keith Stiegel.
Alan Jackson released this song July of 1992 as the
final single from his Don't Rock the Jukebox album. This
was the only song that Alan did not co-write on
the album, and the only single of his so far
that he did not take place in the songwriting process.
The song hit the top of the charts. It held
(25:26):
number one for two weeks in September of 1992. The
song's about a man falling in love, but he isn't
really sure why he's acting different. So what does he do?
He goes on to ask his doctor and his friends
why he's feeling this way. Then he finds out that
love's got a hold on him. That's right. The final
number one song, She's Got the Rhythm and I Got
the Blues. Written by Alan Jackson and Randy Travis, this
(25:49):
song was released in October of 1992 and appeared on
his album, a lot about living, and a little about love.
The two artists wrote the song while on tour together
in 1991, and the original plan was to offer the
song to B.B. King, the legendary blues artist. But Alan
Jackson later decided, I think I'll keep that and record
it myself. The song tells the story of a guy
watching his old dance partner dance with someone new. Then
(26:12):
he talks about how he has regret and sadness, and
it's all through a blend of mournful delivery... and also
a little humor as well. Still a hit today. I
love the song. And it has lasted generations, and when
Alan plays shows now, you even see 12-year-olds singing it.
That's a good song.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
Number five.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Let's also look back to February of 1992, because that's
when Travis Tritt and Marty Stewart were inducted into the
Grand Ole Opry. So, Travis Tritt first. At the time
of his induction... Travis Tritt was the youngest member to
be inducted into the Opry at 29 years old. This
was extra significant for Travis Tritt because he had always
believed that his style, which was rowdy and his rock influences,
(26:52):
would prevent him from being invited to join the more
traditional country music institution. But a big reason that Tritt
was invited and got the support of the Opry is
because he had another legend take him under his wing.
And I'm talking about Roy Acuff. Acuff was vocal about
seeing Travis Tritt on the Opry stage more. which led
to his induction in 1992. And at the time of
(27:13):
that induction in 1992, Travis Tritt had a duet that
was rapidly climbing the charts. And who was it with?
You guessed it, Marty Stewart. The song, well, the whiskey
ain't working anymore, peaked at number two on the charts.
And it was a big year for both artists on
it because nine months after Travis Tritt, Marty was inducted
(27:35):
by Jimmy Dickens. Unlike Travis Tritt getting inducted Just a
year after his first appearance, Marty had to wait two
decades before his induction. But he was also just 13
years old when he played the Opry for the first time.
That's right, 13 years old. He was the mandolin player
for Lester Flatt, the bluegrass legend. And before he accepted
the Opry's invitation, Marty Stewart wanted the blessings of country
(27:57):
music icons Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl. Since his induction,
Marty has gone to introduce artists like Terry Clark, Dierks Bentley,
Charlie Daniels, And speaking of Dierks Bentley, I asked Dierks
what he loves about Marty Stewart, and this is what
he said.
Speaker 6 (28:13):
Marty is just one of those guys, like a Hank Jr.,
like a Garth is too, is a bridge for people.
He bridged the gap between certain eras of music. Garth,
you listen to Garth, he brings you in, but he
takes you back to a different genre, era of time.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
And Marty's the same way.
Speaker 6 (28:32):
You listen to his record, like Tempted, or for me,
That's Country, which is a song that really got me
into country music. Then you find out, oh, man, he
used to play with Johnny Cash, and he used to
play with Flatt & Scruggs. And so he's just this
guy that, like, brings in younger people. They get interested
in his music, and then you dig into who he is,
and he takes you back to, like, Waylon and his
two former employers, Johnny Cash and Flatt & Scruggs. So
(28:53):
he's just a bridge. He's such an important person in
country music. Obviously a great artist, and what he's done
with his career. All my favorite singers are the ones
that marinated in Bluegrass first, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stewart, Keith Whitley.
I think that's why... I like Zach Topps so much,
the bluegrass marination. To do that, to be a great
bluegrass musician, you have to study so much music. All
the people that came before you, there are different ways
(29:14):
of doing it. As a mandolin player, Marty had to
learn how Bill Monroe played it, but also how did
Dora Lawson play it? How did the Osborne brothers, how
did Bobby Osborne play the mandolin? You have to study
all these greats before you make your own sound, and
then you get to contribute to it. There's a humbleness
that comes with the a bluegrasser like that, someone that loves,
you don't play bluegrass music unless you love the music.
(29:36):
You're not doing it for like money, that's for sure.
So someone that obviously got into the music because they just.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Love the music.
Speaker 6 (29:42):
First and foremost, love being in a band because that's
all bluegrass music is. He's one of those, there's a
lot of layers. His first record that came out, there
was a country record. He actually apologizes to Lester Flatt
in there about saying, I'm sorry I'm going off and
doing my own thing, but I got to listen to
the music inside of me because it was a big
departure to go do this Hillbilly rock, as he called it.
But he was like, I got to follow what's inside me. Well,
(30:04):
that's what got me into Marty Stewart. It was like
those cool stuff.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
That's country.
Speaker 6 (30:07):
I was thinking about a John Deere tractor and all
this stuff and a coon dog howling in the yard.
I was like a 17-year-old kid drinking beer going, this
is cool. Well, then you dig in a little deeper. Wow,
this guy's got layers to him. So he's just probably
one of the most important people in country music in
general for his knowledge of the music and how much
he's brought so many people back to the good stuff,
the earlier stuff.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Can you speak on his importance to the Opry and
the Opry's importance to him?
Speaker 6 (30:30):
I feel like the Grand Opry was made for someone
like Marty Stewart. He can go out there, and he's
opened some shows for us, which is a weird thing,
but he'll go out there, and I'll watch younger people.
They don't really necessarily know who he is, and by
the end of the third song, they're all in. They
know entertainment when they see it. So he's the perfect
guy for the Opry because he still is the present.
(30:50):
He's still entertaining people at every age group, but his
roots run right through that building.
Speaker 7 (30:55):
He knows.
Speaker 6 (30:56):
The history of the music so well, and that's what.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
The Opry is.
Speaker 6 (30:59):
It's the past, present, and future of country music. So
someone like Marty that knows the history so well can
help guide it towards where it needs to go. I
feel like those two, the Grand Opry and Marty Stewart,
they're more than the same.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Marty has said that he views the Opry as a
foundational institution to country music, and his induction only solidifies
his dedication... to preserving and promoting country music traditions. So
in all, 1992, a big year for both Travis Tritt
and Marty Stewart. It wouldn't be a 90s country podcast
(31:36):
without talking about Garth Brooks. Let's face it, he dominated,
especially early on. And in 1992, he went far beyond
just success, especially just success in the country genre. In
August of 92, he released his first Christmas album, Beyond
the Season. And it became the year's best-selling holiday album
(31:56):
and reached number two on the Billboard 200 and Top
Country Albums chart. Yeah, the guy even made smash hit
country Christmas albums. Then a month later, he released his album,
The Chase. The Chase debuted number one on both the
Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums charts. which was the
record at the time. Off the album came all kinds
of hits, like Somewhere Other Than The Night and I
(32:19):
Went To Work For Her That Summer, A Teenage Kid
So Far From Home. That was a jam, although kind
of creepy. That was a jam. We talked about the
LA riots earlier in the countdown, and since Garth was
so influential on pop culture at the time, he co-wrote
and released We Shall Be Free, which was all about
the riots, and it was his first single released from
(32:41):
the album. And let's not forget about his album Rope
in the Wind, which was released in 1991, but it
was still the top-selling album of 1992, and it was
the first country album to top the year-end album pop chart.
So Garth Brooks is killing it, multiple albums in 1992.
That year, Garth took home the Grammy for Best Country
Vocal Performance. At the ACMs, he took home Entertainer of
(33:02):
the Year and Top Male Vocalist, and he took home
Album of the Year and Entertainer of the Year at
the CMAs. He also came out with a video titled
This is Garth Brooks. Think about This is Garth Brooks
as a concept that's popular these days with Netflix and
all the documentaries. But back then, to see his performances
with 15 country songs and bonus behind-the-scenes footage, it was
(33:23):
unheard of. It was far ahead of its time. And
while 1992 was a wildly successful year for Garth, there
was also a notable incident that happened that year after
a concert in Fresno, California. After Garth finished the show,
he returned with his band to a hotel and was
locked out of his room. And as legend has it,
his bandmates thought he was already aboard and asleep in
(33:45):
the back of the bus. So what did they do?
