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Toby Keith RIP

Gil Bang

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South Austin

South Austin 53219

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16 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

His various albums have racked up some 40 million sales, according to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Keith also notched over 10 billion streams of his song catalog. Overall, he released 21 studio albums and 69 singles, 20 of which reached No. 1 on Billboard's country charts.
 

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/toby-keith-taylor-swift-big-break-flashback-1234962328/amp/
 

You may not like him, but pretty much anyone unbiased would call him a legend.  The few military people I know certainly would.  

RIP

Proud son on of a Marine, but I don't know why the opinion of some folks in the military carry any more weight than others on the "legend" status question.

And, yes, he sold a shit ton of records.  But his appeal is confined to homogenous genre.  There won't be non-Bro Country music artists years from now who will say they were influenced by the work of Toby Keith.  

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HiggyBaby

HiggyBaby 2617

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On 2/6/2024 at 11:46 AM, Dbeasy said:

I never understand people who make strong proclamations that some certain music is trash or sucks. So, you don’t like it. Fine. Who the fuck are you to decide for the world what’s trash music and what’s not?

There’s a lot of music I don’t like, but if other people like it, that’s the whole point, isn’t it? So fuck off you “pretend” music critics. 

Reminds me of this Dave Grohl quote. Life’s too short, enjoy what you enjoy. 
 

“

I don’t believe in guilty pleasures. If you fucking like something, like it. That’s what’s wrong with our generation: that residual punk rock guilt, like, “You’re not supposed to like that. That’s not fucking cool.” Don’t fucking think it’s not cool to like Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” It is cool to like Britney Spears’ “Toxic”! Why the fuck not? Fuck you! That’s who I am, goddamn it! That whole guilty pleasure thing is full of fucking shit.”
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ChiTownDoc

ChiTownDoc 21345

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8 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Proud son on of a Marine, but I don't know why the opinion of some folks in the military carry any more weight than others on the "legend" status question.

And, yes, he sold a shit ton of records.  But his appeal is confined to homogenous genre.  There won't be non-Bro Country music artists years from now who will say they were influenced by the work of Toby Keith.  

I don’t think their opinion means more - was saying he did a lot for them, why else would so many of them enjoy shitty music?  Saying it’s a feather in his coffin that he did work for active troops.  
Not a fan of his music or politics but he had some catchy songs I would listen to if they came on.  
Also some people grumbled he didn’t give nearly what he could have to OU football.  Well it’s a good man who would give millions to military charities vs any football program. 

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hullabelew

hullabelew 3730

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24 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

His various albums have racked up some 40 million sales, according to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Keith also notched over 10 billion streams of his song catalog. Overall, he released 21 studio albums and 69 singles, 20 of which reached No. 1 on Billboard's country charts.
 

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/toby-keith-taylor-swift-big-break-flashback-1234962328/amp/
 

You may not like him, but pretty much anyone unbiased would call him a legend.  The few military people I know certainly would.  

RIP

I get it.  I really do.  He sold a lot of records.  I was actually surprised to see that he was in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.   Truly, good for him.  Songwriting is hard work and what he set up with Big Machine is outstanding.     I just think the term of 'legend' is a bit much in his case.  To me, record sales isn't measuring stick.  He sold more than probably John Prine, Kris Kristofferson & Emmylou collectively.   Those seem like (to me at least) people that are in the legend category.  

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South Austin

South Austin 53219

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13 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

I don’t think their opinion means more - was saying he did a lot for them, why else would so many of them enjoy shitty music?  Saying it’s a feather in his coffin that he did work for active troops.  
Not a fan of his music or politics but he had some catchy songs I would listen to if they came on.  
Also some people grumbled he didn’t give nearly what he could have to OU football.  Well it’s a good man who would give millions to military charities vs any football program. 

And that's all fair, including knowing better than to give large sums of money to OU.

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gernblansten

gernblansten 3259

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16 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

I don’t think their opinion means more - was saying he did a lot for them, why else would so many of them enjoy shitty music?  Saying it’s a feather in his coffin that he did work for active troops.  
Not a fan of his music or politics but he had some catchy songs I would listen to if they came on.  
Also some people grumbled he didn’t give nearly what he could have to OU football.  Well it’s a good man who would give millions to military charities vs any football program. 

I keep seeing this, but I'm not exactly sure what people are referring to regarding his "politics".

 

From 2017:

"This is by far the best country you could ever live in, and we picked these two candidates to be media whores and go out there and take care of the world, huh?" he said in September at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas. He also called the election a "dumpster fire."

Keith's comments echoed what he told the Chicago Tribune in August. "This election, I don't think it makes a difference," he said when asked if he knew which candidate he would vote for. "I can't believe there's 300 million Americans in this country and we've got these two as our final two. It's absolutely crazy."

Not only is Keith not a fan of Trump, but he was raised a Democrat in Oklahoma and was registered with the party until 2008, when he re-registered as an independent. "I was a Democrat my whole life. They kind of disowned me when I started supporting the troops, then I went and registered independent," he told the Tribune. "I've never been a registered Republican. It just keeps people off balance. They don't know what to think."

