Two for Tuesday
Providing background information on music from popular genres like Country, Classic Rock, Southern Rock etc.
Two for Tuesday
From Urban Cowboy To Neo-Traditional: George Jones And Randy Travis Reset The 1980s
The 1980s were a decade of reinvention for country music — from the rhinestone glow of the Urban Cowboy craze to the roots revival of the neo-traditionalists. In this episode of The Two for Tuesday Podcast, host Michael Pezent explores two iconic songs that defined the era: George Jones’ heartbreaking “He Stopped Loving Her Today” and Randy Travis’ timeless love song “Forever and Ever, Amen.” Together, they tell the story of how country music balanced slick crossover appeal with a return to its pure, traditional heart.
2nd Round Music YouTube channel where you'll find Michael performing these two songs: https://youtu.be/8pWcO2cAVxQ
Well, hello friends, and welcome back to the Two for Two Podcast, presented by Second Round Music. I'm your host, Michael Pazant, and after a two-week high-day of a very busy schedule here in October, today we're gonna complete part two of our deep dive into country music fourth generation. So we're gonna continue our journey through the 1980s by exploring two iconic songs that define the era. George Jones' He Stop Loving Her Today, and Randy Travis's Forever and Ever, Amen. Now, in our last episode, we set the stage for the 1980s. And now we're gonna delve even deeper with more stories, context, and of course great music. So grab your hat, dust off your cowboy boots, but before we get started, take a listen to this sponsored message, and I'll catch you on the other side. Are you ready to take control of your finances and build a brighter future? Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired, feeling broke all the time? 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Go to secondroundfinancial.com and click Book Now to schedule your free consultation today. Well, it's 1980 in America. Disco fever has broken, and in its place, a new craze is galloping in from an unlikely source. A Hollywood film about a Texas honky tone. The movie Urban Cowboy, starring a fresh off of Saturday Night Fever John Travolta, did for country music, what Saturday Night Fever did for disco a few years earlier. And suddenly country music was cool even in the city. Now the film set in a real-life Ghillie's nightclub near Houston popularized the pop-friendly Urban Cowboy sound that brought country music into trendy urban night spots. Much like Travolta's earlier films had made disco and 50s rock stylish again, Urban Cowboy lost a national mania for all things country, but with a glossy crossover twist. Mickey Gilly, a country music singer and club owner whose Pasadena, Texas honky tonk Gillies, was the centerpiece of Urban Cowboy, and it became the emblem of an era. Here he performs wearing the iconic cowboy hat that suddenly everybody wanted to wear. Almost overnight, people who had never set foot in a honky tonk were donned in cowboy boots and pearl snap shirts, and line dancing became a national pastime. And mechanical bulls, like the one Travolta's character conquered in the film, started popping up in bars from Houston to Manhattan. Many of the former disco dance floors were replaced with bucking bulls, and even Urban Nightclubs sought to recreate Gilly's vibe. The soundtrack of Urban Cowboy raced up the charts, selling millions and spawning hit single after hit single. In fact, the soundtrack gilded several number one country songs. Johnny Lee's Looking for Love and Mickey Gilly's own catchy remake of Stand By Me both shot up to the top. Even pop and rock artists got in on the action. The movie featured acts like the Eagles and Boss Gags alongside Bona Fide Country Star. Country music was suddenly a fixture on mainstream radios and pop charts, a phenomenon soon dubbed the Urban Cowboy Movement. The commercial boom was unmistakable. Country record sales soared in the early 80s, and new listeners jumped on the bandwagon. And it wasn't just the music. It was a whole urban cowboy lifestyle. Bars and clubs rebranded themselves into country saloons, complete with hay bales and neon cowboy boots. Gilly's Club, co-owned by Mickey Gilly himself, became the place to be, famously billed as the world's biggest honky tonk, with a capacity of about 6,000. It was so large and legendary that it inspired copycats nationwide. Even Fort Worth's massive Billy Bobs, Texas, opened in 1981 and even featured a real bull riding in the arena, one up in Gilly's Mechanical Bull. Mickey Gilly suddenly found eight of his next nine singles hitting number one on the country charts in this period. And fellow Texan Johnny Lee became a household name thanks to his crossover hit from the film. Another