George Strait- Cowboys and Dreamers
Label: MCA
Producers: George Strait, Tony Brown, Chuck Ainlay
In terms of introducing a George Strait album review, it’s a narrative that was long-ago exhausted across his thirty-album catalog, but it’s one that still applies to Cowboys and Dreamers, his first LP since 2019. We always know what we’re getting with a George Strait record; his predictability, familiarity, and reliable consistency are traits that he’s equally notorious and acclaimed for. Warmly resonant, clean-cut, straight-forward country music is what we’ve always come to want and expect from the man, and on Cowboys & Dreamers, he confirms that neither entering his seventies nor his ultimate exile from the country charts (an event that it forever seemed would elude him) are about to change any of that. His suave twang remains in solid shape, as does his overall taste in material, most of which here is culled from a familiar batch of proven collaborators, with names like Dean Dillon, Guy Clark, Keith Gattis (who passed away last year and is paid tribute on the great Clark co-write, “Rent”), Bobby Braddock, and Jim Lauderdale among them. Cozily breezy moments like opener “Three Drinks Behind” or the amusing hillbilly gospel of “The Book” remind casual listeners and hardcore fans alike how easy so many of his performances go down. Meanwhile, grittier classic country tropes remain his strongest suit on unapologetically real-life portraits like “Calling From the Car”, “To the Moon”, “Wish I Could Say”, and “People Get Hurt Sometimes”. Strait’s never made a bad record, and despite occasional missteps like this album’s harmlessly dull lead single “MIA Down In MIA”, it remains likely that he never will. In fact, moments where he leans into his rougher country leanings like on the Waylon Jennings cover, “Waymore’s Blues”, or the fantastic Chris Stapleton collaboration, “Honky Tonk Hall of Fame”, the record takes flight into an upper-echelon reminiscent of his definitive moments on record. It would be a dream to hear Strait deliver an album fully entrenched in a dirtier, edgier country sound before it’s all said and done. (Hell, the same can be said for Stapleton who channels vintage Travis Tritt on this duet, easily his twangiest moment on record to date.) And of course, given the fact that he concluded his seventh decade on the planet since his last record, it’s only natural that King George spends additional time here waxing poetic on the subject of aging and the passage of time. And it’s also only natural that these moments (the title track, “The Little Things”, “The Journey of Your Life”) pack a more powerful punch than on prior records. It’s alarming, and admittedly a bit crushing, to hear a consistently iconic figure like George Strait finally reach the stage in his life where he is pondering where he fits in the overall musical picture. However, given that a rare concert that he gave this past June saw him break The Grateful Dead’s 1977 American attendance record for ticketed concerts loudly asserts that Strait’s music and legacy is as relevant and revered as ever before. Releases like Cowboys & Dreamers are wonderful addendums to a four-decade canon forever guaranteed an esteemed status in the overall history of recorded music; bonus moments in an already exceedingly generous body of work that we should feel both spoiled and grateful for.
Track Listing:
- “Three Drinks Behind” (Benjamin Gaither, Jeff Silvey, Kim Williams)
- “Cowboys and Dreamers” (Keith Gattis, Jessi Jo Dillon, Bubba Strait)
- “To the Moon” (Marty Brown, Steve Clark)
- “MIA Down in MIA” (Dean Dillon, Adam Craig)
- “Wish I Could Say” (Gattis)
- “Calling From the Car” (Bobby Braddock)
- “People Get Hurt Sometimes” (Jim Lauderdale, Kendell Marvel, Jimmy Ritchey)
- “Honky Tonk Hall of Fame” featuring Chris Stapleton (Chris Stapleton, Jameson Clark, Timothy James)
- “The Little Things” (George Strait, Monty Criswell, B. Strait)
- “The Book” (G. Strait, D. Dillon, J. Dillon, B. Strait)
- “Rent” (Guy Clark, Gattis)
- “Waymore’s Blues” (Waylon Jennings, Curtis Buck)
- “The Journey of Your Life” (Ronnie Bowman, Troy Jones)
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