They packed up and, well, they left, of course. The
crew later realized they left Garth Brooks behind and had
to come back and pick him up at 2 a.m.
from his hotel. But that might have been the worst
part of the year because he was killing it. Garth
Brooks in 1992, well, he was the king of 1992.
Let's take a quick pause from the countdown. The Barcelona Olympics,
(34:07):
the debut of the freaking dream team. The 1992 Summer
Olympics were held in Barcelona, Spain. This is the first
time that the Olympics were held in a non-democratic country
after the end of its dictatorship. Now, 1992, it's all
about Dream Team. It's all about Jordan and Pippen and
Karl Malone, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. I mean, we
(34:28):
could go through all of them. Charles Barkley, John Stockton,
David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullen, Clyde Drexler, Christian Laettner.
The Laettner thing was funny. He was the only college
guy on there. Didn't get to play a whole bunch,
but still super cool. The Dream Team is really one
of the greatest sports teams ever assembled. And a lot
of people will credit the Dream Team to popularizing basketball
on a global scale. I mean, think about that. Michael
(34:49):
Jordan is coming to your country? That's crazy. That's like
if in Mountain Pine, Arkansas, if Garth Brooks came to
Mountain Pine, Arkansas, where I'm from, you'd be like, what?
This is wild. Like we knew he went places, but
we never thought he'd come to this place. A bit.
That's what it was. And the Dream Team dominated. They
were superior in every way. The team won all eight
(35:10):
of its games in the tournament by big margins for
the most part. They got the gold medal. And Michael Jordan,
which we talked about in 1991, the Dream Team with
Michael Jordan brought a bunch of attention to the sport.
Pretty cool. Also, they played it perfectly as well. They
knew they were the biggest ticket in town, and they
embraced that. And that was super cool. The Dream Team
(35:33):
is pretty much credited with making basketball non-American anymore. And
by that, like all the best players aren't American anymore.
And mostly because the dream team was like, look at us,
basketball is cool. And now we got like Luka, you
got Giannis, you got Jokic. Those are all the best players. Shea,
all non-American. That's crazy. Like maybe the four best players,
(35:54):
four of the five best players in the NBA, non-American.
And you know who we have to thank? The 1992
Olympic dream team. Still legendary, still iconic. People still wear
those jerseys. It's pretty cool. We could do a whole
episode on that.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
Hang tight. The Bobbycast will be right back.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Number three, Johnny Cash is inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame. Let's go back, January 1992, because
that is when Johnny Cash got inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame. And I know this isn't
the top ten highlights of rock and roll in 1992,
but this is Johnny Cash we're talking about. His big
night came on January 15th, and he was inducted by
(36:37):
Lyle Lovett. The introduction came with a little bit of controversy,
and all because of that argument that's been going on
since the beginning of time. What is rock? Who is country?
You know what I'm talking about. But the facts are,
Johnny Cash had influence in music well outside of country.
In his speech, Johnny Cash was extremely grateful for his induction, saying,
(36:59):
I'm extremely proud of it, and whether I belong here
or not, I'm going to show it off at home.
And you may say to yourself, I don't think Johnny
Cash was that rock and roll. But think about the
songs like I Walked a Line and Folsom Prison Blues.
Heavy rockabilly. And what's the first part of that word, rockabilly? Yeah,
rock and roll. That's right. Nobody embodied the rock spirit
(37:21):
like Johnny Cash did either. He was trouble. A lot.
And if you look back at the project he did
before he died, that project with Rick Rubin, that was
a rock audience. That was a country audience. hurt the
song that he did that was a Nine Inch Nails song.
That was a Nine Inch Nails song. So there's a
lot of rock and roll in Johnny Cash. His induction night,
(37:42):
he performed Big River. And in his band was Keith
Richards from the Rolling Stones, John Fogerty from Creedence Clearwater Revival,
The Edge from U2, Steve Copper, and Carlos Santana. That
is a heck of a band. So whether you think
Johnny Cash is truly rock and roll or not, the
one thing you can't deny is is that he is
(38:04):
legendary and he influenced so much that is rock music today.
Number two. We talked about Travis Tritt a little bit
ago and how rowdy he was, and he was known
to be problematic at times then. Heck, he's still known
that way now. But 1992 was interesting because he got
into a feud with Billy Ray Cyrus.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
Dang.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
Travis Tritt made headlines when he criticized Billy Ray's song
as it dominated the charts. He said in an interview
he thought the song was frivolous and that the song
didn't make much of a statement. Then, in an interview,
Travis Tritt said he did not want country music to
turn into a butt-wiggling contest. Except he didn't use the
word butt. And because of the popularity of Achy Breaky Heart, well,
(38:48):
because everybody loved it, Travis Tritt kind of became the
villain that summer. So you ask, how did Billy Ray respond? Well,
at first, he didn't say much. But then months later,
at the 1993 AMA Awards, he got on stage, he
delivered a message, and as he won an award in
this message, he said to those people who don't like achy,
(39:11):
breaky heart, here's a quarter, call someone who cares. Now,
of course, the name of Travis Tritt's song from 1991
is Here's a Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares. The feud
was controversial at the time. Looking back, not much to it.
but it did bring attention to the already rapidly growing
country music fan base. And it was getting more and
(39:34):
more mainstream. And as they say, any publicity is good publicity.
I don't believe in that. But in this case, it
definitely was. In the end, Travis Tritt realized he was
a little rude about it. And he did acknowledge he
hurt Billy Ray's feelings. He didn't like that. but he
did stand by his feeling of the song. Travis Trent
and Billy Ray eventually made peace and even performed together
(39:55):
a decade later at a memorial for Waylon Jennings. And
as I said a bit ago, we got to talk
about Billy Ray. So let's get into it. Number one, one, one, one, one, one, one.
That's not an effect. That's my voice. Number one. After
his initial struggle, Billy Ray was finally able to sign
a deal with Mercury Records and he released his debut album,
(40:17):
Some Gave All in 1992. The album was a hit.
The album took America by storm. But that's because Achy
Breaky Heart was a storm. It was an achy breaky tornado.
And it was crossing over. I mean, Billy Ray went
from the line dance guy, the guy with the country
music hit, to that's a country music artist with a
(40:38):
mullet that is now crossing over into mainstream America. I
remember seeing him on The Nanny. And when you made
The Nanny, you officially crossed over. Achy Breaky Heart, massive.
And if you didn't have an Achy Breaky Heart t-shirt,
you probably knew someone that did. But when you go
back and look at the actual genesis of the song
and how it became a hit, it's pretty crazy because
(41:00):
at first the record label thought that Billy Ray and
Achy Breaky Heart, that that was going to be too
difficult to sell to country radio. So if we go
back to that year, Sandy Neese, who was the director
of public relations at Mercury Records, and so she's there
when Billy Ray is signed. And she thought his mullet
was too long, according to the internet. And she thought
(41:20):
he was too shy. She really couldn't get anyone in
the press to talk to him. He also didn't have
any hits, so why would anyone want to talk to him?
And he also looked kind of odd. Everybody at the
label had seen Billy Ray Cyrus play live. And they
would see how women reacted to him because he was
a really good looking guy. So they decided what we're
going to do is we're going to develop this around visuals.
(41:41):
They were going to get this guy and the image
of this guy and the video of this guy in
front of as many women as possible, and then demand,
once they showed it could be done, that Country Radio
play the song. So they hired a choreographer, they made
up the Achy Breaky Line Dance, they scheduled a video shoot,
which they did, and then they sent that video to
every country music club in the United States. And they said, hey,
(42:04):
to the big clubs, if you do this, we'll have
a dance contest, and whomever wins will be sent to
Nashville and be featured on television. So by the time
that the label actually released Achy Breaky Heart, the song
already had an audience, I will say this. I believe
that Achy Breaky Heart made line dancing significantly more popular
in the 90s because you had people that weren't even
(42:26):
country doing country dancing. Achy Breaky Heart, a big deal
because the steps were easy. And sometimes I would go
to the country music clubs. I'd be like, I can't
do this. This is too much. This is way before
my Dancing with the Stars days. But yeah, very easy
to do. The song was super catchy. Next thing you know,
Billy Ray's all over the place. And then the mullet.
(42:48):
I mean, he was the mullet before Morgan Wallen was
the mullet. Achy Breaky Heart has been recorded in so
many languages. There's a Japanese version. There's a Welsh version.