country artists thrived during this glitzy rhinestone studded moment. Barbara Mandrell, for example, had been blending country with pop and RB influences throughout the late 70s, and the urban cowboy craze sent her career into overdrive. In 1980 and 81, Mandrell was crowned the CMA Entertainer of the Year. One of few women had ever earned this honor, and she did it twice. She even hosted her own primetime TV variety show, bringing country music into living rooms across America. And hey, I remember watching this when I was a kid. One of her signature songs from this era was I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool back in 1981. And it was a cheeky acknowledgement to the trend. She sang about proudly liking country music back when it was unfashionable. And with a guest appearance by George Jones himself on the live recording. The song became an anthem of the time, winking at former urban knights who had suddenly discovered a love for fiddles and steel guitars. Even country legend Dolly Parton jumped on the pop mainstream then, starring in a 1980s film, Nine to Five, and taking its theme song, a bouncy office theme Diddy, to number one on both the country and pop charts. The crossover between country and pop was fully in force. Urban Cowboys' influence could be heard on hits by Kenny Rogers, Ann Murray, Juice Newton, and many more. All blending country twang with soft rock hooks and lush production. As massively popular as the Urban Cowboy phase was, it proved to be a short-lived fad. And by 1983-84, the mechanical bulls were slowing down, and the flood of crossover hits began to recede. The craze burned itself out in a sense, and country record sales by 1984 fell back to levels well before the Urban Cowboy craze. Many fans and artists started to feel that in all the glitz and pop production, authentic country storytelling had been lost. Barbara Mandrell's tongue-in-cheek anthem had hinted at a backlash. But was country music too cool for its own good? As one era ended, with the Urban Cowboys neon lights fading and the Gillish Club literally burning down in 1990, it marked an end of an era, and a new movement was on the horizon. One that would swing the pendulum firmly back to tradition. But before we leave the early 80s, we need to talk about a song, a single song, that cut through the urban cowboy craze like a bolt of lightning. And in the midst of all the pop-infused tunes of 1980, a devastating country ballad by a hard-hitting legend reminded everyone of the raw emotional power of classic country music.
SPEAKER_00:He said I love you till I die. As the years went slow, she's still pretty pony.
SPEAKER_01:So on April 14th, 1980, Country Radio got a surprise, and it didn't even know it needed. A new single hit the airwaves that was the polar opposite of the slick urban cowboy sound. It was slow, mournful, and unabashedly country, featuring a crying harmonica and steel guitar, swelling strings, and a voice full of pain. The song Was He Stop Loving Her Today by George Jones. Little did anyone know that it would soon be regarded as one of country music's greatest all-time songs. But behind the timeless recording, it has an incredible story of how the song came to be. A story of faith, doubt, and redemption that in many ways mirrors George Jones' own tumultuous life. To set the scene, you have to understand where George Jones was in 1980. George was already a country legend, a pioneer of honky tonk heartbreak songs since the 1950s, but by the late 70s, his career and personal life were in serious trouble. He hadn't had a number one solo hit in six years, and worst yet, George was struggling with addiction and erratic behavior, earning the unenviable nickname of No Show Jones for his concert missus. Many in the industry had written him off as a lost cause. But now, inner producer, Billy Cheryl, and a song that would change everything. Billy was George's producer at Epic Records, known for his country political style of blending traditional country with lush orchestration. And in 1978, Cheryl got his hands on a demo of a tearjerker ballad written by two of Nashville's finest songwriters, Billy Braddock and Curly Putman. The song was called He Stop Loving Her Today. And when Billy played it for George, well the singer's reaction was, let's just say, less than enthusiastic. George hated this song at first. And he thought it was too depressing, too long, and too old fashioned, and in his own words, too damn sad. He reportedly told Cheryl, Nobody will ever play this morbid song. In fact, George was so convinced that during early sessions he would intentionally mess around singing the lyrics to a different melody. He would actually sing it to Chris Christophens' Help Me Make It Through the Night, just to