December 4, 2024 • 14 mins
In this captivating episode of the Bob Pickett Podcast, Bob reconnects with one of his favorite guests, the legendary country music artist Tracy Byrd. It's been years since their last chat, and they dive right into reminiscing about old times, including Bob's cameo in Tracy's iconic music video for "Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous."
Tracy shares fascinating insights into the vibrant music scene of Beaumont, Texas, and how it became a breeding ground for country music stars like Mark Chesnutt, George Jones, and Clay Walker. He recounts his early days playing at local clubs and the camaraderie among musicians that fueled their rise to fame.
Listeners will be enthralled by Tracy's stories behind some of his biggest hits, including the fan-favorite "Watermelon Crawl" and the heartfelt "Keeper of the Stars." Tracy reveals the challenges he faced convincing his record label to release "Keeper of the Stars" and the unique circumstances that led to the creation of "Watermelon Crawl."
The episode also delves into Tracy's plans for the future, including his desire to record an album of his favorite classic songs and his joy at becoming a grandfather. Tracy's genuine love for music and his dedication to keeping it traditional shine through in every anecdote.
Join Bob and Tracy for an engaging and nostalgic conversation that offers a rare glimpse into the life and career of one of country music's beloved artists. Whether you're a longtime fan or new to Tracy Byrd's music, this episode is sure to entertain and inspire.
Tracy shares fascinating insights into the vibrant music scene of Beaumont, Texas, and how it became a breeding ground for country music stars like Mark Chesnutt, George Jones, and Clay Walker. He recounts his early days playing at local clubs and the camaraderie among musicians that fueled their rise to fame.
Listeners will be enthralled by Tracy's stories behind some of his biggest hits, including the fan-favorite "Watermelon Crawl" and the heartfelt "Keeper of the Stars." Tracy reveals the challenges he faced convincing his record label to release "Keeper of the Stars" and the unique circumstances that led to the creation of "Watermelon Crawl."
The episode also delves into Tracy's plans for the future, including his desire to record an album of his favorite classic songs and his joy at becoming a grandfather. Tracy's genuine love for music and his dedication to keeping it traditional shine through in every anecdote.
Join Bob and Tracy for an engaging and nostalgic conversation that offers a rare glimpse into the life and career of one of country music's beloved artists. Whether you're a longtime fan or new to Tracy Byrd's music, this episode is sure to entertain and inspire.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bob Picking, one of my favorite guys in the business,
is on the line with us right now, Tracy Bird.
It's been years since we caught up with each other.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hadn't it way too long?
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Bob Man, you're one of my favorite guys in the
business too, and I can't believe we haven't talked it's
so long.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
It's good to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
It's great to you. Okay, Now I want you to
confirm something right now. I was actually in one of
your videos, right, Lifestyles for the not so rich in Famous.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Remember that's that's right, That is right, man. Where was
that we did that? That was the name of those
clubs at that time.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
That was a Dance across Texas, which.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Is Cross Texas. That's right, that's right, Dance across Texas.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yeah, man, that's that's probably about nineteen ninety three or four.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Don't get me to lie, and I have no idea.
All I remember is that was an all day shoot.
We had a lot of fun and it was just
just a good time. And the people can still, of course,
catch that video on YouTube. I look for my I
show my kids say, Okay, that's that's my elbow right
there in that shot. That's my elbow, that's my shirt
right there.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Hey, what's good?