There's a Spanish version. It was massive in Mexico. Achy
Breaky Heart still lives in the hearts of millions of
country music fans. You know, before the song was ever
a hit, it had a different name. And Billy Ray
(43:10):
was playing it at a disco in when he realized
how popular it was. I had Billy Ray Cyrus on
the Bobby cast a few years ago, and we talked
about the origin of this song, Achy Breaky Heart. We
talked about signing with Mercury Records, and we talked about
how he went from his highest moment in his career
to his lowest. So here it is, me with Billy
Ray Cyrus.
Speaker 7 (43:27):
1989, in one week, I wrote three of the songs
off the album, Some Gave All, including Some Gave All.
I'd met a Vietnam veteran in Huntington, West Virginia at
the little bar I played that night, and, um, That
song happened to be the song that I played for
Harold Shedd when after 10 years of being told no,
for the first time somebody said yes.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
That was the song that made someone go, hey, I
see like a flicker of something in you. That's right.
Speaker 7 (43:55):
I came in and it was actually, I was down
that was going to be my last try. I said,
if this doesn't work, I better get a job at
the railroad. And I had this song I'd written. I said,
Some Gay Ball is the song I should play. And
then he said, I'm going to structure you a little deal.
And Mercury Records started a process of offering me a
(44:17):
record deal. And it took a year or two to
make that. To make the record.
Speaker 4 (44:21):
It took a year or two.
Speaker 7 (44:22):
It actually only took two weeks to make the record.
In the summer of 1991, two weeks, I was living
in my car, parked in the parking lot of the
Music Mill. And we recorded all nine tracks. During the
first week of June, and I stuck around and sang
all my vocals and did all my harmonies and all
my overdubs on the second week of June. And then
(44:44):
I went back to my gig in West Virginia and
got fired. A big fistfight broke out and some guns
were involved and me and the band stopped playing. And
the owner said, if you don't keep playing, you're fired.
So out of the highest moment of my life came
the lowest. And I found myself in Richmond, Virginia at
(45:04):
a disco where they just hated us. I mean, they
hated everything we did except for when we would play
this new song I'd cut called, at the time it
was called Don't Tell My Heart. And I noticed no
matter how bad they hated us, when I played Don't
Tell My Heart, they packed the dance floor. And after that,
I told Mercury Records, I said, man, that one song,
(45:24):
Don't Tell My Heart, it's a dance song. Even the
boot scooters. They'd get out there and scoot them boots
across the floor. And I said, I think that song
might be called Achy Breaky Heart because the drunks or
whoever always say, play that achy breaky song.
Speaker 1 (45:39):
That's how you suggested it because the people at the
bar were like, play that achy breaky song. That's funny.
Speaker 7 (45:44):
But it was called Don't Tell My Heart. And Don
Von Trist, the Vietnam veteran who ironically wrote the song,
when he came to meet me at the music meal,
I said, hey, sir. did you ever think about changing
the name of that song to Achy Breaky Heart? And
he said, I don't care what you call it, let's
just get them to put it out. And they did.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
Did you think, and I have some questions about Achy
Breaky Heart in a minute, but Some Gave All, that's
what you wrote on my guitar, and I have affinity
for that song and for the message. When you cut
that record, which is Some Gave All, that's the title track,
Did you feel like that was going to be the
song for you that represented who you were first?
Speaker 7 (46:28):
Everything was on the line with Some Gay Ball because
that was the big test for me and my band.
One of the things I had insisted on was I
wanted to use my band on the session. We played
every night together and we'd work the songs up, very
similar to the Springsteen E Street sound. We just had
a band sound. I said, I really want to use
(46:49):
my band. And Harold Shedd said, you know what, we
we'll try them for one song. And on January 3rd
of 1991, they gave us a test at the mill
and we got to cut one song and we cut
Some Gave All. And they said, okay, we love it.
Let's do nine more. And they scheduled the nine for
(47:10):
the June. So that's like, oh man, I gotta live five,
six more months. And that's when Don't Tell My Heart
came into my life. And I threw off one of
my songs I'd written and added that one just cause
it felt special.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
So you threw off. So last, the last song basically
that was that package of some gave all the record
was achy, break your heart.
Speaker 7 (47:30):
Almost. I added one more that came that I didn't
write and it was called, it could have been me.
And it was the followup to achy, break your heart
written by Reed Nielsen. And, uh, those two songs I
added and, um, threw off to a mind. The one
I threw off was called whiskey, wine and beer. And, um,
I think I wrote it about the same time I
wrote Stop Picking on Willie. I was kind of in
(47:53):
that zone for a moment. I was writing a bunch
of songs in 1989.
Speaker 1 (47:59):
Whenever Achy Breaky Heart, they come to you and go, hey,
won't this be the first single? Are you like, I agree?
Or are you like, I don't know. I have these
other songs that I feel very passionate about.
Speaker 7 (48:12):
I felt like there was one.
Speaker 1 (48:13):
You did?
Speaker 7 (48:14):
There was something about it that especially just because... When
we would play it, you could just feel the energy
and the dance floors would pack. And again, by then,
I started getting these little jobs at country clubs where
they had a lot of boot scoot dancing and that
kind of thing. And that really wasn't my expertise. It
(48:34):
was more of like either I was playing southern rock
or songs I'd written or George Jones and Johnny Cash
and like the standards of country. But when I'd play
Achy Breaky, they'd just pack it out. And it just...
So that was kind of... It felt like a hit.
I don't know what a hit feels like, but it
felt like a hit.
Speaker 1 (48:54):
That's going to wrap it up for 1992. Thanks for
listening to another episode of the series. Or if it's
your first, thanks for checking it out. You did hop
in at a weird time, though, because there's a couple
years we've already done. If you want to check all
the episodes out, well, go do it. Same feed. Just
scroll up. And now let's play the game, What's the
Next Episode? If you guessed 1993... Yeah, you're correct. All right,
(49:18):
so come back for that. Thank you, guys. We'll talk
to you next week or next year.
Speaker 4 (49:22):
Love this episode of The Bobbycast? Subscribe on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Welcome, everybody, to 1992. If you missed 1990 and 1991,
get in your time machine or just scroll back on
the podcast feed and check out the episode. It's all 90s.
And now, welcome aboard the 1992 Country Music Train. Man,
that was cliche as crap. Okay, here we go. Number 10. Okay,
(00:34):
so we're going to start with some of the best
albums from 1992. And I'm going to start with Mary
Chaper Carpenter, Come On, Come On. Now, not my introduction.
Tamari Shepherd Carpenter, because she had an album before that
that had that song. That's the melody of the song.
Don't know all the words. But when I was in
(00:55):
sixth grade, and you're going to hear a little bit
of sixth grade hater coming out. When I was in
sixth grade, I did a talent show. And we did
Ray Stevens' The Streak. It was me and a buddy
of mine. And we got a kid who was a
kindergartner because we thought it would, like, Level up the cuteness.
And we did, oh, yes, they call him the streak. Hilarious.
Had the crowd laughing so hard. We got beat by
(01:17):
someone doing Mary Chapin Carpenter down at the Twist and Shout.
And they weren't even that good. But you know what
they did that was hilarious? At the end of it,
after they did all the dancing, they smiled and they
had blacked out their two front teeth and the audience
lost it. Basically, they did Carrot Top in sixth grade.
And I'm still bitter about that. But that was Mary
Chapin Carpenter's earlier album. But this album, Come On, Come On,
(01:39):
in 1992, really became a defining album when it came
to folk, country, pop influences all in one. The album
kind of established her as a major voice in country
music as well. Now, she had another hit, but you're
talking about this album. I feel lucky. Or passionate kisses. Whoa, whoa.
Or He Thinks He'll Keep Her. It was so much goodness.
(02:02):
And again, it took all these elements that everybody already
liked and put them all together. Great songwriting. The album
had multiple Grammy nominations. Come On, Come On not only
was commercially successful, it eventually went platinum. It also helped
pave the way for a new wave of the singer-songwriters
in country music. So that was what was up. And
(02:23):
that's why I put the album here. Because not that
it wasn't already happening, but she kind of proved you
could be an artist and a songwriter and just do
it yourself. So shout out Mary Chapin Carpenter. Come On,
Come On. 1992. Also from this year, I'm going to
put Vince Gill in there. I still believe in you.
This album quickly became a landmark in contemporary country music.
