Randy Travis: Research for another country and western song?

[American Patriot]

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Not Just Another Naked Pop Star Arrest: In Defense of Randy Travis

by Matt White Today 5:00 AM PDT

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Rebecca Sapp/WireImage
Rooting for wayward music stars is a great American tradition, whether you live in the America That Loves Country Music or in the America That Doesn't. Those who live in the latter, though, seem to have been caught off-guard by how big Randy Travis is in the former.
Now, Randy Travis isn't just some old country version of Lindsay Lohan, despite being arrested this week and leaving jail in borrowed clothes, after a muscular night of disorderly conduct. Randy Travis not just another funny mugshot. He is, still, Randy Travis.
So since Randy, who obviously needs help, has not yet hurt anybody, and because my Facebook page lit up with a boisterous round of "hook ‘em" cries from Longhorn fans (his borrowed outfit included a Texas cap), here's four good reasons you should be rooting for Randy Travis:
See Randy Travis' mug shot in our gallery
1. The Numbers: Travis has had 22 No. 1 hits. Let's hear that again: twenty-two. That's four more than Elvis. This is no Travis Tritt we're all laughing at here. And it's not even a Kenny Chesney. Randy Travis is on the Country Music Mount Rushmore, and that's for life.
2. Serious Style Points: Keep in mind that one of country music's great heroes, George Jones, was famously arrested for DUI on a lawnmower on his way to the liquor store, after his wife took his car keys. Such behavior is, well, part of the deal with country music. So credit where due: When you go down, you go down swinging, naked and drunk, hollering at the police, in a highway construction zone, where you just crashed your–wait for it!–1998 Trans Am, a few months after getting busted for drinking wine from the bottle in a church parking lot. I say: hold your head up, son. Ain't nothin' half-assed in that.
3. Good Deeds in History: This is why country fans can, and should, support Travis. They owe him. Travis was one of two singers–the other was George Strait–who, all by themselves and against every headwind, pulled the entire universe of country music out of its early ‘80s Urban Cowboy death spiral. Everybody loves Willie and Waylon and the boys, but by 1984, country music basically had three paying gigs: as Burt Reynolds' house band (East Bound and Down, Stroker Ace), made-for-TV schlock (The Gambler) and rednecksploitation ("Just Some Good Ole Boys").
Read about Randy leaving jail in a borrowed outfit




But starting in 1984, Travis won at least one of every major country award through 1990, and dragged an entire bloated, crossover-drunk industry ("Are You Ready For Some Football?") back home again, with little songs built on little guitar chords about little people with little rhymes. Travis had no desire to cross over, rock like a hurricane or ride in the danger zone. In his prairie-flat baritone, Travis shipped song after song (arguably, he just reshipped the same song, but whatever) with simple, long-forgotten ingredients: the "I" gets the twang, you hit the "Love" with lazy, melted L's, and you politely hold the "Yoouuuu" until the band catches up.


Next verse.

Spotify or download these: "Is It still Over?," "On The Other Hand," "Deeper than the Holler," "I Told You So," "Too Gone For Too Long" and "Forever and Ever Amen."


Listen to the ultimate mixtape for Summer 2012
4. The Comeback—or Have You Forgetten?: By the late ‘90s, Travis retreated to the world of Christian radio, where he straight dominated the Dove awards for a decade. Then came May 2003, and why you don't slap "former" on a legend just because he got bored with your kind of music.



For seven weeks in early 2003, the No. 1 "country" song was Darryl Worley's "Have You Forgotten," a tuneless, crass, proudly cynical anthem pimping the coming Iraq War. In retrospect, it's probably the worst song to ever top a singles chart.


The song that knocked it off the top spot was Travis' first No. 1 in a decade, "Three Wooden Crosses."
If "Forgotten" sought to exploit the gap between Country America and Not Country America, "Crosses," as sad and soulful as any ballad in history, invited us to be better together. In a small way, Travis had saved country music again. If you've never heard "Crosses," find a spot where your coworkers won't see you openly weeping then let This Week's Funny Mugshot Guy show you how you save the world, one song at a time.

Hook 'em, Randy. And get well.

[American Patriot]

I disagree with the shit in red above.