irritate Billy. George had a stubborn streak and a wicked sense of humor, and he used both to resist this song. But Billy Cheryl believed and he stopped loving her today. And he felt there was something monumental there if he could only get George to deliver the vocal he knew he was capable of. Billy also had some issues with the song's original format. In its first drafts, the songwriters actually had the main character, a lovelorn man who never gives up on his lost love, die too soon in the story. Basically the song started with a funeral, which was perhaps too much gloom right off the bat. Cheryl pushed Braddock and Putman to rewrite it multiple times. He had them delay the revelation of the man's death until later in the song, and crucially added the twist that a woman, his long lost love, to come visit his grave. That was the final touch that made the story so powerful. He stopped loving her because he died, and only then did she return to pay respects. By Cheryl's count, he ended up with a notebook an inch thick full of rewrites of this one song, but he was determined to get it right. The recording process of He Stop Loving Her Today in nineteen seventy nine and eighty was just as arduous as the rewrite process. George's substance abuse issues were at its worst then. He has admitted he was drunk or high the majority of the time in those years. And according to Cheryl, Jones could barely get through a full take. In fact, the song's famous spoken word recitation He came to see her one last time wasn't recorded until eighteen months after the first verse was laid down. Imagine that. Jones had sung the main verse and chorus in 1979, and well over a year later, Cheryl finally got him into shape to record the spoken bridge, which they had to splice in. It's a testament to Cheryl's patience and studio wizardry that the finished record sounds so cohesive. And from my earlier research in this song, George actually never recorded the song from start to finish in one tape. From my understanding, Cheryl had to splice in several takes just to make the song. By the end of it all, Jones still wasn't convinced. The last thing he said upon final completion of the song was now the legendary line Nobody ought by this morbid son of a bitch. Pardon George's French. He was well known for his colorful language. He literally bet Cheryl that the song wouldn't be a hit. And in a 1980 interview, George was quoted by saying, I told Billy Sherrill this song was too sad. No one's gonna want to hear that morbid thing. Boy was I wrong. You know, you can almost hear Jones chuckle at himself here. Well, Billy Sherrill, for his part, had a comeback for George. He reassured him that yes, the song is sad, but it was beautifully and timelessly sad. With its sweeping strings and funeral march rhythm and heartbreaking story, Cheryl believed that he stopped loving her today transcended the trend of the moment, and he later said producing it was the tour de force, and that it featured all the hallmarks of a grand symphonic approach to country music. Indeed, when you listen to the record, you'll hear the subtle crest of strings and the chillin' snare drum roll that sounds like funeral drums as Jones sings about carrying the coffin away. It's hugely emotional. It's not at all subtle, but that was Cheryl's genius and George Jones' voice to provide the soul. And when the single was released in April of 1980, something incredible happened. Far from being too sad for radio, audience responded with overwhelming emotion. And by July of 1980, he stopped loving her today shot up to number one on the country chart. And for George Jones, who hadn't had a number one in years, had literally bet on the song's failure. It was a stunning vindication. The song didn't just top the charts, it triggered a renaissance of Jones' career. He was quoted as saying a four decade career had been salvaged by a three-minute song. And country fans, even those swept up in the urban cowboy fever, could not resist the pull of this masterful tearjerker. And to this day, when you ask country aficionados what the greatest country song of all time is, a huge number will answer he stopped loving her today. In survey after survey it comes out on top. There's just something universally relatable about the song of unending love and heartbreak, delivered by the voice that was made to sing such a song. Critics agree that Jones had delivered a masterpiece. Yet in 1980, the industry showered it with awards. George Jones won the Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performer for this song. And the Academy of Country Music named it both Single of the Year and Song of the Year, an honor for both Jones and the songwriters. And at the CMA Awards, something unprecedented happened. He