July 23, 2020 —– Chart #49
Hello Musical Friends,
Well I had a good one picked out for today with the song charted and the email half complete. Then yesterday I met with an old music friend and he made a song recommendation, a tune I was not familiar with. He was not recommending for this email, just suggested I give the song a listen. It’s not a hot chart-topper from 1969, but the theme of the tune just hit me in the heart. It seems so appropriate with COVID-19 shutting down our economy and hurting so many small locally owned businesses. The song was released in 1999+ but sounds like it could have been written about today. So Bill Pond, my buddy, this one’s for you.
“Little Man” is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Alan Jackson. It was released in May 1999 as the fourth and final single from his album High Mileage. The song topped at number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles charts, and four on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart. It was also Jackson’s first single to reach the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #39. Listen to the video below.
The song is about small businesses that struggled to compete against big businesses, such as corporations, but did not make it, referring to them as “the little man”. The narrator tells about his memories as he looks at the storefronts of abandoned businesses that went under. “I go back now and the stores are empty/ Except an old Coke sign dated 1950/ Boarded up like they never existed.” The music video was shot entirely in black and white. It starts out with Jackson talking about his inspiration for writing the song before going into the actual video of the song. Jackson tells of a trip he took through random small towns where he saw many closed small businesses. Many of the places he visited he had been to as a child, and he realized how much they’d changed. The video was shot in the small towns of Lascassas, Tennessee, Jasper, Florida, White Springs, Florida and Pavo, Georgia. Most of the video shows Alan driving down the main street waving at the townspeople. It was directed by Steven Goldmann.
Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter (born same month and year as yours truly!). He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as “neotraditional country”), as well as penning many of his own songs. Jackson has recorded 16 studio albums, three greatest hits albums, two Christmas albums, and two gospel albums.
Jackson is one of the best-selling music artists of all-time, having sold over 75 million records worldwide, with 44 million sold in the United States alone. He has had 66 songs appear on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart; of the 66 titles, and six featured singles, 38 have reached the top five and 35 have claimed the number one spot. Out of 15 titles to reach the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, nine have been certified multi-platinum. He is the recipient of two Grammy Awards, 16 CMA Awards, 17 ACM Awards and nominee of multiple other awards. He is a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2001. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2017 by Loretta Lynn and into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.
Keep rockin’,
Stan