During a recent show in Philadelphia, George Strait revealed that he has “maybe five good years” of live performing left. Admittedly, it’s tough to imagine a world without the “King of Country” on the road. However, Strait has already given us five wonderful decades. Since getting his start in the ’70s, the Pearsall, Texas native has packed many a stadium. Recently, Strait fans were delighted when the country star shared a throwback performance to his social media.
Videos by American Songwriter
Written by Billy Burnette, Shawn Camp, and Dennis Morgan, Strait released “River of Love” as the third single from his Troubadour album in 2008. The 73-year-old legend took to Instagram Thursday (May 22) to post a previous performance of his last No. 1 hit to date.
Drift away from all these city lights / Might rock a little bit, so hold on tight, Strait sings in the video. We’ll go rollin’ on the river of love.
The Story Behind The Song
Back in 2015, the brains behind “River of Love” sat down with The Boot to discuss the chart-topping hit’s origin.
“Harland Howard used to say, “Write them with three chords and the truth,” but we beat him on this one — we only used two chords, and it might not be the truth!” said Dennis Morgan.
Added Billy Burnette, “The best kinds of songs are the ones that happen quickly. The demo went down easy, so when you’re blessed with magic, everything else is easy. We didn’t think of anyone specifically when we were writing it. We just sat down to write a really good song.”
After Josh Turner turned down the track, George Strait recorded “River of Love.” The upbeat tune gave King George his 80th Top 10 hit on the Billboard country charts, as well as the 44th No. 1 hit of his career.
This Country Star Was “Not Gettin’ in a Pissin’ Match With George Strait”
“River of Love” wasn’t the only time another artist’s loss was George Strait’s gain. During a recent appearance on Tracy Lawrence’s podcast, TL’s Road House, Tim McGraw admitted that he regretted passing up “Carrying Your Love With Me.”
The title track of Strait’s 1997 album, “Carrying Your Love With Me” nearly went to the “Don’t Take the Girl” crooner.
“It just so happened that one of the songwriters pitched it to him and one of the songwriters pitched it to me at the same time,” McGraw said. “So I put it on hold and he put it on hold, and then it got back to me that George had it on hold. And I’m like, ‘Well, I’m not gettin’ in a pissin’ match with George Strait.’”
Featured image by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
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