Forty years ago this month, country singer Randy Travis released his debut album, Storms of Life. Selling three million copies and spawning four Top 10 songs—including the number-one hits “On the Other Hand” and “Diggin’ Up Bones”—Storms of Life set the tone for country artists across the next decade.
However, Travis’ immense popularity was beginning to wane by the early 1990s with the rise of newer artists like Clint Black and Garth Brooks. Exhausted from nonstop touring, the “Forever and Ever, Amen” crooner took a step back from the road in 1992 and 1993, prompting speculation that he had retired from country music altogether. However, Travis dispelled those rumors with 1994’s This Is Me, which peaked at number 10 on the country albums chart. On this day (June 6) in 1994, he released the album’s second single, “Whisper My Name”, which would later give him the 15th number-one hit of his career.
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This Randy Travis Hit Topped the Charts in Both the U.S. and Canada
Written by Trey Bruce, “Whisper My Name” debuted at number 67 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of June 11, 1994.
It eventually climbed to the top of the charts in both the United States and Canada, with AllMusic hailing it “among the greatest songs [Randy] Travis has ever recorded.”
“The backing vocals by Suzy Ragsdale, Darrell Scott, and Verlon Thompson set the tune apart and accent what a grateful love song this is,” read the AllMusic review. “There are few of these in country music, and of the ones that do exist too many are overly sentimental. This one rings like the stone truth.”
The Album That Got Him Back on Track
This Is Me marked Randy Travis’ first full-length album of original material in three years.
He began working on the record with producer Kyle Lehning in late 1993 after a representative for the MGM Grand Las Vegas contacted him.
The venue was under construction at the time, and the representative wanted Travis as its first country performer after its opening.
[RELATED: Randy Travis Has a Collection of Unreleased Songs “Mastered, Mixed & Ready To Go”]
So the “Three Wooden Crosses” crooner re-assembled his touring band for a string of Las Vegas shows in early 1994, his first live performances in more than 14 months.
The concert run’s success inspired him to resume touring, which Travis did while continuing to write and compile songs for This Is Me.
Featured image by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
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