In 1986, Sammy Kershaw released “The Flame Has Gone Out” as his first single. Although that song did not chart, nor did the two that followed, by 1991, Kershaw had his first Top 10 single, with “Cadillac Style”.
It’s Kershaw whose music became one of the defining sounds of the 1990s. Kershaw’s hits are far too many to list in their entirety. However, these are four of the best Kershaw songs, which still sound like country music gold today.
“She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful”
Kershaw’s first No. 1 single is “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful”. On his 1993 Haunted Heart album, Bob McDill and Paul Harrison are the writers of this Kershaw classic.
The chorus of “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful” says, “She don’t know she’s beautiful (never crossed her mind) / She don’t know she’s beautiful (no she’s not that kind) / She don’t know she’s beautiful / Though time and time I’ve told her so.”
Although Sammy Kershaw had numerous other successful singles, “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful” is the only No. 1 song of his career.
“Love Of My Life”
On Kershaw’s Labor Of Love record is “Love Of My Life”. The song, out as a single in 1997, was written by Keith Stegall, who produced the record, and Dan Hill.
The romantic tune starts with, “You are the love of my life / And you are the reason I’m alive / And baby baby baby / When I think of how you saved me / I go crazy.”
“Love Of My Life” is Kershaw’s final Top 5 single.
“Third Rate Romance”
One of Kershaw’s most popular songs, “Third Rate Romance” is from his Feelin’ Good Train record. The song, written by Russell Smith, was first a Top 20 hit for Amazing Rhythm Aces in 1975. Almost two decades later, in 1994, Kershaw had a Top 5 hit with this song.
“Third Rate Romance” is an uptempo song that’s really about a one-night stand. The chorus says in part, “She said, ‘You don’t look like my type / But I guess you’ll do’ / Third rate romance / Low rent rendezvous.”
This song has been covered by numerous other artists, including Rosanne Cash, Elvis Costello, and Tom Jones, among others.
“Queen Of My Double Wide Trailer’
Sammy Kershaw shows off his humorous side on “Queen Of My Double Wide Trailer”. Also on his Haunted Heart album, Dennis Linde is the only writer of “Queen Of My Double Wide Trailer”.
“Queen Of My Double Wide Trailer” says, “So I made her the queen of my double wide trailer / With the polyester curtains and the redwood deck / Now she’s run off, and I’ve got to trail her / Dang her black heart and her pretty red neck.”
“I had some people try to tell me that people up north couldn’t identify with this song,” Kershaw later recalls. “Somebody must have identified with it. This song single-handedly sold hundreds of thousands of albums and pushed Haunted Heart to platinum.”
Photo by John Atashian/Getty Images
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