(02:47):
Vince's tenor voice, I would reenact it if I could,
but I can't. Because he had such an unmistakable voice
and tone within his voice. But also, he wasn't just
an elite singer. He was as good or better as
a musician. He could also produce stuff. great voice, plays
(03:08):
the crap out of a guitar, great songwriter, and just
did ballad after ballad after ballad that were monsters. Now,
he had songs that weren't ballads that were monsters, but
those are the ones that really resonated. If I were
to pick a song that wasn't a ballad, don't let
our love start slipping. Our love starts slipping away. Like
that was, I can't hit that at all. But that
(03:30):
was one of the jams. Give me just one more
last chance before you say we're through. You know I
love you, baby. It's just the last thing I can do.
Freaking awesome. So, traditional country sensibilities in this record, but
a bit polished. A bit abnormally polished. But it was
(03:52):
so good. And if I were to go, okay, what
was the song from this record that has stood the
test of time the most? I still believe in you.
Multiple awards. The Grammy for Best Country Song. And tons
of honors from CMA. It was great. And I Still
Believe in You is still great and feels contemporary and
(04:16):
is beloved in country music. Joe Diffie put out regular Joe.
I gotta say, I didn't get a chance to know
Joe until later in his life. Rest in peace, Joe Diffie.
But man, I really enjoyed being around Joe. And growing
up in Arkansas in the 90s, I listened to a
lot of Joe Diffie because he had songs that were funny.
(04:36):
He had songs that were country. He had like the
things that I was. And so I thought it was
pretty cool because what would happen is I'd play the
Opry and Joe Diffie would be playing the Opry as well.
And when you play the Grand Ole Opry enough times,
you start to form a bit of a community with
other people that perform the Opry a lot. Like I
think Joe Diffie is one of those guys. I think
Ricky Skaggs is one of those guys for me. I think,
(04:57):
I mean, the first time I ever met Kix Brooks
was at the Opry. And so Joe was awesome. Joe
did an episode of the Bobbycast before he passed away.
And what a lot of people didn't know about Joe
is that the reason he decided to move to Nashville
and chase a career as a musician is because he
was laid off by his everyday job back home. Joe
(05:17):
told me this and his entire story about being a
musician and moving to Nashville. Here's a clip of that.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
I was working at a foundry back in Duncan, Oklahoma,
and they shut the plant down and Laid us all off,
and I'd been singing little VFWs.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
How old were you?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I moved to Nashville when I was 28.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Oh, so a little bit older.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Compared to like the 19, 22-year-olds that are moving here now.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
So you get laid off.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, and I had been to Nashville once before with
my aunt and a friend of mine. We did this
little thing as a trio, and we came in, and
my aunt had known somebody here in Nashville. Anyway, we
met with them, and I just fell in love with
the city then, but I didn't have an opportunity then.
because I still had a job at the time, you know.
But when I got laid off, I was like, well,
(06:02):
you know what, I think I'm just going to try it.
So I just loaded up everything I could get in
this whole beat-up car I had, and off I went.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
So at home, are you playing around bars at home
at all?
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Not a lot, honestly. My background was more of a,
I sang in a gospel group, then I went from
that to a bluegrass group. I played bluegrass for about
six years with this group called Special Editions.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Were you known as the guy that was doing music
while working at the plant by your workers?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
By your coworkers?
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Yeah, they'd always ask me to sing.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Would you ever sing at work?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
I don't remember.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Just gather them around and be like, all right, boys.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, I mean, they'd sing that song, you know, whatever.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Isn't it funny how the things at the time that seemed,
and this happened over my career, my life, too. We're really,
I put finger quotes up, unfortunate things that happened to
us turn out to really be blessings.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
The biggest blessing ever, yeah. Because if I hadn't got
laid off, I probably would have never left there, you know.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
When you get laid off, do you remember how that happened?
Did your boss or foreman come in and go, all right,
you're done?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
No, it was just more of a, I got a
phone call, I think, and they said, yeah, plant shut down.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Don't go out there and then immediately do you go
all right time to go to nashville like was it
kind of in the chamber already no it.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Took a took a couple of months you know drawing
unemployment and i thought well you know i might as
well think of something i had a good friend of
mine we used to discuss thing he wanted to he
moved to dallas and became an accountant and he said
you gotta try music you're really good at it and
all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
So and when you got to town did you feel
like you were good enough to get in the mix
immediately I just.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Felt really lost, honestly, when I first got to town,
because I had just gotten divorced, and I missed my kids,
and I was just in this new place, and I
didn't have a place to live, and all this kind
of stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
What'd you do? Where'd you move?
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I finally moved in with a musician, a guy named
David Greer, and we rented a house with no heater
in it for about a year.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
And what are you doing when you first moved to Nashville, meaning...
Are you out trying to meet people, play ride-arounds? What
happens with the new artists?
Speaker 2 (08:02):
First with me, I needed some income, so I got
a job. I knew a guy that worked at Gibson Guitars,
and so they hired me out there to work in
the warehouse shipping guitars everywhere. And then after that, I
would just do whatever I could. I'd go to showcases
and just go hang out just to get out there
(08:23):
and meet people.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
It's so interesting to hear about Like, I know you
as a country music legend, but I love hearing, like,
the origin story of the hustle because I think so
many people don't know that there's a hustle for everyone.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Man, I tell you what, there was days, seriously, you know,
we didn't have anything in the house to eat. I mean, nothing.
One time I had, I think I had, like, I
don't know, 75 cents on me, and I went by
this funny thing. I didn't know they didn't have White
Castles in Duncan. So I saw it said a hamburger,
25 cents.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
I thought, oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
I can, you know, so I stopped getting cold burgers.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
So I know I said, the guys can help you.
I said, yeah, I'd like a hamburger, please. He goes, uh,
just one. I said, yeah, I didn't know they were,
you know, tiny.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Joe Diffie really embodied the every man of country music,
especially in the nineties. So relatable narratives was a big
part of it. I mentioned the humor, but also there
was the heart, uh, ships that don't come in.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
Are you kidding?
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Like that's, A storytelling song right there. The album's production
was very traditional country instrumentation, but also, you know, there
was a little polish in that Vince. There's a different
kind of polish on this that allowed his vocals to
shine through. So Joe Diffie, a massive part of country music.
(09:46):
1992 regular Joe comes out. It's tough to put up
greatest hits. Because anyone that says their favorite album is
the greatest hit, I go, ah, you're kind of a loser.
Because that ain't your favorite album. It ain't your favorite
artist if you pick a greatest hits. It does make
sense why you would pick a greatest hits, and it
could be the record you listen to the most. Like,
I love Counting Crows across a live wire. But if
(10:07):
someone said, what's your favorite Counting Crows album? I definitely
wouldn't say, that's my favorite album, because that was more
of a compilation of stuff, even though it was live.
Those were live. So, not a big greatest hits guy,
if I'm going to share it and talk about how
Defining that that piece of music is. That collection of music. However,
I'm going to go against what I say here. Randy Travis'
(10:27):
Greatest Hits Volume 1. A cornerstone compilation in the career
of one of country music's most influential voices. And that's
freaking Randy Travis. And I'm talking about, it was all
the great songs from the 80s, early 90s. Randy Travis,
a massive part of 90s country music, But mostly, I
(10:51):
would say, it was a lot of people being reintroduced
to some of his songs from the 80s. Because on this,
it was, I'm gonna love you forever. Forever and ever, amen.
On the other hand, I'm digging up bones. I'm digging
up bones. So it was this as a greatest hits
(11:12):
that reintroduced to some of the young 90s listeners how
great some of his songs from the 80s were. And
so the album was very much a statement on Randy
Travis's enduring impact on the genre because people were still
mimicking him even in different ways. But it also, when
he put this out, kind of cemented him as the
(11:35):
guy who was still young enough to do it, but
the guy who could bridge the gap between classic and
contemporary styles, especially when the 90s started to go, I
won't say crazy, just different. The 90s was modifying what
country music was. Greatest Hits Volume 1, I would say
that it's a celebration of all of his great songs,
but also it was an invitation for new fans to
(11:55):
discover that timeless quality of his music. Big fan of
this Greatest Hits album because I think it did a
lot for him other than just make him some money,
which is mostly what Greatest Hits albums do now. If
you're listening to this, I'm sure you know that Randy
Travis lost his voice after suffering a stroke in 2013.
And it's something we did on our show with Randy.
(12:16):
is he released an album thanks to AI. Now what
that means is they went through and they took all
of Randy's vocals. We'll call them the dry vocals. The
vocals without any instrumentation over it. And they put it
into a machine and they were able to formulate him
making other sounds and singing other songs with all of
his old vocals. And we talked about how hard it
(12:38):
was for him to accept using AI for his voice
and what that experience was like. So I wanted you
to take a listen to this. This is my chat
with Randy. and his wife when they came into the
Bobby Bones show. AI Randy, what would you say to
someone who's skeptical about the technology, given that you had
a really positive experience with it?
