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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZBROOKS, Garth(b Troyal Garth Brooks, Feb. 7 '62 Luba OK) Country superstar of the '90s; natural songwriter, versatile singer and dynamic performer; took country music into American stadiums on equal terms with rock acts, then broke down all barriers with successful world tour '94. Grew up in Yukon; mother was Colleen Carroll (Brooks), '50s country star on Capitol and regular on Red Foley's Ozark Jubilee TV show. He attended Oklahoma State U, Stillwater on track scholarship, changed to advertising course, took up singing in Stillwater clubs '84, unsuccessful trip to Nashville '85, joined local Stillwater band Sante Fe playing Southwest circuit. Married Sandy Mahl '86, moved to Nashville '87 with Sante Fe, worked in boot store plus singing jingles and demos. Songwriter's contract led to Capitol record deal '88, debut record, 'Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)' top ten '89. First album Garth Brooks was a straight country set, giving no indication of phenomenal success to follow; no. 1 country hits with videos for 'If Tomorrow Never Comes', 'The Dance' and 'Thunder Road' broke him into a much broader audience; the album crossed to pop and his second No Fences '90 eventually sold ten million copies. Brooks mania began: third album Ropin' The Wind '91 had advance orders of four million, entered pop charts at no.1 with two previous albums still in the top ten. This was repeated with subsequent albums (The Chase '92, Beyond The Season '93, In Pieces '93, Fresh Horses '95); each single has been a country chart- topper (hits compilation issued '94 was no. 1 in the pop album chart for eight weeks) incl. 'Friends In Low Places' '90, 'Shameless' '91, 'What's She Doing Now' '92, 'Ain't Going Down (Til The Sun Comes Up)' '93. He joined the Opry '90, won more than 60 major industry awards incl. CMA Entertainer of the Year for '91--2. His Stillwater road band uses fiddle and steel guitar; his songs run the gamut: cowboy ballads, raucous honky-tonkers, country swing, love songs and rock. Selling more records than the so-called rock 'superstars', he's also a phenomenal success in concert, selling 195,000 seats in five hours for Sept. '93 Dallas shows; an estimated one in four families in Ireland own Garth Brooks albums and one in every 50 have seen him in concert: he drew the largest audience for any event in Dublin since the Pope's visit '79 (eight sold-out concerts, 72,000 seats, in April '94); he broke Australian box office records the same year. Long-term country fans may wonder what all the fuss is about -- his songs aren't that good -- but the fact was that the rock era was over and the mass audience was tired of pompous princes and ready to be seduced by a country--rock hybrid with greeting-card sentiments. Brooks is a hard-working entertainer who gives his fans good measure, just as Louis Armstrong, Guy Lombardo and Bruce Springsteen once did; but according to legendary country producer Jimmy Bowen (in his candid memoir Rough Mix '97, with Jim Jerome) Brooks got 'too big for his britches', demanding too much of the label's promotion money, unwilling to see that his later albums simply weren't as good as the first three. Detractors rejoiced that Fresh Sound sold 'only' four million copies in the USA; Sevens '97 was another uneven collection. |