SHOULD’VE BEEN A COWBOY

TOBY KEITH
SONGWRITER: TOBY KEITH
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: SHOULD’VE BEEN A COWBOY (25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)
LABEL: MERCURY NASHVILLE RECORDS
GENRE: COUNTRY
YEAR: 1993
 
         Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961) is an American country singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. Keith released his first four studio albums—1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin', plus a Greatest Hits package for various divisions of Mercury Records before leaving Mercury in 1998. These albums all earned Gold or higher certification, and produced several Top Ten singles, including his debut "Should've Been a Cowboy", which topped the country charts and was the most-played country song of the 1990s. The song has received three million spins since its release, according to Broadcast Music Incorporated.
           Signed to DreamWorks Records Nashville in 1998, Keith released his breakthrough single "How Do You Like Me Now?!" in late 1999. This song, the title track to his 1999 album of the same name, was the number one country song of 2000, and one of several chart-toppers during his tenure on DreamWorks Nashville. His next three albums, Pull My Chain, Unleashed, and Shock'n Y'all, produced three more number ones each, and all of the albums were certified 4x Platinum. A second Greatest Hits package followed in 2004, and after that, he released Honkytonk University.
            When DreamWorks closed in 2005, Keith founded the label Show Dog Nashville, which merged with Universal South Records to become Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009. He has released ten studio albums through Show Dog/Show Dog-Universal: 2006's White Trash with Money, 2007's Big Dog Daddy, 2008's That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, 2009's American Ride, 2010's Bullets in the Gun, 2011's Clancy's Tavern, 2012's Hope on the Rocks, 2013's Drinks After Work, 2015's 35 MPH Town, and 2017's The Bus Songs, as well as the compilation 35 Biggest Hits in 2008. Keith also made his acting debut in 2006, starring in the film Broken Bridges, and co-starred with comedian Rodney Carrington in the 2008 film Beer for My Horses, inspired by his song of the same name.
     Keith has released 19 studio albums, two Christmas albums, and five compilation albums; a total worldwide sales of over 40 million albums. He has charted 61 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including 20 number one hits and 21 additional top 10 hits. His longest-lasting number one hits are "Beer for My Horses" (a 2003 duet with Willie Nelson) and "As Good as I Once Was" (2005), at six weeks each. Keith was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Donald Trump in a closed ceremony alongside Ricky Skaggs on January 13, 2021
I bet you've never heard ol' Marshall Dillion say
Miss Kitty have you ever thought of running away
Settling down would you marry me
If I asked you twice and begged you pretty please
She'd of said yes in a New York minute
They never tied the knot
His heart wasn't in it
He stole a kiss as he road away
He never hung his hat up at Kitty's place
 
I should've been a cowboy
I should've learned to rope and ride
Wearing my six-shooter riding my pony on a cattle drive
Stealing the young girl's heart
Just like Gene and Roy
Singing those campfire songs
Oh I should've been a cowboy
 
I might of had a side kick with a funny name
Running wild through the hills chasing Jesse James
Ending up on the brink of danger
Riding shotgun for the Texas Rangers
Go west young man, haven't you been told
California's full of whisky, women and gold
Sleeping out all night beneath the desert stars
Dream in my eye and a prayer in my heart
 
I should've been a Cowboy
I should've learned to rope and ride
Wearing my six-shooter riding my pony on a cattle drive
Stealing the young girl's hearts
Just like Gene and Roy
Singing those campfire songs
Oh I should've been a cowboy
 
I should've been a Cowboy
I should've learned to rope and ride
I'd be wearing my six-shooter riding my pony on a cattle drive
Stealing the young girl's hearts
Just like Gene and Roy
Singing those campfire songs
Oh I should've been a Cowboy
Yeah I should've been a Cowboy
Yeah I should've been a Cowboy.

FISHIN’ IN THE DARK

NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND
SONGWRITERS: PHOTOGLOU JAMES G. & WALDMAN-PARKER WENDY
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: HOLD ON
LABEL: WARNER BROS NASHVILLE
GENRE: COUNTRY ROCK
YEAR: 1987
 
       The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country rock band. The group has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California, in 1966. The band's membership has had at least a dozen changes over the years, including a period from 1976 to 1981 when the band performed and recorded as the Dirt Band.
      Constant members since the early times are singer-guitarist Jeff Hanna and drummer Jimmie Fadden. Multi-instrumentalist John McEuen was with the band from 1966 to 1986 and returned during 2001, staying 16 years, then departing again in November 2017. Keyboardist Bob Carpenter joined the band in 1977. The band is often cited as instrumental to the progression of contemporary country and roots music.
          The band's successes include a cover version of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles". Albums include 1972's Will the Circle be Unbroken, featuring such traditional country artists as Mother Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, Doc Watson, Merle Travis, and Jimmy Martin. A follow-up album based on the same concept, Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two was released in 1989, was certified gold, won two Grammys, and was named Album of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards.
        "Fishin' in the Dark" is a song written by Wendy Waldman and Jim Photoglo, and recorded by American country music group The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. It was released on June 7, 1987 as the second single from their álbum Hold On. It reached number-one on the U.S. and Canadian country charts. It was the band's third number-one single on the U.S. country music charts and the second in Canada. After it became available for download, it has sold over a million digital copies by 2015. It was certified Platinum by the RIAA on September 12, 2014.

