Sadly, Toby Keith died this week. More than likely, you, my readers, will know just who he was. If not, I hope you will find out. This country music star sold over 30 million albums in the US, which made him the fifth best-selling country artist in the US since 1991 when Nielsen started tracking music sales.
Along the way, he released 21 studio albums and seven compilation albums, plus 69 singles. Of these, 65 charted on the Billboard country chart, 55 reached the Top 40, 42 made the Top 10, and 20 hit #1.
His music was not only popular; it was also inspirational, as it profoundly impacted millions of people, including me. His death has done much the same. To begin with, being born in 1961, he was my age. He was also a country boy at heart, as am I. Moreover, he also loved sports, and even dreamed of making it in pro football, as I once did. What red-blooded American boy of that era did not?!
Yet, when that did not work out, he followed in his father’s footsteps and went to work on an oil rig. He once stated that he was beside himself as he was earning over $40,000 a year in the Oklahoma oil fields right out of high school. And yet, that career too was short lived, as the bottom fell out of the oil business in the early 1980s.
Devastated at the time, he would later realize what a break that would turn out to be. After all, he would have had to work for exactly 10,000 years at that salary level to acquire the fortune of $400 million he had amassed at his passing.
But the fortune he left behind pales in comparison to his legacy. Over his multifaceted career, which included music, television, and films, he received multiple awards. These included four Academy of Country Music Awards, two American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, one Country Music Association Award, and three People's Choice Awards. He also received seven Grammy nominations. My strong suspicion is that he will now be awarded one posthumously.
He will also be remembered for a great many hit songs. These days, my favorite among them is “Don’t Let the Old Man In”. At age 62, full of aches and pains, my reasons should be obvious.
But my all-time favorite will always be “Should’ve Been A Cowboy”. Released in 1993, per Billboard magazine, this mega-hit soon became the single most played song of the entire 1990s. The lyrics include these words:
I bet you never heard ol' Marshall Dillon say
"Miss Kitty, have you ever thought of runnin' away?
Settling' down, would you marry me?
If I ask you twice and beg you pretty please?"
She'd have said yes in a New York minute
They never tied the knot
His heart wasn't in it, he just stole a kiss as he rode 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
Wearin' my six-shooter, ridin' my pony on a cattle drive
Stealin' a young girl's heart, just like Gene and Roy
Singin' those campfire songs, oh, I should've been a cowboy
I might've had a sidekick 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 whiskey, women and gold
Sleepin' out all night 'neath the desert stars
With a dream in my eye and a prayer in my heart
I should've been a cowboy, I should've learned to rope and ride
Wearin' my six-shooter, ridin' my pony on a cattle drive
Stealin' a young girl's heart, just like Gene and Roy
Singin' those campfire songs, oh, I should've been a cowboy
This song obviously pays homage to Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. My sisters and I played it at our father’s funeral. We did so for two reasons. First, because my father loved all things “cowboy”. He owned horses, went to horse shows, and rode all over the country, all while never missing an episode of either “Bonanza” or “Gunsmoke”. As a child, I was included in most all of these endeavors.
More to the point, my father, Cleo Eugene Jackson, Jr., went by the name “Gene”. His younger (and only) brother, Roy Larry Jackson, went by the name “Roy”. In my life, I have been blessed to go quite a few places, meet quite a few people, and accomplish quite a few things. And yet, I sometimes wonder if I should’ve simply been a cowboy instead, just like Gene and Roy ultimately were at heart!
“Should’ve Been a Cowboy” eventually sold 3,000,000 copies, certifying it as three times Platinum. And yet, Toby is best known for another song: “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue”. Released in 2002, it was certified four times Platinum, selling over 4,000,000 copies!
This song encouraged a nation that was reeling from the recent September 11th attacks. It also inspired and motivated an entire generation of American service personnel, whose job it then was to stand up to evil, protect our nation, and right a terrible wrong!
This latter task was embraced even further by Keith, as he went on to become an avid USO supporter who performed for more than 250,000 troops in 17 countries over the next two decades. These concerts invariably ended with a rendition of another of his smash hits, “American Soldier”, a salute to each of the five branches of service present, and a toast to them via his ubiquitous “Red Solo Cup”.
These concerts, and hit his music, may well ultimately prove to be his greatest legacy.