Stop Loving Her Today was voted Song of the Year for 1980. And again in 1981. It was such a landmark recording that it claimed the top songwriting prize two years running. No song had ever done that before. And when George Jones walked on stage in the 1980 CMAs to perform it, the audience of industry folks gave him a standing ovation. Mid song. Many were in tears. Here was a living legend, seemingly down for the count, who had roared back with the ultimate country ballad about love and loss. Jones himself was in disbelief at the accolades. Decades later, at his own funeral in 2013, they chose this song as the climactic tribute. Alan Jackson sang it, moving everyone to tears. One more time. Now, in the context of this episode, He Stop Loving Her Today stands out as a beacon of traditional country excellence, right in the middle of an urban cowboy era. And the song had no pop gloss, no slick crossover vibe. It was hardcore country. And it proved that a great country song could captivate the whole nation. Trends be down. Its success hinted that country audiences still craved the real hard-hitting stuff. And indeed, as the 1980s progressed, the pendulum swung firmly back from pop to traditional. By the mid-80s, a whole new crop of artists, inspired by the likes of George Jones and hankering for sounds of fiddle and steel guitar, took Nashville by storm. And it was called the Neo-Traditional Revival. And at its forefront was a young North Carolina troubadour named Randy Travis, who fittingly idolized George Jones. So let's flip our two for Tuesday record over to the B side for the 1980s and the neo-traditionalist movement. And Randy Travis's signature hit forever and ever, amen.
SPEAKER_00:You may think that I'm talking foolish. You heard that I'm wild and I'm free. You may wonder how I can promise you now. This love that I feel for you always will be.
SPEAKER_01:But you're not country music was ready for a reset. The urban cowboy crazy cooled off, and in its wake, the genre suffered a bit from a hangover, slumping sails, and a sense of lost identity. But as often happens, the pendulum swung back, and a new generation of artists came along who were determined to bring country music back to its roots, back to the sound of steel guitars, fiddle solos, and stories that rang true to rural life. And they looked not to Hollywood for inspiration, but to the legends of country's past. Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Patsy Klein, and others who built the genre. And this movement is often called the neotraditionalist country revival. And if 1980 was all about Urban Cowboy, by 1986, Country was talking about new traditionalists. The shift actually began quietly a few years earlier. And then 1981, a fresh-faced George Strait released his debut album that this podcast talked about a few weeks ago, Straight Country. Defiantly traditional in its sound. Around the same time, young artists like Ricky Skaggs and John Anderson were scoring hits that hearkened back to bluegrass and honky tonk styles. Now they were outliers on the chart by then. But they signaled what was coming. And by 1985 and 86, the trickle became a flood. Music historians often point to 1986 as the seminal year. The year that Randy Travis, Dwight Yoakum, and Steve Earle all broke through with landmark albums that proudly ignored the pop trends and embraced traditional country sounds. As one journalist noted at the time, these neotraditionalists often a formidable alternative to the tepid pop flavored country acts that had dominated the early eighties. In other words, the twang was back, baby. Well, what did neo-traditional country sound like? In short, it was non-apholstered, acoustically based music. To quote a New York Times piece from 1987. The songs featured real fiddles, Dobros, steel guitars, up front in the mix, not buried under the string section. The drumming was often more subtle, with a shuffle or a two-step feel, rather than the rock drums that had crept into country. And the singers, well, they sang country. They drawed, they yodled, and they cried a note when they needed. Their vocal phrasing owed a debt to the greats of the past. You could hear Lefty Frizell's influence in a young Randy Travis's smooth North Carolina draw, and a hint of Buck Owens Bakersfield Twang and Dwight Yockham's energetic honky tonk tune. Importantly, the themes of the songs also shifted back to core country topics heartache, family, faith, small town life, and honky tonk nights. After a period where country lyrics sometimes chased pop tropes, the neo-traditionalists brought back the storied song and the hard country ballad. And audiences, especially the longtime country fans, rejoiced. The change was noticeable. After half a decade of slumping sales and