Track Listing

1. If The Whole World Was A Honky Tonk
2. Somewhere Down In Texas
3. The Seashores Of Old Mexico
4. You'll Be There
5. High Tone Woman
6. Good News, Bad News
7. Oh, What A Perfect Day
8. Texas
9. Ready For The End Of The World
10. She Let Herself Go
11. By The Light Of A Burning Brige

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8803 in Music
• Brand: MCA
• Released on: 2005-06-28
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.com
Country's most reluctant superstar can always lend gravity to even the weakest of songs, so masterful is his phrasing and restrained, expressive delivery, and so artful his picking and the production that surrounds his Everyman baritone. On Somewhere Down in Texas, many of George Strait's songs are semiautobiographical and ring with authenticity. The title track portrays a man who's weary of the road and yearns to stay home with his family; "Texas" salutes the state that made him what he is; and "You'll Be There," the heartfelt single that talks of meeting a loved one in the afterlife, likely hits a nerve with the singer, who lost a child some years ago. Strait also does well with the terrible twins of country dance-hall fare, misery and grief--particularly on the honky-tonk weeper "Ready for the End of the World" and the killer ballad "Good News, Bad News," a duet with Lee Ann Womack, who cowrote the tune with Dean Dillon and Dale Dodson. Womack sings rings around her fellow Texan, giving her reading of this exquisite song of heartbreak an emotional resonance that sticks in the mind long after it's over. But Strait conveys a stoic acceptance of a tragically missed chance at love, and it plays just right for a cowboy antihero. Somewhere Down in Texas could have benefited from the addition of an irresistible rhythm tune or another example of the western swing that Strait embraced so fervently early in his career. But every time ol' George refers to his heroes by name--Haggard, Nelson, and Jones--you know time will show him to be, if not precisely in their league, certainly a close second. --Alanna Nash

50 Number Ones	Strait Out of the Box	Pure Country soundtrack
Blue Clear Sky	Chill of an Early Fall	Greatest Hits

Entertainment Weekly June 24/July 1, 2005 - B+
Strait's 33rd CD is as solid as Nos. 32, 31, etc.

Chicago Sun-Times - 6/26/05 - 3 1/2 Stars!
George has earned a spot alongside death and taxes on the proverbial list of things you can always count on.

Customer Reviews

One of his best...
George really goes out on a limb on this album and puts some big production in the back of his songs. But when you boil it down it still has the steel guitars and fiddles of all Strait songs. Put it down as you may but die-hard Strait fans, like myself, will totally enjoy this album and recommend to anyone who loves country music!

Real, Traditional, Pure, Country Music
Every song on this CD is great and I guarantee you will enjoy it unless...
a. You think the word "Badonkadonk" belongs in a country song.
b. You think Cowboy Troy is anything but rap.
c. You consider Big & Rich country.
If you do not agree with any of the above statements you will love this CD. This is country at its best from a REAL COUNTRY SINGER.

Great as Always, and More Traditional Than Recent George
This album is a little more "Texas" than George's recent stuff. It starts with "If the Whole World Was A Honky Tonk" which is classic George. Then you have the title track that is along the lines of the slow tunes of the middle years. Track #3 "The Seashores of Old Mexico" was written by one of his biggest influences, Merle Haggard. "You'll be there" has already received well-deserved acclaim. "Good News, Bad News" a duet with LeAnn Womack (his first duet with a female recording artist, I think?) is enough to have anyone throw themselves off a bridge -- George Jones/Tammy Wynette come to mind. "Oh What a Perfect Day" is another track that would fit comfortably on past almbums such as Ocean Front Property. Fittingly "Texas" may be the best track on the album. It's hard to imagine any country artist today that's more Pure Country. Another outstanding effort. You can't be at the top this long unless you have this level of consistency.