The Country Music Hall of Fame recently announced its 2019 class of inductees, and iconic '90s country duo Brooks & Dunn, former RCA Records head Jerry Bradley and novelty song king Ray Stevens officially joined the ranks of the genre's most influential and revered artists.
These are icons in their own right, and they are responsible for some of country music's most storied songs. Flip through the slideshow for an essential playlist of excellent tunes from the Country Music Hall of Fame's newest members.
It's rare that any new act has the incredible success that Brooks & Dunn saw with their 1991 debut album, "Brand New Man" on which is the lonesome "Neon Moon," about using the strip club to forget what's gone wrong in your life. The song will has been reimagined for 2019 by country superstar Kacey Musgraves, whose cover will appear on Brooks & Dunn's forthcoming guest-star-packed album, "Reboot."
When Brooks & Dunn released "Boot Scootin' Boogie" in 1991, the country was obsessed with country-western line dancing, a perfect pair to this song's upbeat, thumping tempo. Now, nearly 30 years later, it's still the kind of tune that will get the honky-tonk jumping.
Performed as a duet with country queen Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn's "If You See Him, If You See Her" is a true masterpiece of a '90s country ballad. The video for this 1998 classic is perfectly dramatic, and the voices of Ronnie Dunn, Kix Brooks and McEntire blend together perfectly.
A cover of a 1973 song written by Daniel Moore and B.W. Stevenson, "My Maria" reached new heights when Brooks & Dunn made it a No. 1 hit in 1997. The song won a Grammy that year for Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
The title track of their 1991 debut, Brooks & Dunn' s "Brand New Man stormed onto the country scene. It perfectly nails the harmonies and attitude that turned the duo into '90s country mainstays and kicked off one hell of a career for two artists who had failed to reach those heights alone.
In 2003, Brooks & Dunn got nostalgic with "Red Dirt Road," the title track of their eighth studio album. Written together by Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, the No. 1 hit looks back at first loves, first beers and what it means to find happiness.
Co-written by Ronnie Dunn, "Cowgirls Don't Cry" brought Brooks & Dunn back together with Reba McEntire in 2008. It's technically an alternate version — the original solo just featured Brooks & Dunn — but this version of "Cowgirls Don't Cry" helped earn the duo its 41st top 10 country hit.
The first single from Brooks & Dunn's 1994 album, Waitin' On Sundown, "She's Not The Cheatin' Kind" was written by Dunn and quickly hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart shortly after its release.
In 1984, Ray Stevens cemented his status as one of country music's funniest songwriters with the "Mississippi Squirrel Revival," which tells the story of a loose squirrel that terrorizes the Sunday services at the fictional First Self-Righteous Church in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The goofball tune was such a success that it reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.
It's gone the way of the dodo, but streaking — or getting naked and running through a sporting event — was an actual American phenomenon in the 1970s. In "The Streak," a Stevens classic, a man who's "naked as a jaybird" runs through the grocery store, the service station and a playoff basketball game, and Stevens tells the tale in the most hilarious way possible.
In 1975, Ray Stevens gave jazz standard "Misty" a bluegrass vibe with his own recording of the song, which was a crossover success after it peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also won Stevens a Grammy for Music Arrangement of the Year.
His most successful song to date, "Everything Is Beautiful" is a far cry from "Gitarzan" and other goofball Stevens songs. It's an uplifting, anti-discrimination manifesto of sorts, reminding us all that everyone and everything is beautiful. It hit No. 1 in the United States, Australia and Canada, and it was later covered by Bing Crosby, Neil Sedaka among other artists.
Dressed in both safari gear and a loincoth-clad muscle man suit in the music video for "Gitarzan," Stevens portrays a jungle man who has his own boogie-woogie band that features a gorilla on vocals. It was a crossover hit for Stevens, peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Well before Johnny Cash turned "Sunday Morning Coming Down" into an instant country classic, Stevens recorded his own version in 1969, and it's excellent in its own way. Stripped of Cash's distinct vocals, Stevens showcases his vocals and cultivates his own starkly sad vibe in a completely different way in his version of the song.
With one of the longest song titles in Billboard history, "Jeremiah Peabody's Poly Unsaturated Quick-Dissolving Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills" promises a cure for everything from stress to sinus drainage. It's a "wonder drug that cures all your ills," and the boppy tune peaked at No. 35 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Alongside Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser, Jerry Bradley shepherded the production of "Wanted! The Outlaws," country music's first platinum album. Its lead track, "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys," performed by Jennings, has endured as one of outlaw country's most iconic songs.
The wife of Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter was an outlaw country legend in her own right and brought both tenderness and stunning vocals to "Wanted! The Outlaws," produced by Jerry Bradley, with "I'm Looking For Blue Eyes," a top 10 country hit.
Already a fixture in country music, Jerry Bradley helped Dolly Parton achieve crossover success on the pop charts, and "Here You Come Again" is one of the best examples of their work together. It peaked at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 and marked the beginning of Parton's pop takeover in the late '70s and early '80s.
Credited with signing Ronnie Milsap to RCA Records and kicking off Milsap's record-shattering career, Bradley oversaw the success of "It Was Almost Like A Song," which hit No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was so impactful for Milsap's career that it became the title of his 1990 autobiography, "Almost Like A Song."
Right when Bradley took over RCA Records, Jerry Reed was just starting to find success as a pop artist after a storied country career. Co-written by Reed, "East Bound And Down" hit No. 2 on the country charts in 1977 and earned pop culture legend status with the release of "Smokey and the Bandit," starring Burt Reynolds, which featured the song on its soundtrack.
While Bradley was at RCA Records, Elvis Presley returned to country music with "I've Got A Thing About You Baby" after a lengthy stint as the country's biggest rock star. A single from his 1974 album. "Good Times," the song hit No. 4 on the country charts and was a top 50 pop hit.
Amy McCarthy is a Texas-based journalist. Follow her on twitter at @aemccarthy.
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