Lost In You

a tribute to the life of Chris Gaines

In September 1999, a greatest hits album emerged from a mysterious source. The Life of Chris Gaines purported to contain the accumulated successes of Chris Gaines, an enigmatic Australian who no one had ever heard of in America. The lead single “Lost In You” made a moderate impact on the charts, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Promotional appearances were scattershot, with the most prominent being a special Behind the Music on VH1…

…and a live performance on Saturday Night Live in November of that year when Garth Brooks hosted.

Hey, wait a minute…

There’s something about that Garth Brooks fella that looks familiar.

Maybe we’ll learn more if we watch the NBC special that only aired once that is supposed to explain who Chris Gaines is. I’ll wait.

Back with me? Okay, here goes:

What does the most successful country music artist in America do when he tires of the grind of country without much mainstream crossover success? He attempts to produce a movie where he plays an Australian rock legend that struggles with fame and its trappings while playing VERY different music from typical country.

Did it succeed? Absolutely not. The album was a flop (despite it generating the only Top 40 single of Garth’s career to date), audiences were put off by the absurd pretense of the concept, and the movie was never made after a trip to development hell. You could make a cogent argument that his career never recovered after this detour, and the top ten Garth songs that follow here are all from before this debacle.

No, I’m not going to write about the Chris Gaines album in detail, as much perverse fun as that could be. Instead, I’m going to recount my personal greatest hits from the Garth catalog. For those completely unfamiliar with Garth, let me provide a brief capsule biography. *deep breath*

Born in Oklahoma in 1962 as the son of a draftsman and a minor country singer from the 1950’s, Troyal Garth Brooks grew up singing and playing music nearly every night with his five siblings. He was an athlete in his teens, earning a scholarship to Oklahoma State University for his proficiency with the javelin where he earned a degree in advertising. Upon graduation he started playing bars and small clubs in his home state, initially interested in rock and pop music until hearing George Strait’s debut single. He shifted over to country and attracted attention from the record industry. After a few false starts, he recorded his first self-titled album in 1989. It was a massive hit, followed by the juggernaut that is No Fences in 1990. He was a full fledged superstar by 1991’s Ropin’ The Wind, and only increased his country audience with 1992’s The Chase and 1993’s In Pieces. The latter is notable for his initial refusal to stock the album in stores that also sold used albums (a decision which led to antitrust lawsuits and eventual capitulation in light of the ironclad first-sale doctrine) and his first world tour. 1995 saw the release of Fresh Horses, with Sevens following in 1997. In 1998, Garth put out the biggest selling live recording of all time Double Live, which has sold 21 million total albums to date.

Then Chris Gaines happened.

Scarecrow came out in 2001 on the heels of his announcement that he was retiring from performing. He stuck with his sabbatical except for scattered benefit concerts until 2009, when he was offered an absolutely obscene amount of money to play Las Vegas on select weekends in a residency at the Encore at Wynn Hotel and Casino. He did this for five years before catching the bug again, signing with Sony Music Nashville for a new album (2014’s Man Against Machine) and a world tour. Gunslinger in 2016 and Fun in 2020 are his latest releases.

Let’s get started. As per usual, these are my opinions and my opinions alone. I’m considering only songs where Garth is the sole credited performer, so no Chris Gaines and no “Voices That Care” (the only song that opens with Ralph Tresvant and Randy Travis harmonizing with Celine Dion). If your opinions differ, I strongly encourage you to yell at me on Twitter or even better, get your own Substack by clicking this button:

Without further ado, let’s begin with number ten…

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10. Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)

This song is the one that put Garth into the public eye for the first time. Besides introducing himself to a national audience, Garth used the opportunity to shout out Chris LeDoux, who had a solid underground following but no real national profile. The attention garnered by LeDoux led to a record deal (brokered by Brooks), and a substantial commercial boost in the last decade of his career before his untimely sickness and eventual death.

9. The River

The fifth single from Ropin’ The Wind, “The River” was written by Garth in conjunction with Victoria Shaw, herself a country singer. Her songwriting ability has garnered far more attention, with this song and John Michael Montgomery’s “I Love the Way You Love Me” leading the pack. This was Garth’s ninth country number one, and one of his enduring country-pop hits on radio for years to come.

