I knew Alan Jackson was a big name in country music – since his debut in 1987 he released 35 singles that topped the country chart – but I found him hard to distinguish from his peers among the “new traditional” country singers of the early ’90s, the period of “hat acts” who donned Stetsons in emulation of Garth Brooks.
He gave his last concert Saturday night in Nashville. He’s only 67, but he’s retiring because he’s suffering from Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, a degenerative neurological disorder that mainly affects the legs and arms, causing balance problems and muscle weakness. Jackson kept quiet about it for years, but it got to a point where his balance was so shaky he was afraid audiences would think he was drunk, and he started speaking out about it and raising funds for research.
Jackson wound up his final tour last year, but returned for Saturday’s farewell concert at the Nashville’s NFL stadium. It featured a raft of guest stars, headed by George Strait, Luke Bryan and Miranda Lambert, and it was mostly a lovefest. But there was one surprising moment, featuring someone who wasn’t even there, that put the show in the headlines.
Taylor Swift, you might remember, got her start not in pop but in country, and she recorded a video tribute to a guy old enough to be her father, praising Jackson’s encouragement and support when she was starting out. “Drive,” she said, was her favorite of his songs. “You really paint such a picture,” she said. “That was an example that was so good for me to see at a young age, of an artist really just letting fans into the details of his life.”
Many of those in attendance never heard it, though, because she was drowned out by the audience reaction. There were cheers, but they had to compete with sustained booing. (It got me to thinking how much country music fans are like MAGAts, constantly on the defensive because they think fans of other genres look down on them.)
Thing is, Swift is right about “Drive,” a 2002 single Jackson dedicated to his father, who died in 2000. Despite its title, it’s not about pickup trucks. The video won a CMA award.
Funny thing is, country fans loved them some Taylor Swift when she was marketed as a country act. When they held a tribute concert for Jackson back in 2008, they loved it when she covered “Drive.”
She was 18 at the time.
I generally like Taylor Swift best when she was a little bit country, except maybe for the boots.