It’s The Nineties: Number Ones from Diamond Riol, Brooks & Dunn, George Strait, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill

By Jonny Brick

1991 Diamond Rio – Meet in the Middle

This was the debut single from a band who were the latest to join Alabama on the radio. Having been brought together to play at Opryland, they eventually signed to Arista Nashville who bankrolled their success.

It’s a chugging love song about two people who began courting as teenagers walking together to meet ‘neath that old Georgia pine’ whose marriage has now lasted seven years. The singalong chorus (‘I start walking your way, you start walking mine’) is infectious, while the vocals of Marty Roe carry the jubilation of the narrator.

1994 Brooks & Dunn – That Ain’t No Way to Go

This heartbreak ballad opens with the image of ‘lipstick letters across the mirror’ that the pair sing ‘just ain’t right’. The lady could at least have told him of her intentions, so the narrator could ‘hear you say goodbye’.

Set to some unusual chords, this is a wretched lament for the sort of ‘cold blow’ that plenty of listeners would have experienced too.

1996 George Strait – Blue Clear Sky

‘Here she comes, a walkin’ talkin’ true love!’ is a new way of saying something old and familiar, as was Bob DiPiero’s title, which reverses the usual order of the adjectives.

Strait’s delighted narrator compares new love to ‘rain on the desert sand’, with the major-key arrangement matching his joy.

1997 Tim McGraw & Faith Hill – It’s Your Love

A US Hot 100 top ten smash that presaged plenty of country crossover ballads – Amazed, How Do I Live and You’re Still The One, to name just three – this one came from a couple who had just gotten married. They sing of ‘a shock right through me’, of being ‘happy and free’.

It is noteworthy how much twang is in McGraw’s passionate lead vocals, which he would soon iron out for consumption outside the country format.