George Strait One Step At A Time George Harvey Strait was born on May 18, 1952, in Poteet, in Atascosa County, south of San Antonio, Texas, to John Byron Strait, Sr. (born c. 1921 - died June 4, 2013),[ and the former Doris Couser. He grew up in Pearsall, in Frio County, where his father was a junior high school mathematics teacher and the owner of a 2,000-acre (8 km²) cattle ranch outside of Big Wells, Texas. The family worked at the ranch on the weekends and in the summers. When George was in the fourth grade, his father and mother were divorced, and his mother moved away with his sister, Pency. George and his brother John, Jr., or Buddy (1950-2009), were reared by their father. Strait began his musical interest while attending Pearsall High School, where he played in a rock and roll garage band. His musical preference soon turned to country with singers Hank Thompson, Lefty Frizzell, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Bob Wills, Hank Williams, and Frank Sinatra influencing his style. Strait did not tune to the country music radio often as a youth, usually listening to the news and the farmers report. His introduction to country music came mostly by way of live performances, which, according to Strait, could be heard in every town in Texas. He eloped with his high school sweetheart, Norma. The couple initially married in Mexico on December 4, 1971. That same year, he enlisted in the United States Army. While stationed at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii as a part of the 25th Infantry Division, Strait began performing with a U.S. Army-sponsored band, Rambling Country, which played off-base under the name Santee. On October 6, 1972, while still in Hawaii, George and Norma had their first child, Jenifer. After Strait was honorably discharged from the Army in 1975, he enrolled at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos and received a degree in Agriculture. During his college years, he joined the country band Stoney Ridge, answering a flyer the band posted around campus looking for a new vocalist. Strait renamed the group the Ace in the Hole Band and quickly became the lead; they began to perform at different honky tonks and bars around south and central Texas, traveling as far east as Huntsville and Houston.[ They gained a regional following and opened for national acts such as The Texas Playboys. Soon, his band was given the opportunity to record several Strait-penned singles including That Dont Change The Way I Feel About You for the Houston-based D label. However, the songs never achieved wide recognition, and Strait continued to manage his family cattle ranch during the day in order to make some extra cash. While he continued to play with his band, without any real connections to the music industry, Strait became friends with Erv Woolsey, who operated one of the bars in which the Ace in the Hole band played, and who had previously worked for the major label MCA Records. Woolsey convinced some of his Music Row (Nashville, TN) connections to come to Texas and to listen to Strait and his band play. Impressed with the performance, MCA quickly signed Strait to a recording contract in February 1981 The Ace in the Hole band remained with Strait, performing as the backup and touring band for the now solo act. Released Jan 31, 2014 youtu.be/-Bu973xrcn0
Posted on: Sun, 02 Feb 2014 02:49:17 +0000
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