Toby Keith

Toby Keith 從小在家鄉附近的農場里長大，在八歲的時候，受到了曾經在夜裡開張的一些俱樂部里演奏鄉村音樂的奶奶的影響，而第一次開始自己嘗試撥弄並演奏吉他。但是在Toby Keith年輕的時候，他的業餘生活的絕大多數時間被足球所支配，熱愛足球的他最後由於美國足球聯賽的夭折而開始了自己的音樂道路。而早在他高中的時候，他就經常在學校里表演，但是在高中畢業之後不得不在附近的油田找了份差事來度日。在那裡他還組建了一支名叫the Easy Money Band的鄉村搖滾風格的樂隊在附近演出，並且在當地的一些夜總會裡頗受歡迎，樂隊所演奏的歌曲大多為Toby Keith所創作。也正是在這期間，由於石油工業的不景氣，他才成為了美國足球聯賽的半職業球員。此後Toby Keith放棄了以樂隊的形勢發展音樂的做法，1988年，他搬到了鄉村音樂的基地Nashville，通過很長時間的奔波來為自己的音樂找出路，並且先後有過一些表演以及和一些獨立唱片公司並不愉快的合作經歷，不久Toby Keith的磁帶樣本被一名名叫Harold Shedd的製作人所認可，並且最終通過此人的努力，使Toby Keith獲得了和Mercury唱片公司簽約的機會，此時的Toby Keith早已過了而立之年。

1993年，已經32歲的Toby Keith正式發行了他的第一張個人專輯《Toby Keith》，當時還是一頭長發的Toby Keith在這張十首歌32分鐘的並不算長的專輯中第一次引起了鄉村音樂界的重視，其中的排行榜冠軍單曲《Should've Been a Cowboy》成為了Toby Keith第一次重大的突破，其他高排名單曲的襯托之下，這張專輯的銷量很快突破了兩百萬張，成為雙白金唱片。他的第二張專輯《Boomtown》在1995年初發行，但是這張專輯卻沒有取得《Toby Keith》的輝煌，儘管其中的多首單曲依然有著不錯的播放和點播排名，可是專輯最終卻只取得了超過50萬張的金唱片銷量，而為Universal公司錄製的聖誕假期專輯《Christmas to Christmas》同樣作為不大。1996年，第三張正式專輯《Blue Moon》使Toby Keith的音樂重新有了起色，在冠軍單曲《Me Too》的帶領下，這張專輯的銷量也超過了一百萬張，但是長時間的不溫不火併不能讓Toby Keith高興。1997年，Toby Keith開始與另一位知名的音樂製作人JamesStroud展開合作。同年發行的專輯《Dream Walkin'》取得了不錯的銷量，多首單曲也表現突出，其中Toby Keith和大名鼎鼎的英國巨星Sting合作的《I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying》尤其令人印象深刻。1998年又推出首張個人精選輯《Greatest Hits 1》。但是不久之後，Toby Keith由於和Mercury唱片公司的一些分歧，而在1999年的時候在James Stroud的帶領下跳槽到了DreamWorks唱片公司。同年年末，Toby Keith的第五張個人專輯，也是在新東家的首張專輯《How Do You Like Me Now?!》正式發行，而這張專輯也表現搶眼，不僅銷量甚好，以及誕生多首冠軍單曲，而且還為Toby Keith贏得了更大範圍的好評，Toby Keith開始成了鄉村大牌歌手了。而在之後的行業權威獎項評選中，鄉村音樂學院獎評選Toby Keith為年度最佳男歌手（Male Vocalist of the Year），專輯《How Do You Like Me Now?!》也被評選為年度最佳專輯（Album of the Year）。2001年發行的第六張專輯《Pull My Chain》再接再厲，成為了Toby Keith第一張進入Billboard 200排行榜前十名的專輯。

在2001年9月11日美國遭受恐怖襲擊之後，Toby Keith迅速做出了非常強烈的反應，這一切都表現在了他在2002年錄製的單曲《Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)》之中，憤怒的聲音，強烈的節奏，吸引了美國無數的愛國人士的關注，而這首單曲所反映出的通過武力打擊恐怖分子的戰爭論調也引起了非常廣泛的爭議，甚至遭到了一些主流媒體的批評。雖然引起了爭議，但是Toby Keith在2002年8月份發行的第七張專輯《Unleashed》銷售火熱，不僅成為鄉村專輯榜的冠軍，而且還成為了Toby Keith第一張Billboard 200排行榜的冠軍專輯，專輯銷量迄今已超過330萬張。2003年11月4日，Toby Keith的第八張個人專輯《Shock N Y'all》正式發行，再次取得成功，首周即以58萬5千張的高銷量名列Billboard 200排行榜冠軍，銷量突破四白金，並且獲得了多項鄉村音樂大獎。2004年11月9日，Toby Keith的第二張個人精選輯《Greatest Hits 2》推出，這張精選集再度取得成功，43萬5千張的首周銷量令他位居排行榜季軍，總銷量突破200萬張。Toby Keith的第九張正式個人專輯《Honkytonk University》在2005年5月17日成功推出。

Toby Keith Covel(born July 8, 1961), best known as Toby Keith, is an American country musicsinger-songwriter, record producer and actor. Keith released his first four studio albums — 1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moonand 1997's Dream Walkin', plus a Greatest Hits package for various divisions of Mercury Recordsbefore exiting in 1998. These albums all earned gold or higher certification, and produced several chart singles, including his debut "Should've Been a Cowboy", which topped the country charts and was the most played country song of the 1990s. The song has received three million spins since then, according to Broadcast Music Incorporated.

