June 22, 2024 • 9 mins
I've been a fan since 1981 and I'm so excited to welcome Lee Greenwood back to the Austin area. He i appearing July 5th at the Haute Spot in Cedar Park. Let's catch up with Lee and find out how he tore up Congress Avenue in the 90's.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Bob taking on the line with us. One of our heroes, Lee Greenwood,
is you're you're really there right?Say hi school people? Yes,
okay, he's right there. Yes, absolutely. It is a pleasure to
talk to you your face. Thankyou very much, Thank you very much.
And looking forward to this holiday season. It's always great with my family
as we celebrate. The fourth ofJuly coming up, and we'll be July
(00:22):
fifth there in Texas. I can'twait. My whole crew will be there
with me. They're coming from Nashvilleto meet us, and it's going to
be an exciting afternoon. I can'ttell you how much we're looking forward to.
We're looking forward to see again.Now. Why is it that I
have a memory of you, andthis has to be you were riding in
a tank going down South Congress rightin front of the Texas Capitol back in
(00:43):
the nineties. That happened you camehere? I think was it celebration for
the the end of the Gulf War. Do you recall that I do,
as a matter of fact, Jesus, I I ever sang at the at
a state Senate and it was onein Texas and Austin and one in Nashville
a course at our capitol here inthe city. And I always remember that
(01:06):
because I have so many friends fromTexas and when I told them I'm going
to be actually July five in Texas, They're all coming from all parts of
the state. Wow, we cannotwait to see it. But that is
true, the memory that you didactually take a tank going right down towards
the Texas State Capitol back in thenineties, and we do know that happening.
Good Okay, yeah, we haven'tmade that up. And it was
actually I don't remember if it hadcleats on it or wheels. It might
(01:29):
you know, cleets tear up thestreet. I did not tear up the
street. That's what I remember.After you left the street. Well,
I apologize to the National Guard andyou did not get the blame for that,
but it did happen. Okay,big fan of yours. First time
that I've been in radio for overfifty years now. But the song that
really got to me, your firstrelease, It Turns Me Inside Out.
(01:49):
That was back in eighty one.But I remember getting that and I was
thinking, wait, this is KennyRogers because it was during Kenny rodgers heyday
back then that song originally was supposedto be for Kenny wasn't no, but
the one on the album called alove Song was supposed to be for Kenny
because I wrote it for him,and because Inside Out was so big,
(02:12):
we decided to release that first,and I called Kenny at that juncture and
said, I'm not going to releasea love song. If you want it,
you can have it. So itwent number one as well as my
song never went number one inside Outand it was written by Jan Crutchfield,
who is my producer's brother, JerryCrutchfield, and we produced like thirty albums
together and as we went on throughour industry with MCA, but Inside Out,
(02:37):
Going Going On and She's Lyon wasall three written by Jan Crutchfield and
so it was very important for usto start my career I think with an
emotional ballad, and we got alot of that stuff at first that you
sound like Kenny Rodgers, but Ithink once they heard She's Lyon, which
showed off my range, then theywent, oh, no, that's not
Kenny. Well, I've been alifelong fan since that song. That's what
(02:58):
I'm trying to tell you. Iloved it, Thank you, and of
course, God Bless USA. Ican't forty years fortieth anniversary of God Bless
the USA. Yeah, and wehad I think four or five hits,
two albums, three albums before wereleased God Bless the USA, which is
off the summer album in nineteen eightyfive called You've Got a Good Love comment
(03:20):
that's the first album that was onand then of course we recorded it several
times since then and has the distinctionof being on the top of the charts
three different times in its history,which is pretty amazing. But of course
then you have to consider, wellwhy it was And of course we had
the attack on America, we hadthe Cultimar and every time there seemed to
be a crisis that people would reachout for something other than the national anthem
to give them spirit and pride.And I'm just proud that I have it.
(03:45):
But did you ever think when youwere writing that song that it would
have the impact on everyone? Well, no, Bob, And to be
perfectly honest with you, it wasnever designated as a single. I mean
when we put it on the album, it was merely an afterthought. The
title You've Got a Good Love comingfilmed with a video from the London train
station. I had twenty five thousandmy own money in it, and I
(04:08):
was a little hesitant to release anythingelse without a video, and then so
Universal said, okay, I'll tellyou what. We'll go in and make
a video for you. And sowe did, and we had two videos
off that one album, which waskind of historic at the point because CMT
really wanted videos along with the music, right, and that would send after
a while, become the normal.Yeah yeah, but man, what and
(04:30):
what is a real true story aboutthat? How did you get the idea?
