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Randy Travis|No Holdin' Back

No Holdin' Back

Randy Travis

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Released in 1989, No Holdin' Back was an anomaly for a record coming from Nash Vegas at the turn of the decade: It's a very traditional country album. Period. Travis is a honky tonk singer who uses the entire scope of the music's history as his playground. He doesn't take a lot of chances, as this record proves, but then he doesn't need to. It's not about ambition on No Holdin' Back. Kyle Lehning's production is flawless, in that he allows Travis' big voice to be buoyed by his accompaniment. He sounds like he's dead center in the mix. The album begins with the Matraca Berg nugget "Mining for Coal," an elegiac love song. That's typical enough, but on the very next track, his cover of Melvin Endsley's "Singing the Blues," there is a straight-up honky tonk song complete with male backing chorus -- à la the Jordanaires -- vocals, plinky upright piano, harmonica, and a barroom tempo. But that's not all: Travis lets out a long Hank Williams-style yodel that will make the listener feel the master's ghostly presence. The single "He Walked on Water" by Allen Shamblin was a bad choice, though it sold well. It's a syrupy ballad that is so overly sentimental that there is no place in the song for Travis to go. The most notable cut on the set is Brook Benton's "It's Just a Matter of Time," and it should have been picked as the album's first single to radio and retail. First, coming almost in the middle, it's the hinge for the entire album. Secondly, this is Travis at his best, stretching to get to the heart of a music that has so little to do with country; like Ray Charles on the other side, he has to make this soul song his own. And he does. It's a country song like it was written that way. The other standout is "Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart," a modern country shuffle reworked though the tradition. Travis goes after it like Merle Haggard would, slipping in under those verses to max out the emotion from the melody, and then driving that refrain home with a hammer as the pedal steel whines and the crisp drums accent the end of each beat. This is solid Travis, and it proves that at the end of the 1980s he was really just getting started.

© Thom Jurek /TiVo

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No Holdin' Back

Randy Travis

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1
Mining for Coal (Album Version)
00:03:06

Matraca Berg, Writer - Ronnie Samoset, Writer - Lisa Silver, Backing Vocals - Jack Williams, Bass Guitar - Paul Leim, Drums - Hargus "Pig" Robbins, Piano - LARRY BYROM, Acoustic Guitar - Brent Mason, Electric Guitar - Randy Travis, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - KYLE LEHNING, Producer - Tom Roady, Percussion - Dennis Burnside, Piano - Mark Casstevens, Acoustic Guitar - STEVE GIBSON, Electric Guitar - SHERI HUFFMAN, Backing Vocals - Wendy Johnson, Backing Vocals - Matroca Berg, Harmony Vocals - Doyle Grisham, Pedal Steel Guitar

© 1989 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1989 Warner Records Inc.

2
Singing the Blues (Album Version)
00:02:17

Melvin Endsley, Writer - David Hungate, Bass Guitar - LARRY BYROM, Acoustic Guitar - Terry McMillan, Percussion, Harmonica - Randy Travis, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - KYLE LEHNING, Producer - Louis Nunley, Backing Vocals - Hurshel Wiginton, Backing Vocals - CURTIS YOUNG, Backing Vocals - Larrie Londin, Drums - Doug Clements, Backing Vocals - Dennis Burnside, Piano - Mark Casstevens, Acoustic Guitar - STEVE GIBSON, Electric Guitar - Doyle Grisham, Pedal Steel Guitar

© 1989 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1989 Warner Records Inc.

3
When Your World Was Turning for Me (Album Version)
00:02:38

Jack Williams, Bass Guitar - Dallas Frazier, Writer - Hargus "Pig" Robbins, Piano - LARRY BYROM, Acoustic Guitar - Mark O'Connor, Fiddle - Terry McMillan, Harmonica - Randy Travis, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - KYLE LEHNING, Producer - Louis Nunley, Backing Vocals - Hurshel Wiginton, Backing Vocals - CURTIS YOUNG, Backing Vocals - Tom Roady, Percussion - Larrie Londin, Drums - Doug Clements, Backing Vocals - Dennis Burnside, Piano - Mark Casstevens, Acoustic Guitar - STEVE GIBSON, Electric Guitar - Doyle Grisham, Pedal Steel Guitar - Al Owens, Writer

© 1989 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1989 Warner Records Inc.