Lazy yellow moon comin' up tonite,
shinin' thru the trees,
Crickets are singin' and lightning bugs
are floatin on the breeze
Baby get ready...
 
Across the field where the creek turns back by the ole stone road
I'm gonna take you to a special place that nobody knows
Baby get ready.....OooooooOooo
 
You and me going fishing in the dark,
Lying on our backs and counting the stars
Where the cool grass grows.
Down by the river in the full moon light,
We'll be fallin' in love in the middle of the night
Just movin' slow...
 
Stayin' the whole night thru, feels so good to be with you...
 
Spring is almost over and the summer's comin'
the days are gettin' long
Waited all winter for the time to be right, just to take you along
Baby get ready...
 
And it don't matter if we sit forever and the fish don't bite
Jump in the river and cool ourselves from the heat of the night
Baby get ready.....OoooooooOoo
 
[Repeat the CHORUS (x3)]
 
You and me going fishin in the dark!

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

CHARLIE RICH
SONGWRITERS: BILLY PRESTON; BRUCE FISHER & KENNY O'DELL
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
LABEL: EPIC RECORDS
GENRE: COUNTRY
YEAR: 1973
 
       Charles Allan Rich (December 14, 1932 – July 25, 1995) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. His eclectic style of music was often difficult to classify, encompassing the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country, soul, and gospel genres.
        In the later part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname the Silver Fox. He is perhaps best remembered for a pair of 1973 hits, "Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl". "The Most Beautiful Girl" topped the U.S. country singles charts, as well as the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles charts and earned him two Grammy Awards. Rich was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2015.
"Behind Closed Doors" is a country song written by Kenny O'Dell. It was first recorded by Charlie Rich for his 1973 album Behind Closed Doors. The single was Rich's first number-one hit on the country charts, spent 20 weeks on this chart, and was also a crossover hit on the pop charts. It was certified Platinum by the RIAA for U. S. sales in excess of two million copies. Background vocals were provided by The Nashville Edition.
        Rich's producer, Billy Sherrill, encouraged O'Dell to write music for the singer. O'Dell recalled the creation of "Behind Closed Doors" to Tom Roland in The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits. "It was just a title I had written down, and I had a little guitar riff that I'd carried with me for a couple of years. The chorus was pretty much a little deviation on that." Sherrill later changed some lines at the end of the second verse, but some radio stations banned the record initially as being racy.
        "Behind Closed Doors" earned awards for Song of the Year for O'Dell and Single of the Year for Rich from both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music. Both O'Dell and Rich also received a Grammy Awards for "Behind Closed Doors: Best Country Song for O'Dell and Best Country Vocal Performance, Male for Rich. In 2003, it ranked #9 in CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music.

My baby makes me proud, lord don't she make me proud
She never makes a scene by hanging all over me in a crowd
'cause people like to talk, lord, how they love to talk
But when they turn out the lights, i know she'll be leaving with me
 
Chorus:
And when we get behind closed doors
Then she lets her hair hang down
And she makes me glad i'm a man
Oh no one knows what goes on behind closed doors.
My, behind closed doors.
 
My baby makes me smile, lord don't she make me smile
She's never too far away or too tired to say "i want you"
She's always a lady, just like a lady should be
But when they turn out the lights, she's still a baby to me.
 
Repeat chorus.

I LOVE A RAINY NIGHT

EDDIE RABBIT
SONGWRITERS: DAVID MALLOY; EDDIE RABBIT & EVEN STEVENS
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: HORIZON
LABEL: ELECTRA RECORDS
GENRE: COUNTRY ROCK
YEAR: 1980
 
          Edward Thomas Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 – May 7, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as "Kentucky Rain" for Elvis Presley in 1970 and "Pure Love" for Ronnie Milsap in 1974. Later in the 1970s, Rabbitt helped to develop the crossover-influenced sound of country music prevalent in the 1980s with such hits as "Suspicions", "I Love a Rainy Night" (a number-one hit single on the Billboard Hot 100), and "Every Which Way but Loose" (the theme from the film of the same title). His duets "Both to Each Other (Friends and Lovers)" with Juice Newton and "You and I" with Crystal Gayle later appeared on the soap operas Days of Our Lives and All My Children.
        "I Love a Rainy Night" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Eddie Rabbitt. It was released in November 1980 as the second single from his álbum Horizon. It reached number one on the Hot Country Singles, Billboard Hot 100, and Adult Contemporary Singles charts in early 1981. It was written by Rabbitt, Even Stevens and David Malloy.
Well I love a rainy night
I love a rainy night
I love to hear the thunder
Watch the lightning
When it lights up the sky
You know it makes me feel good
 
Well I love a rainy night
It's such a beautiful sight
I love to feel the rain
On my face
To taste the rain on my lips
In the moonlight shadow
 
Showers washed
All my cares away
I'd wake up to a sunny day
'Cause I love a rainy night
Yes I love a rainy night
Well I love a rainy night
I love a rainy night
 
Well I love a rainy night
I love a rainy night
I love to hear the thunder
Watch the lightning
When it lights up the sky
You know it makes me feel good
 
Well I love a rainy night
It's such a beautiful sight
I love to feel the rain
On my face
To taste the rain on my lips
In the moonlight shadow
 
Puts a song
In this heart of mine
Puts a smile on my face every time
 
'Cause I love a rainy night
Yeah I love a rainy night
Ooh I love a rainy night
Yeah I love a rainy night.