Speaker 5 (12:54):
Don't knock it till you try it. I've been skeptical
of technology my whole life, but given this opportunity, I
figured why not give it a shot? And we've been
pleased with the results. It's encouraging to me finally getting
a chance to sing again, just in a different way.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Dang, that's really cool. That's really cool. Let's talk about
your family's reaction. What was their initial reaction once they
heard your voice again for the first time in years?
And was there anyone who was upset by it? And
whose idea was it to do this?
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Mary said I didn't know how much I missed his
voice till I heard it again. The kids were tearing up.
It's been special sharing with the people I love most.
I have to give credit to Chris Lacey and the
team at Warm Music for the idea. We'll see where
it goes.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
That's AI Randy Travis, and I can just ask a
question and he answers it.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
That's really cool.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Pretty amazing. Mary, the first time you heard it back
in its entirety, I mean, this is your husband. This
is the person that you love, and he's had something
taken away from him, which was very important to him,
his voice. But you were able to hear that again.
What was the emotion you felt hearing Randy's voice singing again?
Speaker 3 (13:57):
I just burst out in tears. I mean, just because
11 years of not hearing that voice, which I think
is the greatest voice in the world. And with the
idea that as it was developing, we had no idea
how it would turn out. So when I heard it
in its entirety and upon its completion, it was the
(14:22):
greatest moment in the last 11 years.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Really?
Speaker 6 (14:25):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Everything I prayed for was just to hear his voice.
And this is a different way of hearing his voice,
but it's clearly his voice.
Speaker 6 (14:34):
Randy, what.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
What was the emotion the first time you heard it?
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Was it just like, whoo?
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Yeah. Yeah? Was you so happy? And you're super happy
with it? Because it sounds just, I mean, as a
fan of yours, if I were to just hear that
by itself, I would just think that is an older
recording of your voice with more contemporary sound, obviously. But
I would think that was your voice. It sounds like
you singing, not technology helping it. Did you feel the
(15:00):
same way? Yeah. Number nine. Let's talk about Wynonna Judd. Now,
we did talk about the Judds, and we talked about,
in the last episode, the Farewell Tour, and it was
the end of an era for the Judds, an iconic
country duo, iconic country artist, period. Like, duo, trio, single artist, like,
they were the real deal, always will be. But Wynonna
(15:22):
Judd now was tackling being a solo artist. And in 1992,
Wynonna Judd embarked on her solo career with a lot
of success. Her debut album, which was called Wynonna, was
released that year and became boom, she was automatically freaking Wynonna.
You got songs like She's His Only Need, I Saw
the Light, No One Else on Earth, like all top
(15:45):
of the charts. Her voice, super distinctive. And you know what?
She was very much the lead-ish singer of the Judds.
So it's almost like a lead singer of a band
or like one of the guys from, I don't want
to make the analogy that Florida Georgia Line was like
the Judds, but the guy from Florida Georgia Line, Tyler,
that's a lead singer, That's easy to go, oh, yeah,
I know that guy. That's a familiar voice. That's Tyler Hubbard.
(16:08):
Where Brian Kelly, who wasn't the lead singer, like, what's
even happening? Like, yeah, I was in Florida, Georgia, but
you weren't the lead singer, so we didn't, like, know
your voice. So she was able to have her voice.
She crushed it. If we were to talk about the
album and the awards that it won, like, millions and
millions and millions. No One Else on Earth. No one
else on earth. Became the number one most popular country
(16:30):
song of 1992, according to Billboard year end. Wynonna also
got the Billboard Music Award for Country Single for that song.
Best New Country Artist in 1992, which is crazy because, again,
she wasn't a new artist, but she was a new
artist in that capacity, being a solo artist. And critics
loved it, and people loved it, and that's the hardest
thing to do is to get critics to love it
(16:50):
and people to love it because critics are a little
snobby about stuff. The album was massive for her. It
was a breakthrough, and it really launched the next 10
years of her solo career. Let's do a bonus here.
The Real World premiered, which pioneered reality television. The Real
World was a long-running television show. If you don't know,
(17:11):
if you're a child, if you are a toddler, listen
to this. This is the show. Big Brother, Survivor, even
those early shows that you're like, man, that was all
started because Real World happened. For those that don't know,
here's a little background on The Real World. It followed
a group of diverse individuals, typically in their early 20s,
who were selected to live together in a house or
apartment in a major city. And then the cameras were
(17:31):
just always on. Now, I wasn't so much a real-world fan,
I've got to be honest with you. I didn't have
MTV growing up. And so once I got to college,
it had been on for a while, and mostly I
was just listening to that Counting Crows record I was
talking about the whole time and then studying. But you
cannot not give it credit for what it did. Cameras
were everywhere the first time that it happened, and it
was getting small interactions and relationships and conflicts and experiences
(17:55):
and jobs and social activities, and it started it all.
The first season of The Real World... took on various
social and personal issues, and then set the tone for
everything else. So you can't have a show about 1992
without bringing up the real world. There you go. And now,
let's get back to the countdown. Number eight. Next up,
George Strait. He decided to add more to his legendary career.
(18:19):
By the way, already legendary, 1992. But he decided, I'm
going to do a little acting, and he acted in
the film Pure Country. In the movie, George Strait plays
Dusty Chandler. a famous country star who is feeling disconnected
from his music and his roots, and he walks away
from all the glitz. He's just looking for meaning, looking
(18:39):
for authenticity. And Pure Country did okay in the theaters,
earned just over $ 15 million, took $ 10 million to make it.
It gained a strong following, particularly among country music fans. Listen,
people still quote it. I mean, my friends still quote it.
The most famous scene in Pure Country is Dusty's performance, a.k.a.
George Strait, of I Cross My Heart. And he's playing
(19:00):
that for Harley during the finale. And spoiler alert, except
I should have said that before I did the spoiler.
So overall, his role in Pure Country allowed him to
expand into acting while also staying true to his country
roots because he played somebody that was true to their
country roots. The movie is remembered for being heartfelt and
his presence. And that soundtrack became a massive part of
(19:22):
George Strait's legacy.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
Hang tight. The Bobbycast will be right back.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Number seven. Let's talk about Hee Haw. You know, last episode,
we talked about the show Hot Country Nights and how
it was short-lived. Well, this time around, I do want
to talk about Hee Haw. I think you probably all
know what Hee Haw is, right? Even if you've only
seen the pictures. or the clips, but Hee Haw was awesome.
And why I want to talk about it in 1992
(19:55):
is because of the significant changes the show made and
the backlash it received along with those changes. Now, first up,
let's talk about the history of the show. Hee Haw
was iconic. It was a country-themed variety show that first
hit the screen in 1969. It was inspired by the
success of other rural comedy shows like Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In,
(20:16):
but tailored toward a more country audience. His music is comedy,
his sketches. It was corny, rural humor, and I'm not
doing a corny joke. They literally were at times in
the corn. The show became a Saturday night staple. Puns,
slapstick stuff, memorable cast members like Buck Owens and Roy Clark.
It was massive and iconic. Now, anytime you mess with
(20:39):
anything iconic, people are going to be upset. And the
show's creators did mess with it. They wanted to overhaul
the show to attract a younger audience. Now, some of
the changes were a new title, The Hee Haw Show.
More pop-oriented country music to go with the times and
the music that people are listening to now. Well, in 1992.
A change in the setting from the iconic barnyard to
(21:03):
the city street and shopping mall backdrops. Safe to say
that people didn't love it. but people don't like when
anything changes in country music. Many people felt alienated, it
wasn't comfortable to them, and when it aired, and it
got its first ratings, boom, big dip. The production of
The Hee Haw Show was halted in the summer of 1992.
(21:23):
The show then transitioned to the name Hee Haw Silver,
which celebrated the show's 25th season by featuring a mix
of classic tapes and also some new footage hosted by
Roy Clark. And although the show had a brief improvement
in the ratings with the new format, The show was
ultimately canceled in June of 1993. All in all, 1992
(21:44):
was a pivotal year for Hee Haw because they tried
to fix it and they couldn't. And eventually it died
like all good things do. Now time for a quick
pause from the countdown. Also in 1992, the Los Angeles Riots,
also known as the Rodney King Riots. Now I touched
on the Rodney King video in the 1991 episode. But
(22:05):
after the acquittal of the four white police officers involved
in the videotape beating of Rodney King, riots ensued in
Los Angeles. It's crazy. Now, the incident took place March 3rd, 1991.