shifting creativity, country music has turned itself around, the New York Times declared in 1987, observing that a new young audience was embracing these new traditionalists with their honky tonk ethos. And hey, I was one of them. And we'll talk more about that a little bit later. Now record labels in National suddenly scrambled to sign anyone with a cowboy hat and a classic country sound. And the pendulum was fully swung. What was old was new again. So let's talk about a few key players in this movement, starting with Randy Travis, who became nothing short of the poster child for country's traditional revival. Randy Travis, born Randy Trewick, was a humble kid from North Carolina with a voice like Warren Molasses and an affinity for an old song. And in 1985, after years of being told by labels that he was too country, Travis got a record deal with Warner Brothers and released his debut album, Storms of Life, in 1986. And it was a smash hit. The first debut album to ever go platinum. Now that's selling over a million copies. Randy's songs, on the other hand, and digging up bones went to number one and grabbed everyone's attention. Here was a young man who sang with effortless twang and the sincerity of George Jones or Merle Haggard. And at the time when many country stars had been moving away from that style, Randy's arrival signaled the start of a sales explosion in country music. He was, as the Country Music Hall of Fame later put it, the leader of a handful of traditional-minded artists who dramatically changed the course of country music starting in 1986. Alongside Randy, you had guys like Dwight Yoakum, who took a slightly different path to arrive at the same destination. Dwight came from the Los Angeles club scene of all places. A cowboy in a punk rock whirl. He wore skinny jeans and a battered cowboy hat, and he cranked out honky talk tunes with a rockabilly edge. And in 1986, his album Guitars and Cadillacs, etc., etc., hit big. Fueled by the revved up cover of Johnny Horton's Honky Tonk Man and Yocham's old yearning of guitars and Cadillacs, he brought back the Bakersfield sound, all our Buck Owens, that this podcast covered a few weeks back with a vengeance. Telecaster guitars, up-tempo shuffles, and young audiences, even on the rock side, thought it was fresh and exciting. The fact that Yochim got open for an alternative rock or a punk band, and still wow the crowd says a lot about his authenticity and appeal. At a time when some country stars were sporting permed hair and disco ish outfits, no offense to Eddie Rabbit, but he did love a shiny shirt. Dwight Yoakum strode on stage and worn denim and delivered a ache and twang in his voice that felt pure and raw country. He was cool precisely because he didn't chase trends. He doubled down on hillbilly music. And then there's Reba McIntyre, who often doesn't get lumped in with the new traditionalist boy club, but absolutely was part of the returning country to its roots. Reba, an Oklahoma ranch girl with a powerhouse voice, had her first number one hit in 1982 and steadily rose through the 1980s by recording songs that balanced modern polish with traditional soul. Early on, she begged her record label to let her record more classic sounding country material. And in 1984, she released How Blue, a fiddle-soaked two-step, sounded like it could have been a Bob Wills tune. And it went to number one. Reba also did plenty of heartache ballads. Her 1986 breakthrough album, Whoever's in New England, has the title track, a tearful Tammy Wynette style song about a wife fearing her husband's affair. And what Reba brought was emotional, big voice singing rooted in country and gospel that she grew up on. Plus her keen ear for a great storytelling song. She modernized the sound just enough to appeal to 80s listeners, but she never lost her country core. And by the late 80s, Reba was a superstar. Collecting awards, she'd go on to win CMA Country Vocalist of the Year four times in that decade. And she paved the way for many other women in country music to thrive while keeping it country. A few others deserve a quick mention. George Strait, who we noted, basically embodied neo-traditionalism. He was a real cowboy from Texas who turned out hit after hit with pure country instrumentation and George Zones Texas shuffle influences. How about Keith Whitley, a tremendous vocalist who sadly died young in 1989, was making waves with stone-cold country ballads like Don't Close Your Eyes. You could even swear you were listening to an old Lefty Verzell record when Keith sang. And how about the judge? Naomi and her daughter Winona brought back mountain harmonies and acoustic arrangements in their mid-80s hits, giving a rootsy alternative to the cosmopolitan country a few years