Speaker 1 (01:04):
What is it about? There's something about Beaumont between you
and Chestnut of course, George Jones, Clay Walker. What is
it about that made the music coming out of Beaumont
back in the night?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Hurdle man, I really, you know, I've been asked that
a thousand times.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
But you know, back in.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
That day, there was just a whole lot of places
to play live music around here. Cutters you know one
between yeah, Cutters CUTTERSS were me and Chestnut played, and
then there was a you know, probably a dozen other
clubs that had live music literally, you know, four or five,
six nights a week. And then of course you didn't
have to drive forward to you know, across the line
(01:45):
being Louisiana and be over near like Charles and and uh,
you know, there was always tons of live music overhere.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
There's just a lot of places to play.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
I guess maybe, and then I think, uh, you know, uh,
Chestnut kind of got it started. And then and then
I believe maybe the labels, you know, they heard about me,
heard about Clay and just came back and it just
kind of happened, you know, Bam, bam bam right there
in a row. So, but yeah, there's always been, you know,
great music out of here. You know, of course George
(02:13):
George Jones is from here, and you know you can
go back and find you know, not just country music,
but uh, you know you had Johnny and Edgar Winter
from Beaumont, you had Janis Jopplin, uh.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
From Port Arthur. You know, it's just just been been
a lot of music through the years.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Just fertile. Did you annoy any of the guys in
high school? Did you know Clay Walker or chess Nut.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, now Clay Clay I knew. Now Chestnut was play
and I are from Vider, Texas. We graduated from Vider
High School. He graduated with my little sister, So I
knew Clay, but I didn't meet Chestnut until you know,
I started playing out and uh. I used to go
and listen to him a lot, and he would Uh.
I'd go in on Sunday nights sometimes and when I
wasn't working, he'd be playing at Cutters on Sunday nights
(02:55):
and he'd say on the last set, he'd got up,
get up, and he'd do a song too, and he'd say, Hey,
I'm gonna get my buddy Tracy Bird up here sing
a couple. Wow, And I'd get up on stage and
I'd sing a couple and then I'd say, all right,
I'll get back to Mark, and everybody'd go.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
No, he left, he went home.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
They had sucker me into doing all his work for
him on the last set.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
All of a sudden that I got this.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Things haven't changed much, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
No, and changed a bit, changed a bit.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Let's talk about some of the big hits. Watermelon Krawl.
Still love that song.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Got that song, huge song for me. You know. It
wasn't a number one, only went to number two, but.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
But by far number one, biggest, biggest song absolutely yeah.
I mean when I walk out on stage to this
day you can hear him out there go and play
Watermelon Crawl. So that's still one of the most requested songs.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Of course, we've got ten rounds and Jose Quervol, who
was singing in the background, I know, you tell me
you singing It was that chorus for.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
That song on that one.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
I believe it was me and and Chestnut maybe and
Andy Griggs and I think Blake may have been in
there too, Okay, Uh, I think it was the three.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I think that was who was out on it. Uh.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
That happened late one night, Uh, after the bars closed
in Nashville.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
You know, let's go we were.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
And sing on this song, you know, and so we
went over and did it about three o'clock.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
And Warner always sure that Montgomery Gentry also may have
been a part of that as well.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
They were on they were on Truth about Men. Okay, Yeah,
on Truth about Men.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
It was also Andy and and Blake and and uh
and Troy and Eddie Yeah on that one.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
You know there's there's one song in your repertoire. Boy,
it's a fancy work for me to use that you
convinced the record label to release and it's still a
huge wedding song. And that is the Keeper of the Stars.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Yeah, that's a true story. They did not want to
release that. Uh.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
I was out on tour with Reba and uh and
I just released you know, we had Lifestyles and nots
Rich and Famous out.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
It had been a hit and that was the first
single off of that album, that Nordon.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Men album, and and uh and I was doing you know,
I mean I was in the you know, the middle
slot on the tour and so I had to do
an hour and you know, I didn't have three or
four hits. So I was doing the you know, I
was doing every song off my first two records basically,
and I would get to keep her the stars and
these ladies in the front row and stuff. You know,
(05:20):
I'd see them tear up in their eyes and I'd
see them singing along, and uh, I mean this was
happening nightly. And uh, I said, we got to release
this song. And they said, oh, it's almost five minutes long,
and you're just not ready for that, and uh, radio
is not ready for a song like that and from you,
and uh, and.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I was like and finally they were like, okay, we'll
we'll release it.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
But but uh, well there was a two stipulations, they said,
but we needed we want uh Jerry Crushfield had produced
the the album version, which was in the Kid d
and they said, you know, Tony Tony Brown wants to
take you back in, and which Tony was a VP
of m c A Records and produced all the big
stars there and ended up producing me for years. But uh,
(06:01):
they said, he wants to take you back in and
recut it because it's got that dough bro on it
and makes it sound kind of dated.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
So I said, hey, whatever we need to do, let's
just do it, you know.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
And so we went back in and cut it a
half step lower, and we put the took the dough
bro out, did some different stuff, and and uh so
you still hear.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Both versions on the radio. I hear the both. I
probably I probably hear the album version more than than
the other one.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
What that was a question. I was going to ask
you why there was more than one version of that
now that explores everything?