And I can give you a quick recap on that.
Rodney King was pulled over by LAPD. A bystander captured
a video. And the craziest part of this was, the video,
(22:26):
it wasn't like everybody had phones like they do now. Like,
you had to actually have a video camera, which in 1991...
People didn't just have a video camera. So a bystander
captures a video of the officers repeatedly striking Rodney King
with batons and using excessive force during the arrest. The
footage becomes widely publicized. There's outrage, obviously, to the apparent brutality,
(22:50):
the racial bias. And in April 1992, which puts us
in this episode, a jury acquitted all four officers of
charges related to the use of excessive force despite the
video evidence. And I will say that's a jury without
a single black member. The verdict led to frustration, then anger,
and basically minority communities saw this as systemic racism and injustice.
(23:14):
After the verdict, Los Angeles erupted into the violent protests
and riots. Six days. Extensive looting, arson, violence, many buildings
were damaged and destroyed. There were numerous injuries and fatalities.
The California governor at the time, Pete Wilson, declared a
state of emergency and requested assistance from the National Guard. Eventually,
the combined efforts of law enforcement and the National Guard
(23:36):
helped quell the riots. But the damage to the city
and the scars left on the city persisted for years
to come. The aftermath of the riots led to discussions
about police reform, community policing, and the need for addressing
underlying systemic issues. Still a significant moment, the 1992, and
unless you watch it on television, I don't think you
(23:57):
even get it. I guess you can watch some of
the YouTube videos now, but it's crazy. 1992, the Rodney
King riots. And now, let's get back to the countdown.
Number six, number six, number six. You've heard me talk
about Alan Jackson a few times on this series, and
it's no surprise. So we're going to talk about him
again because, well, the 90s were huge for Alan Jackson's career.
1992 was no different. He had three songs reach number one.
(24:21):
Here we go. The first one, Dallas. Released in December
of 1991, this was the third single of Alan's second album,
Don't Rock the Jukebox. Alan was a co-writer on the
song with his longtime producer and legendary songwriter, Keith Stiegel.
The song tells the story of a man whose lover,
named Dallas, leaves him to return to her home city,
(24:45):
which is also Dallas, Texas. He then expresses a wish
that Dallas was in Tennessee so his love wouldn't be
so far away from him. The whole inspiration from this
song It came from a performance at Billy Bob's in
Fort Worth, Texas. He made a comment after the show
that he wished Dallas was in Tennessee, and that comment
was the basis for the song. Next up, Love's Gotta
(25:05):
Hold On You, written by Carson Chamberlain and Keith Stiegel.
Alan Jackson released this song July of 1992 as the
final single from his Don't Rock the Jukebox album. This
was the only song that Alan did not co-write on
the album, and the only single of his so far
that he did not take place in the songwriting process.
The song hit the top of the charts. It held
(25:26):
number one for two weeks in September of 1992. The
song's about a man falling in love, but he isn't
really sure why he's acting different. So what does he do?
He goes on to ask his doctor and his friends
why he's feeling this way. Then he finds out that
love's got a hold on him. That's right. The final
number one song, She's Got the Rhythm and I Got
the Blues. Written by Alan Jackson and Randy Travis, this
(25:49):
song was released in October of 1992 and appeared on
his album, a lot about living, and a little about love.
The two artists wrote the song while on tour together
in 1991, and the original plan was to offer the
song to B.B. King, the legendary blues artist. But Alan
Jackson later decided, I think I'll keep that and record
it myself. The song tells the story of a guy
watching his old dance partner dance with someone new. Then
(26:12):
he talks about how he has regret and sadness, and
it's all through a blend of mournful delivery... and also
a little humor as well. Still a hit today. I
love the song. And it has lasted generations, and when
Alan plays shows now, you even see 12-year-olds singing it.
That's a good song.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
Number five.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Let's also look back to February of 1992, because that's
when Travis Tritt and Marty Stewart were inducted into the
Grand Ole Opry. So, Travis Tritt first. At the time
of his induction... Travis Tritt was the youngest member to
be inducted into the Opry at 29 years old. This
was extra significant for Travis Tritt because he had always
believed that his style, which was rowdy and his rock influences,
(26:52):
would prevent him from being invited to join the more
traditional country music institution. But a big reason that Tritt
was invited and got the support of the Opry is
because he had another legend take him under his wing.
And I'm talking about Roy Acuff. Acuff was vocal about
seeing Travis Tritt on the Opry stage more. which led
to his induction in 1992. And at the time of
(27:13):
that induction in 1992, Travis Tritt had a duet that
was rapidly climbing the charts. And who was it with?
You guessed it, Marty Stewart. The song, well, the whiskey
ain't working anymore, peaked at number two on the charts.
And it was a big year for both artists on
it because nine months after Travis Tritt, Marty was inducted
(27:35):
by Jimmy Dickens. Unlike Travis Tritt getting inducted Just a
year after his first appearance, Marty had to wait two
decades before his induction. But he was also just 13
years old when he played the Opry for the first time.
That's right, 13 years old. He was the mandolin player
for Lester Flatt, the bluegrass legend. And before he accepted
the Opry's invitation, Marty Stewart wanted the blessings of country
(27:57):
music icons Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl. Since his induction,
Marty has gone to introduce artists like Terry Clark, Dierks Bentley,
Charlie Daniels, And speaking of Dierks Bentley, I asked Dierks
what he loves about Marty Stewart, and this is what
he said.
Speaker 6 (28:13):
Marty is just one of those guys, like a Hank Jr.,
like a Garth is too, is a bridge for people.
He bridged the gap between certain eras of music. Garth,
you listen to Garth, he brings you in, but he
takes you back to a different genre, era of time.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
And Marty's the same way.
Speaker 6 (28:32):
You listen to his record, like Tempted, or for me,
That's Country, which is a song that really got me
into country music. Then you find out, oh, man, he
used to play with Johnny Cash, and he used to
play with Flatt & Scruggs. And so he's just this
guy that, like, brings in younger people. They get interested
in his music, and then you dig into who he is,
and he takes you back to, like, Waylon and his
two former employers, Johnny Cash and Flatt & Scruggs. So
(28:53):
he's just a bridge. He's such an important person in
country music. Obviously a great artist, and what he's done
with his career. All my favorite singers are the ones
that marinated in Bluegrass first, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stewart, Keith Whitley.
I think that's why... I like Zach Topps so much,
the bluegrass marination. To do that, to be a great
bluegrass musician, you have to study so much music. All
the people that came before you, there are different ways
(29:14):
of doing it. As a mandolin player, Marty had to
learn how Bill Monroe played it, but also how did
Dora Lawson play it? How did the Osborne brothers, how
did Bobby Osborne play the mandolin? You have to study
all these greats before you make your own sound, and
then you get to contribute to it. There's a humbleness
that comes with the a bluegrasser like that, someone that loves,
you don't play bluegrass music unless you love the music.
(29:36):
You're not doing it for like money, that's for sure.
So someone that obviously got into the music because they just.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Love the music.
Speaker 6 (29:42):
First and foremost, love being in a band because that's
all bluegrass music is. He's one of those, there's a
lot of layers. His first record that came out, there
was a country record. He actually apologizes to Lester Flatt
in there about saying, I'm sorry I'm going off and
doing my own thing, but I got to listen to
the music inside of me because it was a big
departure to go do this Hillbilly rock, as he called it.
But he was like, I got to follow what's inside me. Well,
(30:04):
that's what got me into Marty Stewart. It was like
those cool stuff.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
That's country.
Speaker 6 (30:07):
I was thinking about a John Deere tractor and all
this stuff and a coon dog howling in the yard.
I was like a 17-year-old kid drinking beer going, this
is cool. Well, then you dig in a little deeper. Wow,
this guy's got layers to him. So he's just probably
one of the most important people in country music in
general for his knowledge of the music and how much
he's brought so many people back to the good stuff,
the earlier stuff.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Can you speak on his importance to the Opry and
the Opry's importance to him?
Speaker 6 (30:30):
I feel like the Grand Opry was made for someone
like Marty Stewart. He can go out there, and he's
opened some shows for us, which is a weird thing,
but he'll go out there, and I'll watch younger people.
They don't really necessarily know who he is, and by
the end of the third song, they're all in. They
know entertainment when they see it. So he's the perfect
guy for the Opry because he still is the present.
(30:50):
He's still entertaining people at every age group, but his
roots run right through that building.