Keith would not say whether he voted for Barack Obama or John McCain, but when asked in 2009 if he approved of Obama, he didn't seem to have any problem with the president. "I think he's doing fine," he told CNN. "The stock market's rallied. I mean, I'll always pull for the commander in chief, whoever it is. Clinton, Bush—I always pulled for those guys because I want to live in a country that's functional. I don't want to live in a country that's on the skids. So it doesn't matter if it's a Democrat, independent, Republican or just a citizen who's running for president. If they're doing a good job, let 'em do a good job. So far, so good. All of them will have their ups and downs."

In 2008, he told The Washington Post that he voted for Clinton twice and twice for George W. Bush as well. "I didn't care for Gore or Kerry," he said.

https://www.newsweek.com/toby-keith-not-trump-supporter-544205

 

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ChiTownDoc

ChiTownDoc 21345

Posted
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6 minutes ago, gernblansten said:

I keep seeing this, but I'm not exactly sure what people are referring to regarding his "politics".

 

From 2017:

"This is by far the best country you could ever live in, and we picked these two candidates to be media whores and go out there and take care of the world, huh?" he said in September at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas. He also called the election a "dumpster fire."

Keith's comments echoed what he told the Chicago Tribune in August. "This election, I don't think it makes a difference," he said when asked if he knew which candidate he would vote for. "I can't believe there's 300 million Americans in this country and we've got these two as our final two. It's absolutely crazy."

Not only is Keith not a fan of Trump, but he was raised a Democrat in Oklahoma and was registered with the party until 2008, when he re-registered as an independent. "I was a Democrat my whole life. They kind of disowned me when I started supporting the troops, then I went and registered independent," he told the Tribune. "I've never been a registered Republican. It just keeps people off balance. They don't know what to think."

Keith would not say whether he voted for Barack Obama or John McCain, but when asked in 2009 if he approved of Obama, he didn't seem to have any problem with the president. "I think he's doing fine," he told CNN. "The stock market's rallied. I mean, I'll always pull for the commander in chief, whoever it is. Clinton, Bush—I always pulled for those guys because I want to live in a country that's functional. I don't want to live in a country that's on the skids. So it doesn't matter if it's a Democrat, independent, Republican or just a citizen who's running for president. If they're doing a good job, let 'em do a good job. So far, so good. All of them will have their ups and downs."

In 2008, he told The Washington Post that he voted for Clinton twice and twice for George W. Bush as well. "I didn't care for Gore or Kerry," he said.

https://www.newsweek.com/toby-keith-not-trump-supporter-544205

 

I knew a lot of that but didn’t wanna go down the rabbit hole.  You made all the points I would have if I wasn’t lazy.  

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WBT

WBT 20963

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On 2/6/2024 at 4:20 PM, 83Horn said:

Seriously?  This seems a but dramatic.  Who said this?  If it's true, what about births; wouldn't they uplift him?  Since the world population is increasing, he should be doing alright then, shouldn't he?  I'm confused, and I need answers.

 

On 2/6/2024 at 7:29 PM, CoTex said:

Was it that obscure?

 I kinda thought this was required reading somewhere between Where the Wild Things Are and A Modest Proposal.

Ask not...

I forget the rest

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ChiTownDoc

ChiTownDoc 21345

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1 hour ago, hullabelew said:

I get it.  I really do.  He sold a lot of records.  I was actually surprised to see that he was in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.   Truly, good for him.  Songwriting is hard work and what he set up with Big Machine is outstanding.     I just think the term of 'legend' is a bit much in his case.  To me, record sales isn't measuring stick.  He sold more than probably John Prine, Kris Kristofferson & Emmylou collectively.   Those seem like (to me at least) people that are in the legend category.  

To be fair, my opinions on music are pretty terrible.  

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G650

G650 14437

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The thing about Toby Keith, is he was a legitimately talented songwriter and performer. But he absolutely made a conscious decision to pander after 9/11, in many ways, not just the whole whatever that song was, and he will be remembered for that. This isn't to condemn him or anything, by all accounts he was a very good guy, but it's part of his legacy.

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AbeFroman

AbeFroman 3112

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In ‘08 we were in Bagram he was playing a show, he spent a full day with us unloading airplanes and stacking shit.
 Okie this and that whatever, that is a good man.  I hope he rests well. Rip brother 

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Pokoloco

Pokoloco 1298

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4 hours ago, G650 said:

The thing about Toby Keith, is he was a legitimately talented songwriter and performer. But he absolutely made a conscious decision to pander after 9/11, in many ways, not just the whole whatever that song was, and he will be remembered for that. This isn't to condemn him or anything, by all accounts he was a very good guy, but it's part of his legacy.

