How and why is Garth Brooks the second best selling music artist in the USA?

[T-ski]

I had to suffer hearing Luke Bryan songs twice an hour during work for the last 5 years. Just awful.

Thankfully our store got a new music service and I haven’t heard one country song since, plus it plays popular 80’s hard rock once in a while so it’s been a win-win.

[hefdaddy42]

I would LOVE to see Chris Stapleton live.

Interesting; I'm a huge country fan, but he does nothing for me.  I feel like I've heard it all before on the first four Allman Brothers records.   Plus his "Maggie's Song" is basically a Faces/Rod Stewart rehash.

Allman Brothers? 

 


Stapleton's music sounds literally nothing like the Allman Brothers.

[romdrums]

Never heard of Garth Brook.

See Chris Gaine.

[bosk1]

Personally, I don't have any desire to see any of those (or any other country artist).  But that is simply a reflection of my tastes, and not on the artist or the quality of their music or shows.  I have been to a few country concerts before, and had no problem enjoying myself and enjoying the music (even if, at best, I casually recognized maybe a couple of songs). 

But as to Garth specifically, he's a great artist and performer.  I actually have a few of his albums.  And to anyone who likes a good show and can even mildly tolerate that genre of music, I would HIGHLY recommend watching that Central Park show he did in the '90s.  That is a fantastic show by any standards.

[Dedalus]

Who?

Ah, I asked Google and found out.

[HOF]

Who?

Ah, I asked Google and found out.

I suppose kids today might not know. I feel like he hasn’t been very active in the last 20 years or so.

[Dedalus]

Who?

Ah, I asked Google and found out.

I suppose kids today might not know. I feel like he hasn’t been very active in the last 20 years or so.

I'm 37 .... I've never heard of him, but I'm not from the US. It must be because of that.

[425]

I can't believe we're on the second page and no one has said the obvious correct answer: His music is objectively superior to all other music except the Beatles.

[HOF]

Who?

Ah, I asked Google and found out.

I suppose kids today might not know. I feel like he hasn’t been very active in the last 20 years or so.

I'm 37 .... I've never heard of him, but I'm not from the US. It must be because of that.

Ah yeah, we're about the same age, but I'm sure there are parts of the world where he wasn't so big.

[kirksnosehair]

How? 
He records and sells music that a lot of Americans like.


Why?
Because after the Beatles he's the second best-selling artist in the US




Stay tuned for Wildranger's upcoming polls:


Should I walk to school or bring my lunch?
Isn't cereal really just soup?
How many chickens would it take to kill an elephant?

[Elite]

Did you know coffee is actually hot water with coffee flavour?

[TAC]

You can't seriously consider it cereal if it doesn't have milk.

[Dedalus]

Did you know coffee is actually hot water with coffee flavour?

And the process is called percolation. 

[hefdaddy42]

I feel like he hasn’t been very active in the last 20 years or so.

His first album came out in 1989.  He was then the biggest thing since sliced bread until 2000, when he announced his retirement (he had already sold 100 million albums by that point, and made approximately eleventy jillion dollars).  He retired to spend time with his kids while they were growing up.

He came back to the business in 2014 with a new album and started touring again.

In those intervening years, he raised his kids, and put out occasional boxed set collections, and made sporadic performances, including an occasional residence in Vegas (solo acoustic shows).  He was still pretty big while "retired".

[Stadler]

I would LOVE to see Chris Stapleton live.

Interesting; I'm a huge country fan, but he does nothing for me.  I feel like I've heard it all before on the first four Allman Brothers records.   Plus his "Maggie's Song" is basically a Faces/Rod Stewart rehash.

Allman Brothers? 

 


Stapleton's music sounds literally nothing like the Allman Brothers.

The music doesn't but he does.  To me.

[pg1067]

Did you know coffee is actually hot water with coffee flavour?

I had a short discussion with my 17-year old daughter about whether she might ever drink beer at some point (we've given her sips of various forms of alcohol over the years).  Her response was that she really didn't foresee herself wanting to drink "bread water."

[XeRocks81]

I feel like he hasn’t been very active in the last 20 years or so.

His first album came out in 1989.  He was then the biggest thing since sliced bread until 2000, when he announced his retirement (he had already sold 100 million albums by that point, and made approximately eleventy jillion dollars).  He retired to spend time with his kids while they were growing up.

He came back to the business in 2014 with a new album and started touring again.

In those intervening years, he raised his kids, and put out occasional boxed set collections, and made sporadic performances, including an occasional residence in Vegas (solo acoustic shows).  He was still pretty big while "retired".

no mention of the whole Chris Gaines thing? that was a trip, lol

[Stadler]

Did you know coffee is actually hot water with coffee flavour?

I had a short discussion with my 17-year old daughter about whether she might ever drink beer at some point (we've given her sips of various forms of alcohol over the years).  Her response was that she really didn't foresee herself wanting to drink "bread water."