prior. And collectively, these neo-traditionalists reinvigorated country music popularity. And in the late 80s saw country music sales climbing again, new radio stations popping up, and a whole new generation of fans. Many of them were young listeners who found its rootsy music refreshing. As one writer put it at one time, the so called new traditional list of Captured the ears of new young audiences, and a revitalization of a genre that had just a couple of years earlier seemed endangered. And by 1989, country music was poised for another boom. And indeed, the class of 89 would include Garth Brooks and others, but that's a story for another day. Now the groundwork had been laid by artists in the mid-80s who said, Let's put country back into country music. Now, guys, I wasn't one of those young audience participants. When Randy released his debut album, Storms of Life, in 1986, I was a sophomore in high school. And although in the earlier years I listened to my vocal influences, Don Williams, Charlie Pride, and George Jones in the 70s, I'd started listening to many of the rock bands of that time. Bands like KISS, Leonard Skinnard, the Marshall Tucker band. But that Storms of Life album had a profound impact on my musical direction. And I can remember riding around in my small southwestern Alabama town with a friend of mine and his little brown Chevy Chevette hatchback singing every word to every song on that album multiple times. I mean more than I could ever count. It's still one of my favorite country albums of all time. Which brings us to one of the movement's crowning moments, a song that symbolized the return of tradition and also became one of the most loved romantic country songs of all time. And in 1987, that new traditionalist leader, Randy Travis, released a single that will not only top the charts, but live for decades as a wedding song, a karaoke staple, and a kind of musical shorthand of everlasting love. Yeah, I'm talking about the joyfully irresistible forever and ever, amen. Now, by the time Randy Travis was ready to release his second album in 1987, country music fans were eagerly awaiting more from the young man with an old school voice. Travis did not disappoint. And in March of 1987, he released Forever and Ever, Amen as the lead single from his album Always and Forever, and it exploded. This up tempo pledge of eternal love, delivered in Travis's signature smooth baritone, became his third number one single, and it stayed at number one for three solid weeks. Now that's a relatively long time for a single at that time. It helped the Always and Forever album reach number one on the Country Albums chart for 43 weeks straight. Essentially the entire year following its release. The album sold over five million copies. In short, Forever and Ever Amen was more than just a hit. It was a phenomenon. So what's the story behind the song? Interestingly enough, it started with a family moment from one of the songwriters. Forever and Ever Amen was written by two prolific Nashville writers, Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz. Schlitz, as you remember, due to another topic from on this show, wrote another little classic you might know of, The Gambler, for Kenny Rogers. Now the idea for the song's title hook came from Schlitz's young son. And as the story goes, Don's wife would tuck their five-year-old boy into bed each night. And the kid had a habit of adding a sweet extra line to his bedtime prayers. He would say, Mommy, I love you forever and ever, amen. Now imagine hearing that from your child. That's enough to melt your heart. Slitz certainly was struck by it, and he went into a songwriting session with Paul Overstreet and recounted the adorable line. Overstreet immediately recognized the song idea when he heard it. Now together, in a couple of hours, they penned Forever and Ever Amen, capturing the simplicity and the sincerity of that phrase. And the very next day, they recorded a demo and played it for Martha Sharp. Sharp was an executive at Warner Brothers Records. Now Martha had signed Randy and even had matched him with producer Kyle Lenning. She had a good ear for what fit Randy's style. And when she heard Forever and Ever, Amen, she immediately said it would be perfect for Travis. After all, Overstreet had co-written Travis's first number one hit, on the other hand. So it was some proven chemistry there. Well, sure enough, Randy loved the song from the get-go. The song Sentiment Pledging Love that last not just a lifetime but beyond. Amen, giving it a feel of a prayer-like eternity. Match Randy's wholesome, earnest image. Remember, this was a time when a lot of country songs were still about bars and outlaw imagery. But Travis was unafraid to sing about devotion and domestic love. His