4. Home – Dixie Chicks
Some of you may stop reading right there, and i guess i would understand that. But let’s take a time machine, back to before all the controversy, back to February 2003. The Dixie Chicks had just sung the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. This album had just hit #1 on the Billboard charts (not just the country charts) for the 2nd time (after 3 weeks at #1 back in the fall 2002). The album had garnered 4 Grammy Awards, including Best Country Album, and had charted two singles at #7 in the Billboard Hot 100 (Landslide and Long Time Gone). Another single (Travelin’ Soldier) had hit #1 on the country chart. And me, i was listening to this incredible gem over and over again.
My history with the Dixie Chicks goes way back, back to their beginning in 1989 in Dallas. I remember catching them live in the West End at some music festival, along with my best bud Mike B. Natalie wasn’t around back then, of course, at least not with the band (she was 14 at the time). Marti and Emily were still teenagers themselves, but they had obvious talent as musicians. They were little more than a novelty act, though. A cowgirl band, complete with a cactus-shaped standup bass. I tracked them over those early years through their newsletter, as they played every little county fair and honky tonk around Texas.
So my roots with the Chicks run deep, and are not easily cast aside. And even their detractors, if they can be honest about it, would have to admit that the Home album is top-notch stuff. On a per-track basis, this might be the best album of the decade.
My favorite tracks are: Travelin’ Soldier, Godspeed, and Top of the World. I even like White Trash Wedding.
More links:
· A Home – with James Taylor
· Truth #2 – Julie and the kids & i used to dance around to this one
Next up: a transcendent double album from a band from Ohio
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