Here in the Real World
If Alan Jackson's 1989 debut album were to be released in a crossover climate, it's debatable if anyone at country radio would give it a shot. "Too country now for country" might be the verdict. With its mournful warning that in the real world "cowboys don't always get the girl," the title ballad was an instant classic. Jackson wrote or cowrote every song on the album but one, including the semi-autobiographical "Chasin' That Neon Rainbow" and "Home." In the liner notes, he referred toGeorge Jones's death-of-country lament "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes." "I don't know if I can fill 'em, but I'd sure like to try 'em on," he wrote. Guess what? They fit.-Rick Mitchell