4
He Walked on Water (Album Version)
00:03:25

Allen Shamblin, Writer - Jack Williams, Bass Guitar - Paul Leim, Drums - LARRY BYROM, Acoustic Guitar - Randy Travis, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - Jerry Douglas, Dobro - KYLE LEHNING, Producer - Louis Nunley, Backing Vocals - Hurshel Wiginton, Backing Vocals - CURTIS YOUNG, Backing Vocals - Tom Roady, Percussion - Doug Clements, Backing Vocals - Dennis Burnside, Piano - Kirk "Jelly Roll" Johnson, Harmonica - Mark Casstevens, Acoustic Guitar - STEVE GIBSON, Electric Guitar - BILLY JOE WALKER, Electric Guitar - Doyle Grisham, Pedal Steel Guitar

© 1989 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1989 Warner Records Inc.

5
No Stoppin' Us Now (Album Version)
00:03:02

Lisa Silver, Backing Vocals - Jack Williams, Bass Guitar - Paul Leim, Drums - LARRY BYROM, Acoustic Guitar - Randy Travis, Composer, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - Jerry Douglas, Dobro - KYLE LEHNING, Producer - Tom Roady, Percussion - Dennis Burnside, Piano - Mark Casstevens, Acoustic Guitar - STEVE GIBSON, Electric Guitar - CINDY RICHARDSON-WALKER, Backing Vocals - Carol Chase, Backing Vocals - Doyle Grisham, Pedal Steel Guitar

© 1989 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1989 Warner Records Inc.

6
It's Just a Matter of Time (Album Version)
00:03:55

John Jarvis, Piano - Dean Parks, Solo Guitar - Belford Hendricks, Writer - Greg Walker, Backing Vocals - Steve Lindsey, String Arranger, Synthesizer - Fred White, Backing Vocals - Richard Perry, Producer, Bass Vocals - CLYDE OTIS, Writer - Brook Benton, Writer - LARRY BYROM, Acoustic Guitar - Randy Travis, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - John Williams, Bass Guitar - Eddie Bayers, Drums - STEVE GIBSON, Electric Guitar - Roy Galloway, Backing Vocals - Doyle Grisham, Pedal Steel Guitar

© 1989 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1989 Warner Records Inc.

7
Card Carryin' Fool (Album Version)
00:02:25

Lisa Silver, Backing Vocals - David Hungate, Bass Guitar - Byron Hill, Writer - LARRY BYROM, Acoustic Guitar - Mark O'Connor, Fiddle - Randy Travis, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - KYLE LEHNING, Producer - Larrie Londin, Drums - Dennis Burnside, Piano - Mark Casstevens, Acoustic Guitar - STEVE GIBSON, Electric Guitar - SHERI HUFFMAN, Backing Vocals - Wendy Johnson, Backing Vocals - TIM BAYS, Writer - Doyle Grisham, Pedal Steel Guitar

© 1989 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1989 Warner Records Inc.

8
Somewhere in My Broken Heart (Album Version)
00:03:14

Richard Leigh, Writer - Lisa Silver, Backing Vocals - Jack Williams, Bass Guitar - Paul Leim, Drums - Hargus "Pig" Robbins, Piano - LARRY BYROM, Acoustic Guitar - Mark O'Connor, Fiddle - Randy Travis, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - KYLE LEHNING, Producer - Tom Roady, Percussion - Diane Vanette, Backing Vocals - Dennis Burnside, Electric Piano - Mark Casstevens, Acoustic Guitar - STEVE GIBSON, Electric Guitar - SHERI HUFFMAN, Backing Vocals - BILLY JOE WALKER, Electric Guitar - BILLY DEAN, Writer - Doyle Grisham, Pedal Steel Guitar

© 1989 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1989 Warner Records Inc.