first hit, on the other hand, was about choosing marriage over temptation. Now, Forever and Ever Amen continued that positive theme, practically beaming with happiness. Now, although it sounds effortless and fun, a lot went into crafting the making of Forever and Ever Amen. Producer Kyle Lenning, who had produced Randy's debut, stayed at the helm, and he assembled Nashville's top session players for the recording. They laid down a classic country arrangement with remarkable efficiency. And we have records of who played on it. It's a who's who. Jack Williams played the bass, James Stroud on drums, and he would later become a major producer himself. Russ Barnberg and Marcus Stevens on acoustic guitars, Steve Gibson on electric guitar, Doyle Grisham on steel, and the great Terry McMillan on harmonica. And they even brought in a few ringers for special touches. One cool nugget, a steel guitarist named Paul Franklin had an unusual instrument called a pedalbro. Now basically it was a Dobro, which is a resonator guitar, rigged with petals like a pedal steel. And Lenning thought, well, why not try it out? So they did. That distinctive twang and run that you hear at the intro of the song. Well, that's Paul playing his pedal bro. And according to Franklin, Forever and Ever Amen was the first hit record to prominently feature that instrument. It was a subtle detail, and it gives the intro a warm, rootsy character that grabs you instantly. Now, Lenning later said that the session was fun to record, not difficult. This Nashville A team knocked it out and basically live in the studio. And what you hear on this record mostly was played together off the floor. The musicians followed the Nashville numbering chart, which is a system notating the chords in the song. And they nail the feel in just a few takes. The energy in the studio was great. You can sense the joy in the performance. And after the band was done, Randy came in to do his vocals at Lenning's own studio in Hendersonville, which is a suburb right outside of Nashville. Travis was a road warrior by then, and he toured very heavily. So he was a bit road weary when he came in to cut these takes. And it took him a couple of more tries than usual to get the perfect vocal track. But Randy was known for nailing vocals quickly. And Lenning praised Randy's keen sense of self and his pure emotion in singing. And this was Randy's magic, his honesty. He didn't over-sing, he just let his rich baritone voice wrap around the words in an easy, genuine way. And when he sings lines like, I'm on to love you forever and ever, amen. You believe him. Utterly. Now lyrically, forever and ever, amen. He is clever in its simplicity. Overstreet and slits wrote some fun images into it. As long as old men sit and talk about the weather, as long as old women sit and talk about old men. It's a fresh way to say a really long time with a wink. And Randy delivers those lines with a little smile in his voice. The chorus was also catchy and warm, and it's basically musical comfort foo. Interestingly, the final note of the song is what really stands out. Travis lands on a deep held amen that showcases the comfortable bottom of his vocal range. It's such an ear-pleasing moment that in concerts, fans would cheer as he sustained that amen. And in years later, after Travis suffered a stroke that limited his singing, he would still often join other singers on stage just to inject the final Amen because it's that iconic. Now, when Forever and Ever Amen hit the radio, it was like a ray of sunshine. And at the height of the neo-traditional revival, here was a song that celebrated lasting love with a two-step rhythm and unabashedly country instrumentation. It shot up to number one and it camped there for three weeks in June of 1987. And it became one of 1987's most popular songs in any genre. Critics and fans adored it. And at the CMA Awards that fall, Forever and Ever Amen took on the Single of the Year trophy. And its writers, Over Street and Slits, well, they earned Song of the Year at the ACM Awards. Travis himself won the CMA Mo Male Vocalist of the Year both 87 and 1988, partly on the strength of the song's success. The album Always and Forever won CMA Album of the Year and netted Randy a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. In other words, Randy became a superstar of country music, and this song was his calling card. Beyond the awards and the charts, Forever and Ever Amen left a cultural mark. It quickly became a wedding standard. Countless couples had walked down the aisle and had their first dance of the promises of eternal love. The phrase itself entered the lexicon people use Forever and Ever, Amen, in conversations as a warm affirmation. For Country Radio, the song was a bit of