Keith’s family has announced a private ceremony for mid-February. Thereafter, a memorial service will be announced. At the latter, no doubt a bazillion country music stars will be present. As well they should be. More to the point, an entire country will be present – if not in person, at least in spirit. As well they should be.
Why? Because it is only fitting that that we should gather to celebrate the life of a modern American success story – a nobody who became a somebody, a single man who became an everyman, and superman who remained a common man – all for doing little more than relating to each of us in our daily struggles.
Various television networks are airing documentaries about Toby this week. The internet is also awash with accolades for him. Indeed, Sirius XM Satellite Radio has even devoted an entire channel to him and his music.
It was while listening to the latter that I heard a very significant affirmation by Garth Brooks, who said that Toby had done something that few people ever actually do in life, in that he had left something behind that would outlive him.
Wow! How profound!
For me at least, here lies the greatest takeaway from Toby Keith’s life. He had originally wanted to be a football player. But that door was closed to him. He then wanted to make a career in the oil business. That door also was soon closed to him. Undeterred, he decided to fall back on what he knew all along was a God-given talent. Thereafter, he began honing his musical skills, repeatedly putting them to use as a performer. Then, having done all he could, he patiently waited to see what would come of it.
The Bible admonishes us as much. In the First New Testament Letter of Peter (chapter 4, verse 10), we are instructed: “As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another.”
For my part, I am gifted neither as a singer nor a songwriter. But I am glad that Toby Keith was gifted in both ways. Just as I am that he chose to put both of these skill sets to use for the benefit of others.
Still, I do have certain other gifts from God. And I pray that I will be just as faithful both to discover and to employ these gifts for the benefit of my fellow man as was Toby Keith.
What I pray for myself, I also pray for you, my friend. Whatever else happens in your life, don’t come to the end of the line, when the old man wants in, and fret over who and what you should’ve been!!!
SOURCES:
https://www.fanbe.co/artist/toby-keith/achievements/;
https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Toby-Keith/Should-ve-Been-a-Cowboy;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtesy_of_the_Red,_White_and_Blue_(The_Angry_American);
https://www.military.com/off-duty/music/2024/02/06/americans-were-never-supposed-hear-toby-keiths-ass-kicking-post-9-11-battle-song-radio.html.
SCRIPTURE:
https://biblehub.com/1_peter/4-10.htm.
Along the way, he released 21 studio albums and seven compilation albums, plus 69 singles. Of these, 65 charted on the Billboard country chart, 55 reached the Top 40, 42 made the Top 10, and 20 hit #1.
His music was not only popular; it was also inspirational, as it profoundly impacted millions of people, including me. His death has done much the same. To begin with, being born in 1961, he was my age. He was also a country boy at heart, as am I. Moreover, he also loved sports, and even dreamed of making it in pro football, as I once did. What red-blooded American boy of that era did not?!
Yet, when that did not work out, he followed in his father’s footsteps and went to work on an oil rig. He once stated that he was beside himself as he was earning over $40,000 a year in the Oklahoma oil fields right out of high school. And yet, that career too was short lived, as the bottom fell out of the oil business in the early 1980s.
Devastated at the time, he would later realize what a break that would turn out to be. After all, he would have had to work for exactly 10,000 years at that salary level to acquire the fortune of $400 million he had amassed at his passing.
But the fortune he left behind pales in comparison to his legacy. Over his multifaceted career, which included music, television, and films, he received multiple awards. These included four Academy of Country Music Awards, two American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, one Country Music Association Award, and three People's Choice Awards. He also received seven Grammy nominations. My strong suspicion is that he will now be awarded one posthumously.
He will also be remembered for a great many hit songs. These days, my favorite among them is “Don’t Let the Old Man In”. At age 62, full of aches and pains, my reasons should be obvious.
But my all-time favorite will always be “Should’ve Been A Cowboy”. Released in 1993, per Billboard magazine, this mega-hit soon became the single most played song of the entire 1990s. The lyrics include these words:
I bet you never heard ol' Marshall Dillon say
"Miss Kitty, have you ever thought of runnin' away?
Settling' down, would you marry me?
If I ask you twice and beg you pretty please?"