[American Patriot]

Travis 911 call: 'I want to say he had no shirt'

Randy Travis, far right exits the Grayson County jail with two unknown persons Wednesday Aug. 8, 2012, in Sherman, Texas, after being arraigned on charges of driving while intoxicated and retaliation. (AP Photo/The Herald Democrat, Chris Jennings)

By Diana Heidgerd Associated Press / August 9, 2012

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DALLAS—Country singer Randy Travis was lying in the middle of the road with no car in sight when another driver spotted him and called 911, according to a recording released Thursday.

"I just found a guy laying in the road," the caller said in a recording released by the Grayson County Sheriff's Office. He added later, "I want to say he had no shirt on, but I don't know."

Officials said Travis was naked and threatened to kill state troopers when he was arrested late Tuesday night. He was charged with driving while intoxicated and retaliation or obstruction, and released Wednesday on $21,500 bond from the jail in Sherman, about 60 miles north of Dallas.

A mug shot showed a battered-looking Travis in a T-shirt, with a black eye and dried blood on his face. He later walked barefoot out of the county jail wearing scrubs and a University of Texas ball cap.

The 911 caller did not identify Travis by name and said he at first thought the body belonged to a deer. "I'm spooked out," he said. "I don't see a vehicle, there's a couple of cones scattered."

A representative for Travis said there would be no comment Thursday.

It was the second Texas arrest involving alcohol this year for the Grammy-winning singer, who was cited in February for public intoxication.

The sheriff's office in Grayson County, located in far North Texas along the border with Oklahoma, received the 911 call at 11:18 p.m. Tuesday from west of Tioga, where the entertainer lives.

Texas troopers responding to the scene said a Pontiac Trans Am registered to the 53-year-old Travis had been driven off the road and struck several barricades in a construction road.

Travis was not wearing clothes and made threats against the Texas troopers, said Tom Vinger, a Department of Public Safety spokesman. He said the singer refused sobriety tests, so a blood specimen was taken.

"Travis had a strong odor of alcoholic beverage on his breath and several signs of intoxication," according to a statement from the sheriff's office. "While Travis was being transported, Travis made threats to shoot and kill the troopers working the case."

Asked how Travis suffered his facial injuries, Vinger told the AP "I know the vehicle suffered significant damage to the front end during the wreck."

District Attorney Joe Brown said the felony retaliation or obstruction charge could be referred to a grand jury within a month or six weeks, while the DWI case could be filed as soon as prosecutors decide whether to proceed. The felony count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.

It's been a rocky couple of years for Travis, a North Carolina native best known for hit songs like "Is It Still Over?" and "On the Other Hand." He divorced Elizabeth Travis in 2010 after 19 years, but retained her services as his manager, a role she held for more than three decades.

Earlier this year, though, Elizabeth Travis filed a lawsuit claiming that Randy Travis made it impossible for her to do her job and terminated her management contract without proper notice. Randy Travis countersued in May, accusing his ex-wife of divulging confidential information about him to damage his reputation and career.

Initially turned down by Music Row, Travis found success in the mid-1980s and became a pivotal and important figure in country music. Initially considered too country, his deep-voice traditional style inspired millions to buy his albums and artists like Alan Jackson to follow his lead.

He's charted 16 No. 1 country singles and remains an influence for many in Nashville.

[Malsua]

He woke up and found himself in jail, you only get that stupid when you're in a blackout.

If he doesn't get sober soon, he's a goner.

[American Patriot]

well, looks like he has been cited a couple of times at church parking lots for getting in others' faces....

Time to lay off the bottle there, Randy.

You're NOT Johnny Cash, or Merill Haggard. No reason to go to jail dumb ass.

[Malsua]

They say he's a mean drunk. I never understood those people. I've known a few...get some booze in 'em and they turn into monsters.

[American Patriot]

I've known a couple too. Lay off alcohol if you're like that, or drink alone. No one wants to have to kick you in the balls. lol

[Malsua]

I'm pretty much the opposite. I just get happy. I pretty much don't drink any more though.

[Ryan Ruck]

Me, I just relax and get lazy. Nothing like kicking back with a bit of Woodford Reserve and putting on some deep Blues or Classical/Opera.

[American Patriot]

Rum... and let's take some ships!


YAR