a format setter too. Programmers saw how audiences loved the neo-traditional sound and it encouraged them to play more of that style. And in the late 80s and the early 90s, country radio playlists soon filled up with artists who followed Randy's footsteps. A class of 89, Garth Brooks, Clint Black, Alan Jackson, etc., all benefited from the door Randy kicked open for more traditional yet mass appealing sound. One could argue the song showcased how rich songwriting had become popular again in Nashville. Overstreet and Schlitz wrote many hits, but Forever and Ever, Amen, may be the most memorable collaboration they ever had. His genius is in the child's innocent phrase, and it gives it universality and purity. The fact that they churned it out in a brief session is a reminder of how sometimes the best songs come naturally. And Randy Travis was the ideal vessel for it. A singer who exudes integrity and warmth, making every listener feel like he meant every word he sang. Because he genuinely did. And there's also a poignant epilogue. In 2013, Randy Travis suffered a near fatal stroke, and for a while it was unsure that he would even survive. But he did, obviously, and it left him unable to perform like before. However, in 2016, during his Country Music Hall of Fame induction, Randy did something that gave everyone goosebumps. He mustered the strength to sing Amazon Grace in a broken but clear voice at the ceremony. And in the years since, at various tribute shows, a tradition has arisen. Other artists sing Forever and Ever Amen to Randy. And at the end, he delivers that final Amen line. And the crowd goes wild every time. It's a testament to how much this song has meant to people and how much Randy Travis meant to country music. Hey guys, thank you for listening today, and I hope you're enjoying this podcast. If you are, please subscribe or follow the podcast, click the like button, share it with other music lovers, and please consider giving it a five-star rating so we can reach a bigger audience. Now back to the show. So there you have it. There's two iconic songs from the 1980s that in many ways book into the story of country music in that decade. George Jones's He Stopped Loving Her Today proved that a single three-minute song could remind the world of country music's unrivaled ability to tell a heart-wrenching story. And Randy Travis's Forever and Ever Amen showed how returning to country roots could spark a whole new era of success, bringing joy and tradition to a new generation. One song is about love so strong that it outlives a man. The other is about love pledged to last as long as time itself. Both songs, in their own poignant ways, speak to the timelessness of country music and its capacity to touch on a deep universal emotions in simple language with soulful melodies. And in the span of the 1980s, country music went from the glitzy urban cowboy craze through some wilderness years and then back home to its traditional heart. It's fitting that our Two for Tuesday selections were by a veteran at his comeback and a young newcomer on the rise. George Jones handed the baton to Randy Travis, you might say. And Travis carried it forever and ever. Well, you know the rest. So to close out, let's imagine something for a minute. Let's imagine that we're at a classic country honky tonk, or maybe we're even at the Grand Old Opera. It's late 1980s. George Jones and Randy Travis happened to be there together. And in fact, they did perform together once or twice. George might turn to Randy and grin and say, Kid, they tell me that a song of yours is gonna be a classic. And Randy, ever humble, might blush and reply, Well, only because I learned from the likes of you, Possum. And then they launch into a duet of a country standard. Maybe Amazing Grace, or maybe one of George's old hips, with the audience silently absorbing a special moment of country music's continuity. George was once quoted as saying, Country music is gonna be in good hands. Speaking obviously about Randy Travis, and indeed it was, the 1980s ended with country music not only surviving, but thriving. Ready to roar into the 1990s with its roots intact and its appeal broader than ever. Thanks to songs like the ones we explored, the legacy of country's fourth generation is certainly secure. The legacy of heartfelt storytelling and rich musical tradition. Well, that's all for part two of our 1980s country music exploration. I hope these stories and these tunes have brought back some memories, like they did for me. Or maybe they sparked a new appreciation for rich golden era of country music. Join me next time on the Two for Tuesday podcast as we pick two more songs or artists and dive into another chapter of music here. Keep your heart dripping your ears up.