Like country music lovers everywhere, all of us who work at AT&T Stadium are counting down to the Academy of Country Music Awards which will be held at the home of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, April 19th. As we watch preparations taking place inside the stadium, our thoughts turn to the fact that some of our fellow Dallas Cowboys family members have tried their hand at country music. Some with more success than others.
One of the all-time great Dallas Cowboys players was well-known for his singing, specifically Don Meredith. The quarterback and Cowboys Ring of Honor member belted out “Turn Out the Lights, the Party’s Over” from the broadcast booth near the end of Monday Night Football games. As a sports broadcaster, Don did a great job of introducing football fans to Willie Nelson’s song, “The Party’s Over”.
Another Cowboys quarterback who is in the Ring of Honor, Troy Aikman, also sang a country song. It was not as well-received as Don’s musical endeavor.
Do you remember Troy singing ‘Oklahoma Nights’?
I’ve tried to block it out of my mind, but like scary dreams, sometimes there is no escape!
Troy’s song was part of the Super Boys album recorded in 1995 titled “Everyone Wants to Be a Cowboy”. Special teams coach Joe Avezzano, who loved country music and performed in public whenever possible, got Troy to join the effort. Tight end Jay Novacek was part of the group, too, along with former Cowboys running back/fullback Walt Garrison and defensive tackle Randy White.
Those were your Super Boys: Aikman, Novacek, Garrison, and White. That’s a heck of an impressive lineup on the football field. In the recording studio? Well, what can we say? They did have professional singer/songwriter/musician Doc Swicegood to help them out as the final member of the group.
The album was released by Midwest Records and produced by Doc who also co-wrote songs and performed on the project. Con Hunley, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Jerry Lane took part, too. Clay Thompson and Kim Bihari were executive producers.
There were a total of 12 songs on the album. Troy’s ‘Oklahoma Nights’ was cut 2. Cut 1 was the title track, ‘Everyone Wants to Be a Cowboy’, which featured all the Super Boys.
Each group member got at least one solo.
Walt Garrison got two solos, “Everything’s Gone Wrong” and “The Rodeo’s Over”. Joe Avezzano also sang two solos, ‘”Ship My Body Back to Texas” and “What I Couldn’t See”.
Randy White’s solo track was “Don’t Fan the Flame”. He also partnered with Walt for “Hell of A Lot Together”.
Jay Novacek’s solo mentioned a famous teammate. The title of Jay’s solo track is “Emmitt, My Rodeo Star”. It lasts an excruciatingly long 3:58.
We don’t want to subject you to the entire album at one time. Like castor oil and bad news, it is best absorbed in small doses.
But if you want to hear Troy’s “Oklahoma Nights”, here it is.
And if you’d like to sing along with Troy, here are the lyrics (from lyricsmode.com):
(Verse 1:)
Driving down 66
This old pickup truck and me
In your memory
Thinkin’ bout how two young kids
Became sweethearts till the end
And we were 10
(Chorus:)
Oklahoma nights
Your front porch and a soft moonlight
Have an innocent love that wouldn’t end
At 21 you were Dallas bound
What I lost is what you found
When the sun goes down on city lights
You still think of Oklahoma nights
(Verse 2:)
Little league, bubblegum
Ponytails and horses on the run
In the Tahlequah sun
I turned around and stared awhile
It was overnight, once there was a child
It was a woman’s smile
[Chorus: X2]
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