In these tough economic times, you might look at the title of this post and think that Black & Decker has gone belly up. Rest easy. It's only Brooks & Dunn, the most successful duo in the history of country music. After a career of close to 20 years they will split after a final tour in 2010 and another greatest hits cd. They are the Hall & Oates of country music. My guess is that Ronnie Dunn will continue to make cds since he is a truly great singer.
While I like a lot of their songs, they are what I used to call a Greatest Hits Group. Buy the GH and forget their other cds. If they were starting out today, I'd call them an I-Tunes Group. Buy the individual songs you like and forget the rest. I have The Greatest Hits Collection from 1997 on Arista with 19 tracks including "My Maria", "Hard Workin' Man", "Neon Moon", "Boot Scootin' Boogie", "That Ain't No Way To Go", "She's Not The Cheatin' Kind', "She Used to Be Mine", "He's Got You", "My Next Broken Heart" and "Rock My World (Little Country Girl)". I also have The Greatest Hits Collection II from 2004 on Arista Nashville with 17 tracks including "That's What It's All About", "How Long Gone", "Ain't Nothing Bout You", "Red Dirt Road", "Husbands and Wives" and "Only in America". While they're both very good, anyone new to B&D should wait for their new cd which their website says will be released September 8th. It's called "#1's ... And Then Some". Go to their website and click to preorder. It takes you to Amazon where you can find the titles of the 30 songs on this 2 disc cd. Most of those songs just noted above are included plus more recent hits. At $11.99 plus shipping (free, if your order is over $25), it's a real bargain. Maybe they'll offer it at the same price or less when it goes to stores.
Some other B&D thoughts. Whenever I hear "Only in America" I think of the music video with the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center so there's a tinge of sadness attached to this great song. I never did get to see them in concert mainly because they're so popular that they don't play the type of small venues my wife and I prefer. Maybe some day Ronnie Dunn will play TPAC or the Schermerhorn here in Nashville. My least favorite B&D hit - "Hillbilly Deluxe". Loved their cover on the old Roger Miller hit "Husbands and Wives". A highlight - Ronnie singing"Believe" at one of the country music awards shows a few years ago.
Comments