For me, it doesn’t get any better than Ricky Van Shelton.
Ricky Van Shelton had a quick rise to fame once he got going. He released his first album in 1987 and had a string of five platinum albums through 1992 including his greatest hits collection. It was a really strong run of hits back then and would be amazing even today.
Yet Ricky Van Shelton isn’t remembered in the same breath as stars like Randy Travis and Steve Wariner. I think he’s one of the best and his catalog of hits still stands up well today. I have his biggest hits in my collection and always smile when the random setting brings up an RVS song.
Here is one of my favorites for Throwback Thursday.
Life Turned Her That Way – Ricky Van Shelton
I love the hook where he sings:
So don’t blame her/Life turned her/That way
Great lyric and great melody. I could listen to this one on repeat for an entire day.
The story goes that Ricky honed his skills in a little basement recording studio he setup for himself. He would go down there moment during his spare time to perfect his singing voice. The result of that hard work was one of the most perfect and unique voices country music has ever heard.
Throughout his career, Ricky covered some of country’s biggest songs and his versions are often more recognized than the original. But Ricky also had his own new hits and those are remembered fondly as well.
Ricky stopped touring in 2006 and it’s one of my regrets in life that I never got to see him. But I’m happy that he left behind wonderful music for people in my generation and those that follow to discover.
Wherever he is I hope he’s doing well.
I kind of lost track of Ricky over the years. Glad to see your remarks and remind me what a wonderful singer he is. I thought I remembered hearing he had turned more to religious music at one time. At any rate. A really great singer.