Hi Friends, my best to you all. I have a new widget on my page called "Artists Who've Recorded My Songs". I have had many requests for some of these and decided to share them with you. I have many more going on the playlist in the future. Some of these are the cut that was released, some are demos, and some are live. Some were singles, some album cuts, and some are very rare , such as the Gary Stewart demos. Each has a story, and each one has a particular place in my career, and in my heart..................................The first one is "Laid Back." In 1973 my favorite album was the "Laid Back" album by Gregg Allman. It had a vibe that was soulful and ,after realizing it had no title track called Laid Back, I was inspired to write one. I tried to capture the feel of Greggs album in the song while retaining originality, and I think I did just that. Over the years it has become the most requested song at my shows. I never tried to get it recorded; I always thought I'd run into Gregg and he would end up recording it. I was at a few backstage things with Gary {he was buddies with the Allmans] but we usually hung with Dickie Betts, and the opportunity just never presented itself. Then I recorded it for my cd "Outlaws Lament". Thru myspace, I became friends with Michael, Greggs son, and one day I went to his page, and to my surprise, he had my song on his player as his profile song. Wow, I thought, how cool is that. On a whim, I went to Skinners {Michaels manager} page; he had it up as his profile song too!! So I sent Michael a message thanking him, and I said "by the way 'I'd like to hear you sing this tune someday. Before I could blink, he sent a message that said "Hell yeah I want to record Laid Back." So we had numerous phone calls over the next few weeks, and one day Michael asked me if I would like to come to Georgia to help on the recording. I thought about it for awhile, and called back and offered an alternative. I said, " Why don't you come to Ky and lets do it here. I have the perfect studio and musicians. " And thats just what we did. Here is Michaels version , which will be included on his soon to be released cd, "Hard Labour Creek. We also recorded another tune I didn't write, called "If Dreams Were Money ", written by singer-songwriter Bruce Marshall. Fabulous song. I'm including this song because I produced the session, and I'm very proud of the way it came out, just as much so for "Dreams" as " Laid Back". Its funny how things come full circle sometimes. Gregg inspires me to write "Laid Back" , and now 35 years later, his son has recorded it. I love this biz!!.........Next , is some of the Gary Stewart covers. Gary recorded fourteen of my songs. "Lets Forget That We're Married" was Garys last single for RCA. Gary and I were in Nashville for a meeting with RCA producers to decide which tunes to record. They told us, "We like "LFTWM", but we feel it could be better. If you can finish it tonight, we will record it tommorrow." Talk about pressure.! So we got a suite at the Hiatt, and we wrote the last word as the sun was coming up over Nashville at 7 oclock the next morning. We were in the studio at one , and the song was finished in two hours. It was Garys last single, but was included on Gary Stewarts Greatest Hits on RCA...........Next is "Looking For Some Brand New Stuff" which was incuded on Garys album "Brand New," his first for Hightone Records. I didn"t like the production on this one, but was grateful for the cut anyway. I'll be adding other cuts by Gary in the future. Next is " Man on the Run" , a demo by Gary that features Gary on piano and Little Jimmy Smith on Guitar. RCA thought Gary was crazy when he presented this to them, they called it "heavy rock".Needless to say, he did not record a version for RCA. Which was strange, because the next song , "Who You Been Givin It To", they loved. It had a very explicite title and lyrics for the time {early eighties} and I was very surprised they liked it. So we headed out to Bradleys Barn, and recorded this version. We got a cassette to listen to on the way home. RCA loved the song and we set up for overdubs the next day. That night, the Barn burned down, taking the master with it. All we had was a ragged cassette . We went back in and recorded it again , but could never capture the feel it has here. I was that close to another single but......................The next tune is called Torture. Gary and I stayed in a cabin in Ky for a weekend ,and when we came out we had written six new tunes. We stopped at a music store on monday, and recorded this demo in the back room. I thought this was perfect for Gary, but once again, RCA said it was too rock. I'll be adding more songs by Gary as we go. I recorded it for my cd Outlaws Lament............................................Next up is My song "Down in the Quarter", written in New Orleans mid seventies. This story is special, because they say it never happens this way, but listen up. I was a brash young sonwriter on the way to Nashville to sign a writing deal. I arrived on thursday evening to Bill Holmes house in Antioch. We spent the evening going over songs, and Bill {Kidron Music} particularly liked "DITQ". He said "Tommy Overstreet is recording and I know his producer.He made a call, and the next morning at eight oclock we were in the office of the producer. He said, "I'll be glad to listen , but we just finished Tommys album. We gave him a cassette of my rough demo and he hit the play button. After the first chorus, he reaced over and turned it off. I said to myself, thats it, but he just picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Stop the press on the Overstreet album, we're recording another song. Monday morning at seven we were in the studio recording. Two weeks later the album was out , two months later the single was out, and the same year it was released on Tommys Greatest Hits. On two albums and a top ten single. I had been in Nashville twenty four hours. Don't let anyone tell you it can't happen......................It was also released in the eightys by bluegrass artist Charlie Sizemore. I talked to Charlie recently and he plans on re recording it for his next cd on Rounder. I have included his original version here, and its cool to hear the different versions. I'll put Tommys original version up soon, this one is from a live show in Nashville in 1980. Well, that does it for now, but I plan on putting up many more so watch my page. On a lot of the demos, I will allow downloads when I can. Thanks, Sonny T