Murder on Music Row

"Murder on Music Row" is a country music song made popular by a 2000 duet between country music artists Alan Jackson and George Strait. Although not released officially as a single, it gained attention for its criticism of mainstream country music trends at the time; it charted at #38 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts from unsolicited airplay.

1 Content
2 Original version
3 George Strait/Alan Jackson version
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Content

The song is a criticism of the then-recent trend of country pop crossover acts. Its lyrics tell of how "The steel guitar no longer cries and fiddles barely play / But drums and rock and roll guitars are mixed up in your face".^[1] In addition, the song states that older and more established neotraditionalist artists, such as Hank Williams and Merle Haggard, "wouldn't stand a chance on today's radio".^[2]

[edit] Original version

American bluegrass group Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time originally recorded by the song as the title track of their 1999 album Murder on Music Row.^[3] Their version was awarded the Song of the Year award at the 2000 International Bluegrass Music Awards.^[4]

[edit] George Strait/Alan Jackson version

The song was later covered by Country music artists George Strait and Alan Jackson. Originally, the two singers performed the song together at the 1999 CMA awards show;^[5] Strait later released it on his 2000 Latest Greatest Straitest Hits album. Strait and Jackson's duet version, although never released officially as a single, reached #38 on the Hot Country Songs chart from unsolicited play. In 2000, it also received the CMA's award for Vocal Event of the Year.^[6], as well as the CMA's Song of the Year award a year later.^[2]^[3]^[7]^[8]