Sawyer Brown is an American country music band. It was founded in 1981 in Apopka, Florida, by Mark Miller (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Gregg "Hobie" Hubbard (keyboards, vocals), Bobby Randall (lead guitar, vocals), Joe "Curly" Smyth (drums), and Jim Scholten (bass guitar).[2] The five musicians were originally members of country singer Don King's road band, but chose to stay together after King retired in 1981.[2] After competing on the television competition series Star Search and winning that show's grand prize, they signed to Capitol Records in 1984.[2] The band recorded for Capitol between then and 1991, and for Curb Records between 1991 and 2005,[2] except for a short time in 2003 when they were signed to Lyric Street Records. Duncan Cameron, formerly of the Amazing Rhythm Aces, replaced Randall in 1991, and Shayne Hill replaced him in 2004.
The group's members were originally part of country pop singer Don King's road band.[2] When King stopped touring in 1981, the group decided to stay together. The band played up to five sets a night, six days a week (for a time at Knight's Corral, on Nolensville Rd., in Nashville, as "Bobby, Mark, and Sandgap"), until they auditioned for the TV show Star Search in 1983. They won the grand prize of $100,000 and a recording contract.[1]
The band originally chose the name Savanna. When another band with a similar name emerged, the group decided to change its own moniker.[2] They met at their manager's office in Nashville and began looking through area telephone books for inspiration. They blindly landed on the name of a nearby thoroughfare, Sawyer Brown Road, and derived the new band name "Sawyer Brown".[1][3]
Sawyer Brown, 1987
The band signed with Capitol Records and scored a Top 20 hit with their first single, "Leona", in 1984.[2] That success was quickly followed by their first No.1 hit, "Step That Step".[2] The band had their ups and downs on the charts throughout the 1980s, landing only sporadic Top 10 hits. However, by 1990 they had accumulated enough hits for a Greatest Hits package, and were successful on the touring circuit.
Originally, Sawyer Brown was known for a primarily country pop sound dominated largely by novelty tunes; by 1991, however, the band began to express a more serious side to its music by adding ballads to its repertoire.[1] That year, the band also dropped its affiliation with Capitol, and Curb Records assumed promotion and distribution of all subsequent albums and singles (except for 2003, when Sawyer Brown temporarily switched to Lyric Street Records). Bobby Randall also left the band in 1991, and was replaced by Duncan Cameron.[3] Cameron subsequently departed in 2004, with Shayne Hill assuming the role of lead guitarist.
In 1991, after the release of their album Buick, guitarist Bobby Randall left the group to remain close to his family and host a short-lived TV talent show, Be a Star. Bobby Randall joined to band called "Dallas County Line" formed in Birmingham, Alabama, in late 1991 & early 2003 are disbanded. Duncan Cameron, formerly of The Amazing Rhythm Aces, was chosen as his replacement just as Sawyer Brown was about to become country music's "it" band. The band then switched labels, moving to Curb Records and releasing the albums The Dirt Road, Café on the Corner, and Outskirts of Town, which saw hit after hit for the band in the early to mid-1990s.[2]
Part of the band's new-found success was due to singer-songwriter Mac McAnally, who wrote several songs for the group. The McAnally-penned songs, mostly ballads, helped to re-define Sawyer Brown, who up until this point had been reviled by many critics for being a flamboyant "bubble gum" pop act that emphasized style over substance. "The Walk", the final single off the Buick album, is said to be the turning point for the group.
Following "The Walk", the band scored a number of Top 5 and Top 10 hits, including 2 more Billboard No.1s with 1992's "Some Girls Do", and 1993's "Thank God for You", which Mark Miller co-wrote with Mac McAnally. By 1995, Sawyer Brown had enough hits for a second Greatest Hits package. The album, titled Greatest Hits 1990 to 1995, included two new singles, "This Time" and "I Don't Believe in Goodbye", which themselves became Top 5 hits.
In the latter half of the 1990s, the group seemed to gradually fall out of favor with country radio, despite a crossover hit in 1999 with "Drive Me Wild". They parted ways with Curb in 2003 and signed with Lyric Street Records. One single was released on Lyric Street before Sawyer Brown left that label as well. 2004 saw the group returning to Curb Records, just as Duncan Cameron decided to leave the group to pursue a lifelong dream of flying for Southwest Airlines. Guitarist Shayne Hill replaced Duncan's post as guitarist, although both Cameron and Hill are in the credits on Mission Temple Fireworks Stand. The album's title track, featuring Robert Randolph, peaked at No.55. The second single off that album, "They Don't Understand", was a minor Top 40 hit on the country charts, and Top 20 on the Christian single charts.