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Yeah, that was the deal.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
They they they felt that that it needed to be
you know, a little more updated, I guess you would say.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Or whatever. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
They didn't like the way we'd cut it, but uh
but either way, uh he got played both ways.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Both ways got played. And uh but yeah, it was
a Song of the Year.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
At the Academy Country Music Year of the ACMs.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Which proves once again Texas knows more about music than Nashville.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Let's always it's always been like that.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
But you know what's it was also going back and
discovering re listening to your your body of work now
as suppose when it first came out and then I
discovered the other day, listening to one of your albums,
there's a version of making Memories of Us And you
had that out before the great Rodney crowd wrote, way
before Keith Evin had it out.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Yeah. Uh, yeah, we did that.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Uh we actually did that in Hollywood, actually Conway studios.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
But we we that song was pitched to us.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
And here's the Here's an interesting thing about it is
it was pitched to us and the bridge was not there,
the bridge that's on the Keith Urban. Uh, We'll follow
the rainbows wherever the full winds blow. That was not
even on my demo with Rodney singing it or on
the lyric sheet. And uh.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
And I went and seen Rodney here in town a
few years ago. Uh.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
He played at a place called Corville's here outside of Beaumont.
And uh, I went out and seen him, and I
talked to after the show and I was like, men,
and he couldn't even remember. I mean, he couldn't even
explain it. He goes, he goes, it had to be
on me. I said, no, we wasn't on there. And man,
he couldn't even give me a you know, a good
answer why it wouldn't have been or whatever, you know,
(08:09):
and uh so it was a it was a slightly
different deal but but uh I thought it was a
hit the way we cut it. But uh, but we
ended up not releasing it for whatever reason. And uh,
of course Keith had the big hit on it.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Beautiful song, beautiful song.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
It's cool to know that you actually had it first though,
you know, even without the bridge you had at first.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, right, I'd rather I'd rather had to hit.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
You know that. We're being honest. What have you been
up to lately? Get ready to go back to the studio?
Speaker 2 (08:39):
What?
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Yeah, you know, I have been itching to go back
in the studio. We we actually, me and the band
actually laid down a track, uh of an old Charlie
Rich songs, beautiful Girl in the World, and uh and
it came out really good. So I'm thinking about about
doing maybe just a just an album of uh, just
(09:01):
my favorite old songs, you know, just stuff that I've
never covered before. And and uh, you know several hours
have done that through the years, and I've always wanted
to do that because I love loved singing old old songs,
you know, I love that more than singing new songs.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Just keeping a country man. Like we said before, huh.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, so that's what we've been doing.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
And yeah, just working, just touring, and then uh, I'm
gonna slow down a little bit this next year. I
just had my oldest son, just had our first grand baby,
him and his wife, and uh, so.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Got a little grand grand baby girl.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
And uh she's about about three weeks old now four
weeks old, and and so just been spending a lot
of time with her and just gonna kind of still
gonna still gonna tour and still gonna do a lot of.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Shows, but not as much as we've been doing.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
But oh man, that's great news. That's gonna be a
special holiday season for you.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yes it is. It's made it real special, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Now you gotta remember you got to get up early,
put the toys together.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Yeah, that's right. I'm I'm excited about that part of it.
