- Murder on Music Row
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"Murder on Music Row" Song by George Strait with Alan Jackson from the album Latest Greatest Straitest Hits Released March 7, 2000 Recorded October 27, 1999 Genre Country Length 4:23 Label MCA Nashville Writer Larry Cordle, Larry Shell Producer Tony Brown Latest Greatest Straitest Hits track listing "The Best Day"
(1)"Murder on Music Row"
(2)"Carrying Your Love with Me"
(3)"Murder on Music Row" is a song made popular as a 2000 duet between country music artists George Strait and Alan Jackson. Although not released officially as a single, it gained attention for its criticism of mainstream country music trends at the time, and received enough unsolicited airplay to chart at number 38 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts.
Contents
Content
The song is a criticism of the ongoing trend of country pop crossover acts. Its lyrics tell of how "The steel guitar no longer cries and you can't hear fiddles play / But drums and rock and roll guitars are mixed up in your face."[1] In addition, the song states that older traditional country artists, such as Hank Williams, George Jones, and Merle Haggard, "wouldn't stand a chance on today's radio."
Original version
American bluegrass group Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time originally recorded by the song as the title track of their 1999 album Murder on Music Row.[2] Their version was awarded the Song of the Year award at the 2000 International Bluegrass Music Awards.[3]
George Strait/Alan Jackson version
The song was later covered by Country music artists George Strait and Alan Jackson. Originally, the two singers performed the song together at the 1999 CMA awards show;[4] Strait and Jackson later recorded it for 2000's Latest Greatest Straitest Hits album. The studio version, although never released officially as a single, reached number 38 on the Hot Country Songs chart from unsolicited play and served as the b-side to Strait's late-2000 single "Go On."[5] In 2000, it also received the Country Music Association's award for Vocal Event of the Year,[6] as well as the CMA's Song of the Year award a year later.[2][7]
Chart performance
Chart (2000) Peak
positionU.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks 38 Canadian RPM Country Tracks 47 Dierks Bentley/George Jones version
In 2006 Dierks Bentley and George Jones recorded a version of the song that was included on the album Songs of the Year 2007 that was only available in Cracker Barrel restaurants.
References
- ^ Alan Jackson gives Nashville the finger
- ^ a b Larry Cordle signs with Lonesome Day Records
- ^ “Murder On Music Row” and McCourys Rake In Bluegrass Hardware
- ^ It Don't Matter Who's in Nashville, George Strait Is Still the King
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 407. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
- ^ Alan Jackson Facts
- ^ CMA World
Latest Greatest Straitest Hits George Strait The Road Less Traveled Honkytonkville 50 Number Ones Somewhere Down in Texas It Just Comes Natural Troubadour Twang "Living for the Night" · "Twang" · "I Gotta Get to You" · "The Breath You Take"Here for a Good Time "Here for a Good Time" · "Love's Gonna Make It Alright"Other songs "Murder on Music Row" (w/ Alan Jackson) · "Designated Drinker" (w/ Alan Jackson) · "Shiftwork" (w/ Kenny Chesney)Here in the Real World "Blue Blooded Woman" · "Here in the Real World" · "Wanted" · "Chasin' That Neon Rainbow" · "I'd Love You All Over Again"Don't Rock the Jukebox "Don't Rock the Jukebox" · "Someday" · "Dallas" · "Midnight in Montgomery" · "Love's Got a Hold on You"A Lot About Livin' (And a Little 'bout Love) "She's Got the Rhythm (And I Got the Blues)" · "Tonight I Climbed the Wall" · "Chattahoochee" · "Mercury Blues" · "(Who Says) You Can't Have It All"Who I Am "Summertime Blues" · "Livin' on Love" · "Gone Country" · "Song for the Life" · "I Don't Even Know Your Name"The Greatest Hits Collection Everything I Love "Little Bitty" · "Everything I Love" · "Who's Cheatin' Who" · "There Goes" · "Between the Devil and Me" · "A House with No Curtains"High Mileage Under the Influence When Somebody Loves You Drive "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" · "Drive (For Daddy Gene)" · "Work in Progress" · "That'd Be Alright"Greatest Hits Volume II What I Do "Too Much of a Good Thing" · "Monday Morning Church" · "The Talkin' Song Repair Blues" · "USA Today"Like Red on a Rose "Like Red on a Rose" · "A Woman's Love"Good Time Freight Train "It's Just That Way" · "Hard Hat and a Hammer"34 Number Ones TBD "Long Way to Go"Other songs "Tequila Sunrise" · "Redneck Games" (w/ Jeff Foxworthy) · "Murder on Music Row" (w/ George Strait) · "Designated Drinker" (w/ George Strait) · "You Ain't Just Whistlin' Dixie" (w/ The Bellamy Brothers) · "As She's Walking Away" (w/ Zac Brown Band)See also Singles discographyCategories:- 2000 songs
- George Strait songs
- Alan Jackson songs
- Vocal duets
- Songs produced by Tony Brown
- Songs written by Larry Cordle
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