Sawyer Brown has released twenty studio albums, of which three have been certified gold in the United States for sales of 500,000 copies. More than 50 of their singles have entered the U.S. BillboardHot Country Songs charts, including three Number One singles. Sawyer Brown also received a Horizon Award from the Country Music Association in 1985, as well as a Vocal Group of the Year award in 1997 from the Academy of Country Music and five Vocal Band of The Year Awards from the TNN Music City News Country Awards.
Sawyer Brown wrote "The Nebraska Song" in honor of Brook Berringer, a Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback who died in a plane crash on April 18, 1996. (The song was actually written before his death.) The song appears on the group's album Six Days on the Road. Mark Miller also served as a pallbearer at Berringer's funeral. In 1998, the band appeared at the Unforgiven: In Your House Pay Per View and performed a lip synced version of "Some Girls Do" with Jeff Jarrett.[4]
In the early 2000s, Mark Miller formed Christian music label Beach Street Records. One of the first acts he began producing for the label was Casting Crowns. In August 2021, bass guitarist Jim Scholten left Sawyer Brown in Seattle, Washington.
Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show is an American rock band formed in Union City, New Jersey. The band had commercial success in the 1970s with hit singles "Sylvia's Mother" (1972), "The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'" (1973), "Only Sixteen" (1976), "A Little Bit More" (1976), "Sharing the Night Together" (1978), "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" (1979), and "Better Love Next Time" (1979). In addition to its own material, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show performed songs written by the poet Shel Silverstein.
Steven Noel Wariner is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Initially a backing musician for Dottie West, he also worked with Bob Luman and Chet Atkins before beginning a solo career in the late 1970s. He has released eighteen studio albums and over fifty singles for several different record labels.
Lyman Corbitt McAnally Jr., known professionally as Mac McAnally, is an American singer-songwriter, session musician, and record producer. In his career, he has recorded ten studio albums and eight singles. Two of his singles were hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and six more on the Hot Country Songs chart. His ninth chart entry came in late 2008-early 2009 as a guest vocalist on Kenny Chesney's cover of his 1990 single "Down the Road".
Perfect Stranger was an American country music band founded in 1986 in the state of Texas by Steve Murray, Andy Ginn (drums), Shayne Morrison and Richard Raines (guitar). After several years of performing throughout Texas, the quartet released an independent album in 1994; this album was later picked up by Curb Records, who re-packaged and re-released it a year later. By 1995, its second single had become a Top 5 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts.
Shakin' is the second studio album of American country music band Sawyer Brown, released in 1985 on Capitol Records. It features the singles "Shakin'", "Heart Don't Fall Now", and "Betty's Bein' Bad", all of which charted on the Hot Country Singles charts.
Somewhere in the Night is the fourth studio album by American country music band Sawyer Brown. Its title track was a single, as were "This Missin' You Heart of Mine" and "Old Photographs". All three singles charted on the Hot Country Singles charts. The title track, which is not related to Barry Manilow's hit song, was previously recorded by The Oak Ridge Boys on their 1981 album, Fancy Free. "Lola's Love" would later be covered by Ricky Van Shelton on his album Love and Honor and released as a single in 1994.
Bill LaBounty is an American musician. He was initially a singer-songwriter in the soft rock genre. As a solo artist, LaBounty recorded six studio albums, including four on Curb/Warner Bros. Records. His first charting single, "This Night Won't Last Forever", was covered in 1979 by Michael Johnson, whose rendition was a top 20 pop hit that year, and eventually also covered by the country group Sawyer Brown in the early 2000s.
Donald Alan King is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and trumpeter. In the 1970s and 1980s, he recorded a total of four major label albums, and charted more than fifteen hit singles on the Billboard country music charts. He is not to be confused with Donny King, a Freddy Fender sideman who had several charting solo singles in 1975-76.
The Boys Are Back is the sixth studio album released by the American country music band Sawyer Brown. Released in 1989 on Capitol Records, it features three singles: "The Race Is On", "I Did It for Love", and "Puttin' the Dark Back into the Night".
Greatest Hits is the first compilation album by American country music band Sawyer Brown. It was released in 1990 on Capitol Records, and it features nine singles from the band's first six albums, as well as the track "When Love Comes Callin'", which was released as a single. No songs from Somewhere in the Night or Wide Open are included, despite the former yielding a No. 2 hit.
