Traditionalists admire Alan Jackson's lyrics

Alan Jackson had been a country music star for more than a decade when he performed at the CMA Awards on Nov. 7, 2001.

That night he became a statesman.

"Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)," which he debuted at the awards, was probably the most honest, moving response pop culture had provided to the horrible events of Sept. 11.

Toby Keith sang for the justifiably outraged in "The Angry American (Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue)." Jackson connected with a wider range of emotions, sharing the sorrow, fear, pain, mourning, bonding and confusion of the previous two months.

Jackson may be "a singer of simple songs," but he understood a simple truth -- country music at its best is often made for the brokenhearted.

A year later, he returned to dominate the CMAs, winning his first male vocalist of the year award along with entertainer of the year and album ("Drive"), song and single of the year ("Where Were You").

Jackson, who's soft-spoken and courteous in interviews, tends to speak loudest through his songs. He'd taken a stand at the CMAs before, in 1999. That was the year he stopped playing his own hit, "Pop a Top," to pay tribute to country legend George Jones.

Jones, one of Jackson's biggest influences, had declined to take part in the show after learning he'd only get to play about 40 seconds of his song "Choices." Jackson made sure the music was heard. Then, according to CMT, Jackson left the stage, and the hall, got on his bus and went home.

Jackson's actions weren't controversial, or even too surprising, because his music has always been rooted in traditional country, family and small-town life, with hard work balanced out by a little hard play.

Maybe because of this foundation, and because he writes many of his own songs and has always worked with one producer, Keith Stegall, his career has been remarkably consistent, from "Home" to "Drive."

His first album, 1990's "Here in the Real World," produced four No. 1 hits and has sold more than 2 million copies. His latest (aside from a second hits collection), "Drive," contained two No. 1 hits and two No. 2's and sold more than 4 million copies. The chart-toppers, the title track and "Where Were You," are as good as anything he's ever written.

Jackson could have been a mediocre singer, and no writer at all, and still attracted attention for his looks. At 6-foot-4 with long blonde hair and blue eyes, he could have traded his hat and boots for a surfboard and looked right at home on a Southern California beach.

But, of course, Jackson can write and sing. His voice, if not entirely distinctive, is certainly Southern comfortable, a tenor touched with a drawl that dips easily into baritone.

He's like a bridge between near-contemporaries George Strait and Randy Travis, and better suited than either to fast, hard-driving tracks like "Chattahooche," "Don't Rock the Jukebox" and "I Don't Even Know Your Name."

That those sing-along smashes, buoyed by fiddle, pedal steel and twangy lead guitar, are among Jackson's best-known songs may have added to the gravity and impact of the stark, simple "Where Were You."

After the applause, the reflection and then the awards, Jackson's recent duet with Jimmy Buffett, "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere," was almost a relief. With that song, and Toby Keith's similarly themed "I Love This Bar," it felt as if the country music threat level had been lowered.

If Jackson's latest single, "Remember When?" indulges in nostalgia -- recalls who we were before "Where Were You" -- who can blame him, and who can blame us? It became his 31st No. 1 country hit.

Born: Oct. 17, 1958, Newnan, Ga.

Height: 6-foot-4

Weight: 210 pounds

Family: Alan and Denise Jackson have been married 24 years. They have three daughters: Mattie, 13; Ali, 10; and Dani, 6

Car: 1955 Thunderbird convertible (the first car he owned)

Hat: Stetson Rancher -- Silver Belly

Sports team: Tennessee Titans

Song: 'He Stopped Loving Her Today' by George Jones

Harley riding spot: Crater Lake in Oregon

--Alan met his wife at the Dairy Queen in Newnan

--His first job was in a shoe-repair shop

--His first band was called Dixie Steel

--He was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1991

--Grammy Award for best country song, "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)," 2003

--16 CMA Awards, including 1995 entertainer of the year, 2002 entertainer and male vocalist of the year.

--12 ACM Awards, including 1990 Top New Male Vocalist and 1994, '95 and 2002 Male Vocalist of the Year.

ALBUMS

--"Here in the Real World," 1990

--"Don't Rock the Jukebox," 1991

--"A Lot About Livin' (And a Little 'Bout Love)," 1992

--"Honky Tonk Christmas," 1993

--"Who I Am," 1994

--"The Greatest Hits Collection," 1995

--"Everything I Love," 1996

--"High Mileage," 1998

--"Under the Influence," 1999

--"When Somebody Loves You," 2000

--"Drive," 2002

--"Let It Be Christmas," 2002

--"Greatest Hits Volume II and Some Other Stuff," 2003

--"Here in the Real World," 1991

--"Wanted," 1991

--"Chasin' That Neon Rainbow," 1990

--"I'd Love You All Over Again," 1991

--"Don't Rock the Jukebox," 1991

--"Someday," 1991

--"Dallas," 1992

--"Midnight in Montgomery," 1992

--"Love's Got a Hold on You," 1992

--"She's Got the Rhythm (And I Got the Blues)," 1992

--"Tonight I Climbed the Wall," 1993

--"Chattahoochee," 1993

--"Who Says You Can't Have It All," 1994

--"Summertime Blues," 1994

--"Livin' on Love," 1994

--"Gone Country," 1995

--"I Don't Even Know Your Name," 1995

--"Tall, Tall Trees," 1995

--"I'll Try," 1996

--"Home," 1996

--"Little Bitty," 1996

--"Who's Cheatin' Who," 1996

--"There Goes," 1997

--"Between the Devil and Me," 1998

--"Right on the Money," 1999

--"It Must Be Love," 1999

--"Where I Come From," 2001

--"Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)," 2001

--"Drive (For Daddy Gene)," 2002

--"It's Five O'Clock Somewhere," 2003

--"Remember When," 2003