Lorrie Morgan Finds A Hit And A Husband
Back in July, Lorrie Morgan had this to say about the inception of her prophetic duet with singer and ex-Emmylou Harris band member Jon Randall, whom she married Nov. 16:
“That was (RCA boss) Joe Galante’s idea,” she told the Tribune. “He called me and said, ‘What would you think about cutting a song called “By My Side” with a new artist we’ve got on the label, Jon Randall?’ And I knew Jon. I had one of his CDs on my bus. I had met him a couple of times at some RCA functions, and I said, ‘Well, yeah, I’d love to try it.’
“Of course, you never know what’s gonna go down when you get in the studio. I was apprehensive, and I’m sure he was very apprehensive, and we got in the studio and did the whole song. I knew my part, and we probably did it two times, and it was a take. It was one of those magical moments in a studio.”
At the time, after she and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman had stopped dating, there was no mention of any Randall romance. She did, however, indicate that something new might be materializing.
“I have my good days and bad days like everybody has, but I’m dating a wonderful, nice, solid person who believes in me and gets along great with my children and is very gentle and fun to be around,” she said.
“I don’t know what the future brings, but I’m happy with life and I couldn’t ask for anything more right now than what I’ve got.”
But she got more, and a husband wasn’t all. With co-author George Vecsey, who co-wrote Loretta Lynn’s great “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” she has signed a contract with Ballantine publishing for an autobiography focusing on her life with first husband Keith Whitley, who died of acute alcohol poisoning in 1989.
The working title is “Forever Yours Faithfully,” and her management is calling it one of the biggest book deals in Nashville history.
Getting out
Co-lead vocalist Chuck Mead of BR5-49 says that to make it in music he had to get out of his hometown, Lawrence, Kan.
“You’ve been to college towns,” he explains. “They’re always real cool, there’s a lot of stuff going on, cool coffeehouses, young girls, but it’s also like an extremely big trap. You could just stay there and let moss grow on the back of your head and never go anyplace and never even think you’re missing out on anything.
“And I had a nice little cushy job, everybody knew me, I could get in free everywhere I went, but you don’t get anywhere from there. There’s nothing really bad about it; I just had to get out. I wanted to play country music, and this (Nashville) is the place you come to play country music.”