2004 - The Year In Country Music Review Pt 1.

Hint - Click CD covers for purchasing nd more info on the CD. Music clips will be near the bottom of the page with Rikks MP3 Jukebox

When you think about the Country Music of 2004, it would be impossible to leave out two of the biggest acts that made a smash impact on the way we listen to, or even the way we think about Country Music Today. OK, well at least they bring a bit of the OUTLAW back to Country Music. Big and Rich and Gretchen Wilson came onto the scene as newcomers, and it was hard to turn on a country radio station and NOT hear some tunes from Gretchen's "Here For The Party" or Big and Rich's "Horse Of A Different Color". Wilson's "Red Neck Woman" gave a voice to the working class gal's and Big and Rich just decided to add some humor and sexual innuendos and pizzazz with cuts like "Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)". Big and Rich and Gretchen Wilson were both responsible for some of the best Country Party music of 2004.

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With each year bringing in some new acts that just seem to soar like they had wings, some acts from other years made another strong showing as well. 

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The Top 10 Country Albums (CDs) as reported by Billboard

1: SHOCK'N Y'ALL - Toby Keith (DreamWorks)
2 : WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN - Kenny Chesney (BNA)
3 : HERE FOR THE PARTY - Gretchen Wilson (Epic)
4 : LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYING - Tim McGraw (Curb)
5 : HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR - Big & Rich (Warner Bros)
6 : GREATEST HITS VOLUME II And Some Other Stuff -  Alan Jackson (Arista Nashville)
7 : GOLDEN ROAD - Keith Urban (Capitol)
8 : LICENSE TO CHILL - Jimmy Buffett (Mailboat/RCA)
9 : MUD ON THE TIRES - Brad Paisley (Arista Nashville)
10 : GREATEST HITS VOLUME II - Alan Jackson (Arista Nashville)

Top 5 Country Singles - Billboard

1 : LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYING - Tim McGraw
2 : REMEMBER WHEN - Alan Jackson
3 : YOU'LL THINK OF ME - Keith Urban
4 : WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN - Kenny Chesney & Uncle Kracker
5 : LETTERS FROM HOME - John Michael Montgomery

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Top 5 Country Songs 2004 - R&R® 

1 - Alan Jackson - Remember When
2 - Kenny Chesney f/Uncle Kracker - When The Sun Goes Down
3 - John Michael Montgomery - Letters From Home
4 - Rascal Flatts - Mayberry
5 - Tim McGraw - Live Like You Were Dying

Some COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS HEADLINES from 2004

Brad Cotter is crowned the king of the second Season of Nashville Star. Brad is a great singer and songwriter, still his debut major label release "Patient Man" fails to deliver the goods. Sony Music Nashville were expecting the CD to be bigger than Buddy Jewell's debut self titled CD, Brad lost that contest as Buddy's "Sweet Southern Comfort" kept his sales climbing.

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Shania Twain and Toby Keith come out with Greatest Hits Packages in November - Just in time for Christmas shopping... The girls team beat the guys... in the first week of sales, Shania Twain sold 530,000 copies compared to Toby Keith's 435,000.

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The 46th Annual Grammy Awards showed that traditional country music still means something.... Alison Krauss, Ricky Skaggs, Vince Gill, and Randy Travis all brought statues home.

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The War on Terrorism, and the war in IRAQ still brought the Spirit to many country music songwriters. Songs of soldiers and families left at home were playing across the airwaves again in 2004. Led by John Michael Montgomery's "Letters From Home" and Toby Keith's "American Soldier" (Both in the top 10 Billboard singles chart for the year at #5 and #6 Respectively.

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Two documentary movies on Country Music appeared in select theaters across the USA in March. Kenny Chesney's "Roadcase: The Movie" and the portrayal of Billy Joe Shaver's life in "the Portrait of Billy Joe". That is if you were lucky enough to be in one of the "select" locations.

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Jimmy Buffet Scores his first NUMBER ONE #1 album ever with his countrified project Licensed to chill.

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Also in March, Alan Jackson decides it would be a good idea to play in front of one of the smallest audiences of his career. Jackson and his band play in front of 1,100 fans in Jupiter, Florida (Where Jackson also has a home).

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In May, Toby Keith was the big winner at the ACM awards, his honors included Entertainer of the Year.

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To the delight of some, and the puzzlement of others. The Eric Clapton "Crossroads Guitar Festival" had a few country pickers..... Vince Gill, Dan Tyminski, Marty Stuart and country upstart Jedd Hughes were all on the bill.

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The CMA Music Festival kicked off in June. A great morning performance by Jo Dee Messina and a rooftop concert by Trick Pony kicked off the festival "formerly known as" Fan Fair.

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Kenny Chesney took home the nod for Entertainer of the Year at the CMA Awards. Chesney also won the Album of The Year award for "When The Sun Goes Down".

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To end out the year, Lynn Anderson ("Rose Garden") was charged with Drunk Driving in December.

Click Here for Year IN Country Music Part 2

Click Here for the 2004 - Year IN Music Home page 

To Buy the best in country music, Rikks Revues rekkomends the following online retailers. These links will take you directly to the Country Music Section of each retailer.

Amazon.com   Amazon.ca   Amazon.co.uk   TowerRecords.com
 Buy.com     JR.com    WalMart.com

Independent Country Music Retailers

CD Baby.com Music-Utopia.com

Country Music Clubs

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