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
I gotten kind of burned out on that, to be honest,
you know, with my kids.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
But now with grandkids, I'm like, oh, this is gonna
be fun.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
One of the greatest singers in the world with us
on the line right now. This is Tracy Bird looking
forward to seeing you, of course down on the road
and looking forward to go back in the studio record
that album.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Do it for sure, and tell us how did you
find Watermelon Crawl? What's the storymind? There's got to be a.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Story, man. It's it's a really cool story.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
I mean it really is, because it could have just
as well been somebody else's it not happened.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
I mean, it really could have. Uh.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
I don't know if you remember Renee Belle who was
head of A and r AT at mc A when
I when I was on m c A, and uh,
of course she went to r c A and we
ended up working, you know together again for several years
when I moved over to RCA years later. But but
she was literally walking out of m c A. She
(10:55):
had took the job at RCA, and she was literally
walking out the door, and I was walking in the
door and at the old MCA building off Music Row,
and she had literally like when people leave their job,
she literally had a cardboard box in her in her
arms and with all her stuff in it. And I said, God,
(11:18):
I hate your leaving, you know, and she goes, hey,
she said, I'm so glad.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
I ran into you. She said, I was gonna have
to find you.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
She said, look, and she pulls a cassette tape out
and she goes and she's kind of halfway whispering because
you know, she ought to take it with her, you know,
because that's her job, is finding hit songs. And she goes,
I found this song, and she said, I think it's
a smash. Of course, she said everything was a smash. Uh,
you know, every song she ever found, she would always
say a smash, always laughed. I said, smash for Nae,
(11:45):
smash and she said, this is.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
A smash for you. And I said, what's it called.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
She said the Watermelon Crawl and I kind of laughed
and I thought, oh god.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
The Watermelon Crawl.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
And she handed me the demo tape to it, and
she really you know, she easily could have took it
with her and gave it to an artist at RCA,
but but she didn't. She gave it to me before
on the day she was leaving, and uh, and that's
how how we got it.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
And and of course it was a big, big, big hit.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Thank you, Rene.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Yeah, how did you feel about all the dance mixes
that came out around that same time.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
There's all I wasn't. I wasn't a big fan. I
was not a big fan of them.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
But but I believe we benefited from that, that that
movement and that craze at that time, because because so
many of our songs kind of you know, lended themselves
to that, with Watermelon Crawby and the you know, it
won like Dance Dance Mix of the Year and Dance
Dance of the Year and all of this stuff. So
so I certainly benefited from it. But but I wasn't
(12:46):
a fan of it because you know, they would kind
of you know, funk the records up and pop them up,
you know, and make put in all of this electronic
stuff in them and extend the versions of them, and
and uh so that always you know, you know, men
good enough to know. I was always a little chapped
about stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Well you know, I think that you are always more
of a two step guy instead of.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Yeah right, I was more I was more traditional and
and uh.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
And and I didn't didn't like it much.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
But looking back on it, it was it was a neat
craze that was happening around the end. I mean, everybody
was doing it and and uh, and we benefitted from it.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Well, I tell you where we really benefited in radio
is because back then, you know, radio is live forty
five's back then, and it was a longer song, so
you had the benefit of spending more time in the
restroom then.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
I mean, that's probably the only time y'all played them
was when you had to go to the bathroom.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
You know, when you couldn't find a Bobby Bearry Jerry
Jeff Walker album. That's when you ran, Okay, here's a
dance Max. This would be good performing right. It's Tracy Bird.
Looking forward to seeing out on the road again very soon, okay,
and enjoy the enjoy their grand daughter. That's great.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Congratua, yes sir, thank you, Bob, appreciate it, and.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Look forward to hearing some news stuff from you very soon.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Okay, I'll get it. I'll get to work.
Bob Picking, one of my favorite guys in the business,
is on the line with us right now, Tracy Bird.
It's been years since we caught up with each other.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hadn't it way too long?
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Bob Man, you're one of my favorite guys in the
business too, and I can't believe we haven't talked it's
so long.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
It's good to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
It's great to you. Okay, Now I want you to
confirm something right now. I was actually in one of
your videos, right, Lifestyles for the not so rich in Famous.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Remember that's that's right, That is right, man. Where was
that we did that? That was the name of those
clubs at that time.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
That was a Dance across Texas, which.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Is Cross Texas. That's right, that's right, Dance across Texas.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yeah, man, that's that's probably about nineteen ninety three or four.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Don't get me to lie, and I have no idea.
All I remember is that was an all day shoot.
