Stars celebrate with Randy on his 25th

IT is 25 years since Randy Travis turned Country music on its head and dragged it from the doldrums to make it a popular musical genre again by injecting a new vibrancy into an old fashioned sound that suddenly became cool again â€â€œ because of him. Many other new young singers followed in his footsteps, but Randy was the catalyst for the cataclysmic change in Country a quarter of a century ago. Now many of the new, and some of the not so new, Country stars salute Randy by joining with him in duet versions of some of his most famous songs, and lesser known numbers, on the new album Randy Travis 25th Anniversary Celebration. Songs such as Forever and Ever Amen, with the Zac Brown Band, A Few Ole Country Boys with Jamey Johnston, or Diggin' Up Bones with John Anderson all sound great as duets with Randy's voice still the fulcrum around which the songs revolve. But Randy was no overnight star 25 years ago, in fact he was refused by eight record labels and he went through three stage name changes, Randy Traywick and Randy Ray before turning Country music on its head and possibly saving it from extinction as Randy Travis. So when Warner Brothers chief John Esposito says 'Randy Travis changed the landscape of Country music when he arrived on the scene 25 years ago,' it is very much an understatement. Better to say that he saved Country music from the terminal illness that it was suffering at the time. Country could do with a new saviour similar to Randy now as it is slipping down the tubes again and most of its new stars now sound more Pop than Country. But when some of those big new names get together with Randy on this album they all sound the real Grand Ole Opry deal. Among those duetting with him are American Idol star Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, James Otto and Kenny Chesney. The older kids on the block who join Randy on tracks on this album include Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, George Jones, Connie Smith, Alan Jackson, Don Henley, Ray Price, Gene Watson and several others. The closing track features most of the stars singing together on Didn't We Shine and they all shine on this song. As a child growing up in North Carolina Randy was a promising Country singer by the age of eight when he was working in a band on the local scene with his two brothers. But during his teenage years he got into trouble with the law for some minor drugs related incidents and was saved from jail by the intervention of a local nightclub owner, Lib Hatcher. But shortly after taking the troublesome teenager under her wing Lib's marriage broke up and she eventually sold out her nightclub and moved to Nashville where she bought another premises. Randy got work there as a dishwasher as well as a part-time singer. It was the persistence of Lib who took his demo tapes to every major record company chief in Music City USA that he eventually got a recording contract.  She also invited every record chief in town to come and hear Randy sing live at her nightclub and if they did so they got a free meal as well. But even when Warner Brothers finally agreed to take him on, after initially turning him down, they still had serious reservations about how they could make a success out of this young man singing old fashioned love songs. No doubt when the first single, On the Other Hand, failed to make any major impact on the charts the record company probably felt they had made a mistake but then along came the hit 1982  and they re-released On the Other Hand and shortly after that came Forever and Ever Amen - the rest is history. Randy became a multi-million selling star whose pure Country songs were suddenly accepted by the Pop music fraternity as well. He eventually married  his long-time manager and mentor Lib Hatcher and today he is still under the supervision of Elizabeth Travis Management Inc and teetotaller Randy seems set for a return to the charts with his collaborations with some of the young kids on the block 25 years later. 'It's a testament to Randy's impact in Country music that his friends have joined him to celebrate his legacy, and his future, on this anniversary celebration collection. 'We are incredibly proud that Warner Brothers Records has been his home since the beginning of his career,' says label boss John Esposito. Perhaps a label such as Warners might now take on board the new winner of American Idol, 17-year-old Scotty McCreery, and make him the new Randy Travis, and the new saviour of Country music. He is from North Carolina and is a Traditional sounding Country singer too â€â€ TG.