Toby Keith has been releasing music for 30 years, which means that some of his biggest hits are now three decades old. One of those songs is “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” which appeared on Keith’s 1993 self-titled debut album.
30th Anniversary of Toby Keith’s “Should’ve Been A Cowboy”
During a recent appearance on Audacy’s Katie & Company, host Katie Neal asked Keith about the song, which Keith wrote solo. It was the first single from his first album and became his first No. 1 hit as well as the most-played country song of the ’90s with over three million spins on country radio.
Keith explained that he was working on his debut album and figuring out which songs to include when he went on a pheasant hunting trip in Dodge City, Kansas with around 20 men when they decided to visit a bar.
“So we were in the bar and this highway patrolman was named John, and he’s probably 55, maybe 60. And this young cowgirl came up to the bar and got a beer or something, and he goes, ‘I’m going to go dance with her,’” Keith recalled. “He runs over to her, she shoots him down, everybody laughs at him. He goes, ‘Hey, can’t blame a guy for trying. I never quit trying.’ And then about five minutes later, this young cowboy walks up, and she starts dancing right there with him. And somebody said, ‘Hey John, you should have been a cowboy.’ So I went, ‘Wow, that’s an intriguing idea. I might write that.’”
The Story Behind Keith’s “Should’ve Been A Cowboy”
Toby Keith explained that the interaction stayed on his mind, as well as the show, Gunsmoke, and the characters Marshall Dillon and Kitty.
“I had the Dodge City setting, and I was like, ‘I bet Marshall Dillon, every one of those episodes you keep waiting for Marshall Dillon and Kitty to hook up,’” he said. “And they never did, but you could tell that he was her guy.”
Though Keith had to get up early and everyone around him was asleep, he took his guitar into the bathroom and wrote the song in about 20 minutes. After hearing the track, Harold Shedd, Keith’s producer and vice president at Mercury Nashville, declared it to be a hit, and Keith was sent on the road with Shania Twain and John Brannen.
“We did about six weeks of touring and each of us got 30 minutes,” Keith remembered. “And by the time we were in the second weekend, I was in the Top 20, Top 30. And so I had a hit, and then it went to number one.”
The Oklahoma Native Credits “Really Talented” People Around Him For His Longevity
Keith explained that he doesn’t believe his career longevity was due to him specifically.
“I was just hungry and trying, and people don’t understand sometimes. They go, ‘What does it take to get to have a career like yours?’ It’s like, it’s not up to us. It’s really not,” he said. “There’s a lot of people, really talented, a lot of great writers, a lot of great singers, performers, musicians, and I’ve seen them. They’re everywhere, especially if you go to Nashville, New York or LA, London. But the reason some of ’em don’t make it is, I don’t know. The reason they do make it is because the people hear your music, and they go buy it, and they play it, and they circulate it, and they request it, and it’s really not up to us.”
“So once you figure out your spot, you stay in your spot,” he continued. “And that’s what I did, especially from about ’99 to 2010. I think there was a four-year period there where we were a quarter of the time at number one on Billboard. It was stupid.”
Over his decades-long career, Keith has released 21 studio albums and seven compilation albums, amassing 32 No. 1s and 42 Top 10 songs. The Oklahoma native recently performed “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” along with a number of his other hits and deep cuts during his three-night sold-out run in Las Vegas at Dolby Live at Park MGM earlier this month.
