The Story Behind The Song………………… “All Roads Lead To You” – Steve Wariner (#1, 1981) With the release of his first album in September, 1982, Steve Wariner became one of the few artists whose debut LP was practically a greatest hits package. Ten years earlier, a 17-year-old Wariner appeared at the “Nashville Country Club” in Indianapolis, Indiana. Still in high school, he opened a show for Dottie West, who joined him on stage during his set. Later, she asked him to play bass in her band, and a month later, he was on tour, earning his last half-credit of Government for high school through a correspondence course. Wariner stayed with Dottie for three years, playing bass on her 1973 hit “Country Sunshine.” He moved on to Bob Luman’s band for two-and-a-half years, and during his tenure, he earned a recording contract at RCA through his musical idol, Chet Atkins. Chet produced Steve’s first four singles, then turned him over to Tom Collins. Two singles later, Wariner notched his first Top Ten record with “Your Memory.” Steve’s follow-up, “By Now” reached the same level, then “All Roads Lead To You” brought Steve to number one for the first time. The lyrical content of these two hits brought comparisons to Glen Campbell’s “By The Time I Get To Phoenix,” and “Wichita Lineman,” as did the songs’ wide vocal range, and Wariner’s additional talent as a guitarist (Campbell was also known for his guitar-playing prowess). When questioned about the similarities to Campbell and the songs, Steve admitted that he liked the Jimmy Webb-type compositions, and liked and admired Glen Campbell, but Wariner denied that it was a conscious effort to pattern his style after Campbell’s, and did not want to be labeled a “Glen Campbell sound-alike.” The songwriting team of Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan (prominently featured in my earlier backstory of Barbara Mandrell’s “Years”) wrote “All Roads Lead To You” fairly quickly, and producer Tom Collins initially recorded the song with Ronnie Milsap. After working with it for six hours, Milsap could not achieve a satisfactory cut on the song. He tried, but he just couldn’t get it, so the entire session was scrubbed. About two months later, Collins brought out the song for Wariner. Steve loved it, and they went into the studio and had the track completed in about 45 minutes. “All Roads Lead To You” reached #1 on Billboard’s country singles chart December 19, 1981, one week before Wariner’s twenty-seventh birthday (Christmas Day). However, the song wasn’t made available on the LP format until the following September, when Steve’s first RCA album finally hit the streets. – JH youtu.be/SF7WTzyPKb0
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 12:23:38 +0000
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