How did you write that song?I don't know that I have a
specific reason. My father joined theNavy after the bombing of Pearl Harbor,
and I was, of course bornin nineteen forty two, so he was
deployed. My mother and he divorced. I was raising my grandparents in Sacramento,
California, and I went to Vegasand Reno first Reno Lake Tahoe when
(04:54):
I was like sixteen seventeen, andI went to Vegas and settled there,
and I was in the casinos foralmost twenty years. I don't know that
I had any influence on me otherthan my grandparents, which pretty much was
farmers who were sharecroppers, and theyinstilled this pride in the country. We
had a flag flyin all the time, your handshakers, you were. You
(05:14):
take care of your neighbors, theytake care of you. You know.
We believed in the Bible, webelieve in gun rights and so forth.
And I guess all those things.Like as I went into my national career,
which would have been nineteen seventy nine, I moved to Nashville, I
suddenly had all of these thoughts inmy head about the military. Because I
was drum major from a high schoolband. I marched alongside of military bands,
(05:35):
and I loved the pageantry of it. And then I learned about the
sacrifice of the military, and Ithought, this makes a big difference to
me. Maybe I should write somethingabout our country. And so that happened,
of course, in nineteen eighty three. Wow, what a great legacy.
What a song that's going to standthe test time and has for over
forty years. Right there now,I assume that song is going to be
(05:56):
on the setlist for you when wesee July the fifth. Right, let
me just say this, I don'twant to get run out of town,
first of all. Second of all, it gives me great pride to be
able to bring to bear what peoplecall a spiritual anthem, a national anthem
other than the star spangled banner.And I do it with great pride and
(06:16):
it will always be in my set. Oh good good, looking forward to
doing that, looking forward here inDixie Road, ring on her finger,
time on rants. I mean,it's you talk about entertainer, this man
right here. We're going to seehim July the fifth of the Hotspot in
Cedar Park, and it's going tobe a show for the entire family.
I can't wait for you to haveyou come back here. It's gonna be
great. And we have a greatband, Bob. We have a terrific
(06:38):
band that travels with me. Mostof them then with me twenty five years.
I do have some new young guysthat have come on with me that
are spectacular as well. That it'sa well oiled group and they are entertainers
as well. It's it's so muchfun to work with great music. What
a show? Now, Okay,you mentioned Vegas. You're really a blackjack
dealer in Vegas. I was.I just need five minutes of your time
(07:00):
when you're here to give me someblackjack tips while you're here. If you
don't mind, okay, okay,I'll do it in several quick words,
don't play okay, he just didit. Write this. The thing is
that even as a dealer, Bob, I mean, I went out sometimes
and gambled with my friends, andthere is no secret to winning. I
will tell you this. An axiomto live by is cycles. Cycles in
(07:23):
life. It's no more prevalent thanin the gaming industry. There is cycles
that happens. Even in baccarat.You'll have the players who spend a great
deal of money and they have alittle card and they mark the card about
how many wins on the bank,how many wins on the player, And
when it appears to them a cycleis coming, that's the time to bet.
The same thing as a parent indice, the craps game, and
(07:46):
if you see a cycle coming,you have the past line and hits four
or five times in a row,and you get on that and you hope
for more and more and more,more and more. There is a cycle
there. The same thing in twentyone. As I dealt twenty one for
a number of years, I hada pit boss one time. Tell me,
he said, you know when you'reyou're dreaming there, scheming, but
people are always trying to outsmart thedealer some way. There is no doubt,
(08:09):
no way to outsmart the dealer.He's basically just dealing the cards to
you. And if you get lucky, you get lucky. We want to
see you get lucky because we gettips. There you have it, the
real advise from Lee Greenwood. Onemore thing I want to ask you about,
because I think this is great.It's on your website that God Bless
the USA Bible. Can you tellus briefly about that and how they can
get it. I'm so proud ofYeah, I'm so proud of this.
(08:31):
The Bible itself, of course,is the King James version. It's beautifully
leather bound, and we have addedin the in the last pages of the
Bible after you finish Revelation, theDeclaration of Independence, the Constitution, the
Bill of Rights, and the Pledgeof Allegiance, and in the very forward
I wrote handwritten version of my chorusof God Bless the USA. It's rather
(08:54):
unique. It's beautifully held, andif you're a spiritual person or an I
think we tie it to the beginningof our country. And that's why we
came with this Bible. Great greatlooking forward Lee Greenwood Hotspot, Cedar Park,
July the fifth, be there andwe'll have a great time. Bring
the family, bring your neighbors.We'll's pack the place.
