There’s the melodramatic “Stranger in My House” (#5, 1982), whose jealous narrator gets passionately angry. Taken as a whole, the songs here do show Milsap’s range of vocal abilities. Ironically, he had a number #1 hit record in 1979 with “Nobody Likes Sad Songs”, a sincerely delivered piece about a musician whose career takes a rapid downspin because he can only sing sorrowful tunes.
Sometimes he swings, but as most of the songs are unhappy, this does not happen often. He phrases the lyrics in a cadenced, natural rhythm, and frequently accents the second beat for emphasis and rhythm (i.e. The country superstar has a pleasant, mellow tone and a gentle drawl. The other reason for Milsap’s success is his supple voice. The banality of Milsap’s music provided a solace to those beleaguered by larger events, a conservative haven in a heartless world. This is also the time of “broken heartlands”, as journalist Osha Gray Davidson put it - when family farms and small towns went economically bankrupt in large numbers. The height of Milsap’s career took place between the fall of Richard Nixon and the beginning of the George Herbert Walker Bush era - one of the most exciting times in our national and musical history (vis a vis punk, outlaw country, disco and glam, the rise of MTV, etc.). He must be right, I might be crazy as the transposed lyrics written by another wildly prosperous and sappy musician say. I would mock his song selections, but his accomplishments belie my criticisms. The fault seems to stem with the songs themselves. Oh, there are some exceptions, about half a dozen well-wrought tunes, but nothing I would call essential. Most of the 40 songs collected here are bland and unimaginative. Unfortunately, you really can’t say this about the music. His considerable achievements inspire awe. Like that of his boyhood idol Ray Charles, Milsap’s rags to riches story could serve as proof of the American dream. Milsap was born poor in the backwoods, abandoned by his mother, beaten by his teachers, etc. This blind singer has a maudlin back story. Milsap won six Grammy Awards between 19, has been inducted into the Grand Ole Opry (1976), received eight Country Music Association awards (including Entertainer of the Year ), and collected too many other prestigious honors to mention. Thirty-three of the 40 songs on The Essential Ronnie Milsap reached #1 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Singles chart, and the other seven made or closely approached the Top Ten.
And like Diamond, Milsap has been enormously successful.
His music sure is sappy - not in that Bobby Goldsboro “Honey” kitcshy-cutesy style, but more in the Neil Diamond straight-ahead, overly-earnest way. Ronnie Milsap has an appropriate last name.