We had a lot of fun and it was just
just a good time. And the people can still, of course,
catch that video on YouTube. I look for my I
show my kids say, Okay, that's that's my elbow right
there in that shot. That's my elbow, that's my shirt
right there.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Hey, what's good?
Speaker 1 (01:04):
What is it about? There's something about Beaumont between you
and Chestnut of course, George Jones, Clay Walker. What is
it about that made the music coming out of Beaumont
back in the night?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Hurdle man, I really, you know, I've been asked that
a thousand times.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
But you know, back in.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
That day, there was just a whole lot of places
to play live music around here. Cutters you know one
between yeah, Cutters CUTTERSS were me and Chestnut played, and
then there was a you know, probably a dozen other
clubs that had live music literally, you know, four or five,
six nights a week. And then of course you didn't
have to drive forward to you know, across the line
(01:45):
being Louisiana and be over near like Charles and and uh,
you know, there was always tons of live music overhere.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
There's just a lot of places to play.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
I guess maybe, and then I think, uh, you know, uh,
Chestnut kind of got it started. And then and then
I believe maybe the labels, you know, they heard about me,
heard about Clay and just came back and it just
kind of happened, you know, Bam, bam bam right there
in a row. So, but yeah, there's always been, you know,
great music out of here. You know, of course George
(02:13):
George Jones is from here, and you know you can
go back and find you know, not just country music,
but uh, you know you had Johnny and Edgar Winter
from Beaumont, you had Janis Jopplin, uh.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
From Port Arthur. You know, it's just just been been
a lot of music through the years.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Just fertile. Did you annoy any of the guys in
high school? Did you know Clay Walker or chess Nut.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, now Clay Clay I knew. Now Chestnut was play
and I are from Vider, Texas. We graduated from Vider
High School. He graduated with my little sister, So I
knew Clay, but I didn't meet Chestnut until you know,
I started playing out and uh. I used to go
and listen to him a lot, and he would Uh.
I'd go in on Sunday nights sometimes and when I
wasn't working, he'd be playing at Cutters on Sunday nights
(02:55):
and he'd say on the last set, he'd got up,
get up, and he'd do a song too, and he'd say, Hey,
I'm gonna get my buddy Tracy Bird up here sing
a couple. Wow, And I'd get up on stage and
I'd sing a couple and then I'd say, all right,
I'll get back to Mark, and everybody'd go.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
No, he left, he went home.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
They had sucker me into doing all his work for
him on the last set.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
All of a sudden that I got this.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Things haven't changed much, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
No, and changed a bit, changed a bit.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Let's talk about some of the big hits. Watermelon Krawl.
Still love that song.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Got that song, huge song for me. You know. It
wasn't a number one, only went to number two, but.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
But by far number one, biggest, biggest song absolutely yeah.
I mean when I walk out on stage to this
day you can hear him out there go and play
Watermelon Crawl. So that's still one of the most requested songs.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Of course, we've got ten rounds and Jose Quervol, who
was singing in the background, I know, you tell me
you singing It was that chorus for.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
That song on that one.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
I believe it was me and and Chestnut maybe and
Andy Griggs and I think Blake may have been in
there too, Okay, Uh, I think it was the three.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
I think that was who was out on it. Uh.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
That happened late one night, Uh, after the bars closed
in Nashville.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
You know, let's go we were.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
And sing on this song, you know, and so we
went over and did it about three o'clock.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
And Warner always sure that Montgomery Gentry also may have
been a part of that as well.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
They were on they were on Truth about Men. Okay, Yeah,
on Truth about Men.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
It was also Andy and and Blake and and uh
and Troy and Eddie Yeah on that one.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
You know there's there's one song in your repertoire. Boy,
it's a fancy work for me to use that you
convinced the record label to release and it's still a
huge wedding song. And that is the Keeper of the Stars.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Yeah, that's a true story. They did not want to
release that. Uh.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
I was out on tour with Reba and uh and
I just released you know, we had Lifestyles and nots
Rich and Famous out.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
It had been a hit and that was the first
single off of that album, that Nordon.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Men album, and and uh and I was doing you know,
I mean I was in the you know, the middle
slot on the tour and so I had to do
an hour and you know, I didn't have three or
four hits. So I was doing the you know, I
was doing every song off my first two records basically,
and I would get to keep her the stars and
these ladies in the front row and stuff. You know,
(05:20):
I'd see them tear up in their eyes and I'd
see them singing along, and uh, I mean this was
happening nightly. And uh, I said, we got to release
this song. And they said, oh, it's almost five minutes long,