Speaker 7 (30:55):
He knows.
Speaker 6 (30:56):
The history of the music so well, and that's what.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
The Opry is.
Speaker 6 (30:59):
It's the past, present, and future of country music. So
someone like Marty that knows the history so well can
help guide it towards where it needs to go. I
feel like those two, the Grand Opry and Marty Stewart,
they're more than the same.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Marty has said that he views the Opry as a
foundational institution to country music, and his induction only solidifies
his dedication... to preserving and promoting country music traditions. So
in all, 1992, a big year for both Travis Tritt
and Marty Stewart. It wouldn't be a 90s country podcast
(31:36):
without talking about Garth Brooks. Let's face it, he dominated,
especially early on. And in 1992, he went far beyond
just success, especially just success in the country genre. In
August of 92, he released his first Christmas album, Beyond
the Season. And it became the year's best-selling holiday album
(31:56):
and reached number two on the Billboard 200 and Top
Country Albums chart. Yeah, the guy even made smash hit
country Christmas albums. Then a month later, he released his album,
The Chase. The Chase debuted number one on both the
Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums charts. which was the
record at the time. Off the album came all kinds
of hits, like Somewhere Other Than The Night and I
(32:19):
Went To Work For Her That Summer, A Teenage Kid
So Far From Home. That was a jam, although kind
of creepy. That was a jam. We talked about the
LA riots earlier in the countdown, and since Garth was
so influential on pop culture at the time, he co-wrote
and released We Shall Be Free, which was all about
the riots, and it was his first single released from
(32:41):
the album. And let's not forget about his album Rope
in the Wind, which was released in 1991, but it
was still the top-selling album of 1992, and it was
the first country album to top the year-end album pop chart.
So Garth Brooks is killing it, multiple albums in 1992.
That year, Garth took home the Grammy for Best Country
Vocal Performance. At the ACMs, he took home Entertainer of
(33:02):
the Year and Top Male Vocalist, and he took home
Album of the Year and Entertainer of the Year at
the CMAs. He also came out with a video titled
This is Garth Brooks. Think about This is Garth Brooks
as a concept that's popular these days with Netflix and
all the documentaries. But back then, to see his performances
with 15 country songs and bonus behind-the-scenes footage, it was
(33:23):
unheard of. It was far ahead of its time. And
while 1992 was a wildly successful year for Garth, there
was also a notable incident that happened that year after
a concert in Fresno, California. After Garth finished the show,
he returned with his band to a hotel and was
locked out of his room. And as legend has it,
his bandmates thought he was already aboard and asleep in
(33:45):
the back of the bus. So what did they do?
They packed up and, well, they left, of course. The
crew later realized they left Garth Brooks behind and had
to come back and pick him up at 2 a.m.
from his hotel. But that might have been the worst
part of the year because he was killing it. Garth
Brooks in 1992, well, he was the king of 1992.
Let's take a quick pause from the countdown. The Barcelona Olympics,
(34:07):
the debut of the freaking dream team. The 1992 Summer
Olympics were held in Barcelona, Spain. This is the first
time that the Olympics were held in a non-democratic country
after the end of its dictatorship. Now, 1992, it's all
about Dream Team. It's all about Jordan and Pippen and
Karl Malone, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. I mean, we
(34:28):
could go through all of them. Charles Barkley, John Stockton,
David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullen, Clyde Drexler, Christian Laettner.
The Laettner thing was funny. He was the only college
guy on there. Didn't get to play a whole bunch,
but still super cool. The Dream Team is really one
of the greatest sports teams ever assembled. And a lot
of people will credit the Dream Team to popularizing basketball
on a global scale. I mean, think about that. Michael
(34:49):
Jordan is coming to your country? That's crazy. That's like
if in Mountain Pine, Arkansas, if Garth Brooks came to
Mountain Pine, Arkansas, where I'm from, you'd be like, what?
This is wild. Like we knew he went places, but
we never thought he'd come to this place. A bit.
That's what it was. And the Dream Team dominated. They
were superior in every way. The team won all eight
(35:10):
of its games in the tournament by big margins for
the most part. They got the gold medal. And Michael Jordan,
which we talked about in 1991, the Dream Team with
Michael Jordan brought a bunch of attention to the sport.
Pretty cool. Also, they played it perfectly as well. They
knew they were the biggest ticket in town, and they
embraced that. And that was super cool. The Dream Team
(35:33):
is pretty much credited with making basketball non-American anymore. And
by that, like all the best players aren't American anymore.
And mostly because the dream team was like, look at us,
basketball is cool. And now we got like Luka, you
got Giannis, you got Jokic. Those are all the best players. Shea,
all non-American. That's crazy. Like maybe the four best players,
(35:54):
four of the five best players in the NBA, non-American.
And you know who we have to thank? The 1992
Olympic dream team. Still legendary, still iconic. People still wear
those jerseys. It's pretty cool. We could do a whole
episode on that.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
Hang tight. The Bobbycast will be right back.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Number three, Johnny Cash is inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame. Let's go back, January 1992, because
that is when Johnny Cash got inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame. And I know this isn't
the top ten highlights of rock and roll in 1992,
but this is Johnny Cash we're talking about. His big
night came on January 15th, and he was inducted by
(36:37):
Lyle Lovett. The introduction came with a little bit of controversy,
and all because of that argument that's been going on
since the beginning of time. What is rock? Who is country?
You know what I'm talking about. But the facts are,
Johnny Cash had influence in music well outside of country.
In his speech, Johnny Cash was extremely grateful for his induction, saying,
(36:59):
I'm extremely proud of it, and whether I belong here
or not, I'm going to show it off at home.
And you may say to yourself, I don't think Johnny
Cash was that rock and roll. But think about the
songs like I Walked a Line and Folsom Prison Blues.
Heavy rockabilly. And what's the first part of that word, rockabilly? Yeah,
rock and roll. That's right. Nobody embodied the rock spirit
(37:21):
like Johnny Cash did either. He was trouble. A lot.
And if you look back at the project he did
before he died, that project with Rick Rubin, that was
a rock audience. That was a country audience. hurt the
song that he did that was a Nine Inch Nails song.
That was a Nine Inch Nails song. So there's a
lot of rock and roll in Johnny Cash. His induction night,
(37:42):
he performed Big River. And in his band was Keith
Richards from the Rolling Stones, John Fogerty from Creedence Clearwater Revival,
The Edge from U2, Steve Copper, and Carlos Santana. That
is a heck of a band. So whether you think
Johnny Cash is truly rock and roll or not, the
one thing you can't deny is is that he is
(38:04):
legendary and he influenced so much that is rock music today.
Number two. We talked about Travis Tritt a little bit
ago and how rowdy he was, and he was known
to be problematic at times then. Heck, he's still known
that way now. But 1992 was interesting because he got
into a feud with Billy Ray Cyrus.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
Dang.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
Travis Tritt made headlines when he criticized Billy Ray's song
as it dominated the charts. He said in an interview
he thought the song was frivolous and that the song
didn't make much of a statement. Then, in an interview,
Travis Tritt said he did not want country music to
turn into a butt-wiggling contest. Except he didn't use the
word butt. And because of the popularity of Achy Breaky Heart, well,
(38:48):
because everybody loved it, Travis Tritt kind of became the
villain that summer. So you ask, how did Billy Ray respond? Well,
at first, he didn't say much. But then months later,
at the 1993 AMA Awards, he got on stage, he
delivered a message, and as he won an award in
this message, he said to those people who don't like achy,
(39:11):
breaky heart, here's a quarter, call someone who cares. Now,
of course, the name of Travis Tritt's song from 1991
is Here's a Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares. The feud
was controversial at the time. Looking back, not much to it.
but it did bring attention to the already rapidly growing
country music fan base. And it was getting more and
(39:34):
more mainstream. And as they say, any publicity is good publicity.
I don't believe in that. But in this case, it
definitely was. In the end, Travis Tritt realized he was
a little rude about it. And he did acknowledge he
hurt Billy Ray's feelings. He didn't like that. but he
did stand by his feeling of the song. Travis Trent
and Billy Ray eventually made peace and even performed together
(39:55):
a decade later at a memorial for Waylon Jennings. And
as I said a bit ago, we got to talk
about Billy Ray. So let's get into it. Number one, one, one, one, one, one, one.
That's not an effect. That's my voice. Number one. After
his initial struggle, Billy Ray was finally able to sign
a deal with Mercury Records and he released his debut album,
(40:17):
Some Gave All in 1992. The album was a hit.
