Garth Brooks: The Road I'm On

[Bankston]

This A&E Biography series is available on Netflix and I'm trying to get through it because I'm a fan and I lived through his meteoric rise to superstardom. He was the first country artist to achieve Elvis/Michael Jackson/Madonna/Beatles level fame. His impact and legacy are still being felt today on popular music. And the series is good, although the content feels like it's been carefully controlled by the artist or management at times.

But what makes it hard for me to watch is that Garth can barely get through talking about anything without getting choked up. He's literally fighting back tears throughout the episodes regardless of the subject he discusses. And he seems pretty serious most of the time but that could just be for the show.

I'm not one these "real men don't cry" kinda guys and I appreciate that he must feel things on a deeper level than others, but it wears me out even though I'm really interested in the subject matter.

Is it just me?

 

[Wyatt Martin]

I watched the majority of it. It's not bad.

He refers to himself in the third person a little too much for my taste. He's a showman and a salesman and I think some of his emotion is rooted in that at times.

Just my opinion...

 

[Wyatt Martin]

He was the first country artist to achieve Elvis/Michael Jackson/Madonna/Beatles level fame. His impact and legacy are still being felt today on popular music.

I was a senior in high school when he started picking up some momentum, right at the time the Seattle/grunge thing was coming on. I have always wondered if that actually catapulted him even higher than he would have ever been without that happening. Not all fans of 80s "hair metal" of every variety didn't stay with the grunge movement and a good majority of those fans starting listening to country and mostly because of Garth.

Garth's music didn't exactly call on the traditional roots and a lot of his songs were fun and upbeat and his slower songs didn't stray too far from being power ballads. The party that was happening in 80s music basically shifted over to country in the 90s. Even a lot of the new acts at the time looked like hair metal bands that just missed the cutoff.

 

[Steadfastly]

This A&E Biography series is available on Netflix and I'm trying to get through it because I'm a fan and I lived through his meteoric rise to superstardom. He was the first country artist to achieve Elvis/Michael Jackson/Madonna/Beatles level fame. His impact and legacy are still being felt today on popular music. And the series is good, although the content feels like it's been carefully controlled by the artist or management at times.

But what makes it hard for me to watch is that Garth can barely get through talking about anything without getting choked up. He's literally fighting back tears throughout the episodes regardless of the subject he discusses. And he seems pretty serious most of the time but that could just be for the show.

I'm not one these "real men don't cry" kinda guys and I appreciate that he must feel things on a deeper level than others, but it wears me out even though I'm really interested in the subject matter.

Is it just me?

My Father-in-law went through something like that and still has the tear syndrome from time to time. It started almost overnight and has been going on for 15 years although the last 5 or 6 years have been quite a bit better. Maybe it's a chemical change or something like that. Maybe Garth has something that has changed chemically causing the tears to flow more freely.

 

[c_mac]

I’ve seen several Garth interviews and clips over the years. Being a country singer from Oklahoma, I think we tend to think of him as a normal, down to earth, country boy. Thing is, he’s just kind of a weird dude...

 

[Bankston]

I’ve seen several Garth interviews and clips over the years. Being a country singer from Oklahoma, I think we tend to think of him as a normal, down to earth, country boy. Thing is, he’s just kind of a weird dude...

I used to work with someone who went to OSU at the same time. That was her exact description.

 

[Sparkman52]

A good friend of mine has played in his band for 20 years. He treats his people incredibly well. Very generous & loyal.

 

[Bankston]

A good friend of mine has played in his band for 20 years. He treats his people incredibly well. Very generous & loyal.

That really comes across during the biography 2-part series. Lots of folks from Ty England down the line have been with him a long time. He also seems to still be on very good terms with his first wife, which speaks highly of his character.

I think it's amazing that he managed to stay pretty down to earth considering the amount of fame he achieved. That level of fame can really screw up someone's psyche.

It also occurred to me that he belongs in the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame. He's the best selling solo artist of all time, regardless of genre. That means he sold more records than Elvis. Only the Beatles have sold more albums than him in the history of popular music.

 

[strike3]

Not really a fan, but I saw him put on maybe the best live show I have ever seen, regardless of genre. Dude flat out busts ass on stage. It was inspirational.

 

[squeally dan]

Just can’t stand his voice.

 

[Bee3]

He’s surely earned the right to be as dramatic as he wants... but yeah, I found it to be really distracting.

 

[buddaman71]

He gets a little too emo at times, but, for what it’s worth, I’ve lived in his hometown of Yukon, OK since 2007, and, tho I haven’t met him, I know many folks who have known him since childhood, as well as other musicians/crew who knew/worked with him over the years, and I’ve never heard anything say a single bad thing about him. He might be a little weird, but I’ve seen him in concert 3 times over the years, and he was great every time. Also, most of his band has been with him 25-30 years. He must be a decent and generous boss, or folks wouldn’t stay onboard like that.

 

[DRS]

Who isn't a little weird?

 

[DrumBob]

I know that the first time he disbanded, he paid band and crew salaries and medical insurance for two solid years. Nice gesture. I'm sure he's a good guy, but his music doesn't do anything for me.

 

[mcp]

About 20+ years ago while demoing a few stage lights to Garth and crew at an arena, when we were removing the fixtures from their truss Garth helped physically remove and pack them. For this reason, Garth is a cool dude. His crew loved him too, they said he really takes care of them. It was unique in how he was their friend and hung out and not just the artist they worked for.

 

[sws1]

Some men cry. Deal with it.

 

[louderock]

Heard nothing but good about him and that after one long successful tour, he bought everyone on his crew a new Ford F-150. Seems like a solid dude but he is "on" all the time in interviews and it comes across as dramatic and contrived at times. Good entertainer. He was kinda the first guy to make country really mainstream. Once they started using Soundscan to actually track record sales, they realized this Garth guy was selling loads of records and a lot more attention got directed at country music.

 

[therhodeo]

He gets a little too emo at times, but, for what it’s worth, I’ve lived in his hometown of Yukon, OK since 2007, and, tho I haven’t met him, I know many folks who have known him since childhood, as well as other musicians/crew who knew/worked with him over the years, and I’ve never heard anything say a single bad thing about him. He might be a little weird, but I’ve seen him in concert 3 times over the years, and he was great every time. Also, most of his band has been with him 25-30 years. He must be a decent and generous boss, or folks wouldn’t stay onboard like that.

I've run into him at Braums before and he was nice. My wife, her sister, mom, and baby niece run into him at Red Robin and asked him if they could get a pic of him with the baby. He sat at the table holding her for like 15 minutes talking about having kids and such. They said he acted like an old friend.

 

[therhodeo]

Some men cry. Deal with it.

Its not that as much as Garth can't tell any story with out it being heavy or dramatic. He intros songs on his xm station and it can be a 5 minute, nearly tear filled, emotional tale to lead into...Beer Run.

 

[Dirty_Tones]

I used to work with someone who went to OSU at the same time. That was her exact description.

Yeah I was his year-for-year contemporary at OSU and was loosely acquainted. He'd put together little bands and play around campus occassionally.