8. Ain’t Goin’ Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up)

I strongly believe that Garth is a better performer when he leans into his rock roots rather than his balladeer tendencies, and “Ain’t Goin’ Down” is a prime example. Cowritten by Kim Williams [famous for Joe Diffie’s “If The Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets)”] and Kent Blazy (Garth’s frequent collaborator, including on songs later in this list), the lead single from In Pieces is one of those wonderful songs that has no deeper meaning beyond the surface level; it’s meant to be fun for fun’s sake.

7. Rodeo

“Rodeo” began its life as “Miss Rodeo”, a composition by Larry Bastian about a woman who couldn’t compete with her partner’s affection for the attraction of the rodeo. Bastian shopped it around to any number of female artists, who all declined. Garth took notice when his good friend (and later wife) Trisha Yearwood turned it down, which inspired Garth to ask Bastian to change it for a male performer’s perspective. Garth then used it as the lead single for his third album Ropin’ The Wind.

6. The Dance

The last single from Garth’s debut album, “The Dance” cemented his status as a force in country music to be reckoned with. Its author Tony Arata would go on to write several more Garth songs, including “The Change”, “Kickin’ and Screamin’”, and “That’s The Way I Remember It” from the Chris Gaines album. This was Garth’s first song to attract international attention, and even hit the top 40 pop charts in England. It would go on to become one of Garth’s three “signature songs”, being played at any number of somber events, including Dale Earnhardt’s public memorial and the final episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

5. Unanswered Prayers

Another collaboration with Larry Bastian (and Pat Alger, author of Hal Ketchum’s “Small Town Saturday Night”), “Unanswered Prayers” was the second single from No Fences. This is perhaps the only song on this list that has a Lifetime movie based on it; the movie was released in 2010 starring Eric Close and Samantha Mathis. Watch below:

4. The Thunder Rolls

Prior to his recording career, Brooks worked with other songwriters to build a corpus of songs, either for his eventual debut or to sell on their own right. He and Pat Alger sold the rights to “The Thunder Roll” to Tanya Tucker in 1988, who ended up not releasing it after all. For Garth’s second album No Fences, he revived the track and released it as a single. The video proved controversial, as both TNN and CMT pulled it shortly after its debut anticipating pushback for its theme of domestic violence. The attention caused it to be picked up by mainstream music channels like VH1, who played it frequently. Eventually it won CMA Video of the Year despite the brouhaha.

3. Standing Outside the Fire

Cowritten by frequent collaborator Jenny Yates, the third single from In Pieces was a smash hit in both the domestic and foreign markets, hitting the top 30 on the pop charts in England, 12 on the Irish singles charts, and third on both the Canadian and American country charts. The video is notable for featuring a storyline about a high school student with Down Syndrome, filmed at the same school as was the backdrop for Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher” video.

2. If Tomorrow Never Comes

One of three songs that could be considered Garth’s “signature”, and the most ballad-like of the three, “If Tomorrow Never Comes” was the second single from his self-titled debut. Garth had conceived the idea prior to its writing, but couldn’t find a co-writer to bring it to life. He met Kent Blazy (callback!), and that same day pitched him the idea for the song. Within minutes they had the song down pat. The song has also been recorded by other artists including Ronan Keating of Boyzone, and any number of contestants on American Idol. Take a look:

1. Friends in Low Places

Could it be anything else? The ultimate country party song. If you go into any gathering of more than two people below the Mason Dixon line (and a good fair few above it) singing “Blame it all on my roots…”, you have better than even odds of hearing “I showed up in boots” in return. Garth sang on the original demo when he was just getting started in Nashville, working as a shoe salesman. He met Earl Lee Bud and Dewayne Black at the shoe store, and they suggested their song. Brooks had already signed his record deal for his debut but it was still in the packaging stage; the songs had been picked and recorded, but he was glad to record it as a demo. He asked if he could hold on to the song until his next album, and they acquiesced. The rest is tipsy country history. The highlight of his live shows (including the “secret” third verse with explicit profanity), it’s the most raucous and joyful of his signature songs. I believe it to be his best.

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