I had that conversation with my kid at almost the same age.  Fast forward three years later, and she's got a line item in her monthly budget, for "alcohol". 

[pg1067]

Did you know coffee is actually hot water with coffee flavour?

I had a short discussion with my 17-year old daughter about whether she might ever drink beer at some point (we've given her sips of various forms of alcohol over the years).  Her response was that she really didn't foresee herself wanting to drink "bread water."

I had that conversation with my kid at almost the same age.  Fast forward three years later, and she's got a line item in her monthly budget, for "alcohol".

She was talking about beer specifically.  She did not foreclose the possibility of becoming a bourbon connoisseur or something like that.  Nor am I foreclosing the possibility that she'll develop a taste for beer once she gets to college.   

[WildRanger]

I can't believe we're on the second page and no one has said the obvious correct answer: His music is objectively superior to all other music except the Beatles.

I know you're kidding here. Objectively speaking, he is far from the second greatest music artist of all time. 

[twosuitsluke]

I can't believe we're on the second page and no one has said the obvious correct answer: His music is objectively superior to all other music except the Beatles.

I know you're kidding here. Objectively speaking, he is far from the second greatest music artist of all time. 

WildRanger, if we can agree, for arguments sake, that The Beatles are the greatest musical artists of all time (as you don't appear to be arguing or disbelieving of that point), then whether you like it or not, based on sales Garth Brooks must be considered as one of the greatest music artists of all time.

If he has sold that well he must be doing something right, that appeals to literally millions of people. That makes him a great musical artist. I can't really say if I am a fan personally, as I couldn't name one of his songs. I know you like to think being a fan of bands who may be technically more accomplished at their chosen instrument, or play complex songs that a lot of musicians couldn't play makes, you, them or anyone else who likes them superior to music you deem as inferior. That however is just untrue.

[soupytwist]

I'm aware of the name, but couldn't name a song or pick him out of a line-up  (I had a look, he's like a fatter shetson wearing Woody Harrelson).
Checked his Discography and he's only had one top ten album in the UK (and that fell out the top 40 next week) and his highest single charted at 38.

I would say Country music doesn't do well in the UK - but in the same peak period for Brooks, Shania Twain was all over UK radio and had a huge coupling of selling albums.

[WildRanger]

I can't believe we're on the second page and no one has said the obvious correct answer: His music is objectively superior to all other music except the Beatles.

I know you're kidding here. Objectively speaking, he is far from the second greatest music artist of all time. 

WildRanger, if we can agree, for arguments sake, that The Beatles are the greatest musical artists of all time (as you don't appear to be arguing or disbelieving of that point), then whether you like it or not, based on sales Garth Brooks must be considered as one of the greatest music artists of all time.

If he has sold that well he must be doing something right, that appeals to literally millions of people. That makes him a great musical artist. I can't really say if I am a fan personally, as I couldn't name one of his songs. I know you like to think being a fan of bands who may be technically more accomplished at their chosen instrument, or play complex songs that a lot of musicians couldn't play makes, you, them or anyone else who likes them superior to music you deem as inferior. That however is just untrue.

I'm not a big Beatles guy by any means and I rarely listen their stuff, but they, as a band, tick many boxes to be a serious contender for "the greatest band of all time". Garth Brooks tick much less boxes to be among "the greats". I can't deny that he might be doing something right because the masses of people dig his music, but commercial success is not a main indicator for greatness. For example, both Johnny Cash and Brooks belong to country category but the fact that Brooks has sold a way more records than Cash does not make him a greater artist than Cash. Cash will always be generally held in much higher regard than Brooks, despite being commercially much less successful.

And I never said that only technically complex music has a big artistic merit. Most Beatles or Stones songs are not complex at all but they have a big artistic merit.

[KevShmev]

To me, the biggest strike against Garth Brooks is his lack of songwriting.  A quick scan of the writing credits on this albums shows that there are a lot of songs on his albums that he did not write (or co-write), and he had no part of writing Friends in Low Places, which has to be by far his most well known song.  Yes, he was a writer on a lot of his songs, but he was not a writer on many as well.  To me, being a songwriter is very important when discussing artistic merit.

All that aside, there is denying how massive he was and is.  And his widespread influence is undeniable.

[Stadler]

No offense, I'm skeptical of any "objectively great" discussion.  But let's assume I agree with you on that, then I still think you're under-rating the importance of Garth Brooks.   While country had a little bit of a surge in the late 70's, with Dolly Parton, Glen Campbell and Kenny Rogers having cross-over hits, by the early to mid 80's, country was a dead issue beyond the core fanbase.   Garth's debut was in '89, and even though Shania Twain gets mentioned here, her first album with Mutt Lange wasn't until 1995, and by then, Garth had five or six records out (he was doing basically an album a year for the first few years).