Bob taking on the line with us. One of our heroes, Lee Greenwood,
is you're you're really there right?Say hi school people? Yes,
okay, he's right there. Yes, absolutely. It is a pleasure to
talk to you your face. Thankyou very much, Thank you very much.
And looking forward to this holiday season. It's always great with my family
as we celebrate. The fourth ofJuly coming up, and we'll be July
(00:22):
fifth there in Texas. I can'twait. My whole crew will be there
with me. They're coming from Nashvilleto meet us, and it's going to
be an exciting afternoon. I can'ttell you how much we're looking forward to.
We're looking forward to see again.Now. Why is it that I
have a memory of you, andthis has to be you were riding in
a tank going down South Congress rightin front of the Texas Capitol back in
(00:43):
the nineties. That happened you camehere? I think was it celebration for
the the end of the Gulf War. Do you recall that I do,
as a matter of fact, Jesus, I I ever sang at the at
a state Senate and it was onein Texas and Austin and one in Nashville
a course at our capitol here inthe city. And I always remember that
(01:06):
because I have so many friends fromTexas and when I told them I'm going
to be actually July five in Texas, They're all coming from all parts of
the state. Wow, we cannotwait to see it. But that is
true, the memory that you didactually take a tank going right down towards
the Texas State Capitol back in thenineties, and we do know that happening.
Good Okay, yeah, we haven'tmade that up. And it was
actually I don't remember if it hadcleats on it or wheels. It might
(01:29):
you know, cleets tear up thestreet. I did not tear up the
street. That's what I remember.After you left the street. Well,
I apologize to the National Guard andyou did not get the blame for that,
but it did happen. Okay,big fan of yours. First time
that I've been in radio for overfifty years now. But the song that
really got to me, your firstrelease, It Turns Me Inside Out.
(01:49):
That was back in eighty one.But I remember getting that and I was
thinking, wait, this is KennyRogers because it was during Kenny rodgers heyday
back then that song originally was supposedto be for Kenny wasn't no, but
the one on the album called alove Song was supposed to be for Kenny
because I wrote it for him,and because Inside Out was so big,
(02:12):
we decided to release that first,and I called Kenny at that juncture and
said, I'm not going to releasea love song. If you want it,
you can have it. So itwent number one as well as my
song never went number one inside Outand it was written by Jan Crutchfield,
who is my producer's brother, JerryCrutchfield, and we produced like thirty albums
together and as we went on throughour industry with MCA, but Inside Out,
(02:37):
Going Going On and She's Lyon wasall three written by Jan Crutchfield and
so it was very important for usto start my career I think with an
emotional ballad, and we got alot of that stuff at first that you
sound like Kenny Rodgers, but Ithink once they heard She's Lyon, which
showed off my range, then theywent, oh, no, that's not
Kenny. Well, I've been alifelong fan since that song. That's what
(02:58):
I'm trying to tell you. Iloved it, Thank you, and of
course, God Bless USA. Ican't forty years fortieth anniversary of God Bless
the USA. Yeah, and wehad I think four or five hits,
two albums, three albums before wereleased God Bless the USA, which is
off the summer album in nineteen eightyfive called You've Got a Good Love comment
(03:20):
that's the first album that was onand then of course we recorded it several
times since then and has the distinctionof being on the top of the charts
three different times in its history,which is pretty amazing. But of course
then you have to consider, wellwhy it was And of course we had
the attack on America, we hadthe Cultimar and every time there seemed to
be a crisis that people would reachout for something other than the national anthem
to give them spirit and pride.And I'm just proud that I have it.
(03:45):
But did you ever think when youwere writing that song that it would
have the impact on everyone? Well, no, Bob, And to be
perfectly honest with you, it wasnever designated as a single. I mean
when we put it on the album, it was merely an afterthought. The
title You've Got a Good Love comingfilmed with a video from the London train
station. I had twenty five thousandmy own money in it, and I
(04:08):
was a little hesitant to release anythingelse without a video, and then so
Universal said, okay, I'll tellyou what. We'll go in and make
a video for you. And sowe did, and we had two videos
off that one album, which waskind of historic at the point because CMT
really wanted videos along with the music, right, and that would send after
a while, become the normal.Yeah yeah, but man, what and
(04:30):
what is a real true story aboutthat? How did you get the idea?
