YMMV / George Strait

• Awesome Music: "Amarillo by Morning" is often cited as one of his best.
• Covered Up:
  • "Amarillo by Morning" was originally recorded by Terry Stafford, who took it to #31 several years before Strait made it into his Signature Song.
  • "Famous Last Words of a Fool" and "Nobody in his Right Mind Would've Left Her" were originally minor chart hits for their co-writer, Dean Dillon.
  • "If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin')" was originally recorded by Faron Young, who took it to #2 in 1954, 34 years before George Strait took it #1.
  • Keith Whitley recorded "Nobody in His Right Mind Would've Left Her" a year before Strait's version was released.
  • "Drinking Champagne" is a cover of Cal Smith.
  • "Heartbroke", originally recorded by Rodney Crowell, but most closely associated with Ricky Skaggs. ^note  Strait's cover and Skaggs cover were recorded two weeks apart in 1982, although Strait did not know this.
  • "Today My World Slipped Away" was originally a Top Ten for Vern Gosdin.
  • "I Just Want to Dance with You" is a cover of Daniel O'Donnell, but co-writer John Prine cut it first.
  • "What Do You Say to That" was originally recorded by David Ball.
  • "Desperately" and "Wrapped" were originally recorded by Bruce Robison, and the latter had been recorded by several other artists before George covered it.
  • "The Seashores of Old Mexico" had been recorded by several artists, including Merle Haggard (who wrote it). Hank Snow also had a Top 10 hit with it in Canada in 1971.
  • "Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa" was originally recorded by Merle's son, Noel.
  • This also went the other way with "Oh Me, Oh My, Sweet Baby," which was a top 5 hit for Diamond Rio four years after Strait recorded it.
  • "Stars on the Water", written (and originally recorded) by Rodney Crowell, and made famous by Jimmy Buffett.
  • "Trains Make Me Lonesome", written and originally recorded by its writers Paul Overstreet and Thom Schuyler (as two-thirds of S-K-O), and then covered by Merle Haggard's other son Marty before George Strait did his version.
• He Really Can Act: While Pure Country was largely met with negative reviews, most critics noted that Strait was at least a convincing leading man in it.
• Misattributed Song: No, that's not him singing "A Little More Country Than That." That would be Easton Corbin.
• Moment of Awesome: Finally winning his first Grammy, for Best Country Album (Troubadour) in 2008.
• Tear Jerker:
  • "You'll Be There" with its message of wanting to reunite with a loved one in Heaven.
  • “Love Without End, Amen”‘s climax has the singer dream they have died and are outside of Heaven’s gates, but they are scared as they figured they’re in the wrong place due to all their mistakes. But the voice of their long-dead father calls out to them from heaven, convincing them it’s okay.