Former Nash Rambler Randall starts a new `Morning'
* 02/03/99
(c) Copyright 1999 BPI Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
BPI Entertainment News Wire Feature
(600)
By DEBORAH EVANS PRICE
Billboard
* NASHVILLE (BPI) -- Jon Randall is known as one of country music's
most
accomplished musicians, having earned a name as a member of Emmylou
Harris' famed Nash Ramblers while barely in his 20s. With his Feb. 9
Asylum debut, "Cold Coffee Morning," Randall hopes to complete the move
from sideman to center stage.
"The hard part about this record was to make a record that was
different than everything out there and still appeal to radio and the
mass audience," says Randall. "That's not an easy marriage."
A Dallas native, Randall began looking to create that perfect musical
blend when he moved to Nashville after high school. At 20, he landed a
gig with Harris, performing with her ensemble for nearly six years.
His talents caught the attention of major record labels. In 1995, RCA
released his album "What You Don't Know" and was preparing to release a
second album when they decided to part company.
"It was frustrating," Randall admits. "By the time we started on the
second record, they wanted me to be something else."
Randall says he withdrew after the RCA deal ended. "I just went into
hiding and was writing songs," he says. He adds that his wife, artist
Lorrie Morgan, "had a lot to do with reminding me why I loved music and
that I really loved being in the studio. She lit another fire under me
-- that coupled with the fact that Evelyn [Shriver] and Susan [Nadler]
took over Asylum Records and said, `We love what you do. Come over here
and make a record, and we'll leave you alone on the music side.' "
To capture the sound he was looking for, Randall recorded live with a
hand-picked group of musicians. "So much of the same is going on in
Nashville, and I wanted to use some different players that aren't
playing on all the other records," he says. "They are all incredibly
talented musicians, but they're from different areas of the business. I
booked them for the week, and we just went and played music."
Co-produced with Jerry Taylor, the resulting album, "Cold Coffee
Morning," features guitarist Kenny Vaughn, bassist Dave Pomeroy,
keyboardist Steve Khan, drummer Brian Barnett, steel guitarists Al
Perkins and Sonny Garrish, mandolinist Sam Bush, and fiddler Stuart
Duncan. The project also includes guest appearances by Willie Nelson on
"Reno & Me" and a duet with Morgan on "Knowing You're There."
Randall wrote or co-wrote five of the 11 songs on the album,
including
"I Can't Drive You From My Mind," penned with Rodney Crowell and Kevin
Montgomery, and the title cut, which he co-wrote with Bill Anderson. He
and Anderson also collaborated on the album's closing tune, "I Can't
Find An Angel." "I've been writing for a while, and a couple of these
songs are songs I've had for a while," he says. " `Cold Coffee Morning'
is the most recent I've written."
Randall says he learned about songs from working with Harris. "Emmy
cuts really integrity-driven albums," he says, "and I learned a lot
about picking a song for its depth and not just necessarily for its
mass
appeal. She picks songs for the lyrics and how they touch her. I've
never heard Emmy go, `Oh, this song is a hit.' I've never heard her
pick
a song because it was a hit that could get played."
Randall has chosen the songs that move him, and he's hoping audiences
will respond likewise.
"I just hope it touches people," he says. "I tried to produce it in
such as way that it wasn't too slick. I want people to sit in their car
and feel like I'm singing to them."