and you're just not ready for that, and uh, radio
is not ready for a song like that and from you,
and uh, and.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I was like and finally they were like, okay, we'll
we'll release it.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
But but uh, well there was a two stipulations, they said,
but we needed we want uh Jerry Crushfield had produced
the the album version, which was in the Kid d
and they said, you know, Tony Tony Brown wants to
take you back in, and which Tony was a VP
of m c A Records and produced all the big
stars there and ended up producing me for years. But uh,
(06:01):
they said, he wants to take you back in and
recut it because it's got that dough bro on it
and makes it sound kind of dated.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
So I said, hey, whatever we need to do, let's
just do it, you know.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
And so we went back in and cut it a
half step lower, and we put the took the dough
bro out, did some different stuff, and and uh so
you still hear.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Both versions on the radio. I hear the both. I
probably I probably hear the album version more than than
the other one.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
What that was a question. I was going to ask
you why there was more than one version of that
now that explores everything?
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Yeah, that was the deal.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
They they they felt that that it needed to be
you know, a little more updated, I guess you would say.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Or whatever. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
They didn't like the way we'd cut it, but uh
but either way, uh he got played both ways.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Both ways got played. And uh but yeah, it was
a Song of the Year.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
At the Academy Country Music Year of the ACMs.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Which proves once again Texas knows more about music than Nashville.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Let's always it's always been like that.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
But you know what's it was also going back and
discovering re listening to your your body of work now
as suppose when it first came out and then I
discovered the other day, listening to one of your albums,
there's a version of making Memories of Us And you
had that out before the great Rodney crowd wrote, way
before Keith Evin had it out.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Yeah. Uh, yeah, we did that.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Uh we actually did that in Hollywood, actually Conway studios.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
But we we that song was pitched to us.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
And here's the Here's an interesting thing about it is
it was pitched to us and the bridge was not there,
the bridge that's on the Keith Urban. Uh, We'll follow
the rainbows wherever the full winds blow. That was not
even on my demo with Rodney singing it or on
the lyric sheet. And uh.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
And I went and seen Rodney here in town a
few years ago. Uh.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
He played at a place called Corville's here outside of Beaumont.
And uh, I went out and seen him, and I
talked to after the show and I was like, men,
and he couldn't even remember. I mean, he couldn't even
explain it. He goes, he goes, it had to be
on me. I said, no, we wasn't on there. And man,
he couldn't even give me a you know, a good
answer why it wouldn't have been or whatever, you know,
(08:09):
and uh so it was a it was a slightly
different deal but but uh I thought it was a
hit the way we cut it. But uh, but we
ended up not releasing it for whatever reason. And uh,
of course Keith had the big hit on it.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Beautiful song, beautiful song.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
It's cool to know that you actually had it first though,
you know, even without the bridge you had at first.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, right, I'd rather I'd rather had to hit.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
You know that. We're being honest. What have you been
up to lately? Get ready to go back to the studio?
Speaker 2 (08:39):
What?
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Yeah, you know, I have been itching to go back
in the studio. We we actually, me and the band
actually laid down a track, uh of an old Charlie
Rich songs, beautiful Girl in the World, and uh and
it came out really good. So I'm thinking about about
doing maybe just a just an album of uh, just
(09:01):
my favorite old songs, you know, just stuff that I've
never covered before. And and uh, you know several hours
have done that through the years, and I've always wanted
to do that because I love loved singing old old songs,
you know, I love that more than singing new songs.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Just keeping a country man. Like we said before, huh.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, so that's what we've been doing.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
And yeah, just working, just touring, and then uh, I'm
gonna slow down a little bit this next year. I
just had my oldest son, just had our first grand baby,
him and his wife, and uh, so.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Got a little grand grand baby girl.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
And uh she's about about three weeks old now four
weeks old, and and so just been spending a lot
of time with her and just gonna kind of still
gonna still gonna tour and still gonna do a lot of.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Shows, but not as much as we've been doing.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
But oh man, that's great news. That's gonna be a
special holiday season for you.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yes it is. It's made it real special, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Now you gotta remember you got to get up early,
put the toys together.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Yeah, that's right. I'm I'm excited about that part of it.