He was touring arenas and stadiums on his own when most country artists were struggling to fill 3,000 seat theaters as part of a package tour or as opening acts.  I don't know about where you live, but here, in the States, the "Country Music Awards" is a prime time, major network show, rivalling the Oscars and the Grammys.

[T-ski]

To me, the biggest strike against Garth Brooks is his lack of songwriting.  A quick scan of the writing credits on this albums shows that there are a lot of songs on his albums that he did not write (or co-write), and he had no part of writing Friends in Low Places, which has to be by far his most well known song.  Yes, he was a writer on a lot of his songs, but he was not a writer on many as well.  To me, being a songwriter is very important when discussing artistic merit.

All that aside, there is denying how massive he was and is.  And his widespread influence is undeniable.

I’m not sure how many popular country artists write their own songs, it’s mostly writers looking for the the right artist to sing their songs.

[Stadler]

To me, the biggest strike against Garth Brooks is his lack of songwriting.  A quick scan of the writing credits on this albums shows that there are a lot of songs on his albums that he did not write (or co-write), and he had no part of writing Friends in Low Places, which has to be by far his most well known song.  Yes, he was a writer on a lot of his songs, but he was not a writer on many as well.  To me, being a songwriter is very important when discussing artistic merit.

All that aside, there is denying how massive he was and is.  And his widespread influence is undeniable.

I’m not sure how many popular country artists write their own songs, it’s mostly writers looking for the the right artist to sing their songs.

It's not an unfair criticism, necessarily, but I'm not sure it's determinative.  He DOES write; on average, if memory serves, he gets a writing credit on about half to two thirds of the songs on each album, and he has co-written the majority of his hits.  Also, he is in the Songwriters Hall Of Fame, and has received the Gershwin Award (along side McCartney, Simon, Bacharach, King; the youngest to do so).

[KevShmev]

To me, the biggest strike against Garth Brooks is his lack of songwriting.  A quick scan of the writing credits on this albums shows that there are a lot of songs on his albums that he did not write (or co-write), and he had no part of writing Friends in Low Places, which has to be by far his most well known song.  Yes, he was a writer on a lot of his songs, but he was not a writer on many as well.  To me, being a songwriter is very important when discussing artistic merit.

All that aside, there is denying how massive he was and is.  And his widespread influence is undeniable.

I’m not sure how many popular country artists write their own songs, it’s mostly writers looking for the the right artist to sing their songs.

It's not an unfair criticism, necessarily, but I'm not sure it's determinative.  He DOES write; on average, if memory serves, he gets a writing credit on about half to two thirds of the songs on each album, and he has co-written the majority of his hits.  Also, he is in the Songwriters Hall Of Fame, and has received the Gershwin Award (along side McCartney, Simon, Bacharach, King; the youngest to do so).

To be fair, I did point out that he does write a lot of his songs; I just pointed out as well that he also had no hand in writing a lot of songs on his records.  I suspect his percentage of songs he has written is far higher than that of most country artists of the last 30 years, though.

[hefdaddy42]

I suspect his percentage of songs he has written is far higher than that of most country artists of the last 30 years, though.

I would agree with this.

[Stadler]

I suspect his percentage of songs he has written is far higher than that of most country artists of the last 30 years, though.

I would agree with this.

Me too.   Blake Shelton, for example, writes few if any of his songs.

[kirksnosehair]

I'm sure all the people who bought Garth Brooks' albums ran right home to figure out how many of the songs he wrote and how many he didn't and they made a note in their secret list of how many songs each artist has writing credits for.


A few other random artists who didn't write a lot of their songs:



Elvis Presley
Elton John
Frank Sinatra
Diana Ross
Whitney Houston
Marvin Gaye
Nina Simone
Rihanna




pfft, buncha scrubs 

[pg1067]

I can't believe we're on the second page and no one has said the obvious correct answer: His music is objectively superior to all other music except the Beatles.

I know you're kidding here. Objectively speaking, he is far from the second greatest music artist of all time. 

WildRanger, if we can agree, for arguments sake, that The Beatles are the greatest musical artists of all time (as you don't appear to be arguing or disbelieving of that point), then whether you like it or not, based on sales Garth Brooks must be considered as one of the greatest music artists of all time.

Here we go again...

When it comes to this sort of thing, there's no such thing as objectivity (unless you want to compare album sales, concert revenue, etc.).

[Stadler]

I'm sure all the people who bought Garth Brooks' albums ran right home to figure out how many of the songs he wrote and how many he didn't and they made a note in their secret list of how many songs each artist has writing credits for.

HAHA.

[emtee]

The man's threads always grow to multiple pages even though it's the same template every time. He sucks us all in to the objectivity condundrum. We're suckers.

[HOF]

The man's threads always grow to multiple pages even though it's the same template every time. He sucks us all in to the objectivity condundrum. We're suckers.

He’s a DT Forum hit maker. He knows what sells.