This week in country music history starts with an album most of us can still sing front to back. On November 4, 1997, Shania Twain released Come On Over, and country music has been feeling it ever since.
Why Shania Twain’s Come On Over Still Matters
Come On Over hit shelves in North America on November 4, 1997, on Mercury Records. In 2015, Guinness World Records recognized it as the biggest-selling studio album by a female solo artist, with an estimated 40 million copies sold. That is not a country number or a pop number. That is a “the whole world owned this record” number.
It also hasn’t faded into the background. The album got a 25th anniversary reissue, which tells you how many fans keep coming back. If “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” has ever taken over your karaoke night, you already know why.
Before you read on, you might catch up on last week’s edition or the one before it, A Last Duet, a New Opry Member and the Songs That Stuck.
The Rest of the Week
Nov. 2, 1961: k.d. lang Is Born
The Canadian singer k.d. lang was born on this date, and she remains one of the most distinctive voices to ever land in country music’s orbit. Pull up a favorite of hers today and see how well it holds up.
Nov. 4, 2015: Chris Stapleton Sweeps the CMA Awards
Fast forward a few decades and another November 4 changed country radio’s conversation. At the 49th CMA Awards in 2015, Chris Stapleton walked away with three trophies: Album of the Year for Traveller, Male Vocalist of the Year, and New Artist of the Year. Folks still point to that night as proof that a big voice and real songs can cut through anything.
Nov. 5, 1911: Roy Rogers Is Born
Roy Rogers was born Leonard Franklin Slye in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the world would come to know him as the “King of the Cowboys.” Here’s a fun piece of Hall of Fame trivia: he is the only person elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame twice, in 1980 with the Sons of the Pioneers and again in 1988 as a soloist.
Nov. 6, 2007: Hank Thompson Passes Away
Hank Thompson died on November 6, 2007, at his home in Keller, Texas. The Country Music Hall of Famer (class of 1989) gave us “The Wild Side of Life,” his first number one hit back in 1952, and he led the Brazos Valley Boys for decades of honky-tonk dance floors. Next time a steel guitar kicks in, give him a nod.
Nov. 7: A Carter Family Founder and an Alabama Founder
Two losses share this date, 62 years apart. A.P. Carter, who started the Carter Family in 1927 with Sara Dougherty and Maybelle Carter, died on November 7, 1960, in Kingsport, Tennessee. The group joined the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970.
On November 7, 2022, Jeff Cook, a founding member of Alabama, died at 73 at his home in Destin, Florida. He and his cousins Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry started out as Wildcountry in Fort Payne before the band became Alabama in 1977. The band went into the Hall of Fame in 2005 (here’s our look at that class).
Your Turn
Back to where we started: what’s your favorite song on Come On Over, and where were you when you first heard it? Tell us in the comments, we read every one.
Leave a Reply