John Anderson (unplugged)

One Liner: "Straight Tequila Night" is a jam, and his killer, singular voice is still there.

Wikipedia Genre: Country
Home: Smithville, TN

Sunday

Thoughts:  What is up with the (unplugged) part here?  This dude sings some straight banger classics - if he going to do them in a weird solo acoustic way?  Or will the whole band be there to do them unplugged?  This is important.  Other fun piece of trivia, when you search Wikipedia for him, there are no less than 134 John Andersons with their own page on Wikipedia.  People from an American escaped slave, to a Scottish genealogist, to a an American sprint canoer, to a Green Bay Packers linebacker, to an Australian chemist, to the Archbishop of Moosonee, to U.S. Representatives from California, Kansas, and Maine, to the Mayor of Christchurch, N.Z., to a Scottish magician, to an American sportscaster (and co-host of Wipeout), to a jazz trumpeter, the lead singer of the band Yes, vocalist for the band Charlie, a Northern Irish composer, and this guy, an American country musician.

Raised in Apopka, Florida, he played in a rock band until he was fifteen when he shifted into country.  He moved to Nashville in 1971, when he was 17, apparently arriving unannounced at his sister's house.  He took odd jobs during the days and played the clubs at night.

First off though, this dude's voice is singular.  Honey-smooth and sounds like nobody else on the radio.  I don't mean this to sound rude, and it likely is, but he seems like the kind of guy who is mainly doing covers of other people's songs, not his own originals that he wrote.  Voice like that, he gets that reign over what he sings.  May be totally wrong though.  Over time, he charted more than 40 singles, including five number ones.  He's been nominated for a few Grammys.  22 albums, and the most recent one was recorded with a veteran Nashville producer as well as Dan Auerbach from the Black Keys.

His first big success is from 1982, and is one you'll likely remember - "Swingin'" - I did not recall that the girl's name in this song was Charlotte Johnson.  This was from the album Wild & Blue, but there is a cleaner version with more guitar on his greatest hits album that has 5x the stream count.  Together, they have 30.5 million streams.

That is the newer version.  Lyrically, is why the brother is on the sofa eating chocolate pie and the dad is in the backyard rolling up a garden hose.  How long does it take to roll up a garden hose?  How is Dad not all over this punk getting his swing on with little Charlotte?  Is chocolate pie a euphemism?  Otherwise, that kid is spoiling his dinner if Mom is just about to serve fried chicken.  This house is chaos.  But this tune blew him up, getting him multiple Grammy nominations and his first number one song.

His first Grammy nomination actually came from before that album, with "I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I'm Gonna Be a Diamond Someday)," which I think gives away too much in the title.  But is a really good song - it was the one that first made me feel like he might be a covers master.

Haha!  I know things!  That was written and originally performed by Billy Joe Shaver!  It has since been covered by Miranda Lambert and Jamey Johnson, so maybe one of those versions is where I've heard it.

After a few less successful albums in the 80's, he switched labels and released a few more unsuccessful albums, before finally releasing 1991's Seminole Wind.  That album included the title track (which peaked at #2) and the 90's banger "Straight Tequila Night," which went to #1 and pulled this album up into double platinum territory.  I think you need both of these.

"Seminole Wind" - 46.9 million streams.

That sucker starts like some "That's Just the Way It Is" action, before the fiddle and drums join the party.  Not enough videos with a good bonfire and shots of the Florida swamp.  Also, that is sort of a protest song, which I dig.  Screw them developers draining the swamp and ruining the world!  And then you get the biggest hit of all - "Straight Tequila Night," with 58.2 million streams.

Absolute dance hall killer right there.  The acting in that video is freaking uhhmaaazing.  She's mad on the step of that honky-tonk the way that my little girl was when she was like 4.  But then, in the rain, she's got some serious Head and Shoulders commercial vibes going on.  I bet she had a long acting career after this video.  According to this helpful website, John Anderson was the only cast and crew in that video.

His version of "She Just Started Likin' Cheating Songs" is great, as are his versions of "Okie from Muskogee" and "Long Black Veil."  I tried out the new disc, to see if he was suddenly playing 70's rock boogie under that voice, but it stays pretty true to the old school.  He's got Blake Shelton on a song that makes me think of Skynyrd, but overall, this could have been just another disc from years ago.  it is good though, and I am very pleased that his voice is still so clean.  His face, on the cover, looks rode hard and put up wet!

I found another concert that was billed as "unplugged" - it looks like he is just going to play with one other dude on acoustic guitar.  They are plugged in, but not playing electric action.

Yeah, I'd go check him out.  I wouldn't say he is a priority one, but his hits are legit and he still sounds good.