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
I gotten kind of burned out on that, to be honest,
you know, with my kids.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
But now with grandkids, I'm like, oh, this is gonna
be fun.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
One of the greatest singers in the world with us
on the line right now. This is Tracy Bird looking
forward to seeing you, of course down on the road
and looking forward to go back in the studio record
that album.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Do it for sure, and tell us how did you
find Watermelon Crawl? What's the storymind? There's got to be a.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Story, man. It's it's a really cool story.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
I mean it really is, because it could have just
as well been somebody else's it not happened.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
I mean, it really could have. Uh.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
I don't know if you remember Renee Belle who was
head of A and r AT at mc A when
I when I was on m c A, and uh,
of course she went to r c A and we
ended up working, you know together again for several years
when I moved over to RCA years later. But but
she was literally walking out of m c A. She
(10:55):
had took the job at RCA, and she was literally
walking out the door, and I was walking in the
door and at the old MCA building off Music Row,
and she had literally like when people leave their job,
she literally had a cardboard box in her in her
arms and with all her stuff in it. And I said, God,
(11:18):
I hate your leaving, you know, and she goes, hey,
she said, I'm so glad.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
I ran into you. She said, I was gonna have
to find you.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
She said, look, and she pulls a cassette tape out
and she goes and she's kind of halfway whispering because
you know, she ought to take it with her, you know,
because that's her job, is finding hit songs. And she goes,
I found this song, and she said, I think it's
a smash. Of course, she said everything was a smash. Uh,
you know, every song she ever found, she would always
say a smash, always laughed. I said, smash for Nae,
(11:45):
smash and she said, this is.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
A smash for you. And I said, what's it called.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
She said the Watermelon Crawl and I kind of laughed
and I thought, oh god.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
The Watermelon Crawl.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
And she handed me the demo tape to it, and
she really you know, she easily could have took it
with her and gave it to an artist at RCA,
but but she didn't. She gave it to me before
on the day she was leaving, and uh, and that's
how how we got it.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
And and of course it was a big, big, big hit.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Thank you, Rene.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Yeah, how did you feel about all the dance mixes
that came out around that same time.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
There's all I wasn't. I wasn't a big fan. I
was not a big fan of them.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
But but I believe we benefited from that, that that
movement and that craze at that time, because because so
many of our songs kind of you know, lended themselves
to that, with Watermelon Crawby and the you know, it
won like Dance Dance Mix of the Year and Dance
Dance of the Year and all of this stuff. So
so I certainly benefited from it. But but I wasn't
(12:46):
a fan of it because you know, they would kind
of you know, funk the records up and pop them up,
you know, and make put in all of this electronic
stuff in them and extend the versions of them, and
and uh so that always you know, you know, men
good enough to know. I was always a little chapped
about stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Well you know, I think that you are always more
of a two step guy instead of.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Yeah right, I was more I was more traditional and
and uh.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
And and I didn't didn't like it much.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
But looking back on it, it was it was a neat
craze that was happening around the end. I mean, everybody
was doing it and and uh, and we benefitted from it.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Well, I tell you where we really benefited in radio
is because back then, you know, radio is live forty
five's back then, and it was a longer song, so
you had the benefit of spending more time in the
restroom then.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
I mean, that's probably the only time y'all played them
was when you had to go to the bathroom.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
You know, when you couldn't find a Bobby Bearry Jerry
Jeff Walker album. That's when you ran, Okay, here's a
dance Max. This would be good performing right. It's Tracy Bird.
Looking forward to seeing out on the road again very soon, okay,
and enjoy the enjoy their grand daughter. That's great.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Congratua, yes sir, thank you, Bob, appreciate it, and.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Look forward to hearing some news stuff from you very soon.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Okay, I'll get it. I'll get to work.
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