Buick is the seventh studio album by American country music band Sawyer Brown. Released in 1991 on Capitol Records, it features the singles "One Less Pony", "Mama's Little Baby Loves Me" and "The Walk". Although these first two singles reached the lower portions of the Billboard country music charts, "The Walk" peaked at #2, and was reprised on the band's 1992 album The Dirt Road.
Cafe on the Corner is the ninth studio album by American country music band Sawyer Brown. Released in 1992 by Curb Records, it produced three singles on the Billboard country music charts: the title track, "All These Years", and "Trouble on the Line". "All These Years", previously recorded by writer Mac McAnally on his 1992 album Live and Learn.
Outskirts of Town is the tenth studio album by American country music band Sawyer Brown, released in 1993 on Curb Records. The third and final album of their career to receive RIAA gold certification, it produced four hit singles on the Billboard country charts: "Thank God for You", "The Boys and Me" (#4), the title track (#40), and "Hard to Say" (#5). A dance mix of "The Boys and Me" is also included as a bonus track.
Greatest Hits 1990–1995 is the second compilation album by American country music band Sawyer Brown. It features eight top 5 hits from four albums for Capitol/Curb: 1990's Buick, 1992's The Dirt Road and Cafe on the Corner, and 1993's Outskirts of Town. Two new tracks — "This Time" and "I Don't Believe in Goodbye" — are also included on this album. These songs were both released in 1995, peaking at #2 and #4, respectively, on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts.
This Thing Called Wantin' and Havin' It All is the eleventh studio album by American country music band Sawyer Brown. Their fourth studio album for Curb Records, it produced four hit singles on the Billboard country music charts between 1995 and 1996: the title track, "'Round Here", "Treat Her Right", and "She's Gettin' There". "She's Gettin' There" was also the band's first single since 1991's "Mama's Little Baby Loves Me" to miss the country Top 40.
Six Days on the Road is the twelfth studio album by American country music band Sawyer Brown. It was released in 1997 on Curb Records. Its title track and lead-off single is a cover of the Dave Dudley hit from 1963. This cover reached number 13 on the Billboard country charts. Following this song was another cover, this time of "This Night Won't Last Forever", which was a pop hit for Bill LaBounty in 1978 and later for Michael Johnson in 1979. Sawyer Brown's cover was a number 6 country hit in late 1997. Also released from this album were "Another Side" and "Small Talk", both of which failed to make the country Top 40.
Drive Me Wild is the thirteenth studio album by the American country music band Sawyer Brown. It was released on March 2, 1999 on the Curb Records label. The album produced three singles on the Billboard country charts: the title track at #6, "I'm in Love with Her" at #47, and "800 Pound Jesus" at #40.
The Hits Live is the title of a live compilation album released in 2000 by the American country music band Sawyer Brown. The album comprises fourteen live renditions of their 1980s and 1990s country hits recorded on tour from late 1999 to early 2000, with the majority coming from a show in Ogden, Utah. The single "800 Pound Jesus" is from their 1999 album Drive Me Wild. The other three tracks—"Perfect World", "Garage Band" and a cover of Johnny Lee's "Lookin' for Love"—are new to this album. "Perfect World" and "Lookin' for Love" were both released as singles, respectively peaking at #50 and #44 on the country charts.
Can You Hear Me Now is the fourteenth studio album by the American country music band Sawyer Brown. It was released in 2002 on Curb Records. The album's singles all failed to make Top 40 on the Hot Country Songs charts: "Circles" reached #45, the title track peaked at #47, and "I Need a Girlfriend" failed to chart. After the release of this album, the band recorded three new tracks for a religious-themed compilation, then left Curb for Lyric Street Records, where they released the #48-peaking "I'll Be Around" but no album. They would return to Curb in 2005 for the release of their fifteenth album, 2005's Mission Temple Fireworks Stand.
Family Brown was a Canadian country music band founded in 1967 by Joe Brown, along with his son Barry and daughters Lawanda and Tracey (vocals), as well as Dave Dennison (guitar) and Ron Sparling (drums). Between 1967 and 1990, the band charted several singles in both Canada and the United States. The band also won eighteen Canadian Country Music Association awards, the most received by any artist. After disbanding in 1990, Barry and Tracey Brown and Randall Prescott formed the group Prescott-Brown in 1991.
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