Song:I Told You So
Album:I Told You So: The Ultimate Hits Of Randy Travis
In the 80s, country music was in an Urban Cowboy hangover until neo-traditionalist Randy Travis became the biggest country music star of the 80s. He had several number one hits including I Told You so in 1988. Travis faded in the 90s after Garth Brooks became a big star and turned to acting. He is currently recovering from health problems. He was born Randy Traywick May 4, 1959 in Marshville, NC. His dad was a big country music fan and Randy and his brother Ricky performed in local clubs as The Traywick Brothers. Both were juvenile delinquents. Ricky went to jail and Randy almost went to jail for burglary. He won a local talent contest and the club owner Lib Hatcher became his manager. They would marry in 1991 and divorce in 2010. She was married when they first met. He recorded as Randy Traywick for Paula Records in 1978. That went nowhere so Lib left her husband and she and Travis moved to Nashville in 1982. She managed The Nashville Palace and Travis worked as a cook. His demos were not received well. Record companies thought he was too country. As Randy Ray, he released a live album Live At The Nashville Palace and that got him a deal with Warner Bros. exec Keith Stegall and producer Kyle Lehning. Warners suggested the name change to Randy Travis. Travis' 1986 debut album Storms Of Life got off to a slow start but the number one country hits On The Other Hands and Diggin' Up Bones led to the album being certified 3XPlatinum. His second album Always and Forever did even better. Forever and Ever Amen, I Won't Need You Anymore, Too Gone Too Long and I Told You So all topped the country charts. Though Forever and Ever Amen is probably Travis' signature song. I Told You So is right up there. Travis wrote the song and performed it in his act before he signed with Warners. Fan demand convinced him to record it. I Told You so got a big boost when American Idol winner Carrie Underwood covered it on her 2007 album Carnival Ride. Carrie said it is her favourite Randy Travis song. She then recorded a duet of the song with Travis and they performed it on a 2009 episode of American Idol. After 15 number one hits, Travis faded in the early 90s and turned to acting. He did a lot of guest shots on TV shows. He appeared several times on Touched By An Angel. Travis left Warners for DreamWorks in 1998. After two albums there, he signed with the gospel label Word Records and had his final number one hit with Three Wooden Crosses in 2003. Travis returned to Warners when they bought Word and his latest CD Influence Vol. 1: The Man I Am was released Oct. 2013. This 2CD budget comp has all of Travis' hits. Travis was arrested for DUI in Aug. 2012 and in July 2013, he was taken to hospital and suffered a stroke. After brain surgery, Travis is in recovery. It isn't known if he will be able to return to singing. He did appear in the recent Lifetime movie Christmas in the Bayou. Here's the video of I Told You So by Randy Travis.
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