How did you write that song?I don't know that I have a
specific reason. My father joined theNavy after the bombing of Pearl Harbor,
and I was, of course bornin nineteen forty two, so he was
deployed. My mother and he divorced. I was raising my grandparents in Sacramento,
California, and I went to Vegasand Reno first Reno Lake Tahoe when
(04:54):
I was like sixteen seventeen, andI went to Vegas and settled there,
and I was in the casinos foralmost twenty years. I don't know that
I had any influence on me otherthan my grandparents, which pretty much was
farmers who were sharecroppers, and theyinstilled this pride in the country. We
had a flag flyin all the time, your handshakers, you were. You
(05:14):
take care of your neighbors, theytake care of you. You know.
We believed in the Bible, webelieve in gun rights and so forth.
And I guess all those things.Like as I went into my national career,
which would have been nineteen seventy nine, I moved to Nashville, I
suddenly had all of these thoughts inmy head about the military. Because I
was drum major from a high schoolband. I marched alongside of military bands,
(05:35):
and I loved the pageantry of it. And then I learned about the
sacrifice of the military, and Ithought, this makes a big difference to
me. Maybe I should write somethingabout our country. And so that happened,
of course, in nineteen eighty three. Wow, what a great legacy.
What a song that's going to standthe test time and has for over
forty years. Right there now,I assume that song is going to be
(05:56):
on the setlist for you when wesee July the fifth. Right, let
me just say this, I don'twant to get run out of town,
first of all. Second of all, it gives me great pride to be
able to bring to bear what peoplecall a spiritual anthem, a national anthem
other than the star spangled banner.And I do it with great pride and
(06:16):
it will always be in my set. Oh good good, looking forward to
doing that, looking forward here inDixie Road, ring on her finger,
time on rants. I mean,it's you talk about entertainer, this man
right here. We're going to seehim July the fifth of the Hotspot in
Cedar Park, and it's going tobe a show for the entire family.
I can't wait for you to haveyou come back here. It's gonna be
great. And we have a greatband, Bob. We have a terrific
(06:38):
band that travels with me. Mostof them then with me twenty five years.
I do have some new young guysthat have come on with me that
are spectacular as well. That it'sa well oiled group and they are entertainers
as well. It's it's so muchfun to work with great music. What
a show? Now, Okay,you mentioned Vegas. You're really a blackjack
dealer in Vegas. I was.I just need five minutes of your time
(07:00):
when you're here to give me someblackjack tips while you're here. If you
don't mind, okay, okay,I'll do it in several quick words,
don't play okay, he just didit. Write this. The thing is
that even as a dealer, Bob, I mean, I went out sometimes
and gambled with my friends, andthere is no secret to winning. I
will tell you this. An axiomto live by is cycles. Cycles in
(07:23):
life. It's no more prevalent thanin the gaming industry. There is cycles
that happens. Even in baccarat.You'll have the players who spend a great
deal of money and they have alittle card and they mark the card about
how many wins on the bank,how many wins on the player, And
when it appears to them a cycleis coming, that's the time to bet.
The same thing as a parent indice, the craps game, and
(07:46):
if you see a cycle coming,you have the past line and hits four
or five times in a row,and you get on that and you hope
for more and more and more,more and more. There is a cycle
there. The same thing in twentyone. As I dealt twenty one for
a number of years, I hada pit boss one time. Tell me,
he said, you know when you'reyou're dreaming there, scheming, but
people are always trying to outsmart thedealer some way. There is no doubt,
(08:09):
no way to outsmart the dealer.He's basically just dealing the cards to
you. And if you get lucky, you get lucky. We want to
see you get lucky because we gettips. There you have it, the
real advise from Lee Greenwood. Onemore thing I want to ask you about,
because I think this is great.It's on your website that God Bless
the USA Bible. Can you tellus briefly about that and how they can
get it. I'm so proud ofYeah, I'm so proud of this.
(08:31):
The Bible itself, of course,is the King James version. It's beautifully
leather bound, and we have addedin the in the last pages of the
Bible after you finish Revelation, theDeclaration of Independence, the Constitution, the
Bill of Rights, and the Pledgeof Allegiance, and in the very forward
I wrote handwritten version of my chorusof God Bless the USA. It's rather
(08:54):
unique. It's beautifully held, andif you're a spiritual person or an I
think we tie it to the beginningof our country. And that's why we
came with this Bible. Great greatlooking forward Lee Greenwood Hotspot, Cedar Park,
July the fifth, be there andwe'll have a great time. Bring
the family, bring your neighbors.We'll's pack the place.
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