Rodney Crowell

Rodney Crowell在70年代曾以一首“Ain’t Living Long Like This”成为当时纳什维尔音乐的先锋人物，这也奠定了他在乡村音乐领域中的地位。Rodney的乡村音乐具有流行风格，他与Tim McGraw、Vince Gill以及Bob Seger等人一起开创了流行化的乡村音乐。近几年Rodney Crowell的演艺事业并不成功，由于早年作品过度的商业化使他的歌曲失去了个性，那些作品多是些迎合电台播放的歌曲，在近几年我们再也没有看到他的新作。
by Jason Ankeny
While Rodney Crowell first gained widespread recognition as a leader of the new traditionalist movement of the mid-80s, he in fact was a singer, songwriter, and producer with roots and ambitions extending far beyond the movements parameters. Born to a musical family on August 7, 1950, in Houston, TX, Crowell formed his first band, the Arbitrators, while in high school, and in 1972 moved to Nashville to become a professional musician. There, he struck up friendships with singer/songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark.
Crowells first big break came while he was performing as a lounge singer, where one of his acoustic sets was heard by Jerry Reed. Crowells own You Cant Keep Me Here in Tennessee caught the ear of Reed and his manager, and two days later Reed recorded the song after signing Crowell to his publishing company. In 1975, Crowell moved to Los Angeles to join Emmylou Harris Hot Band as a guitarist, and soon became one of her primary songwriters; among the Crowell compositions Harris first popularized were Till I Gain Control Again, Aint Livin Long Like This, Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight, and Bluebird Wine. In 1977, Crowell exited the Hot Band to form his own group, the Cherry Bombs, and in 1978 released his first album, Aint Living Long Like This; surprisingly, given that he had built his growing reputation as a songwriter, his first two minor hits — Elvira and (Now and Then, Theres) A Fool Such as I — were both covers.