In 1979, after several recordings for regional labels, and several unfruitful trips to Nashville, Strait gave up on music, gave his band notice and took a job with a cattle-pen company. At the last minute, however, he decided to give music one more year, and his manager Erv Woolsey (then an MCA executive) brought him to the attention of MCA. "Unwound," Strait's MCA debut in 1981, brought the excitement and energy of the Texas dance halls to country radio. Country fans intuitively recognized the real thing when they heard it. Billboard magazine named Strait its New Male Artist of the Year, but he was on his way to become the top male artist of the decade. He won the Country Music Association's Male Vocalist of the Year honors in 1985 and again in 1986. He won the same award three times from the Academy of Country Music. He took the CMA's top award, Entertainer of the Year, in 1989, and won the same award from both the CMA and ACM in 1990.
In the '90s Strait's career continued to climb. His concerts, always sold out, set records for how fast they sold out. He starred in the 1992 film Pure Country, and the soundtrack became his biggest selling album. Every one of his 20 albums for MCA went at least gold (sales of 500,000 copies), and his total sales are now approaching 30 million albums. His 1995 boxed set, Strait Out Of The Box, was a monumental collection of 72 cuts, ranging from his 31 No. 1 singles to obscure, intriguing representations of his early days, all with comments from Strait.
The music in Strait Out Of The Box is the music that led country music's phenomenal growth over the past 15 years. Blue Clear Sky carries on this tradition of excellence with a collection of performances that continue to make George Strait the definition of country music in the 1980s and '90s.
Mr. George Strait
The Cowboy.
Country boy.
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