The album took America by storm. But that's because Achy
Breaky Heart was a storm. It was an achy breaky tornado.
And it was crossing over. I mean, Billy Ray went
from the line dance guy, the guy with the country
music hit, to that's a country music artist with a
(40:38):
mullet that is now crossing over into mainstream America. I
remember seeing him on The Nanny. And when you made
The Nanny, you officially crossed over. Achy Breaky Heart, massive.
And if you didn't have an Achy Breaky Heart t-shirt,
you probably knew someone that did. But when you go
back and look at the actual genesis of the song
and how it became a hit, it's pretty crazy because
(41:00):
at first the record label thought that Billy Ray and
Achy Breaky Heart, that that was going to be too
difficult to sell to country radio. So if we go
back to that year, Sandy Neese, who was the director
of public relations at Mercury Records, and so she's there
when Billy Ray is signed. And she thought his mullet
was too long, according to the internet. And she thought
(41:20):
he was too shy. She really couldn't get anyone in
the press to talk to him. He also didn't have
any hits, so why would anyone want to talk to him?
And he also looked kind of odd. Everybody at the
label had seen Billy Ray Cyrus play live. And they
would see how women reacted to him because he was
a really good looking guy. So they decided what we're
going to do is we're going to develop this around visuals.
(41:41):
They were going to get this guy and the image
of this guy and the video of this guy in
front of as many women as possible, and then demand,
once they showed it could be done, that Country Radio
play the song. So they hired a choreographer, they made
up the Achy Breaky Line Dance, they scheduled a video shoot,
which they did, and then they sent that video to
every country music club in the United States. And they said, hey,
(42:04):
to the big clubs, if you do this, we'll have
a dance contest, and whomever wins will be sent to
Nashville and be featured on television. So by the time
that the label actually released Achy Breaky Heart, the song
already had an audience, I will say this. I believe
that Achy Breaky Heart made line dancing significantly more popular
in the 90s because you had people that weren't even
(42:26):
country doing country dancing. Achy Breaky Heart, a big deal
because the steps were easy. And sometimes I would go
to the country music clubs. I'd be like, I can't
do this. This is too much. This is way before
my Dancing with the Stars days. But yeah, very easy
to do. The song was super catchy. Next thing you know,
Billy Ray's all over the place. And then the mullet.
(42:48):
I mean, he was the mullet before Morgan Wallen was
the mullet. Achy Breaky Heart has been recorded in so
many languages. There's a Japanese version. There's a Welsh version.
There's a Spanish version. It was massive in Mexico. Achy
Breaky Heart still lives in the hearts of millions of
country music fans. You know, before the song was ever
a hit, it had a different name. And Billy Ray
(43:10):
was playing it at a disco in when he realized
how popular it was. I had Billy Ray Cyrus on
the Bobby cast a few years ago, and we talked
about the origin of this song, Achy Breaky Heart. We
talked about signing with Mercury Records, and we talked about
how he went from his highest moment in his career
to his lowest. So here it is, me with Billy
Ray Cyrus.
Speaker 7 (43:27):
1989, in one week, I wrote three of the songs
off the album, Some Gave All, including Some Gave All.
I'd met a Vietnam veteran in Huntington, West Virginia at
the little bar I played that night, and, um, That
song happened to be the song that I played for
Harold Shedd when after 10 years of being told no,
for the first time somebody said yes.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
That was the song that made someone go, hey, I
see like a flicker of something in you. That's right.
Speaker 7 (43:55):
I came in and it was actually, I was down
that was going to be my last try. I said,
if this doesn't work, I better get a job at
the railroad. And I had this song I'd written. I said,
Some Gay Ball is the song I should play. And
then he said, I'm going to structure you a little deal.
And Mercury Records started a process of offering me a
(44:17):
record deal. And it took a year or two to
make that. To make the record.
Speaker 4 (44:21):
It took a year or two.
Speaker 7 (44:22):
It actually only took two weeks to make the record.
In the summer of 1991, two weeks, I was living
in my car, parked in the parking lot of the
Music Mill. And we recorded all nine tracks. During the
first week of June, and I stuck around and sang
all my vocals and did all my harmonies and all
my overdubs on the second week of June. And then
(44:44):
I went back to my gig in West Virginia and
got fired. A big fistfight broke out and some guns
were involved and me and the band stopped playing. And
the owner said, if you don't keep playing, you're fired.
So out of the highest moment of my life came
the lowest. And I found myself in Richmond, Virginia at
(45:04):
a disco where they just hated us. I mean, they
hated everything we did except for when we would play
this new song I'd cut called, at the time it
was called Don't Tell My Heart. And I noticed no
matter how bad they hated us, when I played Don't
Tell My Heart, they packed the dance floor. And after that,
I told Mercury Records, I said, man, that one song,
(45:24):
Don't Tell My Heart, it's a dance song. Even the
boot scooters. They'd get out there and scoot them boots
across the floor. And I said, I think that song
might be called Achy Breaky Heart because the drunks or
whoever always say, play that achy breaky song.
Speaker 1 (45:39):
That's how you suggested it because the people at the
bar were like, play that achy breaky song. That's funny.
Speaker 7 (45:44):
But it was called Don't Tell My Heart. And Don
Von Trist, the Vietnam veteran who ironically wrote the song,
when he came to meet me at the music meal,
I said, hey, sir. did you ever think about changing
the name of that song to Achy Breaky Heart? And
he said, I don't care what you call it, let's
just get them to put it out. And they did.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
Did you think, and I have some questions about Achy
Breaky Heart in a minute, but Some Gave All, that's
what you wrote on my guitar, and I have affinity
for that song and for the message. When you cut
that record, which is Some Gave All, that's the title track,
Did you feel like that was going to be the
song for you that represented who you were first?
Speaker 7 (46:28):
Everything was on the line with Some Gay Ball because
that was the big test for me and my band.
One of the things I had insisted on was I
wanted to use my band on the session. We played
every night together and we'd work the songs up, very
similar to the Springsteen E Street sound. We just had
a band sound. I said, I really want to use
(46:49):
my band. And Harold Shedd said, you know what, we
we'll try them for one song. And on January 3rd
of 1991, they gave us a test at the mill
and we got to cut one song and we cut
Some Gave All. And they said, okay, we love it.
Let's do nine more. And they scheduled the nine for
(47:10):
the June. So that's like, oh man, I gotta live five,
six more months. And that's when Don't Tell My Heart
came into my life. And I threw off one of
my songs I'd written and added that one just cause
it felt special.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
So you threw off. So last, the last song basically
that was that package of some gave all the record
was achy, break your heart.
Speaker 7 (47:30):
Almost. I added one more that came that I didn't
write and it was called, it could have been me.
And it was the followup to achy, break your heart
written by Reed Nielsen. And, uh, those two songs I
added and, um, threw off to a mind. The one
I threw off was called whiskey, wine and beer. And, um,
I think I wrote it about the same time I
wrote Stop Picking on Willie. I was kind of in
(47:53):
that zone for a moment. I was writing a bunch
of songs in 1989.
Speaker 1 (47:59):
Whenever Achy Breaky Heart, they come to you and go, hey,
won't this be the first single? Are you like, I agree?
Or are you like, I don't know. I have these
other songs that I feel very passionate about.
Speaker 7 (48:12):
I felt like there was one.
Speaker 1 (48:13):
You did?
Speaker 7 (48:14):
There was something about it that especially just because... When
we would play it, you could just feel the energy
and the dance floors would pack. And again, by then,
I started getting these little jobs at country clubs where
they had a lot of boot scoot dancing and that
kind of thing. And that really wasn't my expertise. It
(48:34):
was more of like either I was playing southern rock
or songs I'd written or George Jones and Johnny Cash
and like the standards of country. But when I'd play
Achy Breaky, they'd just pack it out. And it just...
So that was kind of... It felt like a hit.
I don't know what a hit feels like, but it
felt like a hit.
Speaker 1 (48:54):
That's going to wrap it up for 1992. Thanks for
listening to another episode of the series. Or if it's
your first, thanks for checking it out. You did hop
in at a weird time, though, because there's a couple
years we've already done. If you want to check all
the episodes out, well, go do it. Same feed. Just
scroll up. And now let's play the game, What's the
Next Episode? If you guessed 1993... Yeah, you're correct. All right,
(49:18):
so come back for that. Thank you, guys. We'll talk
to you next week or next year.
Speaker 4 (49:22):
Love this episode of The Bobbycast? Subscribe on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Host
Bobby Bones
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