Signed to Nashville DreamWorksin 1998, Keith released his breakthrough single "How Do You Like Me Now?!" that year. This song, the title track to his 1999 album of the same name, was the Number One country song of 2000, and one of several chart-toppers during his tenure on DreamWorks Nashville. His next three albums, Pull My Chain, Unleashed, and Shock'n Y'all, produced three more Number Ones each, and all of the albums were certified multi-platinum. A second Greatest Hits package followed in 2004, and after that, he released Honkytonk University.

When Dreamworks closed in 2005, Keith founded his own label, Show Dog Nashville, which became part of Show Dog-Universal Musicin December 2009. He has released five studio albums on this label: 2006's White Trash with Money, 2007's Big Dog Daddy, 2008's That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, 2009's American Rideand 2010's Bullets in the Gunas well as the compilation 35 Biggest Hits. He has also signed several other acts to the label, including Trailer Choir, Carter's Chord, Flynnville Train, Trace Adkins, Mac McAnallyand Mica Roberts. Keith also made his acting debut in 2005, starring in the film Broken Bridgesand co-starred with comedian Rodney Carringtonin the 2008 film Beer for My Horses.

Keith has released thirteen studio albums, two Christmas albums, and multiple compilation albums. He has also charted more than forty singles on the BillboardHot Country Songscharts, including nineteen Number One hits and sixteen additional Top Ten hits. His longest-lasting Number One hits are "Beer for My Horses" (a 2003 duet with Willie Nelson) and "As Good as I Once Was" (2005), at six weeks each.

Early life

Toby Keith was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, the son of Carolyn Joan ( néeRoss) and Hubert K. Covel Jr. He has a sister, Tonni, and a brother, Tracy. The family lived in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for a few years when Toby was in grade school, but moved to Moore, Oklahoma(a suburb of Oklahoma City) when he was still young. Before the family moved to Moore, he visited his grandmother in Fort Smith during the summers. His grandmother owned Billie Garner's Supper Club in Fort Smith, where Keith became interested in the musicians who came there to play. He did odd jobs around the supper club and started getting up on the bandstand to play with the band. He got his first guitar at the age of eight. After the family moved to Moore, Oklahoma, Keith attended Highland West Junior High and Moore High School, where he played defensive endon a footballteam.

Keith graduated from Moore High School and worked as a derrickhand in the oil fields. He worked his way up to become an operation manager. At the age of 20, he and his friends Scott Webb, Keith Cory and Danny Smith, with a few others, formed the band Easy Money, which played at local bars as he continued to work in the oil industry. At times, he would have to leave in the middle of a concert if he was paged to work in the oil field.

In 1982, the oil industry in Oklahoma began a rapid decline and Keith soon found himself unemployed. He fell back on his football training and played defensive end with the semi-pro Oklahoma City Drillers while continuing to perform with his band. (The Drillers were an unofficial farm clubof the United States Football League's Oklahoma Outlaws; Keith tried out for the Outlaws but did not make the team.) He then returned to focus once again on music. His family and friends were doubtful he would succeed, but in 1984, Easy Money began playing the honky tonkcircuit in Oklahoma and Texas. The band cut a single titled "Blue Moon", which received some airplay on local radio stations in Oklahoma.

專輯名：《Honkytonk University》

演唱者：Toby Keith

發行時間：2005年5月17日

發行公司：Dreamworks Nashville

音樂風格：New Traditionalist（新傳統主義鄉村），Contemporary Country（當代鄉村）

1. Honkytonk U

2. As Good As I Once Was

3. She Ain't Hooked On Me No More

4. Big Blue Note

5. Just The Guy To Do It

6. She Left Me

7. Knock Yourself Out

8. You Ain't Leavin' (Thank God Are Ya)

9. I Got It Bad

10. Your Smile

11. Where You Gonna Go

12. You Caught Me At A Bad Time

當紅的美國鄉村音樂男歌手Toby Keith推出的第九張個人專輯，這張專輯在發行首周以28萬3千張的銷量名列排行榜的亞軍，較他之前的兩張冠軍專輯《Unleashed》和《Shock N Y'all》首周的銷量已經明顯出現了下滑，甚至較他去年發行的第二張個人精選集《Greatest Hits 2》也出現了較大幅度的縮減。

2001年引起爭議的《Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)》之後，Toby Keith戴上了鄉村音樂超級明星的光環，連續兩張專輯的成功讓Toby Keith幾乎囊括了各項鄉村音樂大獎，目前的他無疑正在處於事業的巔峰時期。所以他的這張備受關注的新專輯打造得格外精心，專輯中的大部分單曲都由Scotty Emerick與Toby Keith搭檔共同創作，精良的創作讓這張專輯一如既往地繼續展示著Toby Keith自己的音樂理念，而專輯中歌曲的曲調和旋律則較以前更加動聽，專輯中的12首單曲幾乎都是旋律和內容上佳的鄉村音樂精品之作。經過了之前兩張專輯出色的商業銷量，確立了Toby Keith超級明星的地位之後，Toby Keith終於開始更加充分地把自己音樂偏好表現在專輯單曲當中，除卻《I Got It Bad》這樣經典的情歌佳作之外，輕鬆的單曲《You Ain't Leavin' (Thank God Are Ya)》以及《As Good As I Once Was》這樣表現了Toby Keith自我觀念的單曲，都增添了這張專輯的可欣賞性，並且加上Toby Keith在演奏方面的張力，保持了Toby Keith音樂中一貫的激情。在獲得了鄉村樂壇穩定的地位和市場號召力之後，Toby Keith開始更認真地增加他的音樂深度，而這張專輯的音樂表現是相當成功的。

鄉村歌手兼詞曲作者Toby Keith是在上個世紀90年代逐漸成長起來的鄉村明星，他於1961年7月8日出生在美國俄克拉荷馬州的Clinton，原名Toby Keith Covel。