She'd have said yes in a New York minute
They never tied the knot
His heart wasn't in it, he just stole a kiss as he rode 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
Wearin' my six-shooter, ridin' my pony on a cattle drive
Stealin' a young girl's heart, just like Gene and Roy
Singin' those campfire songs, oh, I should've been a cowboy
I might've had a sidekick 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 whiskey, women and gold
Sleepin' out all night 'neath the desert stars
With a dream in my eye and a prayer in my heart
I should've been a cowboy, I should've learned to rope and ride
Wearin' my six-shooter, ridin' my pony on a cattle drive
Stealin' a young girl's heart, just like Gene and Roy
Singin' those campfire songs, oh, I should've been a cowboy
This song obviously pays homage to Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. My sisters and I played it at our father’s funeral. We did so for two reasons. First, because my father loved all things “cowboy”. He owned horses, went to horse shows, and rode all over the country, all while never missing an episode of either “Bonanza” or “Gunsmoke”. As a child, I was included in most all of these endeavors.
More to the point, my father, Cleo Eugene Jackson, Jr., went by the name “Gene”. His younger (and only) brother, Roy Larry Jackson, went by the name “Roy”. In my life, I have been blessed to go quite a few places, meet quite a few people, and accomplish quite a few things. And yet, I sometimes wonder if I should’ve simply been a cowboy instead, just like Gene and Roy ultimately were at heart!
“Should’ve Been a Cowboy” eventually sold 3,000,000 copies, certifying it as three times Platinum. And yet, Toby is best known for another song: “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue”. Released in 2002, it was certified four times Platinum, selling over 4,000,000 copies!
This song encouraged a nation that was reeling from the recent September 11th attacks. It also inspired and motivated an entire generation of American service personnel, whose job it then was to stand up to evil, protect our nation, and right a terrible wrong!
This latter task was embraced even further by Keith, as he went on to become an avid USO supporter who performed for more than 250,000 troops in 17 countries over the next two decades. These concerts invariably ended with a rendition of another of his smash hits, “American Soldier”, a salute to each of the five branches of service present, and a toast to them via his ubiquitous “Red Solo Cup”.
These concerts, and hit his music, may well ultimately prove to be his greatest legacy.
Keith’s family has announced a private ceremony for mid-February. Thereafter, a memorial service will be announced. At the latter, no doubt a bazillion country music stars will be present. As well they should be. More to the point, an entire country will be present – if not in person, at least in spirit. As well they should be.
Why? Because it is only fitting that that we should gather to celebrate the life of a modern American success story – a nobody who became a somebody, a single man who became an everyman, and superman who remained a common man – all for doing little more than relating to each of us in our daily struggles.
Various television networks are airing documentaries about Toby this week. The internet is also awash with accolades for him. Indeed, Sirius XM Satellite Radio has even devoted an entire channel to him and his music.
It was while listening to the latter that I heard a very significant affirmation by Garth Brooks, who said that Toby had done something that few people ever actually do in life, in that he had left something behind that would outlive him.
Wow! How profound!
For me at least, here lies the greatest takeaway from Toby Keith’s life. He had originally wanted to be a football player. But that door was closed to him. He then wanted to make a career in the oil business. That door also was soon closed to him. Undeterred, he decided to fall back on what he knew all along was a God-given talent. Thereafter, he began honing his musical skills, repeatedly putting them to use as a performer. Then, having done all he could, he patiently waited to see what would come of it.
The Bible admonishes us as much. In the First New Testament Letter of Peter (chapter 4, verse 10), we are instructed: “As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another.”
For my part, I am gifted neither as a singer nor a songwriter. But I am glad that Toby Keith was gifted in both ways. Just as I am that he chose to put both of these skill sets to use for the benefit of others.
Still, I do have certain other gifts from God. And I pray that I will be just as faithful both to discover and to employ these gifts for the benefit of my fellow man as was Toby Keith.
What I pray for myself, I also pray for you, my friend. Whatever else happens in your life, don’t come to the end of the line, when the old man wants in, and fret over who and what you should’ve been!!!
SOURCES:
https://www.fanbe.co/artist/toby-keith/achievements/;
https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Toby-Keith/Should-ve-Been-a-Cowboy;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtesy_of_the_Red,_White_and_Blue_(The_Angry_American);
https://www.military.com/off-duty/music/2024/02/06/americans-were-never-supposed-hear-toby-keiths-ass-kicking-post-9-11-battle-song-radio.html.
SCRIPTURE:
https://biblehub.com/1_peter/4-10.htm.