Gill was born in Norman, Oklahoma, the home of the University of Oklahoma Sooners and learned to play several instruments, including banjo and guitar before he started high school at Oklahoma City's Northwest Classen High School. After he graduated, he played in a number of bluegrass bands. He debuted on the national scene with the country-rock band Pure Prairie League in 1979, appearing on that band's album Can't Hold Back. Gill is the lead singer on their hit song, "Let Me Love You Tonight" (1980), which he was still performing in concert years later - thus, he said, confusing many fans who knew him only from his subsequent solo work. Gill appeared on two subsequent albums along with his then-wife Janis Oliver.
Departing Pure Prairie League in 1981, Gill joined Rodney Crowell’s backing band The Notorious Cherry Bombs, where he met and worked with Tony Brown and Emory Gordy Jr., both of whom would later produce many of his future solo albums.
Signing as a solo artist with RCA Records in 1983, he first charted while on that label. In 1989 he switched to MCA Records where he recorded his breakthrough hit "When I Call Your Name." His 1998 album The Key received great critical acclaim. His other albums include Next Big Thing (2003) and Let's Make Sure We Kiss Goodbye (2000). The Guitar Slinger Songfacts says that Gill released his twelfth studio album, Guitar Slinger, on October 25, 2011 via MCA Nashville. It was his manager, Larry Fitzgerald, who came up with the title, as he felt there was something different the way Gill was playing the guitar on the record.
Gill hosted the CMA Awards every year from 1992 to 2003. In 2004 he received a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. In 1997, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
He married country singer Janis Oliver (of Sweethearts of the Rodeo fame) in 1980. The couple have one daughter, Jennifer Jerene Gill, born 5 May 1982. Vince and Janis separated in the mid-1990s and eventually divorced in June 1998. Vince later began dating and eventually married Christian/pop singer Amy Grant in March of 2000. They have one daughter, Corrina Grant Gill born 12 March 2001.
Dire Straits leader Mark Knopfler was a fan of Gill's, and had asked Gill to join the band full time. Gill turned down the invitation but did sing backup on one song ("The Bug") from Dire Straits' album On Every Street.
Gill has also sung duets with numerous artists, including Dolly Parton ("I Will Always Love You"), Reba McEntire ("Oklahoma Swing," "The Heart Won't Lie," "It Just Has to Be That Way"), Amy Grant ("House of Love"), and Barbra Streisand ("If You Ever Leave Me"); his other credits as a backup vocalist have included "Girls With Guitars" by Wynonna Judd (written by Mary-Chapin Carpenter, who, coincidentally, had a country hit with her cover of "The Bug") and "Nothing Left Behind Us" by Richard Marx.
What The Cowgirls Do
Vince Gill Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Down around San Antone
They love to go all night and treat you right
And party till the cows come home
I love it when the let their hair down
And dance real close to you
You know I'm a sucker baby for what the cowgirls doWhat the cowgirls do
They ain't no different up in Oklahoma
They ain't afraid to stay up til dawn
They love to cut a run and chug a lug
Longnecks til their money's all gone
I love it when the let their hair down
And dance real close to you
You know I'm a sucker baby for what the cowgirls do
What the cowgirls do
There's cowgirls all across the country
From Baton Rouge to Bangor Maine
It ain't hard to see they'll be the death of me
They're gonna drive my little heart insane
I love it when the let their hair down
And dance real close to you
You know I'm a sucker baby for what the cowgirls do
What the cowgirls do
Vince Gill's "What The Cowgirls Do" is a country song that celebrates the fun and exciting lives of cowgirls in Texas, Oklahoma, and all across the United States. The lyrics paint a picture of a wild party scene, with people staying up all night, drinking beer and dancing the night away. The women in these places are depicted as bold and unafraid, doing what they want and having a great time, with the singer confessing he is a sucker for the way they behave. The chorus 'I love it when they let their hair down and dance real close to you' evokes the imagery of cowboy hats, line dancing and warm summer nights on the wild west.
The song is a celebration of the cowgirl lifestyle and the energy associated with it. Gill captures the spirit of the cowgirl life, with its wild and fun nature. The song speaks to the deep-seated desire for freedom and independence, and the celebration of it. It's a tribute to the spirit of cowgirls and their undertakings in pursuing what they want despite societal expectations. It's a song that encourages a loosening of the reins and the embracing of our wild side.
Line by Line Meaning
Have you ever been down to Texas
Have you ever visited Texas?
Down around San Antone
Near the city of San Antonio
They love to go all night and treat you right
Texans love to party all night and show their hospitality
And party till the cows come home
They party until dawn breaks
I love it when they let their hair down
I enjoy it when they unwind and relax
And dance real close to you
And dance in intimate proximity to you
You know I'm a sucker baby for what the cowgirls do
I am easily enamored by the charm and charisma of cowgirls
They ain't no different up in Oklahoma
The cowgirls in Oklahoma are similar to the ones in Texas
They ain't afraid to stay up till dawn
They are not hesitant about staying up late
They love to cut a run and chug a lug
They enjoy dancing and drinking alcohol
Longnecks til their money's all gone
They consume beer until they run out of money
There's cowgirls all across the country
Cowgirls can be found all over the United States
From Baton Rouge to Bangor Maine
From Louisiana to Maine
It ain't hard to see they'll be the death of me
Their charm and allure will eventually be my downfall
They're gonna drive my little heart insane
They have the potential to make me crazy with their appeal
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: VINCENT GRANT GILL, REED NIELSEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Mitchiek
I'm in this video. I'm behind Vince while he's on the stage. I'm the blonde with the bob haircut standing on a stool. Good memory. Vince is a sweetheart.
@kathleengrimes8196
You are one lucky lady!!
@htuah1
Gonna watch it again and find you. Can you autograph my .... laptop I guess. Hmmm. That won't work. Damn!!!
Hey... there you are. Beautiful. (I honestly had to look up what a Bob haircut looks like but what the hey).
That must have been a lot of fun. It looks like it was a hell of a party.
@ndb_1982
Is it you that is seen for a second at 2:38?
@kirstencook1439
Rock On🤙 Beautiful person 🤗
@howlingwaters2741
Seriously? That's me by the post under the bull 💀 I wonder if my abs are still here somewhere!😉
@MarkBlackburnWPG
Country Funk (think Dolly's “Two Doors Down”) originated in the late 60s, with the guitar and singing voice of the late great Jerry Reed (see “Amos Moses”) – many years before Stevie Wonder's “Superstition” brought the same hypnotic beat to wider audiences.
And to those of us 'of an age,' it's Vince Gill who was synonymous with Country Funk 30 years ago: I needed reminding that two of my favorite Vince Gill funky tunes -- LIZA JANE and WHAT THE COWGIRLS DO – were co-written by Vince and his buddy, the late Reed Nielsen who left us ten years ago.
Our favorite video example? THIS one. A timeless work of art, you may agree!
@DaveWollenberg
Vince hit #2 in Billboard, 9-10-94. God bless! RIP, Calvert DeForrest, AKA, Larry 'Bud' Melman!
@matthewyonkman5692
Songs like this made me fall in love with country music as a kid
@aaronbruceladner1983
Whoever Put Larry in the Back of the Truck with those Ladies, is Totally a Genius!