9
Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart (Album Version)
00:04:03

Lisa Silver, Backing Vocals - Jack Williams, Bass Guitar - Paul Leim, Drums - BELA FLECK, Banjo - LARRY BYROM, Acoustic Guitar - Randy Travis, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - KYLE LEHNING, Producer - Louis Nunley, Backing Vocals - Hurshel Wiginton, Backing Vocals - CURTIS YOUNG, Backing Vocals - Tom Roady, Percussion - Doug Clements, Backing Vocals - Dennis Burnside, Electric Piano, Acoustic Piano - Kirk "Jelly Roll" Johnson, Harmonica - Mark Casstevens, Acoustic Guitar - STEVE GIBSON, Electric Guitar, Dobro - BILLY JOE WALKER, Electric Guitar - CINDY RICHARDSON-WALKER, Backing Vocals - Carol Chase, Backing Vocals - HUGH PRESTWOOD, Writer - Doyle Grisham, Pedal Steel Guitar

© 1989 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 1989 Warner Records Inc.

10
Have a Nice Rest of Your Life (Album Version)
00:03:16

Verlon Thompson, Writer - Lisa Silver, Backing Vocals - Jack Williams, Bass Guitar - Hargus "Pig" Robbins, Piano - Brent Mason, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar - Randy Travis, Backing Vocals, MainArtist - KYLE LEHNING, Producer - Tom Roady, Percussion - Larrie Londin, Drums - Diane Vanette, Backing Vocals - Kirk "Jelly Roll" Johnson, Harmonica - Mark Casstevens, Acoustic Guitar - SHERI HUFFMAN, Backing Vocals - Mark Daniel Sanders, Writer - Doyle Grisham, Pedal Steel Guitar

© 1989 Warner Records Inc. ℗ 2000 v2 Conversion P Credit

Album review

Released in 1989, No Holdin' Back was an anomaly for a record coming from Nash Vegas at the turn of the decade: It's a very traditional country album. Period. Travis is a honky tonk singer who uses the entire scope of the music's history as his playground. He doesn't take a lot of chances, as this record proves, but then he doesn't need to. It's not about ambition on No Holdin' Back. Kyle Lehning's production is flawless, in that he allows Travis' big voice to be buoyed by his accompaniment. He sounds like he's dead center in the mix. The album begins with the Matraca Berg nugget "Mining for Coal," an elegiac love song. That's typical enough, but on the very next track, his cover of Melvin Endsley's "Singing the Blues," there is a straight-up honky tonk song complete with male backing chorus -- à la the Jordanaires -- vocals, plinky upright piano, harmonica, and a barroom tempo. But that's not all: Travis lets out a long Hank Williams-style yodel that will make the listener feel the master's ghostly presence. The single "He Walked on Water" by Allen Shamblin was a bad choice, though it sold well. It's a syrupy ballad that is so overly sentimental that there is no place in the song for Travis to go. The most notable cut on the set is Brook Benton's "It's Just a Matter of Time," and it should have been picked as the album's first single to radio and retail. First, coming almost in the middle, it's the hinge for the entire album. Secondly, this is Travis at his best, stretching to get to the heart of a music that has so little to do with country; like Ray Charles on the other side, he has to make this soul song his own. And he does. It's a country song like it was written that way. The other standout is "Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart," a modern country shuffle reworked though the tradition. Travis goes after it like Merle Haggard would, slipping in under those verses to max out the emotion from the melody, and then driving that refrain home with a hammer as the pedal steel whines and the crisp drums accent the end of each beat. This is solid Travis, and it proves that at the end of the 1980s he was really just getting started.

© Thom Jurek /TiVo

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