Cricket's Frog Blog: Toby Keith Part 1

Cricket's Frog Blog

Today, is part one of two on the outspoken and entrepreneurial entertainer, Toby Keith.

Toby Keith Covel was born on 7/8/61 in Clinton, Oklahoma. His Dad, “H.K.” was a big country music fan and played a variety of modern and classic country artists in the family’s 8-track player. Young Toby soaked in the sounds of Merle Haggard, Webb Pierce and Mel Tillis, among others. His maternal grandmother bought him his first guitar at age 8, while Toby’s paternal grandfather taught him his first chords.

The budding musician had grown into a 6’4” bruiser by the time was a teenager. He played football (defensive end) at Moore High School. (He tried out for the Oklahoma Outlaws, but didn’t make the cut.

After graduation, Toby went to work in the oil fields, working his way up from derrick hand to Operations Manager. In the meantime, he and some friends formed the Easy Money Band and played the bar circuit. This started to clash with his day job. If Toby got a call that he was needed in the oil field, he’d have to leave mid-gig to report in to work. It became clear that he was going to have to make a decision.

Against the advice of friends and family, Toby chose to pursue music. He and his band played in honky tonks all over Oklahoma and Texas. The Easy Money band recorded one song, “Blue Moon,” which received some regional radio airplay.

Toby made his way to Nashville in 1993 and shopped his band’s demo tape to various record labels. They all turned him down. He returned to Oklahoma, wondering if perhaps his family and friends had been right. But somehow, a copy of that demo tape wound up being passed on, unbeknownst to Toby, to an executive from Mercury Records. The label liked what they heard, but they chose to sign Toby as a solo artist. In 1993, the first single from his self-titled debut album, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” went straight to #1.

The hits continued to come for Toby, including “Wish I Didn’t Know Now,” “Who’s That Man,” “We Were In Love” and “You Ain’t Much Fun.” But in by the late 1990s, after four albums for Mercury, Toby was disillusioned with the label, feeling artistically restricted.

He left Mercury for a newer label, DreamWorks Records in 1998. His next CD,How Do You Like Me Now?! is considered his breakthrough. The title track spent five weeks at #1. He won Album of the Year honors at the Academy of Country Music Awards the next year.

Toby refers to his longtime fans as “The Warriors.” Why? Toby explains: “They kept me alive in the music business from '93 to 2000, through that seven years of mediocrity. I was handcuffed by my record label, and the warriors were my fans. My fan club kept calling the radio and said 'Keep playing this. We love it.’”

Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at Toby’s battle with the Dixie Chicks, his business ventures outside of music, his distaste for awards shows and his strong political views. Enjoy a classic Toby video today, check out my TK links and come back for Part 2 tomorrow!

www.tobykeith.com

www.myspace.com/tobykeith

www.facebook.com/tobykeith

http://twitter.com/tobykeithmusic

Take It Easy,

Cricket