Saloon Review for 10/20/07

What a Saturday Night Saloon this past Saturday! Our featured artist...The Man In Black J.R. Cash! Kenny Chesney takes over the No. 1 spot with the single "Don't Blink" In album sales this week LeAnn Rimes' Family is this week's highest entry on Billboard's country albums chart, but it lacks the sales muscle to knock Rascal Flatts' Still Feels Good out of the No. 1 spot it has occupied for three consecutive weeks. Thus, Family has to settle for a not-too-shabby No. 2 slot. After an eight-week climb, Kenny Chesney's "Don't Blink" takes over the country singles chart, elbowing Toby Keith's "Love Me If You Can" back to No. 2. Kid Rock, who delves into his country influences from time to time, sold 170,000 copies of his new Rock N Roll Jesus album to rack up his first No. 1 on the all-genre Bllboard 200 chart. He is not categorized as a country artist by Billboard. However, making first appearances on this week's country albums rankings are Sara Evans' Greatest Hits (No. 4), Van Zant's My Kind of Country (No. 10), Deana Carter's The Chain (No. 60) and the Charlie Daniels Band's Deuces (No. 67).Debuting songs are Rascal Flatts' "Winner at a Losing Game" (No. 41) and Brad Paisley's "Letter to Me" (No. 60). The re-entries are Heartland's "Once a Woman Gets a Hold of Your Heart" (No. 56), Bon Jovi and LeAnn Rimes' "Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore" (No. 57) and Bomshel's "The Power of One" (No. 59).Billy Ray Cyrus enjoys a boost on both charts. His CD, Home at Last, rebounds from No. 37 to No. 22 in its 12th week out, and his current song, "Ready, Set, Don't Go," snaps from No. 48 to No. 33, also after 12 weeks. The other Top 5 albums are Reba McEntire's Reba Duets (No. 3) and Chesney's Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates (No. 5). Kenny Rogers' 21 Number Ones re-enters at No. 73. Two songs break into the Top 5: Dierks Bentley's "Free and Easy Down the Road I Go," vagabonding from No. 7 to No. 4, and Carrie Underwood's "So Small," inching from No. 8 to No. 5. Tim McGraw's "If You're Reading This" advances to No. 3. New albums being released Tuesday are Carrie Underwood's "Carnival Ride", Dwight Yoakam's "Dwight Sings Buck" and Shooter Jennings "The Wolf". My album pick this week is "The Wolf" from Shooter Jennings, but keep in mind....Uncle Rock likes the rockin' country!

Folks take a moment out of your day and say a little prayer for a country music legend. Grand Ole Opry member Porter Wagoner, 80, has been diagnosed with lung cancer, an Opry spokesperson confirmed Sunday afternoon (Oct. 21). Although the nature of his illness had not been previously disclosed, Wagoner has been listed in serious condition since being admitted to a Nashville-area hospital on Monday (Oct. 15). In May, he celebrated his 50th anniversary as an Opry member during a special segment of the show hosted by Marty Stuart and featuring guest appearances by Patty Loveless and Wagoner's longtime duet partner, Dolly Parton. Wagoner was inducted into Country Music Hall of Fame in 2002. Until next week country music fans,
Uncle Rock
--"if you wanna make it, you can't fake it...you gotta LIVE IT!!!"