At the time, I don't think it was pandering. I don't know how old you were when 9/11 happened but there really was a feeling of helplessness, we were all together on that. A  lot of performers/artists felt like they had to do something. I'll give him a pass on this, he followed it up with action- going on the USO tours, physically helping like Abe Froman mentioned. He spent his time and own money on wounded vets. By all accounts he was a good dude personally. He spent a lot of time around where I live, I've run into him a few times.  I haven't heard anyone who ever met him say anything bad about him. Yeah, he was a huge Sooner fan, but he sang "Shoulda be a Cowboy" at Joes after a bedlam BBall loss.  Solid.

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Clintonaldo

Clintonaldo 2618

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5 hours ago, G650 said:

The thing about Toby Keith, is he was a legitimately talented songwriter and performer. But he absolutely made a conscious decision to pander after 9/11, in many ways, not just the whole whatever that song was, and he will be remembered for that. This isn't to condemn him or anything, by all accounts he was a very good guy, but it's part of his legacy.

This is kind of where I’m at. That clip of Colbert talking about him was very nice. 

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G650

G650 14437

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32 minutes ago, Pokoloco said:

At the time, I don't think it was pandering. I don't know how old you were when 9/11 happened but there really was a feeling of helplessness, we were all together on that. A  lot of performers/artists felt like they had to do something. I'll give him a pass on this, he followed it up with action- going on the USO tours, physically helping like Abe Froman mentioned. He spent his time and own money on wounded vets. By all accounts he was a good dude personally. He spent a lot of time around where I live, I've run into him a few times.  I haven't heard anyone who ever met him say anything bad about him. Yeah, he was a huge Sooner fan, but he sang "Shoulda be a Cowboy" at Joes after a bedlam BBall loss.  Solid.

I was 22. I can remember waking up to the second plane hitting the tower, and freaking out because I was in California, and I with the Pentagon under attack I was worried about my family as they were home in Virginia. I also had a good friend who worked for United that I saw the week before on the same BOS LAX flight that went down that I couldn't get a hold of because all the phones were down. Thankfully he was on a flight from Hawaii and got grounded in Vegas on 9/11

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Mileslong

Mileslong 4801

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I never understand people who make strong proclamations that some certain music is trash or sucks. So, you don’t like it. Fine. Who the fuck are you to decide for the world what’s trash music and what’s not?
There’s a lot of music I don’t like, but if other people like it, that’s the whole point, isn’t it? So fuck off you “pretend” music critics. 

Except I am the one person who can judge what is good music and what isn’t. If you have a question about a particular song, I will be happy to let you know the truth.

Ex. “Courtesy of the red, white and blue” = sucks ass
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Parliament

Parliament 14593

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A man who did all kindsa good things for our soldiers.

Exploited the faux patriotism of 911 for his own benefit.

Generally cool guy who befriended and changed the lives of people we presume have opposing politics

Talentless writer/singer

Made music that was wildly appealing,

He was an Okie.

All of those things can be true.

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Dennis Taylor

Dennis Taylor 19343

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18 minutes ago, Parliament said:

A man who did all kindsa good things for our soldiers.

Exploited the faux patriotism of 911 for his own benefit.

Generally cool guy who befriended and changed the lives of people we presume have opposing politics

Talentless writer/singer

Made music that was wildly appealing,

He was an Okie.

All of those things can be true.

Watched the Dan Rather interview with him and he wrote "Should have been a cowboy" from an offhand remark to a guy in hunting clothes that got shot down for a dance at a bar by some chick only to have her later dancing with a guy in cowboy garb. Several of his other hits came about tbe same way. How is that not a talent? 

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Trey3216

Trey3216 15452

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I'll never forget 12 year old me watching the opening to Super Bowl XXVII in Pasadena and the opening song was "Shoulda Been a Cowboy".  Bright sunny day, Cowboys playing Buffalo.  Shoulda been a Cowboy hit the fucking nail on the head that day.    

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GreenspointTexas

GreenspointTexas 9947

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7 hours ago, Parliament said:

A man who did all kindsa good things for our soldiers.

Exploited the faux patriotism of 911 for his own benefit.

Generally cool guy who befriended and changed the lives of people we presume have opposing politics

Talentless writer/singer

Made music that was wildly appealing,

He was an Okie.

All of those things can be true.

This. Seemed like an ok guy.

 

i just cant believe how many posters on here have such shitty taste in music

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YGIFS

YGIFS 19458

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Well I live by two simple rules...

1.  People who like the kinda music Toby Keith puts out shouldn't be allowed to engage in civic society.

2.  But if Willie Nelson like a person, then they must be good people.  

RIP, Toby.  

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hullabelew

hullabelew 3730

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On 2/11/2024 at 10:11 AM, Aqua Buddha said:

 

Those guys got together for a songwriting session.  None of them had any ideas for a song, but one of them had a solo cup.  As a joke, he said, "Red Solo cup, I fill you up".  As a joke, they wrote the song.  They all thought it was stupid and didn't want anyone to hear it.  One of them, as a joke, played it for some managers.  One of them said, "That sounds like Toby Keith wrote it".   Took it to his manager...  Rest is history.  

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